Orlem

Orlem is a neighbourhood in Malad, a suburb of Mumbai, India. The name "Orlem" is often colloquially used for the Our Lady of Lourdes parish in Malad, which includes Orlem and its neighboring areas. The original name of Orlem in the local language of the state (Marathi) is Valnai. The Indian postal zip code 400064 serves the Orlem neighborhood.

Orlem was one of the many East Indian villages that existed in Malad. Its inhabitants were primarily engaged in agriculture and fishing. Orlem originally consisted of a primary population of Roman Catholics. The main ethnic group within the Catholic community were East Indians followed by Goans, Mangloreans and other regional communities. In the 19th century, Orlem was a hamlet of 12 families. The families were the D'limas, D'souzas, etc. Joseph Maria Braz de Souza, of the Principal family of Valnai, built a private chapel at his own expense in 1880 dedicated to Our Lady of Lourdes at Orlem. He was a former chaplain of military forces at Satara from 1861 to 1886.

In 1882, Bishop Leo Meurin declared officially that this chapel, under the chaplainship of Fr. D'Souza was part of the Apostolate of Bombay and affiliated to the church of Our Lady of Assumption, Kandivli. In 1908, Fr. D'Souza was elevated to the dignity of CAMARIERE SEGREDO EXTRA URBEM to Pius X. He died in December 1912 and was buried in the sanctuary of the chapel that he built. As per the wishes of Msgr. J.M.B. D'Souza, in his will, that a priest from his family should be his successor, Fr. Justin D'Souza was lent by the Bishop of Daman to the Archdiocese of Bombay and appointed Chaplain at Orlem. He carried on the good work of Msgr. D'Souza and his brother Fr. Elias who bequeathed all his properties to the church. Fr. Justin built the first school, the St Anne's High School, in 1915. Through his efforts, Orlem was constituted a separate parish, in a decree dated 2 July 1916.

Fr. Justin extended the church and was assisted in this effort by Mrs. Mary Magdalene D'Souza who financed the elevation for the choir. Fr. Justin also donated all his lands to the Archdiocese and, the Cardinal Gracias Colony later developed on the land that Fr. Justin had donated for the welfare of Orlem. The parish priests that helped to raise Orlem to its present stature include Fr. Herman Mendes, Fr. Celestine Fonseca, Fr. Walter D’Souza, Msgr. Staney Pereira, Fr. Peter C. Gomes and Fr. Frank Noronha, who ventured to start the construction of the new school building in 1959. In the year 1976, Fr. Octavian Dias worked hard to make possible a new extension to the school, a Parochial House and the new Church.

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