By the Grace of God, the St Thomas Orthodox Syrian Church(STOC) had its humble beginning in 1966 when Rev Fr T.C. Mathai joined hands with Late Sri, M.J. Thomas Mullasseril, Late Sri V.C. Jacob Vaikkathusseril, and Late Sri C.T. George Cheruvathur to build the church and constitute the Parish. Thomas Mullasseril provided the initial financial help to buy the land of about 60 cents near Kattangal j
unction and the teaming up of people beyond the denominational and religious differences had led to the construction of the Church. The Church constructed in 1966 was smaller in size and was with the tiled roof and could accommodate less than 100 people at a time. Church was named after St. Thomas, the Apostle of India. Left side throne was dedicated to St. Mary and the right side throne was dedicated to St Gregorios of Parumala. Parish was constituted in 1966 and Rev. Fr. T.C. Mathai was the Founder Vicar.The proximity with the National Institute of Technology Calicut(formerly Calicut Regional Engineering College) was another motivating factor because many Christian students join the Institute every year for engineering and other programmes and the staff also wanted a church for their religious needs. Calicut REC was started in 1961.Along with the starting of the Church, H.H. Marthoma Didimos I Catholicos of the East(Formerly H.G. Thomas Mar Timotheus, who was the Metropolitan of Malabar Diocese that time) came to Chathamangalam and wanted to construct the Bishop’s House(Aramana) adjacent to the Church itself. Dei Gratia, the plans went well and the Bishop’s House and the Head Quarters of the Malabar Diocese had also come up along with the Church. The campus was named as Mount Hermon, on seeing the scenic beauty of the places around. The need for a Cemetery was felt when the situations warranted it. Parish members approached the Metropolitan and a plot of 50 cents was earmarked from within the land of the Aramana for the cemetery. Necessary permissions from the Government was quickly obtained with the help from members of the Parish and the well-wishers. Initially there were only few families and the Holy Mass was conducted only on one Sunday in a month. On other Sundays, the Christian students of REC joined and led the prayer fellowships. The unique and magnanimous support from the three families who toiled to build the Church is written in golden letters in the history of this Parish. The presence of the Church at Kattangal has attracted a number of Christian families to settle in and around Chathamangalam, Mukkom and Kunnamangalam. Employees of the erstwhile Mavoor Gwalior Rayons company also joined the Parish when they started staying in the nearby places. Big Parishes like St Marys Orthodox Syrian Church, Maikkavu and St George Orthodox Cathedral, Kozhikode are far away. Parish membership had grown from a single digit to more than 70 over these years. Parish celebrated its Golden Jubilee in 2015-2016. The co- existence of Aramana and the Church has given the title “Aramana Palli” to the Church. The increase in peoples participation in Holy Mass and Church activities and the need for conducting he Diocese level meetings necessitated the construction of a bigger church building. So, the construction of the new Church was started in 2007 with permission from the Diocese. In order to maintain continuity of the worship by retaining the old church building till the new one comes up and also maximize the use of the available land, Vicar Late Very Rev. Paulose Rambhan Cor Episcopa conceived the idea of the unconventional hexagonal shape and the plan and design was made according to that. Foundation stone for the new church was blessed by H.H. Marthoma Didimos I Catholicos Bhava. Initial donation was also given by Bhava Thirumeni. Construction was started in June 2007 and was almost complete by September 2009. New Church was consecrated by H.G. Zacharias Mar Theophilos, the Metropolitan of Malabar Diocese on 27th September 2009. Sri Joy P.K. Padinjarekuzipallil was the Trustee and Sri T.C. Poulose was the Engineer, who have toiled a lot and coordinated with the other Parish members and carried the construction of the new Church forward with impeccable precision and dedication. This move has resulted in the new Church that can roughly accommodate 200 or more people at a time. The construction cost was well within the affordable budget of this small Parish. Support and prayers from the many well-wishers in this endeavour are acknowledged with a deep sense of gratitude. Parish annually celebrates three feasts(perunal) to commemorate the memories of the guiding saints. Feast of St Mary is celebrated in January and the Feast of St Gregorios in November while the main feast of the Parish, the Feast of St Thomas is celebrated in December. All feasts and memorial services and conducted every year, with great reverence and joy. As time passed by, many more institutions have come up in the neigbouring places of the Church, apart from NIT Calicut. MVR Cancer & Research Centre, IIM Kozhikode, more than 14 institutions of the KMCT Group, couple of Arts & Science colleges, a number of Government/private higher secondary schools and so on make the region an educational hub of Kerala. The silvan beauty of the Western Ghats and the social harmony makes the place quite attractive. Church and is now centrally located in the Malabar Diocese, because of the expansion of the road network in the Malabar region. A word of appreciation and gratitude
Through this note, Parish wishes to place on record its deep sense of gratitude to all the Vicars right from the Founder Vicar Rev Fr T.C. Mathai who led the Parish in the light of Jesus and all the Priests who have visited the Parish at some point in time and blessed the members through their liturgical services and their enlightening sermons. The dedicated works of all the former Trustees, Secretaries, the former office bearers of the Sunday School, Samajam, Prayer Group, have helped the Parish to serve the mission of the Church in a commendable manner. Parish is greatly indebted to the students of NIT Calicut who have associated with the Church from time to time, Pre Seminary students of the Aramana and the Sisters of Mar Gregorios Convent for their help and support in the conduct of the regular worship in all these years. Thanks to the Diocese, presently, the worship is regularly conducted on all Sundays and the Parish is very vibrant. Parish is glad to mention that it has received immense blessings and guidance from H.H. Marthoma Didimos I Catholicos of the East and H.G. Zacharias Mar Theophilos. Present Metropolitan of Malabar Diocese H.G Mathews Mar Saverios is also very affectionate and caring. May God shower his blessings on all who were kind enough to build the Church and the Parish over these years. In the name of Holy Trinity, Mother Mary, all Apostles and Saints Amen.
