Msgr. C.J .Varkey was born on 11th June 1921 and he was the 7th of the 8 children of his parents Joseph and Annamma Cuzhikulam who belonged to the Valavoor parish in the diocese of Pala. After the primary education, while completing his high school education in St. Thomas High School, Pala, he had a great desire to “be a Missionary priest.” His priestly life was fully dedicated to the migrants of Malabar. During the first days of migration he had taken efforts to build churches, schools and construction of roads and the same interest and energy he had taken to save the souls for Jesus. He constantly sought to discover the divine will through prayer and it was the specific nature of father Varkey. He was a man of profound faith in divine providence, a man of a fervent spirit of prayer in constant union with Christ. Fortitude, devotion to Mother Mary, simplicity of life, love for work, forgiving love and creative responses, were seen as shining virtues in him and they became the heritage of the congregation he founded. His unshakable faith in God was the secret of his success in all his endeavors, especially in the work of evangelization. His faith was sustained by his deep prayer experience. The challenges that he took in his life deepened his faith and motivated his spirit. He spent hours in personal prayer to commune with God in deep inner silence. The erection of the Congregation of Msmi was the most outstanding and visible testimony of Msgr C. J. Varkey’s implicit and filial trust in God and in the Mother of God. He initiated most of his projects without much material resources at his disposal. But his deep faith in God enabled him to overcome his difficulties. Beyond the human abilities and the limitations he believed in the providence of God the Father and he achieved whatever he wished to do for the Kingdom of God. It was evident in his life that the Holy Spirit showered on him the virtues of creativity, spirit of adventure, and trust in God for the fulfillment of the liberating mission of Christ. Considering the noble services rendered, the Holy Church honoured him and he was raised to the rank of Monsignor by His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI on 4th January 2007. Msgr C. J. Varkey always remained a joyful person, eager about everything and everyone. His joyful and optimistic feelings were the result of a deep spiritual experience, fulfillment of his missionary vocation, resulting from the conviction of the presence of God and the Mother of God in his life. He tirelessly repeated to the members of his congregation, “you must rejoice even when you lack the comforts of this world, for it is the music of God, and you should be detached from everything.” He was gifted with a joyful spirit, and even when he was sick, others never found him as a sad person. Great persons are simple and genuine, effecting from a total surrender of all they have and they are to God. It shows the readiness to walk with God in humility, dependence and trust. And all other external actions are the expressions of the deep simplicity and wholehearted dedication to God and men. Msgr C. J. Varkey kept this simplicity in all his relationships and he also exhorted the sisters to “be more simple with the people and this would help you love God and people.” There was nothing extraordinary in him, but he was great in his unassuming ways. Bearing the cross for the love of God was a joy for him. So he could serenely accept the hardships of pastoral ministry in the promotion of his flocks. His unfailing courage in facing sufferings for the cause of spreading the gospel and his untiring dedication to the mission of Christ cannot be explained except by this spirit of faith. One must master all spiritual powers and fortitude if one is to lay down bit by bit one’s life in the daily living out of the mission. Only those who have learnt lessons of love at the foot of the cross of Jesus can share that love with others with intensity and passion. He has shown this to the members of the congregation through his life until death. Msgr. C.J. Varkey, the founder who bequeathed to them the noble life and holy memories went to eternal bliss on 24th June 2009, at the age of 89.