Mangalathunada Chappel
Mangalathunada Chappel
The St. George Jacobite Syrian Chapel is where around 200 members of the Mazhuvannoor St. Thomas Cathedral come to worship. The family units St. Luke, St. Peter, Mar Ignatius, and Mar Athanasius of the Mangalatthunada ward of the Mazhuvannoor Cathedral form the major attendees of the chapel.
For the convenience of the Mangalatthunada residents, the MGM Sunday School was started over a hundred years ago in the MGM LP School that was being managed by Mangalattu Paily Maatthunni.
The support for the sunday school in its initial stages was provided by respected Thekkumcheril Isaac, Kollammaavukudiyil (Chenganaamadhatthil) Varkey and Kannikkaattel K V Kuriakose.
After the LP School was handed over to the Malankara Catholic Church, the Sunday School underwent severe problems. Soon it became a necessity to construct a new building for the Sunday School. Toward this cause, one of the trustees of the Mazhuvannur Church, Mangalatthu M. Matthew oversaw the purchase of 16 cents of land from Puthusseril Narayanan.
During the construction of the sunday school building, the desire of the then-vicar Fr. Thekkumcheril Geevarghese to plan ahead to one day convert it to a place of worship in future proved decisive in the conception of the church.
On Feb 20 1972, the metropolitan of the Angamaly diocese H.G Philipose Mar Theophilus purified the chapel and celebrated the holy qurbana. He also instructed that qurbana be conducted the next month.
Qurbana was held on alternate Sundays, and for the past twenty years, every week has seen the holy qurbana being celebrated. A further 30 cents of land were added to the chapel over separate occasions, to support the chapel functioning. The MGM Sunday School, Mar Gregorios Gospel Association, Martha Mariyam Women's Association, and the St. George Youth Association are functioning under the chapel.
At the east junction of Mangalatthunada, the late Thaamarappilli Maadapparambil Babu Varghese donated the land where a cross-mount stands in Chathurutthil Gregorios thirumeni's name. At the west side, a cross mount in the name of Aluva's Paulose Mar Athanasios Valiyathirumeni also stands. Every year, the feast of St. George is celebrated on the 22nd and 23rd of April.
In 2010, during the annual meeting of the chapel, it was decided to reconstruct the chapel building. A chapel reconstruction committee was formed with Thekkumcheril Adv. T C Baby as convenor and 21 members to supervise the reconstruction. On 12 Dec 2010 H.G Jacob Mar Antonios blessed and established the foundation for the reconstruction.
The chapel received a lot of encouragement and support from the cathedral, especially in its initial stages. The cooperation from the people for the functioning of the chapel and its reconstruction is memorable.
Glory be to the Almighty Lord who has guided us this far.