The Little Flower Congregation had its origin on 19 March 1931 at Mookkannur, a village seven kilometers northeast of Angamaly, Kerala. It was started as a Society of Brothers under the name Little Flower Brotherhood by Rev. Fr. Thomas Panat, later known as Fr. Basilius, with the necessary permission from Mar Augustine Kandathil the then Arch Bishop of Ernakulam As the originator and director, Fr. Basilius was all in all of this Religious community. In spite of his strenuous efforts and prayers, the community had poor growth. So, in 1945, with the consensus of the members, who were all Religious Brothers, Fr. Basilius sought the permission of the then Arch Bishop to reorganize the Congregation by admitting candidates for the priesthood for better realization of the aim of the Congregation. In June 1946, the first batch of aspirants for the priesthood was admitted and a new enthusiasm and vigour emerged in the life and activities of the Congregation.
A petit seminary was started at Mookkannur on 1 June 1948. The first Ordination to Priesthood in our Congregation took place in June 1956. Many new houses were established and members embarked on several new projects in accordance with the aim and spirit of the Congregation.
The Constitution of the reorganized religious institute, thereafter called Little Flower Congregation, written by Fr. Basilius was approved by His Grace Archbishop Mar Augustine Kandathil in October 1947. Later, the Constitution was revised according to the Oriental Code of Canon Law and was approved by His Grace Most Rev. Dr. Joseph Parocattil on 18 April 1963 Very Rev. Fr. Basilius CST, the founder of our Congregation was called to his eternal reward on 4 October, 1976 and his mortal remains are buried in the Ashram cemetery at Mookkannur.
On the basis of the desire, expressed by the Brothers, for greater autonomy, the Oriental Congregation directed His Eminence Joseph Cardinal Parecattil to appoint a special commission to study the matter and report its findings to Rome. In the light of the findings of this commission and the information he gathered from the two sections viz Priests and Brothers by holding discussions with them, His Eminence Joseph Cardinal Parecattil sent a report to the Congregation for the Oriental Churches on 15 September 1977, recommending the division of the Congregation into two autonomous bodies se., Clerical and Lay Accepting this recommendation, the Oriental Congregation appointed Very Rev Fr. Cyril OIC, the then Superior General of the Order of the Imitation of Christ (later Arch Bishop of Thiruvananthapuram), its delegate to pave the way for the smooth division of the Congregation. On the basis of the report submitted by him to the Congregation for the Oriental Churches, His Eminence was directed by the Congregation by the Decree Prot. N. 512, 68 dated 9 November 1978 to issue two decrees for the erection of two Congregations Juriz Eparchialis. Hence, by virtue of this Decree, His Eminence the Cardinal officially and canonically erected the community of the Fathers as Clerical Congregation furt Eparchialis in December 1978 and named it Little Flower
Congregation (CST Fathers). As per instructions issued by His Eminence the Cardinal, along with the Decree of Erection, a General Chapter was convoked in 1979 for revising the Constitution. The Constitution and Statutes revised and finalized were approved by His Eminence the Cardinal on 1″ April 1981. These legislative texts were translated into English and submitted to the Congregation for the Oriental Churches together with an application to grant Pontifical status to our Congregation. The Congregation for the Oriental Churches, after careful study and thorough examination of the texts, made certain observations and asked the Superior General to revise the rules in accordance with the guidelines given. Thus, the revised constitution and directory were approved by His Grace Mar Antony Padiyara, Archbishop of Ernakulam, on 14 February 1986.
On 11th August 1984, the Holy See erected the new Diocese of Gorakhpur bifurcating the Diocese of Varanasi, and Fr. Dominic Kokkat CST, who headed the Congregation’s missionary activities in the Diocese of Jalandhar, in Punjab, was nominated its first Bishop. His Eminence Joseph Cardinal Parecattil, together with other Bishops, ordained him on 4 October 1984 and the installation ceremony took place on 14 October, at St. Joseph’s Cathedral Church, Gorakhpur.
Considering the further growth and development of our Congregation and taking into account the increasing number of members and Ashrams and the wide expansion of the area of our apostolic activities, the IX” Ordinary General Synaxis of our Congregation in 1991 has reorganized the administration of our Congregation into two Regions with delegated powers to the Regional Superiors. Thus two regions were erected, St. Joseph’s and St. Thomas, in our Congregation on 15 February, 1992.
The same General Synaxis of 1991 in its fourth session, in accordance with codex canonum eccelsiarum orientalium No. 508:2 and our Constitution No. 194, unanimously decided on 29″ November 1991, to erect these two regions into provinces with effect from March 19, 1994. Heralding further growth of the Congregation, Gorakhpur-Nepal Region under St. Thomas Province and Punjab-Rajasthan Region under St. Joseph’s Province, were erected on 10 June 1994.
Making another milestone in the history of the CST Congregation, His Holiness Pope John Paul II raised our Congregation to the status of a Religious Institute of Pontifical Right on 21″ December 1995. The official declaration of the decree and the celebration connected with it, took place on 19 March 1996, at our Generalate, in the presence of Mar Antony Cardinal Padiyara, the then Major Archbishop of Syro Malabar Church. As per the decision of the X” Ordinary General Synaxis of Little Flower Congregation held at Little Flower Generalate, Thrikkakara, Khrist Jyoti Vice-Province and Little Flower Vice-Province were erected on 2 January 2000.
The revised constitution of our Congregation was promulgated on 5 March 2003, as an experiment for seven years. On 5 March 2003, the Little Flower Vice-Province and Khrist Jyoti Vice-Province were raised as independent Provinces in the Congregation.
On 15 July 2006, Pope Benedict XVI appointed Very Rev. Fr. Thomas Thuruthimattam CST, the then Superior General of Little Flower Congregation, as successor to Bishop Dominic Kokkat CST. He was ordained Bishop on 1 October 2006, by Major Archbishop Mar Varkey Cardinal Vithayathil. The revised constitution, promulgated in 2003 for seven years, was revised and promulgated in 2010. The XIII” General Synaxis, 2015, made some amendments to the Directory without changes in the Constitution, and with these amendments in the Directory, the new edition of the Constitution was promulgated on 3 July 2016. On 2 January 2021, Kunjathmakkalude Cheruganam, the history of the Little Flower Congregation, was published by the then Superior General, Very Rev. Fr. Francis Kilivallickal CST.