Apostolic Origins

The Church of the East traces its foundation to the apostolic age. According to the church's sacred tradition, the Gospel was brought to Mesopotamia in the first century by the Apostle Mar Toma (St. Thomas) and by Mar Addai and Mar Mari of the Seventy — disciples sent forth from the earliest Christian community. From the city of Edessa and the region of Beth Nahrain (the land between the Tigris and Euphrates), the faith spread rapidly among the Aramaic-speaking peoples of the East.

The Church of the East has worshipped in the Syriac-Aramaic language — the language spoken by our Lord — for nearly two thousand years, continuing without interruption to this day.

The Church of the East in History

With its patriarchal seat at Seleucia-Ctesiphon, the Church of the East grew into one of the great missionary churches of history. Its monks, scholars, and merchants carried the Gospel along the Silk Road into Persia, Arabia, India, Central Asia, and as far as China — centuries before Western missionaries reached those lands. The Liturgy of Mar Addai and Mar Mari, still celebrated at our altar every Sunday, is among the oldest Eucharistic liturgies in continuous use anywhere in the world.

Through centuries of persecution, upheaval, and dispersion, the faithful of the Church of the East — the Assyrian people — preserved their faith, language, and traditions, handing them down from generation to generation.

The Church of the East Today

The Church of the East continues the venerable traditions of the fathers to this day. Under the leadership of its Catholicos-Patriarchs, the church shepherds faithful communities across the Middle East and throughout the diaspora — in Iraq, Syria, Iran, Lebanon, Europe, Australia, the United States, and Canada.

Our Parish in Toronto

The St. George Cathedral community was established by faithful Assyrian families who settled in Toronto and sought to preserve their apostolic faith and heritage in their new homeland. What began with liturgies celebrated in borrowed halls grew, through the sacrifice and devotion of our founding families, into the cathedral parish we know today — the spiritual home of the Ancient Church of the East faithful in Toronto and the seat of our hierarch in Canada.