About Us
A BRIEF HISTORY
St. Mary’s Co-Cathedral is a historical landmark in the city of Madras (renamed as Chennai today). It is a popular pilgrim centre in the heart of the city that attracts tens of thousands of pilgrims of all faiths – Christians, Hindus, Muslims and others to pray and pay homage to Mother Mary and their favourite saint, St. Antony.
People flock to the Church especially on Tuesdays, the day dedicated to St. Antony, because they believe that their prayers are answered and they witness miracles here.
St. Mary’s Church was originally built in 1658. During the French occupation of Madras, the church suffered serious damages and so it was rebuilt in 1775 and further in 1785 on a modest scale. St. Mary’s Church, though rich in history and tradition, is a simple structure, without any architectural Pretensions. In 1781, Fr. Ferdinando sought permission to build a splendid structure in its place, worthy of its patroness. However, the engineer questioned the propriety of raising a high structure in the proximity of the Fort. Hence Rev. Fr. Ferdinando had to be content with making some minor alterations.
St. Mary’s first served as the Church of the Prefects of the Capuchin Missions at Madras and later became the Church of the Vicariate Apostolic of Madras in 1834. The Madras Catholic Directory makes mention of the church of St. Mary of Angels in 1857 with a Catholic population of which the neighbouring St. Francis Xavier’s chapel, as its sub-station. Records show that the Dedication of St. Mary’s was first celebrated on 8 October 1861 and continued ever since.
In execution of the Papal Bull “Humanae salutis Auctor” of September 1, 1886, His Holiness Pope Leo Xlll, by an “Apostolic Brier” (25-11-1886) promoted the Vicar Apostolic of Madras, Dr. Joseph Colgan, to the Archiepiscopal See of Madras and the Church of St. Mary’s of the Angels was raised to the dignity of the Cathedral Church. First Provincial Council of the Archdiocese of Madras was held at St. Mary’s Cathedral on February 18, 1894.
St. Mary’s Co-Cathedral shared the honour of hosting the First Marian congress in 1921 and National Eucharistic Congress in 1937 with the St. Thomas Cathedral, Mylapore. The Cathedral has also witnessed three Diocesan Synods including the significant Synod of 1942, which marked the third centenary of the arrival of the Capuchins in Madras and the fourth centenary of the arrival of St. Francis Xavier, the second Apostle of India, in Goa.
Finally, when the Archdiocese of Madras and the Diocese of Mylapore were combined together into a new Ecclesiastical Unit, an Apostolic Constitution “Ex Pimaevae Ecclesiae”, was issued on December 13,1952 forming the new Archdiocese of Madras – Mylapore. St. Thomas Cathedral, Mylapore, was assigned as the Cathedral of the new Archdiocese and St. Mary of Angels as the Co-Cathedral.
In In 1931, Archbishop Mederlet SDB, without interfering with the facade of the Church, raised the walls of the Middle aisle by four feet and replaced the old roof with a new concrete roof. A little later, Dr Louis Mathias, SDB, Archbishop of Madras-Mylapore, carried out extensive repairs.
In 1991, Rev Fr. N. A. Joseph SDB, constructed a small hall in front of St. Antony’s altar, attached to the Church, for the convenience of the thousands of devotees that flock to the shrine particularly on Tuesday. The main facade of the Shrine was lined with polished granite in 2000, when Fr. Varuvel Jeromedhas SDB, was pastor, without tampering much with the original architectural design.
Rev.Fr Arokiasamy Tharisus SDB, replaced the tiled-flooring of the hall in front of the altar of St. Antony and the sanctuary around the main altar with white tiles in 2001. In 2006, he further embellished the background of the main altar with a new exquisite design. St. Mary’s Co-cathedral was Canonically raised to the state of an Archdiocesan Shrine by Most Rev. Dr. A.M. Chinnappa, SDB, DD, Ph.D, the Archbishop of Madras – Mylapore , on September 8, 2005.
St. Mary’s Co-Cathedral has had the privilege of witnessing the consecration of Vicar Apostolics, Bishops and Archbishops. The mortal remains of many eminent Vicar Apostolics and Archbishops are interred here.
The Cathedral had an unbroken succession priest since Fr. Ephraim de Nevers, the founder, till today. The ‘shrine’ was finally handed over to the Salesians of Don Bosco in 1928, with Rev. Fr. Niota as the first Salesian Priest. Ever since the Salesian Fathers have been taking care of the shrines till today.
