The Saint Thomas Christians, also called Syrian Christians of India, Marthoma Suriyani Nasrani, Malankara Nasrani, or Nasrani Mappila, are an ethno-religious community of Indian Christians in the state of Kerala, who, for the most part, employ the Eastern and Western liturgical rites of Syriac Christianity. They trace their origins to the evangelistic activity of Thomas the Apostle in the 1st century. The Saint Thomas Christians had been historically a part of the hierarchy of the Church of the East but are now divided into several different Eastern Catholic, Oriental Orthodox, Protestant, and independent bodies, each with their own liturgies and traditions. They are Malayalis and their mother tongue is Malayalam. Nasrani or Nazarene is a Syriac term for Christians, who were among the first converts to Christianity in the Near East.
The Syro-Malankara Catholic Church, also known as the Malankara Syrian Catholic Church, is an Eastern Catholic sui iuris particular church in full communion with the worldwide Catholic Church possessing self-governance under the Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches. It is one of the major archiepiscopal churches of the Catholic Church. It is headed by Major Archbishop Baselios Cardinal Cleemis Catholicos of the Major Archdiocese of Trivandrum based in Kerala, India. With more than 1096 parishes, its one of India's biggest church evangelical establishments.
The Syro-Malabar Church, also known as the Syro-Malabar Catholic Church, is an Eastern Catholic Church based in Kerala, India. It is a sui iuris (autonomous) particular church in full communion with the Holy See and the worldwide Catholic Church, with self-governance under the Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches (CCEO). The major archbishop presides over the entire church. The incumbent Major Archbishop is Raphael Thattil, serving since January 2024. The Syro-Malabar Synod of Bishops canonically convoked and presided over by the major archbishop constitutes the supreme authority of the church. The Major Archiepiscopal Curia of the church is based in Kakkanad, Kochi. Syro-Malabar is a prefix reflecting the church's use of the East Syriac Rite liturgy and origins in Malabar. The name has been in usage in official Vatican documents since the nineteenth century.
The Liturgy of Saint James is a form of Christian liturgy used by some Eastern Christians of the Byzantine rite and West Syriac Rite. It is developed from an ancient Egyptian form of the Basilean anaphoric family, and is influenced by the traditions of the rite of the Church of Jerusalem, as the Mystagogic Catecheses of Cyril of Jerusalem imply. It became widespread in Church of Antioch from the fourth or fifth century onwards, replacing the older Basilean Liturgy of Antioch. It is still the principal liturgy of the Syriac Orthodox Church, the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church, the Maronite Church, the Syriac Catholic Church, Syro-Malankara Catholic Church and other churches employing the West Syriac Rite. It is also occasionally used in the Eastern Orthodox Church and Melkite Catholic Church. The Malankara Mar Thoma Syrian Church uses a reformed variant of this liturgy, omitting intercession of saints and prayer for the dead.
The Malabar Independent Syrian Church (MISC) also known as the Thozhiyur Church, is a Christian church centred in Kerala, India. It is one of the churches of the Saint Thomas Christian community, which traces its origins to the evangelical activity of Thomas the Apostle in the 1st century.
The West Syriac Rite, also called the Syro-Antiochian Rite and the West Syrian Rite, is an Eastern Christian liturgical rite that employs the Divine Liturgy of Saint James in the West Syriac dialect. It is practised in the Maronite Church, the Syriac Orthodox Church, the Syriac Catholic Church and various Malankara Churches of India. It is one of two main liturgical rites of Syriac Christianity, the other being the East Syriac Rite. It originated in the ancient Patriarchate of Antioch. It has more anaphoras than any other rite.
The Jacobite Syrian Christian Church, or the Syriac Orthodox Church in India, is a Maphrianate of the Syriac Orthodox Church of Antioch based in Kerala, India and part of the Oriental Orthodox Church. It recognizes the Syriac Orthodox patriarch of Antioch and All the East as supreme head of the church. It functions autonomously within the church as an archdiocese, administered by the Malankara Metropolitan, Gregorios Joseph, and comes under the authority of the Catholicos of India, Baselios Thomas I. Following schism with the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church, it is currently the only church in Malankara that is under the administrative supervision of Syriac Orthodox Church. The church employs the West Syriac Rite Liturgy of Saint James.
The Malankara Rite is the form of the West Syriac liturgical rite practiced by several churches of the Saint Thomas Christian community in Kerala, India. West Syriac liturgy was brought to India by the Syriac Orthodox Bishop of Jerusalem, Gregorios Abdal Jaleel, in 1665; in the following decades the Malankara Rite emerged as the liturgy of the Malankara Church, one of the two churches that evolved from the split in the Saint Thomas Christian community in the 17th century. Today it is practiced by the various churches that descend from the Malankara Church, namely the Malankara Mar Thoma Syrian Church, Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church, the Jacobite Syrian Christian Church, the Syro-Malankara Catholic Church and the Malabar Independent Syrian Church.
The St. Mary, Queen of Peace Syro-Malankara Catholic Eparchy in USA and Canada is the Syro-Malankara Catholic Church eparchy of the Catholic Church for all of North America, and is home to 23 parishes and missions in different cities. The Syro-Malankara Church observes the Antiochian Rite in the Syriac language. It is immediately subject to the Major Archbishop of Trivandrum, and is not part of an ecclesiastical province. Its Cathedral episcopal see is the St. Vincent de Paul Syro Malankara Catholic Cathedral in Elmont, New York. It operates dioceses in other countries too, with the purpose of teaching the religion of Christianity.
Aboon Thomas Mar Eusebius is serving as the first bishop of the Syro-Malankara Catholic Eparchy in the United States. A senior priest of the state Christian clergy, he was serving as the first exarch of the Malankara Syrian Catholic Exarchate since his enthronement on October 3, 2010. On August 5, 2017, Baselios Cardinal Cleemis, the Major Archbishop-Catholicos of the Malankara Catholic Church, announced that Eusebius would be the first Bishop of the new Malankara Diocese of Parassala, India.
St. Jude Syro Malankara Catholic Church is a parish of the Syro-Malankara Catholic Eparchy of the United States of America and Canada located in Bensalem, Pennsylvania, US. St Jude celebrates Qurbono in Malayalam and English and serves members of the Syro-Malankara Catholic Church in the Delaware Valley.
The Saint Thomas Christian denominations are Christian denominations from Kerala, India, which traditionally trace their ultimate origins to the evangelistic activity of Thomas the Apostle in the 1st century. They are also known as "Nasranis" as well. The Syriac term "Nasrani" is still used by St. Thomas Christians in Kerala. It is part of the Eastern Christianity institution.
Several historical evidences shed light on a significant Malankara–Persian ecclesiastical relationship that spanned centuries. While an ecclesiastical relationship existed between the Saint Thomas Christians of India and the Church in Sassanid Empire in the earlier centuries, closer ecclesiastical ties developed as early as seventh century, when India became an ecclesiastical province of the Church of the East, albeit restricted to matters of purely ecclesiastical nature such as ordination of priests, and not involved in matters of temporal administration. This relationship endured until the Portuguese protectorate of Cochin of Malabar came to be in 16th century, and the Portuguese discovery of a sea route to India. The Christians who came under the two ancient yet distinct lineages of Malankara and Persia had one factor in common: their Saint Thomas heritage. The Church of the East shared communion with the Great Church until the Council of Ephesus in the 5th century, separating primarily over differences in Christology.
Mor Chrysostomos Markose is a Syriac Orthodox arch bishop. He is the Bishop of E.A.E. Archdiocese of the Syriac Orthodox church in India .
Mor Osthatheos Issac is a Syriac Orthodox bishop, currently Metropolitan of Bangalore, Mylapore Diocese in Tamil Nadu and Patriarchal Vicar of U.A.E.
Malankara Syriac Knanaya Community are part of the larger Knanaya community who are descendants of an endogamous ethnic migrant group of Syriac-Jewish Christians who arrived and settled in Kerala in the 4th or 8th century.
The Holy Qurobo or Holy Qurbono refers to the Eucharist as celebrated in Syro-Antiochene Rite and the liturgical books containing rubrics for its celebration. West Syriac Rite includes various descendants of the Oriental Orthodox and Eastern Catholic churches. It consists of two distinct liturgical traditions: the Maronite Rite, and the Jacobite Rite. The major Anaphora of both the traditions is the Divine Liturgy of Saint James in Syriac language. The Churches are primarily based in the Middle East, Africa, and India.
Rev. P.T. Givergis Paniker Karichal was a priest, educationalist and astrologer of Syro-Malankara Catholic Church. He is from the great Panicker family and 39th priest of the family. He was the vicar of St. George Malanakara Syrian Catholic Church and the headmaster of St Mary's U.P school, Karichal.
The Eastern Catholic Churches of the Catholic Church utilize liturgies originating in Eastern Christianity, distinguishing them from the majority of Catholic liturgies which are celebrated according to the Latin liturgical rites of the Latin Church. While some of these sui iuris churches use the same liturgical ritual families as other Eastern Catholic churches and Eastern churches not in full communion with Rome, each church retains the right to institute its own canonical norms, liturgical books, and practices for the ritual celebration of the Eucharist, other sacraments, and canonical hours.
The Mystery of Crowning is a ritual component of the sacrament of marriage in Eastern Christianity. Variations of the crowning ceremony exist in multiple liturgical rites, including the Byzantine, Coptic, West Syriac, and East Syriac Rites of the Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, and Eastern Catholic Churches. The crowning ceremony typically features a crown being placed upon the head of both the bride and bridegroom, crowning them as the queen and king of a new family.