Padathu Mappila, like his forefathers, was a devout Christian. He was also particular about religious observances. On a Sunday, he made arrangements for a small religious feast at his Padath residence. A priest from Kottayam Valiya Palli had agreed to come and bless the feast. But the priest didn't turn up for the feast. Padathu Mappila, his family, and guests waited for the priest till late in the evening. But the priest did not come. At last, Padathu Mappila served food to the guests. After the guests had gone, hurt and sad, Padathu Mappila went to bed without eating any food and soon fell asleep. During that night he had a strange dream. In the dream, he saw himself standing at a desolate marshy place with patches of cane in the middle. It was somewhere in the nearby village of Manarcadu. The location was flanked on two sides by green paddy fields. Then he saw a cow and its newborn calf lying close to where he was standing. The dream repeated three times in that night.

    Next day, he woke up much earlier than usuall time. Padathu Mappila was convinced that the dream was a divine vision, and he felt very restless. He had decided to go to Manarcadu immediately to see for himself what his dream had revealed. Early in the morning, as if led by the invisible hand of God, he reached the place in less than an hour. It corresponded in every minute detail to the one he had seen in his dream. And, what is more, right in front of him he saw a white cow lying there with its calf tottering around. He stood transfixed at the sight. Soon the sight of the cow and its calf transformed itself in his mind into the divine vision of the Blessed Virgin holding infant Jesus close to her bosom. The meaning of the divine vision now quickly dawned on him: God had chosen him to build a church dedicated to the Virgin Mary at the exact spot where he was standing. Overjoyed at what he had seen and experienced, he almost ran back home. He had only one thought in his mind then; how to accomplish the God-given mission at the earliest.