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St. Thomas Apostolic Seminary a project of Cardinal Tisserant executed by Cardinal Coussa in 1962.  The Seminary was affiliated to the Faculty of Oriental Ecclesiastical Sciences at the Pontifical Oriental Institute Rome in 1973.   A Faculty of Theology was erected in the Seminary with the name “Paurastya Vidyapitham” in 1982.

General Editor: Dr Andrews Mekkattukunnel “I am the Way, the Truth and the Life” (Jn 14,5). St Thomas, the Apostle, witnessed to his experience with Jesus of Nazareth – the Truth who is also the Way that leads to Life eternal in India, out which grew the Christian Way of Life known as Marthoma Margam. Here is an attempt to place this Lamp on a pedestal so that it may give light to all in the house of God. Around 60 erudite articles by well known scholars on various aspects of Marthoma Margam are now available in this one volume.

Section Editors: Theology: Dr James Palackal; Liturgy: Dr Pauly Maniyattu; Culture and Spirituality: Dr Jose Puthiaparampil; Moral Life: Dr Dominic Vechoor; History and Discipline: Dr James Thalachelloor .

This Book will be released on January 14, 2012 on the occasion of the Grand Finale of the Golden Jubilee Celebrations of St Thomas Apostolic Seminary, Vadavathoor. Number of pages: 960; Size: Demy 1/4; Price:  900; Pre-publication price:  500 Last date to order the pre-publication copy: November 30, 2011Order your copies by sending  500 (+ 100 if to be posted) to:

The Manager, OIRSI Publications, Vadavathoor P.O; Kottayam 686010, Kerala.

Quite befitting the needs and aspirations of the institution, a library was established here in 1962, along with the erection of the seminary. Within a short span of 43 years, it added to its stock a collection of 82000 volumes, apart from a large collection of pamphlets, manuscripts, microforms, charts, maps, coins and stamps. Besides, the library subscribes to 400 periodicals, good many of them, foreign. The thrust is given to periodicals treating theological, philosophical, psychological, and sociological themes. The old periodicals are bound and kept in a separate section in the library. For the benefit of the students, the important articles are indexed and made accessible through the general index catalogue. We also subscribe to the leading dailies both in Malayalam and English.

The main areas of interest of this library are Christianity in general – especially, biblical and theological subjects, philosophy – both Western and Indian, and Indology. However, this does not mean that the other fields of knowledge are neglected. There are numerous books on history, canon law and social sciences, comparative religions, science and technology, art and architecture and language and literature. There is also a separate section for Malayalam language and literature.

A good majority of books in this library are in English. There are also books in Malayalam, German, French, Italian, and Latin. An exclusive collection of rare and precious Syriac texts and manuscripts is a unique specialty of this library.

The library has three main sections – lending library, reference libraries, and reading rooms. The lending library is open on all days, except Sundays and holidays, from 8.30 a.m. to 4.00 p.m. Our reference library has two sections – one for the general use of the staff and students, consisting mainly of general and subject-wise encyclopedias, Patristic literature and Indology. The other is a special section, dealing with Eastern Theology. Periodicals and dailies are made available through the reading room.

The library is primarily meant for the staff and students of the seminary and the Paurastya Vidyapitham. However, it is also open to research students from outside, but for reference only.

All the materials in the library are scientifically classified and catalogued and arranged in various sections. The Dewey Decimal Classification (DDC) is followed in the classification. The code of S. R. Ranganathan is used for cataloguing. However, some adjustments and adaptations are made considering the specific nature of this library. Cataloguing is done keeping in mind the possible needs of the students of the seminary and Paurastya Vidyapitham. Each book in the library has, on an average, three catalogue cards: classified, author and general index (title and subject). The general index section provides an easy access to books dealing with a particular subject. As already mentioned, articles from periodicals are also indexed and catalogued together with the books. Experience shows that this is of great help to the research students.. DDC is adapted in a special way for the classification of Malayalam language and literature. This is to avoid the lengthy and clumsy notations assigned to these in DDC. In order to help the students, a detailed library guide has been published.

We have a micro-library in this seminary. It consists of microforms of several books and manuscripts in microfilms. This library has the microfilms of eleven Syriac manuscripts from the various European libraries. It has several volumes on microfiche too.In addition there are photocopies of several manuscripts from different European University libraries. There are also a few manuscripts on palm – leaves. Several maps and charts, both ecclesiastical and secular are also collected in the library. They too are classified according to DDC.

The scrap books section provides up-to-date information on important current topics. It consists of newspaper cuttings, systematically arranged in booklet form, and classified according to their themes. The editorials of newspapers are also bound and kept.

Keeping pace with the advancing technology and communication media, we have successfully completed the computerization our library. With special software developed for the library, the workload has been reduced to the minimum, and efficiency, increased to the maximum. With the Internet facility a new horizon has been opened for the students.

Cultivating a habit of intelligent reading is very important in creating an intellectually sound and morally fit generation, and in turn, a better world. With Divine Providence always guiding us