St. Mary’s Cathedral, Trichy
St. Mary’s
Cathedral is located in Melapudur neighbourhood of Trichy City in Trichy
District of Tamil Nadu. This Church is popularly known as Mother of Good Health
(Arockia Matha) Church. It is one of the oldest Churches in Tamil Nadu.
History
The
Church itself was built by a Jesuit missionary Fr. Louis Carnier. It was on the
29th June 1841, on the occasion of the feast of the apostles St. Peter
and Paul, Bishop Bernard Clement of Pondicherry dedicated the Church to St. Mary.
The paintings in the roof depicting the martyrdom of holy men and women of were
done by Br. De’ Noircourt between the years 1893 to 1898. Having served for
more than 170 years, the diocese has decided to build a New Cathedral and the
work has begun on the 15th August 2011.
The
Church
The
Cathedral parish had in its fold vast territory for its pastoral activities. It
had more than 20,000 families. The parishes – Crawford, Edamalaipatty Pudur,
Subramaniyapuram, Sembattu, Gundur, K.K. Nagar, Airport, Kallukukuzhi, Karunamandapam
and Puthur were carved out of Cathedral parish for Pastoral reasons and
concerns.
At present the parish has 27 substations. The total Catholic families
are 2,935, and the population nearly 12,000, and the non-Catholic population
more than 250,000. The Parish Pastoral Council consists of 63 members among
them 15 are executives and 4 are officials. Parish Financial Committee,
consisting of 5 members, manages the financial transaction of the Parish.
Church
Opening Time
The
Cathedral is kept open every day for personal prayers and visitations from
morning 5.00 am to 12.00 pm and evening 4.00 pm to 8.00 pm, Adoration
Chapel at the basement will be kept open from 6.30 am to 12 pm and 4.00 pm to
8.00 pm.
Connectivity
The Church
is located at about 250 meters from Melaputhur Bus
Stop, 250 meters from Marsing Pettai Bus Stop, 2 Kms from Trichy Railway
Station, 4 Kms from Trichy Fort Railway Station, 4 Kms from Trichy Town Railway
Station, 2 Kms from Trichy Central Bus Stand, 4 Kms from Trichy Chatiram Bus
Station and 6 Kms from Trichy Airport.
Location