St:Mary's Jacobite Syrian Church, Pangada

History of the Parish

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1970’s witnessed the beginning of second split in Malankara Sabha and the attitude of the opposite faction towards the Patriarch of Antioch, the supreme spiritual head of the church, was intolerable and it was same in Pangada pally also. To protest against this the members, who wanted to follow the centuries old connection with the holy apostolic see of Antioch, with drew from the church and formed a branch of Malankara jacobite Syrian Christian Association in 1974. We also decided to stop paying the monthly subscription to the church. Crucial conflict occurred in the general body of parish assembly which was held for selecting the representatives from the church for the Malankara Assosciation at niranam as the church committee was held unlawfully. This increased the distance between two factions.

 

As we were without a church for our spiritual needs, the newly formed association held meeting in the member's houses and  formed a Prayer group and Youth association solely for patriarchal faction and decided to conduct prayer meetings on Sundays and youth association meetings on Saturday evenings. Considering our request H.B. Baselious Paulose 2nd the catholicose, appointed Fr. M.T.Thomas (mattathilachan) as the vicar of the church by bill no 15 / 75.

 

16/11/1975 witnessed a decisive meeting of the association which announced the obedience to His beatitude Baselious Paulose, who was ordained by The Patriarch of Antioch as the Catholicose (Mapriyono). Also a resolution was passed, announcing that the Patriach is the head of the universal Syrian church and for generations we will follow the supremacy of Patriarch in the church.

 

 The efforts of the members of the Association succeded, when they were able to purchase a plot of land at Pangada, owned by one of the members of our Church. Foundation stone for the church was laid on 14/08/1976. Under the dynamic guidance of the Vicar and with the sustained and dedicated efforts of the members of the association, and the whole hearted support of people of this village, the church building was completed. It was a golden event in the history of Pangada, when the church in the name of St. Mary, the mother of God, was consecrated on 21st November 1976 by H.G Gevarghese mor Gregorious. The parish was fortunate enough to have apostolic blessings from His Holiness Moron Mor Ignatius Zakka 1st  Iwas, the Prince Patriarch of Antioch and All the East. We remember with great gratitude the help we received  as money and materials from various churches and from the people of Pangada, irrespective of religion or caste. We sincerely express our gratitude to all those who helped us in this noble task which was made possible by a small community that had only real faith and true spirit as their asset.

 

In the beginning holy Qurbana was conduted only once in  a month and from 1982 onwards it became twice. In 1992 the church was reconstructed and we were able to conduct Holy Qurbana every sunday. The church has its own constitution formulated in 20/10/1977 and the daily affairs of the church are run by the managing committee headed by the vicars,trustee and secretary,as per the guidelines of the association.

 

 To teach the true faith and spirit to our children we started Sunday School from the year 1977. The Sunday School, the Youth Association, the Martha Mariam Vanitha Samajam, Prayer Meeting group etc are working hand in hand for the over all growth of the church and the community in the area as a whole.

 

A kurisupally in the name of Elias 03rd patriarch was constructed near the church and was consecrated by the Arch bishop of Lebanon H.G George Shaliba in 1982.In 2005 we were able to construct a new kurisupally near anively  junction and the rally during the perunnal got extended upto this place.

 

We started with 21 members and during the past years the membership has grown upto 53.We have also about 6 families closely associated with the church,though not officially members. In due course we were able to overcome all the barriers and the church now has got a parish hall of its own together with a lot of remarkable developments. We submit ourselves to God through the intercession of our patron St. Mary for guiding us in the straight path of true spirit.

 

Our loyalty to the Holy Throne of Patriarch will continue through us and through generations to come until the end of this world.

 

Any history of Pangada pally is incomplete with out the mention of the late H.G.Markose Mor Coorilose Meropolitan whose moral remains are entombed in this church.He (Fr.R.V.Markose Ramanthara)was the vicar of this church  two times for a total of 8 years. He endeared himself to the parish and to the people of Pangada by his humble behaviour and humorous talks.He liked the place so much so that he decided to settle down at Pangada.So,he built his house very close to the church and now it is called St.Peter's Dayara.His untimely departure to the heavenly abode was a great loss to Pangada pally and the church in general.It was his expressed wish he be laid to eternal rest in this church.Every year on May 30 his 'dukrono' perunal is celebrated here and hundreds flock to the tomb for his blessings.May his blessed memory be a fortress and a guiding light in all the activities of the church in the years ahead.