Indian Archdiocese Breaks Ground with New Assyrian Monastery

His Beatitude Dr. Mar Aprem, Metropolitan of Malabar and India, has laid the foundation stone for the site of the future convent of the Holy Apostolic Catholic Assyrian Church of the East in Kerala, India.

In attendance at the groundbreaking ceremony presided over by His Beatitude the Metropolitan, were their Graces Mar Yohannan Yoseph and Mar Awgin Kuriakose, Bishops of India, clergy of the Church of the East in India and other local dignitaries.

Presently, the order of Marth Maryam Sisters of the Assyrian Church of the East in India is comprised of three sisters. The order was established by His Beatitude Dr. Mar Aprem Metropolitan in 1998 with the welcoming of Sister Jincy Othottil into the order as the first sister of the Assyrian Church of the East in India in many centuries.

Sister Jincy received her ‘first dedication’ on 15 August, 1998. Her ‘permanent vow’ was administered by His Holiness Mar Dinkha IV, Catholicos Patriarch, on 22 January, 2000 during his third Apostolic sojourn to India. Sister Jincy was awarded a PhD in Syriac Studies by Mahatma Gandhi University in 2011.

The other two Sisters of the order, Susie and Annie received their ‘first dedication’ on 4 May, 2003. Their ‘permanent vow’ was administered on 26 December, 2004. Both Sisters presently work in the care of orphans at the Mar Timotheus Memorial Orphanage in Kalathode, Kerala.

The new headquarters for the Marth Maryam Sisters will be entitled the Assyrian Convent. Construction of the two-story convent will commence later this year with the initial construction of four bedrooms and other necessary facilities. The Assyrian Convent will be constructed on 1.5 acres of land adjacent to the Mar Timotheus Memorial Orphanage with the project to cost approximately 6 million rupees.

The land on which the convent will be constructed was generously donated to the Assyrian Church of the East by the tireless and selfless servant of the church, the late Mrs. J.D. Mooken (mother of the present Metropolitan of Malabar and India).

It is hoped that through the grace of Almighty God and the prayers of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of Christ, that the number of sisters working in the service of the Lord and His faithful of the Assyrian Church of the East in India shall increase in the coming years.