The first exploratory visit to Kedah was undertaken by Fr. Page and Fr. Vignol in October 1883. They sailed up the Kedah River by steamer, stayed at the house of Mr. Kus, the only European in the estate. The Chinese greeted them well and some showed interest in becoming Catholics. Fr. Vignol promised to build a doctrine house for them. It was only in 1921 that a Chapel was put up by Fr. Louis Duvelle, MEP and he dedicated the chapel to St. Michael in memory of the first Church at Kuala Kedah. It was built of attap and bamboo, on a plot of land along Jalan Langgar. The adjoining plot of land was also purchased for the building of a Catholic English School - St. Michael’s School. In 1927, Fr. Riboud, with the assistance of Rev. Mother Tarcisius of the I.J. Congregration, put up a parochial house. There was still no resident priest in Alor Setar or 'Laosta' as referred to by Fr. Louis Riboud, the first French missionary in Kedah.

The various visiting priests included Fr. L. Ashness, Fr. Bonamy, Fr. Vendargon, Fr. Seet, Fr. P. Lee and Fr. P. Wong. According to Clara Anthony, the wife of Cathecist David Victor (now deceased), the visiting priests had to cover other areas including Bukit Mertajam, Kulim, Sungai Petani, Arau, Changlun and Jabi, to celebrate masses and to see to the needs of the Catholic families. They had to cycle from one town to another. The first resident priest, Fr. Mourgue, MEP was appointed to the church on 19 July 1953. He was a French missionary who had spent 15 years in China. On 7 December 1953, the present church was put up in place of the rustic chapel. The Catholic community is indebted to Fr. Mourgue and Fr. Matthias Ki who sweated and toiled to raise funds for the present church. On 29 September 1954, the present church was opened and blessed by His Grace Archbishop Olcomendy.

The church continued to grow in population in the early years. During the Emergency years, the Catholic church of Alor Setar was renowned for its welfare work among the poor. Before the 80's, there was a total of 30 area groups with the majority from the Chinese and English speaking groups. However, today, there are only 14 area groups left with a total of about 148 families. In 1984, during the tenure of Fr. Matthias Ki, St. Michael Church, Alor Setar was chosen as a pilot project for the implementation of the RPP (Renewed Parish Project) a diocesan option. Today the leaders of the various groups from the Parish Pastoral Council assist the priest in matters concerning the welfare and progress of the parish. Every parishioner is urged to serve through the various organizations - S.V.D.P, Youth Fellowship, Catechetical group, Liturgical Team and Charismatic Prayer Groups. However, a few other services have ceased to exist, like the Catholic Nursing guild, Altar Ladies Society and Vanguard movement.

One important service which is still maintained is providing pre-school education for the local community, Catholics and non-Catholics. Pre-school or Kindergarten was established by Fr. George Lee in January 1964 with 2 classes and two teachers. Marian Kindergarten was well received by the local people when it was first started, using the Catholic Center as the premise. Even the present Sultan of Kedah enrolled his two daughters, Tengku Soroya and Tengku Sarina in the school. In addition, the sons of former Prime Minister Tun Dr. Mahathir also attended the Marian Kindergarten in 1965. In 1997, a new parochial house was built on a plot of land near the church. In 1999, the Catholic center was renovated by the parish priest, Fr. Peter Shyu.

To conclude, let us refer to the writings of Fr. Riboud in 1883Ö.. ìI stretched my imagination and envisaged that one day I would open a central residence in Laosta (Alor Setar) for the Chinese pagans. Little by little we would multiply our centresî, Fr. Riboud's vision has come to pass.
Son of Parish Fr. Bernard Paul was ordained in 1989.