St. Thomas, the Apostle Syriac Orthodox Church, San Jose, CA consecrated

SAN JOSE, CA: By the Grace of God, His Eminence Mor Clemis Eugene Kaplan Archbishop of the Western US, accompanied by His Eminence Mor Gregorios Saliba Shamoun Archbishop of Mosul, Iraq, and His Eminence Mor Filuksinos Saliba Archbishop of Mardin and Turkey, celebrated the Divine Liturgy on Sunday, June 20th 2010, at 12:00 pm, and consecrated the new worship place, located at: 1921 Las Plumas Ave, San Jose, CA 95133, to be St. Thomas the Apostle Syriac Orthodox Church.

The building of the new church was donated by the faithful Mr. Emad and Mrs. Alia Hoady in memory of their son the late David Hoady. In his sermon His Eminence Mor Clemis Eugene Kaplan thanked our Lord Jesus Christ for allowing to have His house to be worshiped by faithful people. His Eminence also extended his gratitude to the Hoady family who donated the church and presented them a plaque as a token of appreciation. In turn, the Hoady family gave each of the archbishops a gift (gold plated cross).

In his homily, the Archbishop of Mosul showed his joy and presented to His Eminence Mor Clemis a treasury that he has brought from St. Thomas Cathedral in Mosul, Iraq. It is the relic of St. Thomas the apostle, which was brought from Edessa to Mosul in the 4th century, and it is the only relic of the apostle in USA.

It was a wonderful and blessed historical day. There were many faithful who attended from the various churches in the Archdiocese as well as from the Malankara Archdiocese. Every attendee was blessed from the bone of St. Thomas, and enjoyed the prayers of the consecration.

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