Welcome to our Church Website. As the Vicar of the St. Mary’s Malankara Orthodox Church of Dallas in Farmers Branch, Texas, it is my pleasure and privilege to welcome every one to our website. Please have a tour with the various links and informative pages. Our church is a part of the Malankara (Indian) Orthodox Chruch, which has the great heritage and tradition base on the Holy Bible and the Church Fathers. The Church was founded in India on 52 A.D, by St. Thomas, one of the twelve apostles of Jesus Christ. The Orthodox Church of India has its own hierarchical head. His Holiness Baselius Marthoma Didymos I is the ruling head of the church. His Holiness is also known as the Catholicos, which is name equal to the Patriarch and the Roman Pope. The word Catholicos means “the Universal Father”. His Holiness is also known as the “Malankara Metropolitan”, which shows the temporal authority over the church and its property. Malankara is the other name used for the word Malabar, which is once used for all the Malayalam speaking territory of Kerala. The Church has dioceses in India and abroad. In America, there is one diocese with its headquarters in New York. Our diocesan bishop is His Grace Mathews Mar Barnabas and His Grace Zacharias Mar Nicholovos as its Assistant bishop. We have more than 75 parishes all over America. Our church in Dallas is founded about 35 years ago in the venerable name of St. Mary, the Mother of God.
Every Sunday and all the other festivals we have the Holy Eucharist, we have the Intercessory prayer to St. Mary every Tuesday @ 7:30 PM. This consists of the evening prayer, devotional talks, and the intercession to the Mother of God. All the spiritual organizations work in its real spirit with enthusiasm and all its established aim and target. We have constantly connected with the main stream of the Church and the diocese and with cooperation with the Orthodox sister parishes in Dallas and with a decent and divine friendship with all the other denominations.
We have 120 member families. A Sunday school of more than 100 students and 20 teachers. MGOCSM, Youth League, Martha Mariam Samajam, Prayer Group are working very well.
Why do we go to Church?
This is a question asked by many people. Believers and atheists alike. God is everywhere, He is omnipresent and He could be worshipped in any way and at any place. But the importance of Church is unquestionable. Because it is the place of sacrifice. God said to Solomon when he dedicated the temple of Jerusalem. “My eyes and my heart will be there for ever.” (I king. 9:3). Every time when we come together to attend at the Holy Qurbana, we rededicate our lives. Holy Qurbana is not merely a remembrance of what Jesus did for the mankind, it is a real and live thing in all its aspects. Jesus becomes part of the believer, the believer becomes part of Jesus’ body. In the Holy Qurbana, we see what happened in Bethlehem at the birth of Jesus, what Jesus had done for us in the upper room in Jerusalem that Jesus washed the feet of His disciples and given His body and blood through the bread and wine. We see what happened on the heights of Calvary and at the tomb on the daybreak of the third day. And what happened on the 40th day on the Mount of Olives. Also we are repeating our confession that we are awaiting the Second Coming of our Lord. There we receive the divine peace from the heavenly Altar.
It is a worship in which the living and the departed assemble together. The angels of the heaven sing with the earthly men. There is the Mother of God and all the saints. There the heaven opens and all the heavenly hosts descends unto the earth.
Holy Qurbana is a sacrament instituted by Jesus Himself. It is the crown of all sacraments and the sacrament of sacraments. Every sacrament is sanctified by this sacrament.
The understanding and teaching about Holy Eucharist makes the Orthodox Church unique among the Christian world. While some non-orthodox churches use the word “Mass”, it is Eucharist for us. This is the same term used from the very early church fathers. The Greek word “Eucharistia” means “Thanksgiving”, same term used to refer both the rite and the consecrated elements. St. Ignatius, bishop of Antioch, who was martyred in Rome in about 110 AD. And Justin Martyr wrote around 150 AD. Both used the same for the Holy Qurbana.
Holy Eucharist is the fulfillment of God’s plan for the salvation of mankind from sin, a commemoration and making present of Jesus’ crucifixion on Calvary and His Resurrection, the means for Christians to unite with God and with each other, and the giving of thanks for all these things.
Please come, let us worship together. We are the temple, we are the sacrifice. It is much stronger and effective when we worship and pray together.
Another important thing is that we have started a new mission for building a new church and its related facilities. By the grace of God Almighty we are in the process and hope we will fulfill the dream in the immediate future. I request your prayer and cooperation in this matter.
Thank you, May God Bless You abundantly.
With Love and Prayers, Yours in our Lord’s Service:
Rev. Fr. Thampan Varghese
President/ Vicar
