The Bishop Heber Chapel Sanctuary Guild is a formal group, which was organized to facilitate Chapel worship in the prestigious Madras Christian College. MCC, the abbreviated form of Madras Christian College, is an educational institution, which gives priority to Christian principles and upholds the name of God in all its phases as an institution where multitudes of students have acquired the knowledge and skills and more than anything else, the wisdom and courage to face the world outside the college walls. Madras Christian College always believed and still believes that “the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom”. The Bishop Heber Chapel Sanctuary Guild stands as a testimonial to the faith of the College in God the almighty. The word ‘guild’ is not used in India very commonly because it is a British word. Guilds were those small groups in England, which promoted the artistic skills of people, and it was generally meant for artists of the same class. For example, carpenters formed their own guild while masons formed another guild of their own and the like. So there were many guilds all over England during the olden times and those guilds really provided a platform for all those artists who were part of it to express their own views and to grow in their own professions. The Bishop Heber Chapel sanctuary guild consists of those boys and girls who are inducted to the sanctuary guild and who regularly attend the chapel worship service and assist the pastor who leads the worship, whenever necessary. Those inducted to the sanctuary guild, take an oath before God that he or she will let himself or herself lay down their God given talents and skills for the expansion of God’s kingdom and for the Glory of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. So as I have said earlier, the sanctuary guild is a formal group within the Madras Christian College family and it acts as a facilitator for the worship in the college Chapel. Hence, in one sense the sanctuary guild provides the platform for the members of the Madras Christian College family to spiritually grow in relationship with the Bishop Heber Chapel. The sanctuary guild acts as a very disciplined and spiritually rooted organ of the college chapel, which is the Bishop Heber Chapel, embedded with the Bishop Heber Hall situated inside the sprawling 365-acre campus of Madras Christian College. When speaking of Madras Christian College, we have to understand the fact that the great Scottish missionaries who came to India with the mission of reciprocating the wonderful word of God and laying the seeds of knowledge, founded this great Christian institution, which later became popular in the name, Madras Christian College. The influence of those missionaries who came here cannot be rubbed off that easily. The tradition of Christian worship still continues as profound as ever in the college chapel. Every year the sanctuary guild goes on an annual trip to some place of historic significance. This year the members of the Bishop Heber Chapel Sanctuary Guild decided to go on a trip to all the major churches in Chennai, which have a certain historic significance. In this era of knowledge explosion and material development and changing lifestyles, we thought that it would be very apt to visit all the major historic churches of Chennai so that we could rejuvenate the Christian spirit in us and be informed of the great history that prevails around each church. I am also a member of this sanctuary guild and it is indeed my pleasure to share with you the experiences that I had in visiting those Churches. I have given a small description of each and every church we had visited and hope this small report of the trip would at least benefit in adding to our knowledge something of the great churches of Chennai and help in a very small extent to create in us a spirit of enquiry and exploration and remind us of the need for restoring and preserving our historical monuments. The guild trip was a really fruitful one. It was really informative and at the same time aesthetically appealing. We covered almost all the major churches in Chennai. The first church we visited was the Little Mount Church. It is one of the oldest churches in India and its construction dates back to 1551 A.D. The Little Mount Church provided us with a lot of eye candy and it set the mood for the rest of the day. Whoever decided to go to that church first, definitely made a good choice. This church has a lot of historic significance and its historicity itself attracts a lot of people. The main attraction of the church is the cave in which St.Thomas hid to protect himself from enemies. We have to actually bend ourselves to enter the cave. Once you enter the cave you realize that you have hardly space to stand straight. It is a really small cave. The legend says that once St.Thomas was chased by his avenger and he finally ended up in this cave where he was literally trapped inside. Knowing that his enemy is fast approaching, he kept his hand on one side of the cave and prayed. Miraculously an opening was formed on that part and he climbed outside and was saved from his enemies. A portion of the rocky wall of the cave is seen as though it was melted. They say that actually the melting was formed when St.Thomas put his hand over there to climb out and the melted portion is the real hand impression of St.Thomas. The opening through which St.Thomas climbed outside to save himself still remains there in its original state. The only difference is that it is now closed with iron grills. When you go to the upper part of the church, you can see the bleeding cross, natural spring, a foot impression of St.Thomas on a rock and the crucifixion events depicted and reproduced in sculptures. You can see the foot impression on the rock, which has a red tinge to it. The foot now looks rather big for a man's foot because as time passed, the rock expanded and so did the impression. Next is the bleeding cross which is a cross carved on a stone by St.Thomas himself and the stone, is said to have produced sweat like formations of blood on it during many occasions between the 15th and 17th centuries. Just near to the bleeding cross, there is a natural spring, which they claim has never dried up till today. The legend says that St.Thomas struck a rock and water came gushing out of it. Since then, water began to spout out of it, which eventually led to the formation of a natural spring. Now you can see only a little much of water inside the spring which is an around two feet deep opening into the rock. The guide who showed us around the place was a really good communicator and he explained everything very neatly. Another thing, which is to be mentioned, is the relic of St.Thomas, which is neatly preserved inside a glass-framed box. The relic is so small that you can hardly see it. But they claim that it is the real part of the bone of St.Thomas. Anyway we really enjoyed our visit to Little Mount and it set the mood, as I said earlier, for the rest of the trip. The next place we went to was St.George fort. The Church, which is situated there, is called St.Mary's. The Church is an archaic building, yet it has an aura of the rich history that prevails around it. The church stands majestically inside the fort with a beautiful and classy clock tower. The semicircular dome inside the Church is really amazing and can you believe it, it's bomb proof. And yes you have the grand pipe organ, which according to me is the most priced possession of the church. An interesting piece of information is that the air is pumped into the pipe organ mechanically. The interior is filled with paintings, carvings, antique sculptures, busts, tablets and the way they preserve all these is really wonderful. The tablets were all shining like gold. Another attraction of the church is the huge painting of the last supper of Jesus, which is placed just above the altar. It is not the ‘Da Vinci’ version though. We have a professor named Winfred Chelliah who is a professor of English in MCC and he happens to be our choirmaster also. And guess what, Chelliah Sir played the organ and it really created a special emotional feeling in all of us. To add to the splendour of Chelliah Sir’s playing, we sang a few hymns also. Since Chelliah Sir was playing the pipe organ after a long gap, it indeed was a special occasion for him and the rest of us. I guess for some moments he went back to his music filled days in Germany. The St.Mary's church is a storehouse of information and there is a lot more to write, but I am forced to shorten the description. Anyhow that church is nothing short of magnificent. Then we went to the Anderson Church, which is a simple church, and then to the old spot where MCC started, both in George Town. We can see only ruins there where MCC originally started. Sadly, the only existing college building of the past, which is directly related to MCC, is the Anderson Church and all the others have become dust by now. After that, we went to the Armenian Church, which is a very very old one. Much to our amazement, we came to know that 308 Armenians are buried there and the priest who published the first Armenian Journal in the world is buried there named Rev.Archpriest Haruthiun Shmavonian. He is a very important person to the Armenians and in honour of him; the tablet on the tomb was brought directly from Armenia. One interesting fact is that the first Armenian Journal in the world titled 'Azdarar' was published in Chennai and not in Armenia. Interesting, isn't it? The highlight of the Armenian Church is the bell tower, which holds six bells, each weighing 200 kgs. The speciality of these bells is that all the six bells are rung simultaneously and in a rhythmic manner, which only trained people can do. Luckily, the curator of the church rang the bell for us. It was indeed a feast to the ears. Well, we had a very tasty vegetarian lunch in that church and prepared ourselves for the next Church. The next Church we headed to was the great giant St.Andrews Kirk. I don't think I have to describe it. You have to actually see it by yourself to relish the grandeur of the church. The building is huge and amazing. It really stands as a pride to other churches in Chennai. The circular dome of the church is unique and marvellous. The interior of the church is really spectacular. But the sad part is that many of the places inside the Church have developed serious cracks and the authorities are thinking of a renovation programme. Even though all these churches in Chennai are architecturally sound, they have to be maintained in a really serious manner. But this isn't happening in most of the churches. Then we headed to the St.George's Cathedral. It is also a big and marvellous piece of architecture. The church stands in all its stateliness with huge white pillars supporting the giant structure. When we entered the Cathedral, a person was practicing with the organ. Chelliah sir talked with him and came to know that he actually taught that guy in MCC many years back. It turned out to be a nice surprise for all of us that he was an MCCian and that too Chelliah sir's student. Chelliah sir didn’t waste the opportunity and made him play the organ while we sang a few numbers. Anyway we had a nice time there and packed up for the next Church. The second last church we visited was Santhome Basilica. It is a really beautiful church with all the frills of a Catholic institution. An interesting fact is that it is built upon the tomb of St.Thomas. There are only two Basilicas in the world, which is built upon the tomb of a direct disciple of Christ. One is of course, the St.Peter's Basilica and the other is this one. Hence this Basilica has a special place in every Catholics' heart. The place where the tomb is has been turned into a small underground chapel. This is a new building with all marble pavements and air conditioning and needless to say, very neat and holy which is typical of any catholic establishment. We can go down and see the tomb, which is placed directly beneath the altar of the main Church. There is also a small glass window above the tomb and we can see the altar through it. Just imagine, we are actually standing beneath the church and that too in middle of the altar, which stands just above us. Just nearby the tomb of St.Thomas, there is also a relic of St.Thomas, which is neatly preserved in a wooden framed glass box. After spending some moments in silence inside the underground chapel, we prepared ourselves to leave the place. It was already evening by the time we had reached there and we were all kind of exhausted and hungry. But we left some energy for the grand finale, which was destined at St.Thomas Mount. Then off we went to our destined place... The path to St.Thomas mount is in spirals and I think the church is situated in a rather good height. There was nothing much there to see as such, other than the small church, which is built exactly on the place where St.Thomas was killed with a lance. But the view from St.Thomas mount is really breathtaking. You can watch planes taking off and landing. You also have a great view of the entire city from there, filled with lights and buildings. It's a real feast to the eyes. We actually landed there at the right time because night is the perfect time for visiting St.Thomas Mount Church. The whole place was filled with Christian devotees and people were going inside and outside of the Church. After enjoying the beauty of the surroundings, we went inside the church. The inside of the church is rather small and the center of attraction of the church is obviously the holy altar, which in this case is the place where St.Thomas was martyred. In the altar of the church, there is a small stone on which a cross is carved. It is said that St.Thomas miraculously carved the rock and one day as he was praying with the rock facing him; his avenger came and killed him with a lance. This rock with the carved cross on it was excavated many centuries later and a church was built on that place where this rock stood. You can actually go and touch this rock with the carved cross. Interestingly, this cross is also a 'bleeding cross' and they claim that the cross has bled many times before this phenomenon came to a definite stop. Rather unusually, the altar is open to everyone. I went into the altar and felt the rock with the carved cross with my bare hands. But just to imagine that I was standing at the same spot where St.Thomas was killed, really disturbed me. We spent around twenty minutes there at St.Thomas Mount and ended our one-day guild trip and headed back to our habitats. I think the flag off and commencement of the trip was in an apt manner. We started off by visiting Little Mount Church and ended our trip with the place where St.Thomas was martyred. I can definitely say that the trip rekindled the faith in all of us. It is on occasions like this that we tend to remind ourselves that we are praying to a God who led his faithful apostle Thomas to a wild and confused land like India, to spread the word of God and light the fire of faith which is still burning as ever. We are praying and confessing to a God who is living, not dead. The Churches that we have discussed remain as the monuments of history itself. Each and every Church has its own story to tell and when we turn back and ponder over these churches in retrospection, we can come to a conclusion that these churches definitely stand as the custodians of the rich history that forms the backbone of our great Christian heritage. None can eliminate history for it is the past truth and such is our faith…