Chapter 2
The Church in Madras
While the diocese of Mylapore, and the territory towards the south
of Mylapore became a flourishing Christian community under the
Portuguese Padroado jurisdiction, the nearby town of Madras
which had a small-sea port at that time attracted the attention of the
East India Company, namely the British merchants in India. The
English erected Fort St. George in 1639 thus establishing
themselves firmly in Madras as against the Portuguese in the
nearby Mylapore. People speaking Telugu language inhabited the
territory to the north of Madras and the Jesuits started a Christian
mission there in 1601. Around the same time the Capuchins began
a mission in Madras, which flourished particularly under a certain
Fr. Ephrem. Gradually several conflicts developed between the
ecclesiastical authorities of Mylapore and the missionaries attached
to the Madras Mission. It is even said that Fr. Ephrem was
abducted by the Padroado agents and detained in an inquisitorial jail
at Goa for twenty-two months.
i. The Propaganda Jurisdiction
It was at this time that the Propaganda Fidei, that is the Roman
Commission founded by Pope Gregory XV in 1622 to look after the
interests of worldwide evangelization (now known as the
Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples), took the Madras
mission under its jurisdiction. Hence the presence of a twofold
ecclesiastical territory within a distance of hardly ten kilometers,
namely the Padroado jurisdiction of Mylapore and the Propaganda
jurisdiction of Madras. In 1707 the Capuchin mission of Madras
was raised by the Propaganda to the status of a Prefecture
Apostolic with Fr. Ephrem as the first Prefect Apostolic. And as
more and more territory came under the authority of the British the
116
evangelizing mission of the Capuchins too flourished. Conflicts
between the two ecclesiastical units also increased in proportion to
the rivalries between the British and the Portuguese. There was an
Apostolic Visitation from Rome in 1819 to bring about a
rapprochement between the warring ecclesiastical factions. But the
differences between the Padroado and the Propaganda widened
and the growth of the Church was seriously affected. In 1833
Portugal broke her relationship with the Holy See, and in 1834 all
Religious Orders were suppressed throughout the Portuguese
Empire. And it was in the same year that the Prefecture Apostolic,
of Madras was raised to the status of a Vicariate Apostolic with
Mgr. Daniel O’Connor of Ireland as the first Vicar Apostolic, who
took over the responsibilities of the Capuchin mission.
The differences between the Holy See and the King of Portugal
came to an end through a Concordat of 1857 and the Padroado was
once again accepted by the Pope. And a subsequent Concordat
during the Pontificate of Pope Leo XIII in 1866 reduced the
jurisdiction of the Archdiocese of Goa and the jurisdictions of the
dioceses of Mylapore and Cochin were increased. The diocese of
Mylapore was extended even up to port of Calcutta to the North
East and the port of Tuticorin in the South.
And in the same year, the ecclesiastical unit of Madras was
promoted to the status of an Archdiocese by a decree of Pope Leo
XIII on 1st September 1886. The Mill Hill Missionaries of England
began to work there since 1877. Joseph Colgan a Mill Hill
missionary became the first Archbishop of Madras in 1882, and he
was followed by Archbishop John Aelan in 1912. It was John Aelan
who had taken initiatives with the Jesuits to establish the Loyola
College at Madras. He had also founded the Congregation of the
Franciscan Sisters of St. Joseph while he was the Parish Priest of
Vepery. After John Aelan had resigned as Archbishop of Madras in
1928, a new era of administration began in the See of Madras.
117
ii. The Salesians of Don Bosco in Madras
On request from the Propaganda Fide, the first official group of
Salesian missionaries arrived in India in 1922 under the leadership
of a young and dynamic Salesian priest Fr. Louis Mathias, and they
were entrusted with the Apostolic Prefecture of Assam hitherto
looked after by the Salvatorian Fathers. Fr. Louis Mathias became
the Apostolic Prefect. The Salesian mission began to flourish in the
North East during this time. But their presence in the diocese of
Mylapore had begun even earlier, that is in 1906. They had been
invited by the Bishop of Mylapore who had known Don Bosco
personally and had been entrusted with a parish and several youth
activities in Thanjavur. They also looked after an orphanage in
Mylapore. Around the year 1927 the Salesians took over the
mission of North Arcot after having withdrawn themselves from
Thanjavur and Mylapore as advised by the Bishop of Mylapore.
But with the resignation of Archbishop Aelan from the See of
Madras in 1928 the divine providence began to work in an
inscrutable way! The Propaganda Fidei requested the Salesian
Congregation to take over the See of Madras and Fr. Eugene
Mederlet became the first Salesian Archbishop of Madras and the
North Arcot Mission became part of the Archdiocese. After the
death of Archbishop Mederlet, in 1935) the dynamic Mgr. Louis
Mathias who a year ago had been made Bishop of Shillong was
transferred as the Archbishop of Madras, and there commenced a
new era in the history of the Church in Madras and Mylapore.
Archbishop Louis Mathias
Archbishop Louis Mathias was a great missionary, an able
organizer and a very dynamic personality. Armed with his Episcopal
motto “dare and hope” he had an ambitious vision for his new
Archdiocese. He was quite aware of the religious as well as the
socio-political dimensions of the new region where he had been
118
called upon to head the Church. The freedom movement against
the colonial British rule was making its way. Archbishop Mathias
was fully sympathetic to the cause of a free India.
Madras was a city and its problems were totally unlike those faced
by the tribal populations in the North East. His leadership as the
Archbishop of the city of Madras had to include the social, the
intellectual and the moral spheres. The territory of the Archdiocese
of Madras included a vast portion of the city of Madras except the
southern portion which formed part of the Padroado Diocese of
Mylapore, and the whole of the vast North Arcot district, which
was very poor and consisted mostly of dalit population. The great
Archbishop did evince a keen interest in the uplift of such
marginalized sections of society.
One of the first concerns of the new Archbishop was the
recruitment of priestly vocations and formation of priests. He felt
that he needed more priests and for this purpose he needed a Major
Seminary of his own. He acquired a property belonging to the
diocese of Mylapore at Poonamallee and on 8th September 1936,
the birthday of Our Lady, Sacred Heart Seminary was inaugurated.
The Seminary was entrusted to the care of the Salesian Province
of Madras who would run it with help from the diocesan clergy of
Madras. The dynamism of the great Archbishop paid rich dividends
and the Seminary flourished from year to year providing priests not
only for Madras but also for many other dioceses all over India.
And the seminary now administered by the diocesan clergy has
already provided over 1200 priests to work for the Kingdom of God,
and the number of students in formation there, resident seminarians
as well as non-resident religious has now gone beyond three
hundred! The seed planted 68 years ago has become a banyan tree
giving shelter to many a priestly vocation!
Archbishop Mathias’ enthusiasm and drive led him to organize
events befitting the historic See of Madras. He arranged for a
119
national Eucharistic Congress in the city of Madras, in 1937, as a
memorable Christian witness, and the then Chief Minister of
Madras, the versatile Rajagopalachariar remarked, “Madras has
become Christian”! And several encomiums were showered on
Archbishop Mathias for his organizing capacity. In 1938 he
founded a monthly magazine Clergy Monthly that developed itself
as an important journal of theological reflection, now known as the
Vidyajyothi and admirably managed by the Jesuits from Delhi. The
weekly newspaper of the Archdiocese “The Catholic Leader”
was given a new format and a new name “The New Leader” and
it has become a vibrant Catholic journal today. And he founded two
other magazines for the benefit of the common people, Catholic
Action in English and Nallayan (Good Shepherd) in Tamil. These
journals did not have a long life! The Archbishop showed keen
interest in education, founding schools within the city of Madras and
outside, and encouraging the religious to found more schools.
One great trait of the Archbishop was his rare courage in defending
the Church. During a visit of Nikita Kruschev the Communist
premier of Russia he showed his displeasure about him by flouting
the government order to close the schools in honour of the ‘rare’
guest! Similarly when the Yugoslav president Tito visited India, the
Archbishop denounced him from the pulpit as “a butcher”!
In a rare intervention at the Second Vatican Council in 1962
Archbishop Mathias spoke of the need for the institution of the
Opus S. Pauli Apostoli ad Gentes, that is, a Pontifical fund for the
training and maintenance of Catechists in the third world. And he
had himself opened St. Paul’s Catechists Training Centre at
Poonamallee, and found funds for it.
iii. Archdiocese of Madras Mylapore
The most outstanding event in the Catholic Church of South India,
to which Archbishop Mathias may take a legitimate credit was the
amalgamation of the two dioceses namely the Archdiocese of
Madras and the diocese of Mylapore. Both had their headquarters
in the city of Madras though extending themselves in the rural
districts to the west and the south respectively. We had already
seen the origin of these two ecclesiastical units but the
embarrassment and sometimes even the scandal caused to others
by the unavoidable rivalries between the two were a matter of
concern. In 1950 there was a happy turn of events when Rome and
Portugal came to an agreement by which the Padroado was
abolished in the whole of India except in Goa. The last Padroado
Bishop Dom Manuel de Guerreiro was reassigned to Nampula in
Mozambique in Africa, and Mylapore was left with an Apostolic
Administrator Mgr. Francis Carvalho.
Archbishop Louis Mathias seized this opportunity to impress upon
Rome the incongruity of the double jurisdiction in the same city, and
earnestly sought an amalgamation of both the dioceses under a
single jurisdiction with due respect to the long ecclesiastical history
of both
The solemn event of the amalgamation came into effect on 13th
November 1952, by the Apostolic Constitution “Exprimaevae
Ecclesiae” which brought about a satisfactory turn of events to all
concerned. Two new dioceses namely Vellore and Thanjavur were
created dismembering the western and southern portions of the
ecclesiastical units of Madras and Mylapore respectively. The
remaining territory of Madras and Mylapore were amalgamated as
one ecclesiastical unit under the name, Archdiocese of Madras -
Mylapore. And the Archbishop of Madras, Mgr. Louis Mathias,
was appointed as the first Archbishop of Madras-Mylapore while
the Apostolic Administrator of Mylapore, Mgr. Francis Carvalho,
was nominated the first Auxiliary Bishop of the same Archdiocese.
The twofold nomenclature Madras-Mylapore was adopted for the
historical significance of Mylapore, although it was just a tiny
portion in the topographical map of the city of Madras
121
Archbishop Mathias realized the importance of the traditions, which
made up the historic diocese of Mylapore. He obtained the
permission of the Holy See to make the Cathedral of Mylapore a
Basilica. And in 1956 he crowned the ancient statue of Mary
venerated as Our Lady of Mylapore, and declared her the official
patroness of the newly amalgamated Archdiocese, along with St.
Thomas the Apostle. A solemn feast, and divine office was also
promulgated in honour of Our Lady of Mylapore. The Church of
Our Lady of Angels at Broadway, hitherto the Cathedral of the
Archdiocese of Madras was declared a Co-Cathedral. Archbishop
Louis Mathias continued his tireless efforts in helping the poor and
constructing tenements for the pavement dwellers, for which
purpose he made a number of visits in Europe and America. The
last years of his episcopate were remarkably that of a Good
Samaritan.
Archbishop R. Arulappa
After the death of Archbishop Louis Mathias on 3rd August 1965,
Mgr. R. Arulappa succeeded him as the first Indian Archbishop of
Madras - Mylapore. He was elected Archbishop on 1st February
1966, and ordained on 25th March the same year. An erudite
scholar, a zealous pastor, and a holy priest, Archbishop Arulappa the
first Indian to take up Episcopal leadership in Mylapore or in the
new Archdiocese of Madras-Mylapore was a priest of the old
Mylapore diocese. He began his Episcopal ministry with a clear
vision and a thrust for evangelization particularly in the rural areas.
And he proved himself fully true to his motto, “evangelizare
divitias Christi” that is, “to proclaim the riches of Christ”
Archbishop Arulappa constantly visited the village parishes and
encouraged the pastoral as well as the evangelizing activities there.
He would spend as many days as needed in these rural missions
visiting every nook and corner of the poor villages, getting to know
people, celebrating the Eucharist, teaching Catechism and
122
administering the sacrament of Confirmation. He enjoyed spending
long hours teaching Catechism to children as well as illiterate
adults. With a view to give a better pastoral care for the people,
especially the children and the women, he encouraged the religious
congregations of women to open convents in the rural areas in
order to work for their social upliftment. It was due to the ardent
initiative of Archbishop Arulappa that the St. Paul’s Bible Institute
at Poonamallee, which grew out of the earlier St. Paul’s Catechists’
Centre, began to admit Sisters and train them in the knowledge of
Bible useful to the ministry of evangelization. The Catholic
Information Centre known as the Arutchudar, which he began at
the Armenian Street near the Catholic Centre, still continues to
give opportunity to hundreds of seekers to know Christ and to
accept him as their Lord and Saviour.
His extraordinary zeal in the cause of evangelization led Archbishop
Arulappa to write a series of tracts and leaflets to explain the truths
of faith, which could be understood even by simple people. He was
certain that St. Thomas’ preaching in Mylapore could have
influenced even the great poet Thiruvalluvar, who had lived in
Mylapore, and who should have been a contemporary of St.
Thomas . With this premise Archbishop Arulappa ventured to give
a Christian interpretation to Thirukural, a much admired composition
of Thiruvalluvar. In his later years his flair for writing resulted in the
publication of nearly a dozen books most of them lives of saints,
particularly the contemplative ones. And one cannot forget the
pivotal role he played in the interests of the Church in Tamilnadu
particularly in the translation of the New Testament and the revision
of the Old Testament before the present Common Bible appeared.
Archbishop Arulappa was also a great devotee of the Holy
Eucharist and spent long hours in prayer before the Blessed
Sacrament. This was to be a means of bringing consolation and
strength to all those who were laden with heavy burdens of life. He
123
had a special devotion to the Rosary reciting it before the Blessed
Sacrament in deep faith and thus enhancing the contemplative
dimension of the beads.
After having laboured tirelessly for a period of twenty-one years,
with the zeal for the Lord almost consuming him, Archbishop
Arulappa retired gracefully in 1987 and still continued with his
apostolate of writing until his death in 1996. During his tenure as
Archbishop, Dr. Arulappa was assisted by Bishop Michael
Augustine as his auxiliary though for a short period of just three
years (1978-1981)
Archbishop Casimir Gnanadickam
Archbishop Casimir was a Jesuit who had held several prestigious
positions in the Society of Jesus before he became a Bishop.
Having gone through the best of education, ecclesiastical as wells
secular, at home and abroad, Archbishop Casimir was successively,
a professor of Chemistry, Rector and Principal of the prestigious St.
Joseph’s College at Trichy, Provincial of the Madurai Province, and
finally an assistant to the Jesuit General at Rome. He was
appointed Archbishop of Madurai, in 1985 and after two years he
was elevated as Archbishop of the historic See of Madras-
Mylapore.
Archbishop Casimir brought a rich experience to his ministry as
Archbishop of Madras-Mylapore in the field of education,
administration as well as social consciousness. It was in the last
area that he made an indelible mark. He read the signs of the times
and was quick to understand the legitimate demands of the poor,
particularly the dalits. He showed a keen interest in the education
of the dalit children. He initiated a few centers of non-formal
education to the dalit youth with a view to train them with some
technical qualification. He also encouraged the formation of the
Chingleput Rural Development Society (CRDS) to cater to the
124
social development of the Chingleput district. And it was he who
made the initial moves towards the formation of the Chigleput
Diocese. Just after six years of his Episcopal ministry an untimely
death took Archbishop Casimir away in 1993.
Archbishop Arul Das James
Affable, in temperament, and simple in personality, Archbishop Arul
Das James succeeded Dr. Casimir in the apostolic See of St.
Thomas on July 31, 1994. He brought along with him a rich pastoral
experience having exercised his Episcopal ministry already for 19
years as the Bishop of Ootacamund, a suffragan of the
Archdiocese of Madras-Mylapore.
Archbishop Arul Das James endeared himself soon to everyone -
the clergy, the religious as well as the faithful by the personal touch
he gave to all his contacts. He cultivated a special relationship with
his own close collaborators, the diocesan clergy. He showed
himself a compassionate friend to the poor of the Archdiocese, who
sought him daily in large numbers. He has been a dynamic pastor,
and involved himself tirelessly in the progress of the vast
Archdiocese. And one of the earliest achievements of Archbishop
Arul Das James has been the establishment of a Community
College at Santhome. This employment-oriented institute of higher
education has been a big boon for many a youth of the Archdiocese
to get educated with the assurance of a job accompanying him.
With a particular interest in the poor, particularly the dalits, the
Archbishop established several burses for their education.
Behind his simple exterior, Archbishop Arul Das James did enshrine
a rare boldness. He showed tact, confidence and courage in the
way he disposed himself to take over the diocesan Major Seminary
at Poonamallee in 1998, after it had been successfully administered
by the Salesian Province of Madras for 62 years. The fact that the
Archbishop reposed much trust on his diocesan clergy was itself a
125
great asset in the effective administration of the seminary by them
in the years that followed.
The most memorable event in the history of the Archdiocese of
Madras-Mylapore, for which Dr. Arul Das James will be
remembered and given credit to, is the bifurcation of the
Archdiocese. The process of bifurcation was handled patiently,
systematically and tactfully for nearly three years and consultations
were made at every stage. And the Holy See complied with the
process amicably and on 19th July 2002, sixty-two parishes situated
in the civil district of Kancheepuram along with the various religious
communities and institutions attached to them, were dismembered
from the territory of the Archdiocese of Madras-Mylapore and
made into the new Diocese of Chingleput. And a son of the
Archdiocese, Fr. A. Neethinathan, the Vice-Rector at the Sacred
Heart Seminary, was nominated the first Bishop of the new
diocese. Significantly, Archbishop Arul Das James paved way for
a new diocese, in the golden jubilee year of the amalgamation of the
two historic ecclesiastical units of Mylapore and Madras, as the
Archdiocese of Madras-Mylapore. And thus he ensured a
conducive development of the Church and a more effective
coordination of pastoral concerns. And earlier while celebrating the
silver jubilee in of his own Episcopal ordination in 1999, he had the
joy of ordaining Bishop Lawrence Pius as his Auxiliary.
Archbishop Arul Das James had the singular joy and privilege of
blessing and inaugurating the new basement chapel built around the
tomb of St. Thomas on 3rd July 2004. It is to be noted that he
performed this happy ceremony seated on his wheel chair as he
was already suffering from a malfunctioning of his kidneys as well
as a paralysis of his right leg. He died on 30th August 2004.
iv. A Golden Leaf in the Saga of Faith
The gothic Cathedral which has been the pride of everyone in the
city of Madras did begin to succumb to the ravages of time. The
126
great edifice on the shores of the Bay of Bengal, and situated just
about 200 feet away from the sea had to weather winds, storms,
erosions and pollutions for over a century and more. The sea
breeze had its own ill effects on the monument. And over the years
the woodwork began to show signs of decay. The slabs on the roof
were giving way. Rain water began to seep through. The walls
became dotted with scratches. The 107 year old Cathedral badly
needed restoration.
Considering the nature of this magnificent structure as ancient as
well as sacred and bearing in mind the hallowed nature of the tomb
enshrined in it, the restoration had to be done on a serious scale.
Experts had to be involved in the entire operation. Scientific
precision had to be kept in mind in restoring such pristine
monuments. Above all there were also the financial considerations!
Rev. Fr. P. J. Lawrence Raj, a young and dynamic priest of the
Archdiocese of Madras-Mylapore, a zealous and enterprising
pastor, was destined by divine providence to be the parish priest of
the reputed Cathedral parish at this time. And he was fully seized
with the problem that the Cathedral was facing. And he daringly
took up the challenge. He got a competent team from Bomaby,
Ravi Gundu Rao associates, specialists in restoring heritage
buildings, to make an exhaustive study of the project. And the study
only confirmed that the restoration was imperative and the task
ahead was to be immediate. The project was entrusted to Ravi
Gundu Rao and Associates, along with the Larson and Toubro, the
ECC Construction division. The operation ‘restoration’ got to a
happy start on 10th January 2003.
As if by a stroke of inspiration the dynamic Fr. Lawrence Raj was
suddenly possessed of a great question with regard to the tomb.
Can something be done to the tomb now along with the restoration
of the Cathedral? He had been observing that the tomb was not
accessible to the pilgrims and devotees during the time of worship
127
in the Cathedral. He had also been painfully noting that the
devotees who wished to spend long and quiet hours before the tomb
could not do so, for the exposure it had to everything that was
happening in and around the church. The vehicular traffic in the
Santhome High Road hardly fifteen feet away from the main door
of the Cathedral had grown to a dreadful level and the noise
generated made any quiet prayer difficult. Could anything be done
to protect the tomb and the devotees around it from the noise
pollution? The only alternative would be to construct a crypt for the
tomb, and make it a basement chapel which could serve the
pilgrims at all hours for their quiet engagement with the tomb, as it
is with the tomb of St. Peter in the great Basilica at Rome. It was
no doubt an ambitious project and even an atrocious one
considering the risks involved in excavations to be made around the
tomb, and the damage it might cause to the structure of the
Cathedral.
But Fr. Lawrence Raj toyed with the idea for quite some time and
consulted with many an engineering expert as to its technological
feasibility. Mr. Alex Jacob a renowned structural engineer, played
an important role in the process. Fr. Lawrence Raj got a positive
nod from them and he finally approached Archbishop Arul Das
James for approval. Having understood the calibre of this energetic
priest the far-sighted Archbishop gave him the green signal,
understanding fully well that this new venture would certainly bring
greater veneration to the tomb of the Apostle. Thus began the
construction of the basement chapel to enshrine the tomb, certainly
a golden leaf in the saga of faith which has involved the great
Apostle, St. Thomas.
The work of the basement chapel made its way along with the
operation of restoration. The earth around the tomb was carefully
excavated and cautiously sorted put. In spite of the dryness all
around, water began to ooze through. Walls were carefully raised.
128
The concrete cover came up in line with the flooring of the church.
And gradually the basement, 72 ft x 20ft x 8ft, with a seating
capacity for 150 people began to take shape with the tomb
prominently situated in the southern end. And a statue of St.
Thomas in a lying state was installed over the tomb and it is
covered in glass; a marble altar is erected over the statue. The
basement extends itself to include the space behind the main altar
of the Cathedral to the northern end in order to lend entrance to it
from behind the church as well as to serve as a lobby. Access to
the basement tomb chapel is through this lobby which in turn
contains two passages to the chapel on either side. The lobby itself
is 50ft x 20ft and does have some venerable attractions to prepare
one for a devotional visit to the chapel of the tomb.
As the work progressed Fr. Lawrence Raj became the focus of
criticism from some well-meaning zealots. The archeological
department was alerted. Articles for and against were written in the
local journals. Some of them contended that the whole operation
was a disrespect to the antiquity character of the Cathedral. But all
such sentiments were given due consideration and as the work
progressed the critics became silent.
The basement chapel was completed and it was inaugurated and
blessed on July 3rd 2004, by Archbishop Arul Das James. It was his
last engagement before his death on 30th August 2004. He deserved
this singular privilege for it was he who encouraged this work.
There is also one more happy addition to the sacred memory of the
Apostle, namely a permanent museum to exhibit the precious
objects and relics related to the venerable sites related to the
sacred tomb. These objects have been retrieved over the years,
particularly by Fr. Hosten, a Belgian Jesuit and an archeologist, in
the year 1923. It is built over the stairs leading down to the
basement chapel. A mini-theater too is attached to the museum and
129
it will be helpful in screening films on the life and mission of the
saint.
As these lines are being written the overall renovation of the
Cathedral is in full swing. The exterior has been completed and the
huge scaffolding reaching up to the tip of the high steeple has been
just removed. The roof in the interior has been totally revamped and
has a fresh look. The doors and windows have been spruced up.
The new marble flooring is still in the process of being laid. The
Cathedral Basilica is gradually putting on a look of grandeur which
should have been there a century ago. And the date for the solemn
consecration of the renovated Cathedral and the inauguration of the
newly constructed museum and mini-theater has also been fixed as
12th December 2004. The Apostolic Nuncio, Most Rev. Pedro
Lopez Quintana is to officiate in the grand ceremony with the
presence of several high ranking Prelates particularly from
Tamilnadu and Kerala. It will certainly be a befitting conclusion to
a great work. It will certainly be a new milestone in the great Saga
of Faith.
Conclusion
The magnificent Saga of Faith which began in the far away
Palestine two thousand years is on its glorious march even to this
day. St. Thomas, one of the twelve Apostles of Jesus Christ had
experienced an exciting discipleship with his Master Jesus Christ.
He went through a severe test of faith towards the end, but he soon
overcame that awful moment by his total surrender in a profound
act of faith, “My Lord and My God”! And that was the staring point
of a great saga which led him to India, and particularly to the
southern part of this great land. The apocryphal writings have
played somewhat of a dependable backdrop to the saga of the
Apostle. But the Fathers of the Church picked up the mission of
Thomas in India and embellished it with their own faith perspective.
The later travelers and tradesmen have furnished us with their
130
personal testimonials as to the mission of St. Thomas in India and
the precious vestiges he had left behind in the sands of time.
The Malabar Coast which became the principal beneficiary of the
mission of the Apostle has generously repaid it. Their pride as St.
Thomas Christians accompanied by their continued zeal in Christian
faith with all its consequences to a continuing mission of the Gospel
in India is itself a great expression of splendor in the saga of St.
Thomas.
The Mylapore tradition on the martyrdom of St. Thomas on its soil
gathered momentum over the years. The Portuguese efforts in
making the memory of the saint alive with a focus of faith on the
tomb had borne excellent benefits. The Padroado jurisdiction lasting
for nearly three centuries and a half had done much for the
missionary expansion of the Church. The construction of the
majestic gothic Cathedral over the tomb of St. Thomas was a sign
of a glorious faith on the martyred saint. The subsequent
ecclesiastical administration has been no less committed to the
memory of their great Apostle.
And the saga of St. Thomas continues. The Lord has his own ways
of raising up personnel to maintain the rhythm of his work. Looking
back into the corridors of history can be a great faith experience.
Every event in this long saga of our great Apostle can still give us
inspiration and courage.
