St. Joseph's Church - Kanuwana, Ja Ela

St. Joseph's Church - Kanuwana, Ja Ela Welcome to the official page of St Joseph's Church, Kanuwana, Ja-Ela. HISTORICAL BACKGROUND FOR A CHURCH IN KANUWANA. REV.FR. Fr. He entered St. Rev. H.

The territory known as Kanuwana was a wider area than the present one and it was beyond the Jaela canal covering the present Jaela city. That is why reports of the Oblate (O.M.I.) missions in the Aluthkuruwa Korale and also the biography of Rev.Fr.Sylvester Maria Papili (O.S.B.) record about a church in Kanuwana which dates back to 1852. It is clear that they speak probably about the church at p

resent Jaela as the Kanuwana church which is infact older than 200 years. When that region became famous as Jaela due to the construction of the railway station and also the popular Passion Play the name Kanuwana was limited to the area bordered with the canal, Tudella and Ekala areas.This area was not so populous as it was covered with cinnamon cultivation but later settlements took place due to migrations. The Catholics of the area had to seek the support of the Tudella church which played a major role as the mother church for a long period until 1987. A house of worship for Kanuwana became a reality during the tenure of Rev.Fr.Fabian Fernando (O.M.I.) (1949-1952) when he established a school here which was also used to celebrate the Holy Mass. Indeed here it's contrary to the tradition as mostly the schools have come up owing to the churches. In Kanuwana the church is a result of the school. It's the simple first step of a long pilgrimage. THE PIONEER OF ST.JOSEPH’S CHURCH - KANUWANA. FABIAN FERNANDO (OMI)

The parishioners of Kanuwana are ever grateful to Rev. Fabian Fernando who initiated the construction of the church at Kanuwana in 1950. He being the Parish Priest of St. Mary’s Church Tudella from 1949 to 1952 paid a special attention to Kanuwana village which led him to begin the school there. Fabian was born on 30th December 1898 at Katuneriya in Chilaw as a son of Anthony Fernando and Maria Angelina Nonis. Aloysius Seminary in 1912 and completed his schooling at St. Joseph’s College, Colombo. After his novitiate period he made his religious vows as an Oblate of Mary Immaculate in 1923 and followed his priestly studies at St. Bernard’s Seminary Borella. He was ordained a priest on the 24th of June 1926 by the Archbishop Anthony Coudert OMI at St. Lucia’s Cathedral Kotahena and began his ministry in the Cathedral parish itself and later at Sea Street Negombo until 1931. He accepted the parish of Payagala as its Parish Priest in 1931. His tenure as the parish priest of Tudella brought a massive difference to Kanuwana village as he could gather all those who expected a bright future for the area around him. He supported the Village Development Society and bought a land and humbly agreed with the people to build a school there for the children. It was declared open on the 1st of December 1950 and that building was used to celebrate the Holy Mass monthly. It is the simple beginning of our church. The first page of the story of our parish. Fabian passed away on the 4th March 1986 in Colombo and was buried at Nagoda where he later served as the Parish Priest. We the faithful of Kanuawana are much grateful to the yeoman service he rendered to our village. In fact it was he who lit the first candle which has brought light to all of us. May he rest in peace. THE GOOD SHEPHERDS WHO TENDED OUR FLOCK OF KANUWANA BEING THE PARISH PRIESTS OF TUDELLA.

1. Fabian Fernando 1949 - 1952
2. Manuel Alphonse 1952 - 1955
3. Alfred J.M. Lambert 1956 - 1967
4. Don Anselm 1967
5. Raymond Peiris 1968
6. Lanfranc Fernando 1969 - 1973
7. Pius Karunaratne 1973 -1976
8. Anselm Croose 1976 - 1977
9. Hubert Peiris 1977
10. D.S.Joseph Perera 1977 - 1987

09/08/2026

Gospel of the Day (Matthew 14,22-33)

After he had fed the people, Jesus made the disciples get into the boat and precede him to the other side of the sea, while he dismissed the crowds.
After doing so, he went up on the mountain by himself to pray. When it was evening he was there alone.
Meanwhile the boat, already a few miles offshore, was being tossed about by the waves, for the wind was against it.
During the fourth watch of the night, he came toward them, walking on the sea.
When the disciples saw him walking on the sea they were terrified. "It is a ghost," they said, and they cried out in fear.
At once (Jesus) spoke to them, "Take courage, it is I; do not be afraid."
Peter said to him in reply, "Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water."
He said, "Come." Peter got out of the boat and began to walk on the water toward Jesus.
But when he saw how (strong) the wind was he became frightened; and, beginning to sink, he cried out, "Lord, save me!"
Immediately Jesus stretched out his hand and caught him, and said to him, "O you of little faith, why did you doubt?"
After they got into the boat, the wind died down.
Those who were in the boat did him homage, saying, "Truly, you are the Son of God."

https://www.vaticannews.va/en/word-of-the-day/2026/08/09.html

09/08/2026
Are you willing to change before the Harvest? The Holy Spirit will aid!16th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year - A
19/07/2026

Are you willing to change before the Harvest? The Holy Spirit will aid!
16th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year - A

17/07/2026

ජාඇල දඬුගම ප්‍රදේශයේදී රිය අනතුරකින් ඉකුත් 14 දින ස්වර්ගස්ථ වූ ගරු ගීතාලි ඇනස්ලි පියතුමන්ගේ අවසන් කටයුතු පිළිබඳ නිවේදනය

ස්වර්ගස්ථ වූ ගරු ගීතාලි ඇනස්ලි පියතුමාගේ දේහය ජූලි 16 වැනි බ්‍රහස්පතින්දා පෙ.ව. 9.00ට කොළඹ අගරදගුරු මැදුරේ දිව්‍ය හෘදයේ දෙව්මැදුර වෙත රැගෙන එනු ලැබේ.

පෙ.ව. 11.00ට දේහය හෙකිත්ත ශාන්ත ලාසරස් දේවස්ථානය වෙත භාරගනු ලබන අතර, එහි රාත්‍රී 8.00 දක්වා මහජන ගෞරවය සඳහා තැන්පත් කර තබනු ලැබේ.

ඉන් අනතුරුව දේහය කඳාන ශාන්ත සෙබස්තියන් දේවස්ථානය වෙත රැගෙන යනු ලැබේ.

අවසන් දිව්‍ය පූජාව (Requiem Mass) ජූලි 17 වැනි සිකුරාදා ප.ව. 3.00ට කඳාන ශාන්ත සෙබස්තියන් දේවස්ථානයේදී පැවැත්වෙන අතර, ඉන් අනතුරුව දේහය කඳාන දේවස්ථාන සුසාන භූමියේදී භූමදානය කරනු ලැබේ.

අද ජූලි 13, අභිරහස්මය රෝසකුසුමෙ දේවමාතාවන්ගේ මංගල්‍යයයි
13/07/2026

අද ජූලි 13, අභිරහස්මය රෝසකුසුමෙ දේවමාතාවන්ගේ මංගල්‍යයයි

Which Soil Are You?15th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year - A
12/07/2026

Which Soil Are You?
15th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year - A

Aadaraye Ulpatha-FOUNT OF LOVE-Watch at the Sunday School Auditorium12-July-2026 | At 07:00PM---Open to all---
11/07/2026

Aadaraye Ulpatha
-FOUNT OF LOVE-
Watch at the Sunday School Auditorium
12-July-2026 | At 07:00PM
---Open to all---

13/06/2026
Feast of The Most Sacred Heart of JesusFeast Mass was celebrated on Friday 12-June, at 6:30 AM
12/06/2026

Feast of The Most Sacred Heart of Jesus
Feast Mass was celebrated on Friday 12-June, at 6:30 AM

The Statue of St Joseph placed in the School premises
05/06/2026

The Statue of St Joseph placed in the School premises

Address

Kanuwana
Ja-Ela
11350

Opening Hours

Monday 06:00 - 12:00
15:30 - 20:00
Tuesday 06:00 - 12:00
15:30 - 20:00
Wednesday 06:00 - 13:15
15:30 - 20:00
Thursday 06:00 - 12:00
15:30 - 20:00
Friday 06:00 - 12:00
15:30 - 20:00
Saturday 06:30 - 12:00
15:30 - 20:00
Sunday 06:00 - 12:30
15:30 - 20:00

Telephone

+94112232622

Website

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when St. Joseph's Church - Kanuwana, Ja Ela posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Shortcuts

Share

Category