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Pastorpastorstmarysftw.orgFather Jaison Mangalath, S.V.D., was born in Kerala, India as the sixth of the eight children of his parents George and Rosamma Mangalath. He has one living brother and five sisters. One of his sisters is a nun in the Carmelite Order. His father, George, passed away in June 2016 and his older brother Thomas in 2005. His mother and siblings live in Kerala, India.
After completing high school, he entered the Society of the Divine Word, an international Religious Missionary Order for priests and brothers at the age of 16 and spent the next twelve years in Seminaries in different cities in India. He was ordained to priesthood on April 17, 1999. After ordination, he was assigned to the Southern Province of the Society of the Divine Word in the United States. He came to the United States in August of the same year and spent two years at Immaculate Heart of Mary parish in Lafayette, Louisiana, as associate pastor. He was appointed Pastor of St. Paul the Apostle Parish in Baton Rouge, LA, on July 1, 2001 and worked there until June 2008. On July 1, 2008, he was transferred to Holy Ghost Catholic Church in Opelousas, LA. Holy Ghost Church is known as the largest Black Catholic Church in the United States. He became a naturalized citizen of the United States in 2010.
As Pastor, Fr. Jaison tries to balance his pastoral ministry with administrative responsibilities. He accomplishes this by developing lay leadership in ministries and by working with Parish Pastoral Council and Finance Council. He loves to develop a strategic plan for the parish in consultation with parishioners and the leadership and guide it to completion to accomplish the mission of the church to proclaim the Good News to all creation. The areas of his focus usually are Worship, Community, Religious Formation, Stewardship and Evangelization. In both of his previous assignments as pastor, he was involved in Capital campaigns to build a new Church and a Parish Life Center. Both of these were successfully completed.
Fr. Jaison has a special love for the Word of God and his spirituality is guided by it. He loves conducting Bible studies in the parish and preaching on the Word. He occasionally does parish missions/revivals during Advent and Lent. He loves giving spiritual direction and helping parishioners to find direction for their lives if they so seek. In his free time, he loves cooking, working out, tennis, hiking, visiting friends and watching good movies that are thought provoking or informative such as documentaries on nature, technology etc.
In preparation for his ministry at St. Mary’s, he took a four week course in Spanish. He is able to celebrate Mass in Spanish but is not yet ready to hold a conversation in Spanish. However, he hopes to learn it further and become proficient as he ministers to the wonderful parishioners of St. Mary of the Assumption Parish.