Brother Joseph Thambi Avutapalli, a villlage about 35 km from vijayawada, is called Assisi of Andhra Pradesh, not just bcause several Franciescan friars live there, but because of its association with the life and work of a member of the Franciscan third orer, man of miracles, who death anniversary draws thousands of pilgrims from all over the state. Born in September 1883 in Sirone and brought up in Pondicherry, Tamil Nadu, South India. At the age of 12 (1895), he received the sacraments of Holy Communion and Confirmation. *Left home as a boy to Kerala, the neighboring state and was educated with the help of a pious lady in whose house, he must have worked as a house taker. Though he had frequent visits to his home-town from Kerala, only in 1928 he was recognized by his grandmother on the occasion of a funeral service of a relative. He was then 45. He joined the Capuchins at Kollam in 1930. He was then 47. On 14 September 1932, h...
Joseph, Manager/HR