In 1879, in commemoration of the silver jubilee of the proclamation of the dogma of the Immaculate Conception, Fr. H. Hennessey, Parish Priest of St. Andrew’s Church, Vepary, Madras, built a chapel at Perambur. This chapel was blessed and dedicated to Our Lady of Lourdes in 1880 and served the spiritual needs of the catholics then residing in the locality. In 1903, Perambur was raised to the status of an independent parish.
In 1903, with a catholic population of 5000 people and a church capable of accommodating only about 500 it was obvious that any scheme to enlarge the existing church was not at all feasible. Legionaries of Mary reported many instances of lapsed Catolics who had regularly stood-out the Sunday masses for years. It was this juncture that the first Salesian priest, Fr. Michael Murray, arrived in December 1953.
The privilege, however, of making Our Lady of Lourdes Shrine at Perambur into a famous place of pilgrimage fell to the lot of worthy sons of Don Bosco. In 1928, the Archdiocese of Madras was entrusted to the Salesian Congragation and Perambur came under their care.
Fr. Murray was a priest with a rare combination of Irish inspiration and Salesian zeal which soon had the parish humming with activities. In many other ingenious ways he brought Mary into thousands of homes and collected sufficient money to start building a new church. It was Fr Murray who launched the idea of making Perambur a national shrine and place of pilgrimage.
The late Archbishop of Madras, Mgr. Louis Mathias, Whole-heartedly approved of this project and encouraged it. He in fact, evinced keen interest in every detail of the design of the shrine, Desirous of erecting a shrine worthy of the Mother of God and of making it a place of national pilgrimage; he engaged the services of Chevalier Davies KSG, the architect of the mighty Catholic Centre, Madras. The Archbishop wanted him to design a magnificent shrine which would resemble the great Basilica at Lourdes.
Meanwhile negotiations had already begun for the purchase of a suitable plot of ground for the new shrine at Perambur. As the land was vested in different owners, the negotiations to acquire the entire plot dragged on for some years.
The advent of Fr. Alfred Maiotta as parish priest in 1947 signaled a period of silent but intense activity. Though Fr. Mariotta used up as much energy as Fr. Murray, he gave off noticeable less heat! Hailing from the Alpine heights of Switzerland he has the dogged tenacity of the mountaineer, as well as the taciturnity of a man accustomed to silent communion with nature.
His first achievement was the acquisition of the site for the new shrine. But with what process of cajolery, reasoning, bargaining or persuasion he secured the different slices of land, no one will ever know! Suffice it to mention that the devoted clients of Mary woke up one morning to find the site ready, under their very noses.
The land was ceremonially blessed by Archbishop Louis Mathias and shortly afterwards, on September 8, 1951 the foundation stone of the new shrine was blessed and laid. A dream was coming true.
Then began, the long uphill task of raising funds. Donations, however small, were welcomed. Fund raising campaigns by way of ‘Brick cards’ and many other ingenious methods were initiated.
The lower church was completed first and on February 22, 1953 amidst scenes of great joy and splendor, Archbishop Louis Mathias blessed and consecrated the altar. A year later, on February 2, 1954 three large bronze bells from France were blessed and christened to the memory of His Grace, to the Salesians Congregation, and to the Mariotta family who had donated them.