Marthoma Cross at Syro Malabar Philadelphia Church. ( This photo is taken at the time of Fr. Christy transfer to Houston and Fr. John Malepuram taking over as vicar)
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
You are Visitor
Crucifix
St. Thomas
St. Alphonsa
POPE BENEDICT XVI
CARDINAL VARKEY VIDHAYATHIL
BISHOP MAR JACOB ANGADIATH
ORIGINAL MARTHOMA CROSS AT ST. THOPMAS MOUNT INDIA
Open Air Rock Cross also called Nazraney Sthambams in front of the 3rd Century built Martha Mariam Catholic Church at Kuravilangadu, Kerala
St. Joseph's Monastery, Mannanam, where the mortal remains Blessed Chavara are kept. Saint Thomas cross is seen in the picture on the top of church
Beautiful Marthoma Cross at Philadelphia Syro Malabar Church.. Please share with us the photo of the sheela too
ReplyDeleteWe want to show that we are true syro Malabarian Faithfuls.
he Vatican II was convened to shake off the dust of the Roman Empire which was gathered into the Roman Church from the fourth century i.e. to purify it from the man made accretions ensuing from a secular imperialism. The method of the Council was to “return to the authentic sources. It is in this context the venerable heritage of the Church of the Thomas Christians of India becomes a matter of unique and universal importance to the Catholic Church as a whole. The Church of the East had never become an official religion of any Empire. It was deeply rooted in the spiritual, religious and cultural reality of Asia and of India in particular. This indigenous ecclesial set up of the Indian Church was entirely free from every kind of imperial influence.
ReplyDeleteThe Vatican Council II has opened up the horizon. It is the God-given duty to rediscover the venerable heritage and to convert it into a living reality. It is a hard and painstaking process which needs hard work, fidelity to the Church, self effacing sacrificial life, patient study, firmness of faith and courage of conviction. If there is a corresponding enlightened leadership to guide, this process becomes easier and quicker. On the one side there is the danger of the abdication of the rights and on the other side, the danger of arrogation. At the ecclesiastical level, colonialism has not yet entirely disappeared from the horizon.
The history of the last two millennia records the successes and failures of the Church in her mission. The Church is a holy but sinful in her members, members ranging from the top to the bottom. Though imperialism and colonialism as such are obsolete things of the past posing no real threat to contemporary society, those who have inherited its legacy in the ecclesiastical realm still seem to have great fulfilment in possessing prestigious titles and extensive exclusive territories under their jurisdiction. These secular roads into the holy of holies continue to plague the divine mission of the Church.
The need of repentance and reform is not to be attributed only to the other Churches or to the Roman Curia but also to the Syro-Malabar Church in all its ranks. The mystery of the Cross-continues to be the challenge to all at all times. It is an invitation to involve everybody into the divine revolution of the Reign of God in our hearts, a radical metanoia of surrendering ourselves to the will of God. It is a spiritual revolution that Jesus Christ announced as Kingdom of God. It is fully realized and fulfilled in the radical and everlasting victory on the cross in which he who was in the form of God humbled himself, and died the death of a slave, turning death into life and shame into glory (Phil 2: 6-9).
The Thomas Christians of the Church of the East were popularly known, in their good old times, with the honourable title "Nazrani". They belong to the Apostolic Church founded by St. Thomas in 52 A.D. Many of us do not know the history of our own Mother Church, especially the younger generation of migrant Thomas Christians of the Church of the East settled in different parts of India and abroad. Hence, the Syro Malabar Catholic Association, New Delhi, through this site would like to conscientize its people of their heritage and patrimony, identity and individuality. It is not for boasting about our antiquity and Apostolic origin, but to enhance our love and esteem for our Mother Church. As we are in diaspora, far away from our native places, there is the possibility of forgetting our identity and not recognising even our Mother, The Church of the East of the Thomas Christians. Unless we know, how can we love? It is the lack of real knowledge that gives rise to disputes and controversiews even in high places.
ReplyDeleteIf Iso’ - M’siha is not risen, then our preaching is empty and your faith is also empty. And if Iso’ – M’siha is not risen, your faith is futile, and you are still in your sins! (1 Corinthians 15:14,17). With these words, Paulose Sleeha reminds us that it is the resurrection….Our Lord’s ultimate triumph over death….that we proclaim as the very heart of our faith. And it is in the affirmation of this truth that we gather not just to celebrate, but also to participate in that victory which alone leads us from death to life and from earth to heaven
ReplyDeleteInteresting! Looks like just the way it happens back in Kerala. You guys in US are lucky to have your own churches.
ReplyDeleteI live in the UK but there are no Syro Malabar Catholic churches here. The Jacobites and Marthomites, however, do meet in theirn own church.
Keep up the faith.
Good Blog. I hope the other side can keep up some standard
ReplyDeleteAfter Fr john Melepuram took charge of Philadelphia church, He sticked cheap wall posters on altar walls. Now the altar look like a drama stage. A see through curtain in hanged but its not according to the syro malabar liturgical way.
ReplyDeleteThe Mar Thoma Cross in Philadelphia Church is disappeared ..
ReplyDeleteIt is no more there..
Dear JI
ReplyDeleteYou are lucky that you do not have a Syro- church in UK. Try to learn from the bitter experiences in Chicago, Dallas, and Philadelphia. In the beginning, 'everything looks like as it is happening in Kerala'. What is going on there is another topic of discussion. Let it stay there. Once the church is established things change. The ones who worked for it with time and talent will be ousted. The Achans and Bishop will take over. You will be just a helpless, 'mute inglorious' on-looker! Please don't call us 'lucky'. It is just the opposite. Everything revolves round the ‘clover cross’ and ‘seela ‘in this place. To have seela or not to have seela is the main issue in Syro Church in USA. Syro Church is turning into Zero Church here. Jacobites and Mar Thomaites have no other way to fulfill their 'obligations'.So they need to spent hundres or even thousands of dollars and construct their places of worship. For a Catholic there are churches all over. Jusus doesn’t care about the Language or Rite. Please think twice or thrice before you even think about a Syro church. It is not worth the trouble.
Thanks for not posting my comment!. This shows how intolerant you are towards opposing views. Your action is not appreciated.
ReplyDeleteOutsider