The Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church was founded by St. Thomas, one of the twelve apostles of Jesus Christ, who came to India in A.D. 52.
Why is our Church called the ‘Malankara’ ‘Orthodox’ ‘Church’
Malankara: St Thomas landed on the island called Malyankara near Kodungalloor, in Kerala, in AD 52.
Orthodox: This word is an amalgamation of two Greek words, Orthos and Doxa. Orthos means straight or true while Doxa means glory. Therefore, as a Church we stand firm with the uncorrupted and true faith we use to glorify God.
Syrian: Around the 4th Century AD, the Malankara Orthodox Church entered into a close relationship with the Persian or East Syrian Church. From the Persians, the Indians inherited East Syrian language and liturgies and gradually came to be known as Syrian Christians.
The Church entered into a new phase of its history with the establishment of the Catholicate in 1912.
At present the Church is using the West Syrian liturgy. The faith of the Church is that which was established by the three Ecumenical Councils of Nicea (A.D. 325), Constantinople (A.D. 381) and Ephesus (A.D. 431).
At present the Church has over 2 million faithful with 24 dioceses all over the world.
If you require a more in-depth read about our beautiful faith and history, there are many more resources that can be found on http://mosc.in/the_church which is part of the official website of our Malankara Orthodox Church.
-JGV