Reverend Philip Louis was born December 16, 1967 in Channai, Tamil Nadu, in southern India.
He was preceded in death by his father, Albert Louis on February 19, 1981 and by his mother Francesca Louis, on August 27, 2020.
Fr. Philip was their third child, and after his father’s death, heard a voice in his head saying “Go, live away from your home.” And so began his path to the Priesthood. His five brothers and only sister are all married. Their mother always asked her children to pray well and always encouraged them not to get discouraged anytime. Fr. Philip took these words to heart; as he went to live and study in a Catholic hostel for the 8th through 10th grades, then in 1984 entered St. John’s Minor Seminary in Nellore, in the neighboring state of Andhra Pradesh.
During his later years in seminary, he was assigned to work with (Saint) Mother Teresa for two weeks, as she worked with the poor, the dying and those with leprosy. As seminarian Louis remembered “Within three days I ran away from there, because of the service they were doing with the lepers. I was not able to face it.”
Fr. Louis was ordained a priest April 24,1995, in Nellore, where he served in the Diocese of Nellore. From 2004 –2008, he was sent to Oklahoma to serve as Associate pastor at Epiphany of the Lord, Oklahoma City and then as pastor at Holy Trinity Catholic Church in Okarche, OK.
In 2008, he was sent back to India to face his fears from seminary: Fr. Louis was assigned to direct the Bethsaida Leper Colony in Nellore. He also coordinated two other leper colonies and ran a school for children of the leprosy patients.
That assignment taught him a deeper level of pastoral care. In his words “It is a different kind of ministry, because the lepers tend to become very easily angered. They will not be very grateful, because of the hardness of the disease they have. They raise their voices, and become very angry, because that is how they protect themselves-it is how they have an identity”. This experience taught him patience and to find joy in serving those who are unable to show gratitude. As he found “the priest must learn to have more patience than the patients”.
In June, 2017 Fr. Louis returned to Oklahoma to serve at St. Gregory the Great Church and St. Francis Xavier Church in Enid, and St. Michael Catholic Church in Goltry. In June 2018, he was assigned as pastor to St. Matthew Catholic Church, Elk City, OK.
He will be remembered as an enthusiastic, fun-loving, and caring priest who knew everyone’s names and their family situation. He loved children. He accomplished much at St. Matthew, forming many ministry groups and making many improvements, from a new Marian garden and playground to major improvements inside and outside the Church buildings.
He loved his mother very much and now we are comforted with the thought that he is with her.
Rest in peace, Father Philip, we love you!
