St. Basil The Great, a great theologian in early history, was born in 329 A.D. in Caesarea, the capital of Cappadocia, in Asian Minor. Many of his family members are honored as saints. His grand mother St. Macrina the Elder, his father St. Basil the Elder and mother St. Emmelia, his brothers St. Gregory of Nyssa and St. Peter of Sebaste and his sister St. Macrina the younger. 

He studied at Constantinople and later in Athens. One of his fellow students and close friend was another young Cappadocian, St. Gregory Nazianzen. They together with Gregory of Nyssa were known as the trio of Cappadocian doctors of the church. St. Basil traveled through the monastic centers of the east, Middle East and Mesopotamia to study the monastic life. Then he returned and founded his own way of monastic life which is still followed by all the monks of the Eastern Orthodox Churches and by some Catholic monks of the Byzantine rite. St. Basil only lived for five years as monk in his monastery. 

In the year 370 he became archbishop of Caesarea. He defended the church against persecution with unflinching courage and great intellectual power. He was a highly regarded scholar. His intellectual writings and way of monastic life made him a legend in early Christian history. He died at the age of 49 on January 1st, 379. Our church celebrates his feast on the first day of January every year. 

Click the following links to learn more about St. Basil, The Great. 

St. Basil The Great

St. Thomas was one of the 12 disciples of Jesus Christ. Writers and historians from the 4th century refer to the work of Apostle Thomas in India and we ascribe the origin of our Church to him in the 1st century. 

It is believed that St. Thomas arrived in Cranganore, Kerala, preached Gospel and baptized people. Kerala had trade connections with the Mediterranean and west Asian countries during those times. This may be the reason for St. Thomas to choose that part of India for his evangelistic work. Kerala was ruled by Kings at that time. During the two decades St. Thomas spent in India, he converted few prominent families of the time and established churches at seven places; Maliankara, Palur, Paravur, Gokkamangalam, Niranam, Chayal and Quilon.

He assigned Prelates and Priests and continued his journey to spread the word of Christ. He is believed to have martyred at Mylapore, near Madras, India in 72 A.D. The descendants of St. Thomas known as St. Thomas Christians flourished and there are 7 million Christians in the state today including Orthodox Church with 3.5 million people.