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The priestly formation of the seminarians of the Archeparchy of Trichur is coordinated under the auspices of St. Mary’s Minor Seminary. At present our minor seminary is in its 136th year of functioning. History discloses that our minor seminary functioned at different venues with various popular names. For its origin, St. Mary’s Minor Seminary owes to H.E. Rt. Rev. Dr. Adolphus Edwin Medlycott, the first Vicar Apostolic of Trichur at the house of Olari in 1889. In 1904 Mar John Menachery, the second Vicar Apostolic of Trichur shifted it to the Bishop’s House itself and in 1907 to the building constructed for the seminary at Thope. Thereafter Minor Seminary came to be known as “Thope Seminary”. From 1927 to 1937 this Minor Seminary had very rare opportunity of functioning as Archdiocesan Major Seminary under the leadership and with the blessing of Mar Francis Vazhappilly, the third Vicar Apostolic of Trichur and the first indigenous Bishop of the Eparchy of Trichur, until it was closed in 1937 by himself, subsequent to the establishment of St. Joseph’s Pontifical Seminary, Aluva. From 1936 onwards the Archdiocesan Minor Seminary was not functioning continuously for seven years due to the surplus of priests. In 1943 Mgr. Mathew Edakalathur, the then Administrator of the Vacant See following the demise of H.E. Mar Francis Vazhappilly, restarted the Minor seminary in June 1943 in the present Jubilee Mission Hospital campus. H.E. Mar George Alappatt shifted it to its former building (at Thope) in June 1951.- 6 As part of the development of Jubilee Mission Hospital, Thrissur as a Medical College Hospital, the campus of the Thope Seminary was handed over to the Hospital and thus Thope Seminary was shifted to the campus of the Madona Sehiona Retreat Centre at Kachery (Madona Nagar) on 14th April 2003. From then onwards the fond memories of “Thope Seminary” paved the way for “Madona Seminary”. In fact, “Madona Seminary” is as same as “Thope Seminary” at a different venue. The newly constructed seminary building at Madona Nagar was blessed and formally inaugurated by H.G. Mar Jacob Thoomkuzhy, the Metropolitan Archbishop of Trichur on 08th September 2006, the day of the feast of the Nativity of Our Lady. Another landmark in the history of the minor seminary of the Archeparchy of Thrissur is the establishment of St. Paul Gurukulam at Thiruvilwamala in June 2009 to impart fourth year minor seminary formation in consonance with the pattern of seminary formation visualized in The Charter for Priestly Formation in the Syro-Malabar Church. Since then, St. Mary’s Minor Seminary has continually adapted to the pastoral and spiritual needs of the Archeparchy, embracing the evolving guidelines of formation while remaining rooted in its rich legacy of fidelity, discipline, and missionary zeal. Its contribution remains invaluable in shaping future priests who are intellectually grounded, spiritually enriched, pastorally committed, and culturally rooted
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