Mother Mary’s holy girdle to be on display
September 1, 2005 – 9:04 amThe St Peter’s Jacobite Syrian Church at Mit Chowky will display a part of the girdle of Mother Mary to devotees from Sept 1 to 8. This church houses the Soonoro (a portion of the holy girdle of Mother Mary).
According to Mathew Thomas, secretary of the Parish Youth Association of St Peter’s Jacobite Church, “The girdle is said to have been in the possession of the apostle St Thomas who brought it to India.
In 394 AD, together with the coffin of St Thomas, the girdle also moved from India to Syria and was kept in a church there.”
The girdle stayed in the possession of the Syrian Orthodox Church, but over a period of time, the church lost track of the holy relic. In April 1953, Ignatius Aphrem, the supreme head of the Syrian Orthodox Church, found a letter that revealed the location of the girdle.
In 1982, during the Apostolic visit of His Holiness, Ignatius Zakka II Patriarch to Malankara, Kerala, he brought a portion of the girdle and installed it in many churches in Malankara. All these churches became places of pilgrimage later.
Thomas adds, “His Holiness Moran Mor Ignatius Zakka II then brought a part of the girdle to St Peter’s Church. It is the only church outside Kerala where the Soonoro has been installed.”
The Soonoro is opened for public veneration once a year on Sept 1 and displayed during Ettunombu — an eight-day period of fasting that lasts until Sept 8, the birthday of Mother Mary. On that day, the casket housing the girdle will be taken out of the shrine and devotees will be allowed to venerate it.
St Peter’s Church
Mit Chowky
Marve Road
Call 28612121 / 55425436
