Talk:Syro-Malabar Church/CleanUP

message: The St. Thomas Christians had hierarchical dependence on the Seleucian Church till the end of the XVI century. The Indian Church of St. Thomas Christians was one of the four ‘Thomite’ Churches of the East. They are known as ‘Thomite’ as St. Thomas the Apostle was their direct or indirect Apostle. The Indian Church of the Thomas Christians in course of time was hierarchically subordinated to the Church of Persia proper first and then to the Chaldean Church which before the 9th century had its headquarters in Seleucia –Ctesiphone, the capital of the Persian Empire. This latter subordination lasted until the end of the 16th century. 
Communication between Thomas Christians and Rome was impossible due to geographical, political and other circumstances. Absence of communications or relations does not mean that they had no communion. Books brought down from Seleucia contained explicit statements about the divinely instituted Primacy of Rome over the whole Christendom. Bishop Roz seems to have found in Malabar fifty of the so called Nicean or Arabic Canons. Nicean or Arabic canons inculcate that the Roman Patriarch has jurisdiction over all the other Patriarchs -apocryphal. By the arrival of the Portuguese, the Thomas Christians were enabled to enter into relations with Rome. About the attitude of the Thomas Christians Dionisio sj writes the following: “About the Pope, they consider him as the Vicar of Christ, our Redeemer, on earth; (they consider) the Patriarch as subject to the Pope from whom he receives his power.” In fact it was by threatening them with excommunicatio latae sententiae that Dom Menezes, the Portuguese Latin prelate of Goa made the St. Thomas Christians sign the synod of Diamper. Schism can not be charged till the communion has been broken (in mala or bona fide).  —Preceding unsigned comment added by Tarijanel (talk • contribs) 06:36, 29 November 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  Faith & Communion of Syro Malabarians

message: St. Thomas was the common Apostole for all the Thomasine churches.Syriac was a common langauge.There was a strong Jewish influnece in ancient times and the commercial relations and social and cultural contacts due to geographical positions made the liturgical practice common among all Thomasine Churches.
Historians are of the opinion that Thomas established the early liturgy here in Aramaic (Syriac). St. Thomas provided only the rudiments of the liturgy, but it contained all the elements which later on developed into the full structure.
The continued use of Syriac language for the Church is partly because they believed the language was close or similar to the actual language that Jesus and the disciples spoke, hence it carried a connection with the land of Israel and Semitic culture that otherwise might have been lost.
The liturgy of these churches also carried many symbolic connections with Jerusalem and Semitic culture at large. Because of the scarcity or no availability of grape wine or wheat for bread, communion was performed with rice cakes and palm wine. It was these and other distinctly Christian characteristics that prevented the Indian churches from being absorbed in the Indian religious world, thereby maintaining a distinctive Christian identity.  —Preceding unsigned comment added by Tarijanel (talk • contribs) 23:20, 3 December 2007 (UTC)
thread_title: Liturgy

message: The head of the Church of St. Thomas Christians assumed the title “The Metropolitan of All India”. A St. Thomas Christian priest with the title ‘Archdeacon of all India’ played the role of the effective leader of the community. The Archdeacon carried out the administration through general and local assemblies (Pallyogams). Their socio-cultural life was fully Indian and in their life of worship they adopted certain elements of this life. Their ascetic-spiritual life
reflected Indo-oriental tradition. The sum total of this life was called the Law of St. Thomas (Mar Thoma Margam).  —Preceding unsigned comment added by Tarijanel (talk • contribs) 22:47, 3 December 2007 (UTC)
thread_title: Socio Religious Life