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AD 52 : Arrival of Apostle St.Thomas
St.Thomas was one of the disciples of
Jesus. He is also known as Didymus, which means the Twin. Thomas means Twin in
Aramaic and Didymus means Twin in Greek. He is generally known as the Doubting
Thomas since he refused to believe the resurrection unless he has verified it
himself. His acts are not found in the Acts of the Apostles.
But an apocryphal book written
around 200 AD called "Acts of Thomas", describes it with
embellishments and exaggerations.
But archeology and Indian
traditions substantiate the basic historic events in this book.
A merchant Ambassador Habbanes (This
is probably a Greek pronouncement of the name Appana) bought him. If so he was
probably from the Kingdom of Pandhya Empire) being sold to him by Jesus the
carpenter. He was the ambassador for King Gondaphores the Indo-Parthian Kingdom
of Indus Valley Area (Sind, Pakistan, Baluchistan and Afghanisthan). He
attended the banquet at the marriage ceremony of the daughter of Cheraman
Perumal (the King of the Chera Kingdom) where he came across a Jewish girl in
the King's court. During the period of seven days of his stay there, several
Jewish people were converted to Christianity.
It is said that Thomas ordained
one Prince Peter to be the head of the church of the Jews and left for
Takshasila, (The English version of the name is Taxila which was a University
City in the Indus Valley) the capital of Hondaphorus Kingdom. He established a
church in that region before he traveled to other areas of India. These
churches were annihilated during the invasion of Kushan and Moghal dynasty.
He returned to Kerala where he
established seven and half churches with 75 Brahmin families as teachers and
over 3000 converts from Kshatriyas, Nairs and Chettiars. These new converts
were called St: Thomas Christians. This church is one of the most ancient
churches in Christendom.
The seven churches are at
Malankara, Palayur, Paravoor, Kokkamangalam, Niranam, Chayal and Kollam.
Apostle founded another church at
Malayattur which is accorded the status of half church. Another traditioon
claims this half church as the one founded in Thiruvithamcode. When the
christians in east coast sufferred persecution St. Thomas took 64 families with
him across the ghats over Aruvamozhi Pass into Venad. These were mostly
converts from Chettiars of Nagercoil. The King of Thiruvithamcode offerred them
refuge. The traiditon says that when the King offerred them sacred ash (Vibhuthi)
they refused and so these Christians came to be known as Vibhuthi Dharia
Chettkal.
Little is recorded of St.Thomas
the Apostle; nevertheless thanks to the fourth Gospel his personality is
clearer to us than that of some others of the Twelve. His name occurs in all
the lists of the Synoptists (Matthew 10:3; Mark 3:18; Luke 6, cf. Acts 1:13), but
in St.John he plays a distinctive part. First, when Jesus announced His
intention of returning to Judea to visit Lazarus, "Thomas" who is
called Didymus [the twin], said to his fellow disciples: "Let us also go, that
we may die with him" (John 11:16). Again it was St. Thomas who during the
discourse before the Last Supper raised an objection: "Thomas saith to him:
Lord, we know not whither thou goest; and how can we know the way?" (John 14:5).
But more especially St. Thomas is remembered for his incredulity when the other
Apostles announced Christ's Resurrection to him: "Except I shall see in
his hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the place of the nails,
and put my hand into his side, I will not believe" (John 20:25); but eight
days later he made his act of faith, drawing down the rebuke of Jesus: "Because
thou hast seen me, Thomas, thou hast believed; blessed are they that have not
seen, and have believed" (John 20:29).
This exhausts all our certain
knowledge regarding the Apostle but his name is the starting point of a
considerable apocryphal literature, and there are also certain historical data
which suggest that some of this apocryphal material may contains germs of truth.
The principal document concerning him is the "Acta Thoma", preserved
to us with some variations both in Greek and in Syriac, and bearing
unmistakeable signs of its Gnostic origin. It may indeed be the work of
Bardesanes himself. The story in many of its particulars is utterly extravagant,
but it is the early date, being assigned by Harnack (Chronologie, ii, 172) to
the beginning of the third century, before A. D. 220. If the place of its
origin is really Edessa, as Harnack and others for sound reasons supposed (ibid.,
p. 176), this would lend considerable probability to the statement, explicitly
made in "Acta" (Bonnet, cap. 170, p.286), that the relics of Apostle
Thomas, which we know to have been venerated at Edessa, had really come from
the East. The extravagance of the legend may be judged from the fact that in
more than one place (cap. 31, p. 148) it represents Thomas (Judas Thomas, as he
is called here and elsewhere in Syriac tradition) as the twin brother of Jesus.
The Thomas in Syriac is equivalant to didymos in Greek, and means twin. Rendel
Harris who exaggerates very much the cult of the Dioscuri, wishes to regards
this as a transformation of a pagan worship of Edessa but the point is at best
problematical. The story itself runs briefly as follows: At the division of the
Apostles, India fell to the lot of Thomas, but he declared his inability to go,
whereupon his Master Jesus appeared in a supernatural way to Abban, the envoy
of Gundafor, an Indian king, and sold Thomas to him to be his slave and serve
Gundafor as a carpender. Then Abban and Thomas sailed away until they came to
Andrapolis, where they landed and attended the marriage feast of the ruler's
daughter. Strange occurrences followed and Christ under the appearance of
Thomas exhorted the bride to remain a Virgin. Coming to India Thomas undertook
to build a palace for Gundafor, but spend the money entrusted to him on the
poor. Gundafor imprisoned him; but the Apostle escaped miraculously and
Gundafor was converted. Going about the country to preach, Thomas met with
strange adventures from dragons and wild asses. Then he came to the city of
King Misdai (Syriac Mazdai), where he converted Tertia the wife of Misdai and
Vazan his son. After this he was condemned to death, led out of city to a hill,
and pierced through with spears by four soldiers. He was buried in the tomb of
the ancient kings but his remains were afterwards removed to the West.
Now it is certainly a remarkable
fact that about the year A.D. 46 a king was reigning over that part of Asia
south of Himalayas now represented by Afghanistan, Baluchistan, the Punjab, and
Sind, who bore the name Gondophernes or Guduphara. This we know both from the
discovery of coins, some of the Parthian type with Greek legends, others of the
Indian types with the legends in an Indian dialect in Kharoshthi characters. Despite
sundry minor variations the identity of the name with the Gundafor of the "Acta
Thomae" is unmistakable and is hardly disputed. Further we have the
evidence of the Takht-i-Bahi inscription, which is dated and which the best
specialists accept as establishing the King Gunduphara probably began to reign
about A.D. 20 and was still reigning in 46. Again there are excellent reasons
for believing that Misdai or Mazdai may well be transformation of a Hindu name
made on the Iranian soil. In this case it will probably represent a certain
King Vasudeva of Mathura, a successor of Kanishka. No doubt it can be urged
that the Gnostic romancer who wrote the "Acta Thomae" may have
adopted a few historical Indian names to lend verisimilitude to his fabrication,
but as Mr. Fleet urges in his severely critical paper "the names put
forward here in connection with St.Thomas are distinctly not such as have lived
in Indian story and tradition" (Joul. of R. Asiatic Soc.,1905, p.235).
On the other hand, though the
tradition that St. Thomas preached in "India" was widely spread in
both East and West and is to be found in such writers as Ephraem Syrus, Ambrose,
Paulinus, Jerome, and, later Gregory of Tours and others, still it is difficult
to discover any adequate support for the long-accepted belief that St. Thomas
pushed his missionary journeys as far south as Mylapore, not far from Madras, and
there suffered martyrdom. In that region is still to be found a granite bas-relief
cross with a Pahlavi (ancient Persian) inscription dating from the seventh
century, and the tradition that it was here that St. Thomas laid down his life
is locally very strong. Certain it is also that on the Malabar or west coast of
southern India a body of Christians still exists using a form of Syriac for its
liturgical language. Whether this Church dates from the time of St. Thomas the
Apostle (there was a Syro-Chaldean bishop John "from India and Persia"
who assisted at the Council of Nicea in 325) or whether the Gospel was first
preached there in 345 owing to the Persian persecution under Shapur (or Sapor),
or whether the Syrian missionaries who accompanied a certain Thomas Cana
penetrated to the Malabar coast about the year 745 seems difficult to determine.
We know only that in the sixth century Cosmas Indicopleustes speaks of the
existence of Christians at Male (?Malabar) under a bishop who had been
consecrated in Persia. King Alfred the Great is stated in the "Anglo-Saxon
Chronicle" to have sent an expedition to establish relations with these Christians
of the Far East. On the other hand the reputed relics of St. Thomas were
certainly at Edessa in the fourth century, and there they remained until they
were translated to Chios in 1258 and towards to Ortona. The improbable
suggestion that St. Thomas preached in America (American Eccles. Rev., 1899, pp.1-18)
is based upon a misunderstanding of the text of the Acts of Apostles
Apostle St: Thomas martyred
Apostle Thomas was martyred in
Mylapore near Madras. (Tradition calls this place Kalloor - the place of rock) in
Tamilnadu State, India. The traditional date of martyrdom is 19th of December, 72
AD. His followers took his body and buried him in the tombs of the Chiefs. A
merchant from Edessa in Syria who visited that region exhumed his body and took
it to Syria where it was entombed in about AD 200. We could see these tombs in
Mylapore and in Edessa
The Apostle's tomb at Mylapur
St. Gregory of Tours (Glor. Mart.),
before 590, reports that Theodore, a pilgrim who had gone to Gaul, told him
that in that part of India where the corpus (bones) of Thomas the Apostle had
first rested (Mylapur on the east or the Coromandel Coast of India) there stood
a monastery and a church of striking dimensions and elaboratedly adorned, adding:
"After a long interval of time these remains had been removed thence to
the city of Edessa." The location of the first tomb of the Apostle in
India is proof both of his martyrdom and of its Apostolate in India. The
evidence of Theodore is that of an eyewitness who had visited both tombs -- the
first in India, while the second was at Edessa. The primitive Christians, therefore,
found on both coasts, east and west, witness to and locate the tomb at Mylapur,
"St. Thomas", a little to the south of Madras; no other place in
India lays any claim to possess the tomb, nor does any other country. On these
facts is based their claim to be known as St. Thomas Christians.
AD 189
In the year 189 A.D. Pantaenus
who was a missionary sent by Bishop Demetrius of Alexandria arrived in Malabar.
He found a Christian group with an Aramaic version of the Gospel of St. Mathew.
Other References to Thomas
Christian Tradition
There are several references to
Thomas' acts in India, which corroborates the general validity of the story, though
the Acts of Thomas is Gnostic embellished apocryphal book.
St. Gregory of Naziaanzen (AD 329-390)
refers to Thomas along with other Apostles work in Contra Aranos et de Seipso
Oratio.
Ambrose of Milan (AD 333-397) wrote
thus: "Even to those Kingdoms which were shout out by rugged mountains
became accessible to them as India to Thomas, Persia to Mathew...." Ambrose
De Moribus. Brach.
Jerome (AD 342-420) wrote thus:
"Jesus dwelt in all places; with Thomas in India, with Peter in Rome, with
Paul in Illyricum, with Titus in Crete with Andrew in Achaia, with each
apostolic man in each and all countries." epistles of Jerome
Gregory, the Bishop of Tours (AD 538-593)
in his In Gloria Martyrdom writes: "Thomas, the Apostle, according to the
history of passion, is declared to have suffered in India. After a long time
his body was taken into a city which they called Edessa in Syria and there
buried. Therefore, in that Indian place where he firs rested there is a
monastery and a church of wonderful size, and carefully adorned and arrayed."
Mar Solomon in 13th C wrote in
his Book of the Bee as follows: Thomas was from Jerusalem of the tribe of Juda.
He taught the Persians, Medes and the Indians; and because he baptized the
daughter of the King of the Indians he stabbed him with a spear and died. Habban
the merchant brought his body and laid it in Edessa, the blessed city of our
Lord. Others say that he was buried in Mahluph (Mylapore) a city in the land of
Indians.
An ancient body of Christians on
the east and west coasts of India, claiming spiritual descent from the Apostle
St. Thomas. The subject will be treated under the following heads:
Their early traditions and their
connection with the Apostle St. Thomas
Interest in the history of these
Christians arises from more than one feature. Their ancient descent at once
attracts attention. Theophilus (surnamed the Indian) -- an Arian, sent by
Emperor Constantius (about 354) on a mission to Arabia Felix and Abyssinia -- is
one of the earliest, if not the first, who draws our attention to them. He had
been sent when very young a hostage a Divoeis, by the inhabitants of the
Maldives, to the Romans in the reign of Constantine the Great. His travels are recorded
by Philostorgius, an Arian Greek Church historian, who relates that Theophilus,
after fulfilling his mission to the Homerites, sailed to his island home. Thence
he visited other parts of India, reforming many things -- for the Christians of
the place heard the reading of the Gospel in a sitting, etc. This reference to
a body of Christians with church, priest, liturgy, in the immediate vicinity of
the Maldives, can only apply to a Christian Church and faithful on the adjacent
coast of India, and not to Ceylon, which was well known even then under its own
designation, Taprobane. The people referred to were the Christians known as a
body who had their liturgy in the Syriac language and inhabited the west coast
of India, i.e. Malabar. This Church is next mentioned and located by Cosmas
Indicopleustes (about 535) "in Male (Malabar) where the pepper grows";
and he adds that the Christians of Ceylon, whom he specifies as Persians, and "those
of Malabar" (the latter he leaves unspecified, so they must have been
natives of the country) had a bishop residing at Caliana (Kalyan), ordained in
Persia, and one likewise on the island of Socotra.
Local Traditions
Local traditions among the
Christians include the Rambaan Paattu or Thomma Parvom"- a song about the
Acts of Thomas written around 1600 by Rambaan Thomas. Rambaan Thomas of
Malyakal Family descends from the first Bishop whom St. Thomas is said to have
ordained. The poem is the oral tradition handed down through generations. It is
said to have been originally written by the Rambaan Thomas, the Bishop Bishop.
Margom Kali and Mappila Paattu
are series of songs of the Acts of Thomas and the history of the Malabar Church.
They are sung in consonance with dance forms that are typical of the syrian
Christians. Some of them are dance dramas performed in the open as part of the
festivals of the church. These have no specific origin, but grew up in the
course of hisotry.
Veeadian Paattu is sung by a
local Hindu group (called Veeradians) in accompaniment of Villu - a local
instrument - during Christian festivals. This form of art also dates back to
unknown period handed down through generations and modified in that process.
The Early Christians of India
Tradition has it that the Apostle
Thomas ordained two bishops, Kepha and Paul, respectively for Malabar and
Coromandal (Mylapore). This is supposed to mark the beginnings of the first
hierarchy in India. The Christians were called Thomas Christians. The Church of
the Thomas Christians was one of the four great "Thomite Churches" of
the East. The three others were the Edessan, the Chaldean (of Mesopotamia or
Iraq) with Seleucia-Ctesiphon as its center, and the Persian (of Persia proper
or Iran). These four Churches were "Thomite" in the sense that they
looked to St. Thomas as to their Apostle. Among these Churches the Church of
Seleucia-Ctesiphon emerged as the organizational centre, mainly owing to the
political importance of this place as the capital of the Persian Empire. The
Indian Church had close contact with these Churches. A connection to the East
Syrian Church (Chaldean) was established after the arrival of another Thomas (Knai
Thomman) and several families from Cana in the year 345 A.D. This infused new
blood to the sagging old church established by St. Thomas. Later, we cannot say
when but certainly in or before 7th century, it became hierarchically
subordinated to the Chaldean Church, and the succession of indigenous prelates
came to an end. In their place the East Syrian prelates started to rule. The
apostolic Church of India was thus reduced to a dependent status. This
dependence, which lasted until the end of the 16th century, prevented it from
developing an Indian theology and liturgy with an Indian culture. During this
long period, not a single indigenous bishop ruled over the Thomas Christians.
Until the rise of Islam, Aramaic (Syriac)
was the commercial language throughout the East, including India. The Jews who
spoke this language were very powerful in India. Aramaic (language of Jesus) was
also the vehicle of evangelization. It came to be called Syriac, after Syrus
who ruled over Mesopotamia, and became the official language of the Persian
Empire around 550 B.C. When the East-Syrian Church began to exercise control
over the Indian Christians, the Malabar Church became Syrian in rite with
Syriac as the ecclesiastical language.
It is to be noted that even
though the Persian prelates headed the Thomas Christians in India more than a
millennium, their contribution to the ecclesial and cultural growth of the
Malabar community seems to be insignificant; nevertheless, by its contact with
the Western Church from the 16th century the Thomas Christian community was
enriched by Western theological thinking and mission spirit which helped the
ancient Christians of India to enter into a meaningful communication with the
world of Christianity. Even today, there are some who dream about restoring the
Chaldean "golden age!" For them, the Latin Church is foreign, but the
Chaldean Church is indigenous to Indian Christians!
Socio-political Status of the
Early Christians in India
The St.Thomas Christians had
accepted the social structure which was built on the network of castes and
subcastes. One's position in society was determined by the social customs one
followed. The rulers of the country considered the Thomas Christians as high-caste
and granted them great privileges and honours in written documents in the form
of copper plates which became the Magna Carta of the Thomas Christians.
These Christians were
respectfully addressed as "Nazarani mappilas", "sons of kings"
or "first kings". They were of high rank and greatly reputed, well
formed and of good behavior. According to Antony de Gouvea, no other caste was
of similar value and esteem among the Malabarians as these Syrian Christians. A.
Ayyar asserts that they were almost on a par with their sovereigns and were
even allowed to have a military force of their own, using this military power
to safeguard their special privileges. They were also protectors of certain low-castes
and were called "Lords of seventeen castes". They could try all the
cases of their subjects and even inflict capital punishment on them. Gouvea
says that the Christians supplied the Raja (king) of Cochin with an army of
fifty thousand gunmen, and the success of the king in war often depended on the
number of his Thomas Christian subjects. This led non-Christian kings to build
churches and endow them with tax-free lands. Many Christians served the kings
as ministers and councilors. Rulings of kings that went contrary to their
religion or privileges were not obeyed. Indeed, they would all, as a "Christian
Republic", join together to protect their rights.
The characteristic note of the
social life of the early Christians of India was that though Christian in faith,
they remained strictly attached to the Hindu way of life. They have been
described as "Hindu in culture, Christian in religion and Oriental in
worship", a formula which was an adaptation and amplification of a slogan
launched by Catholic lay leaders, urging Catholic involvement in India's
struggle for independence.
For their earliest period they
possess no written but a traditional history
These Christians have no written
records of the incidents of their social life from the time of their conversion
down to the arrival of the Portuguese on the coast, just as India had no
history until the arrival of the Mohammedans.
Record of these traditions
embodied in a manuscript Statement dated 1604
Fortunately the British Museum
has a large collection consisting of several folio volumes containing
manuscripts, letters, reports, etc., of Jesuit missions in India and elsewhere;
among these in additional volume 9853, beginning with the leaf 86 in pencil and
525 in ink, there is a "Report" on the "Serra" (the name by
which the Portuguese designated Malabar), written in Portuguese by a Jesuit
missionary, bearing the date 1604 but not signed by the writer; there is
evidence that this "Report" was known to F. de Souza, author of the "Oriente
Conquistado", and utilized by him. The writer has carefully put together
the traditional record of these Christians; the document is yet unpublished, hence
its importance. Extracts from the same, covering what can be said of the early
part of this history, will offer the best guarantee that can be offered. The
writer of the "Report" distinctly informs us that these Christians
had no written records of ancient history, but relied entirely on traditions
handed down by their elders, and to these they were most tenaciously attached.
Of their earliest period
tradition records that after the death of the Apostle his disciples remained
faithful for a long time, the Faith was propagated with great zeal, and the
Church increased considerably. But later, wars and famine supervening, the St. Thomas
Christians of Mylapur got scattered and sought refuge elsewhere, and many of
them returned to paganism. The Christians, however, who were on the Cochin side,
fared better than the former, spreading from Coulac (Quilon) to Palur (Paleur),
a village in the north of Malabar. These had fared better, as they lived under
native princes who rarely interfered with their Faith, and they probably never
suffered real persecution such as befell their brethren on the other coast; besides,
one of the paramount rajahs of Malabar, Cheruman Perumal, had conferred on them
a civil status. The common tradition in the country holds that from the time of
the Apostle seven churches were erected in different parts of the country, besides
the one which the Apostle himself had erected at Mylapur. This tradition is
most tenaciously held and is confirmed by the "Report". It further
asserts that the Apostle Thomas, after preaching to the inhabitants of the
Island of Socotra and establishing there a Christian community, had come over
to Malabar and landed at the ancient port of Cranganore. They hold that after
preaching in Malabar the Apostle went over to Mylapur on the Coromandel Coast; this
is practicable through any of the many paths across the dividing mountain
ranges which were well known and much frequented in olden times. The Socotrians
had yet retained their Faith when in 1542 St. Francis visited them on his way
to India. In a letter of 18 September of the same year, addressed to the
Society at Rome, he has left an interesting account of the degenerate state of
the Christians he found there, who were Nestorians. He also tells us they
render special honours to the Apostle St. Thomas, claiming to be descendants of
the Christians begotten to Jesus Christ by that Apostle. By 1680 when the
Carmelite Vincenzo Maria di Santa Catarina landed there he found Christanity
quite extinct, only faint traces yet lingering. The extinction of this
primitive Christanity is due to the oppression of the Arabs, who now form the
main population of the island, and to the scandelous neglect of the Nestorian
Patriarchs who in former times were wont to supply the bishop and clergy for
the island. When St. Francis visited the island a Nestorian priest was still in
charge.
Towards the middle of the 16th
century, one of the priests assumed the role of a leader of the whole community
of Malabar, and he was called the "Archdeacon". Etymologically, the
term means "chief minister", and it gradually began to be used for
the chief assistant of the bishop in the administration of the diocese. Though
the bishop was sent from Persian Church, he was only the spiritual head who
administered only the sacraments. Administration was in the hands of the archdeacon,
and he was "the Prince", the civil head, of all the Christians of St.
Thomas. He had great influence over kings, and was accorded the same status as
the military political chiefs of the country. According to custom, he was the
one to crown the king in order that the latter might indeed be recognized as
such.
The life of the Christians was
centered on the church. A good many of them settled around the church in rows
of houses called angaties (bazaars) which later became business centers. Around
the year 1600 there were some 64 churches, 168 Christian villages and 80,000
families. The administration of the Church was carried on by the assembly of
the Thomas Christians called yogam (a sort of blend between a synod and a
pastoral council, and also a significant expression of ecclesial communion and
co-responsibility.) of which there were 3 kinds: the parish assembly, regional
assembly and general assembly.
The parish assembly looked after
the temporalities of the church, as well as the whole Christian life of the
local community. This assembly decided cases of public scandal, inflicting
punishments which sometimes amounted to excommunication. The assembly exercised
ample powers in administering justice, in punishing delinquents, etc. Priests
were ordained for a parish church. The assembly presented to the prelate, candidates
for ordination with the implicit promise that it would maintain them. The
assembly formed a structure similar to both the assembly of the caste Hindus (local
or regional) and the assembly of temple administrators called ooralma which
means "administration by the people of the place."
Matters that concerned more than
one church of a region were dealt with by the representatives of those churches.
Regional yogam was often constituted for the administration of justice. Thomas
Paremmakal says, "According to the ancient custom of the Malabar Church, no
punishment could be inflicted unless the crime was proved before the
representatives of four churches." Matters of a general interest of the
whole Church or community (social, political and religious) were decided by
general assembly of the representatives of all the churches, wherein the
Archdeacon played a special role. They were practically supreme, and in fact no
higher ecclesiastical authority questioned their decisions.
The Christian way of life brought
by the Apostle Thomas was called "Law of Thomas" and in the
vernacular Thoma Marga. The term marga means "way", and has been used
to denote the Christian way of life. Christianity as a "Way" (hodos) is
also a biblical expression. It was originally a Buddhist term meaning "Buddhism
as a way of life - the way of salvation or nirvana". When Christianity was
introduced to South India, where Buddhism and Jainism were then the prevalent
religions, it was considered to be the new "way" or marga. Christians
were called margakkar or margavasi (those of the way). In recent times this
word is often used to designate "the newly converted" and has a bad
connotation in the background of the caste system. When people of low castes
were converted to Christianity, those of the high caste began to look down on
them - the new converts - with contempt. The Thoma Marga was the sum total of
the Christian life and heritage, a mixture of Dravidic, Buddhist, Jainist, Jewish,
Persian and Hindu influences.
Christianity in Kerala in the
first 3 centuries
Both the Jewish as well as the
local converts were in the beginning mentioned as St.Thomas Christians or
Nazaranis (being followers of Jesus who was a native of Nazareth). One of the earliest references to
Christianity in India mentions the visit of Alexandria’s leading Theologian, Pantenus
to the Indian Christians at their invitation in AD 190. However this visit is contradicted by
Eusebius, a 3rd century Christian Historian, who says Pantenus visited the
Arabian regions, which were part of greater India (India Magnum). Any how the
general belief is that the Christians existed in Kerala from the second half of
the 1st century itself and it was St.Thomas the Apostle who established the
Christian faith in India.
In the course of time the infant Church
established by St.Thomas is supposed to have been weakened. The community had to pass through many an
obstruction and so many oppositions, main reason being the “lack of
ecclesiastical assistance”.
Immigration of Cauverypoopatanam
Christians at Kollam
AD 293
The Christians in the rest of the
India suffered persecution. They therefore migrated to Malabar. One such
mention is given thus: "The Vallala converts to Christianity in
Kaveripoopatanam (The Puhur City of Cavery River) were persecuted by their king.
So 72 families embarked on a ship and came to Korakkeni (Kollam), where there
were Christians" From the Palm-leaf manuscript entitled "Keralathil
Margam Vazhiyute Avastha", The Affairs of Christianity in Kerala. This
copy of the Manuscript is dated around 1806
72 families to Hinduism by
Manikka Vachkar at Kollam
AD 315
A certain sorcerer called "Manikka
Vachakar" came to Kollam and converted back to Hinduism 116 persons
belonging to 72 families from Puhur, 4 of about half a dozen families
subsequently came from Coromandel Coast (perhaps from Puhur itself) and 20
families of local Christians (presumably from Quilon).
The Council of Nicea
AD 325
At this time the Christological
discourse and controversies were raging in the West. The Council of Nicea was
held to draw up the Nicean Creed in order to establish the cannon of faith. 318
bishops attended it among them was a Bishop Johannes, the Persian, for the
churches of the whole of Persia and Greater India.
The Indian Church had ties with
the Persian Churches right from early period. It is assumed that Indian
Churches invited Persian priests to teach the Bible. The earliest bibles
translated from Greek are found in Syriac. Malayalam did not have bible until
recently. So it was necessary to have priests from Syria to reach and explain
to the believers. The church administrations were completely controlled by the
local elders while the clergy who were brought into the country provided the
ecclesiastical services and doctrinal teachings.
Immigration of Knai Thomma
AD 345
A merchant named Thomas Cana
trading on this coast became acquainted with this Christian Church and in the
year 345 he brought to Cranganore a colony of four hundred Christians from
Bagdad, Nineve and Jerusalem. It is assumed that they came because of the
Persian persecution under Zorastrianism. Other sources indicate that they were
sent by the Catholicos of Jerusalem to get information about the state of the
Church in Malabar. Whatever be the reason, they were received kindly by the
Cheraman Perumal who gave him permission to buy land and settle down. Among
them was a bishop from Edessa named Joseph and several priests and deacons. From
the time of this immigration the Church seems to have been on a much firmer
footing. It is said that the Ruler of Cranganore, Cheruman Perumal, conferred
special privileges upon Thomas Cana and on his people.These include all the
honors to speak and to walk like a king. This copper plate was in existence
till 1498. Copies of it are still found though the plates themselves are
missing. This group kept their social identity and forms the Kananaya
Christians. Thomas is said to have married a local woman and hence had two
groups - known as Eastern Group and the Western Group. That this Church was now
in communication with the Churches of Asia appears from the tradition that the
body or part of the body of the Apostle was carried, towards the close of the
fourth century, from Mailapur to Edessa.
There is one incident of the long
period of isolation of the St. Thomas Christians from the rest of the Christian
world which they are never tired of relating, and it is one of considerable
importance to them for the civil status it conferred and secured to them in the
country. This is the narrative of the arrival of a Syrian merchant on their
shores, a certain Mar Thoma Cana -- the Portuguese have named him Cananeo and
styled him an Armenian, which he was not. He arrived by ship on the coast and
entered the port of Cranganore. The King of Malabar, Cheruman Perumal, was in
the vicinity, and receiving information of his arrival sent for him and
admitted him to his presence. Thomas was a wealthy merchant who had probably come
to trade; the King took a liking to this man, and when he expressed a wish to
acquire land and make a settlement the King readily acceded to his request and
let him purchase land, then unoccupied, at Cranganore. Under the king's orders
Thomas soon collected a number of Christians from the surrounding country, which
enabled him to start a town on the ground marked out for his occupation. He is
said to have collected seventy-two Christian families (this is the traditional
number always mentioned ) and to have installed them in as many separate houses
erected for them; attach to each dwelling was a sufficient piece of land for
vegetable cultivation for the support of the family as is the custom of the
country. He also erected a dwelling for himself and eventually a church. The
authorization to possess the land and dwellings erected was granted to Thomas
by a deed of paramount Lord and Rajah of Malabar, Cheruman Perumal, said to
have been the last of the line, the country having been subsequently divided
among his feudatories. (The details given above as well as what follows of the
copper plate grant are taken from the "Report".) The same accord also
speak of several privileges and honours by the king to Thomas himself, his
descendants, and to the Thomas Christians, by which the latter community
obtained status above the lower classes, and which made them equal to the
Nayars, the middle class in the country.
Traditions
The story as stated briefly in a
letter written by Mar Thoma IV, one of the bishops of the Syrian church in the
eighteenth century is as follows: -
"From this date (i. e. St. Thomas's
death) the faithful diminished little by little in our country. At that time (4th
century) St. Thomas appeared ill a vision to the Metropolitan of the town of
Edessa, and said to him: "Wilt thou not help India?" and he also
appeared to Abgar, king of Edessa, who was the king of the Syrians; and then by
order of the king a nd the bishop three-hundred and thirty-six families
composed of children and grown-up people, clerics, men and women, came to India
under the leadership of Thomas, the Canaanite, from Canan, which is Jerusalem. All
these sailed in the sea and entered Kodungalloor (Cranganore) our country. They
inhabited it by special permission from the King Cheraman Perumal, who was
ruling the country at that time. All this took place in A. D. 345. From that
time the church of our country spread in all directions, to the numbers of 72
churches."
Another and a more detailed
account of tile arrival of Thomas of Cana given by a 19th century writer
belonging to the Syrian Christian community is given below: --
Christians of Malayalam (i.e. Malabar')
were in a state of disorder for about 300 years from the time that Apostle Mar
Thomas (i. e.. St. Thomas) visited Malayalam and established the Faith, as it
had neither head nor shepherd. But by the Grace of the Lord, the Episcopa of
the Syrian land called Uraha had a vision in his sleep, in which a person
appeared to him and said, Grieve ye not for the flock that suitor and collapse
in Malayalam, which I won even at the sacrifice of my life'? The Episcopa
hereon awoke and at once announced the important tidings to the holy Catholic a
of Jerusalem He thereon called together learned real arts (i. e., priests who
are theological teachers) and others, and consulted them; and it was resolved
that the respected Christian merchant Thomas of Cana residing in Jerusalem
should be sent to Malayalam and the particulars ascertained through him. And
thereon, lie was sent to Malayalam on a trading enterprise,
"This Thomas of Cana arrived
at the Cranganore Bar and landed and saw and, from the cross they wore round
the neck, recognized the Christians who were brought to follow Christ by the
exertions of the apostle Mar Thomas, and who in spite of the oppressions of the
heathens and heathen sovereigns continued to remain in the True Faith without
any deviation. He struck their acquaintance and asked them about their past
particulars and learned that their grievance was very hard on account of the
want of priests and that the Church was, owing to that reason, in a tottering
condition. On learning these particulars he thought delay was improper and l a
ding his ship with the pepper etc., which he then could gather, sailed off, and
by the Divine Grace, reached Jerusalem without much delay, and communicated to
the Venerable tile Catholica of Jerusalem in detail all facts he had observed
in Malayalam. And t hereon, with the sanction of Eusthathius Patriarch of
Antioch, and odd persons, comprising men, women and boys, with Episcopa Joseph
of Uratta and priests and deacons, were placed under the orders of the
respectable merchant, Thoma of Cana, and sent off by ship to Malayalam, with
blessing. "By the Grace Almighty God all these arrived at Cranganore in
Malayalam in the year our Lord, without experiencing any inconvenience of
distress on the way. On this, the people of Kottakkayal Community received them....
They acknowledged allegiance to Joseph Episcopa who came from Jerusalem as
their metropolitan. And the affairs of the church continued to be regulated by
Thoma and others. "Thoma went and obtained and interview of King Cheraman
Perumal, the then ruling sovereign, who was pleased and said that he, the Lord
of the land, would undoubtedly render all help. Not only was command issued to
have all aid rendered to the Christians, but privileges of honour were also
bestowed under title deeds with sign manual and engrossed on copper plates, the
sun and moon bearing witness, to be enjoyed without any demur from any quarter
as long as the sun, the moon etc. shall exist.
Persecution in Persia
King Shapur ruled over Persia
during AD 309-379. He wanted to bring back the old Zoarostrian religion into
the country. The first order was that the Christians should pay double tax in
lieu of services in war. Mar. Shimum, the Catholicos of the time refused to
take the order on ground that the Christians were poor and that the Bishop is
not a tax collector. Consequently on Good Friday of AD 339 Mar Shimum and five
bishops along with 100 clergy were executed at Susa, the capital of Elam. This
was followed by severe massacre of Christians for forty years. In order to
ovoid this massacre Thomas of Cana suggested the colonization of Malabar.
Arrival of Soper and Prodho
Besides the arrival of Thomas
Cana and his colony, by which the early Christians benefited considerably, the "Report"
also records the arrival on this coast of two individuals named Soper Iso and
Prodho; they are said to have been brothers and are supposed to have been
Syrians. The "Report" gives the following details; they came to
possess a promonotory opposite Paliport on the north side, which is called
Maliankara, and they entered the port with a large load of timber to build a
church; and in the Chaldean books of this Serra there is no mention of them, except
that they were brothers, came to Quilon, built a church there, and worked some
miracles. After death they were buried in the church they had erected; it is
said that they had built other smaller churches in the country; they were
regarded as pious men and were later called saints, their own church was
eventually dedicated to them as well as others in the country. Archbishop
Alexis Menezes afterwards changed the dedication of these churches to other saints
in the Roman calender. There is one important item that the "Report" has
preserved: "the said brothers built the church of Quilon in the hundredth
year after the foundation of Quilon." (This era commences from 25 August, A.D.
825, and the date will thus be A.D. 925). The second of the aforesaid copper-plates
mention Meruvan Sober Iso, one of the above brothers. The "Report " also
makes mention of pilgims coming from Mesopotamia to visit the shrine of the
Apostle at Mylapur; some of these at times would settle there and others in
Malabar. It may be stated here that the Syrians of Malabar are as a body
natives of the land by descent, and the Syriac trait in them is that of their
liturgy, which is in the Syrian language. They call themselves Syrians by way
of distinction from other body of Christians on the coast, who belong to the
Latin Rite. The honorific appellation bestowed upon them by the rulers of the
country is that of Mapla, which signifies great son or child, and they were
commonly so called by the people; this appellation also have been given to the
descendants of Arabs in the country; the St. Thomas Christians now prefer to be
called Nasrani (Nazarenes), the designation given by the Mohammedans to all
Christians.
Copper Plates
The Text of the Copper Plates of
Cheraman Perumal, Ruler of Cranganoor conferring of privileges to Thomas Cana
and the Christians
May Coquarangon be prosperous, enjoy
long life and live one hundred thousand years, servant of God, strong. True, just,
full of good works, reasonable, powerful, over the whole earth, happy, conquering,
glorious, and rightly prosperous in the ministry of God, in Malabar, in the
great city of the great idol. While he reigned at the time of Mercury of
February, on the seventh day of the month of March, before the full moon. The
same king, Coquarangon being in Carnelur, there arrived in a ship Thomas
Cananeo, a chief man, who had resolved to see the uttermost part of the east. And
some men, seeing him, as he arrived, went to inform the King. And the King
himself came and saw and called the said chief man Thomas, and he disembarked
and came before the King, who spoke graciously to him. And to honour him he
gave him in surname his own name, calling him Coquarangon Canneo. And he
received this honour from the king and went to rest in his place. And the king
gave him the city of Maggodayarpatanam forever. And the said king, being in his
great prosperity, went one day to hunt in the forest, and the same king
surrounded the whole forest. And he called in haste for Thomas, who came and
stood before the King in a lucky hour. And the king questioned the soothsayer, and
the king afterwards spoke to Thomas, saying that he would build a city in that
forest. And he answered to the king, first making reverence, and said, "I
desire this forest myself." And the king granted it to him and gave it
fore ever. And at once, the next day, he cleared the forest and cast his eyes
on it the same year, on the eleventh of April, and gave it as an inheritance to
Thomas at the time and year aforesaid, in the king's name, who laid the brick
for the Church and for the house of Thomas Cananeo, and made there a city for
all of them, and entered the Church and there made prayer the same day. After
these things, Thomas himself went to the king's palace and offered him presents,
and afterwards he asked the king to give that land to him and to his
descendants; and he measured two hundred and sixty four elephant cubits, and
gave them to Thomas and his descendants for ever; and at the same time sixty
two houses which immediately were erected there; and gardens and tress, with
their enclosures, and with their paths and boundaries and inner yeards. And he
granted them seven kinds of musical instruments, and all honors, and to speak
and walk like a king, and that at weddings the women may give signal with their
finger in the mouth, and he granted him distinct weight, and to adorn the
ground with carpet and he granted the royal fans, and to double the dandal mark
on the arm, and a royal tent in every part of the kingdom forever, and besides
five tributes to Thomas and to his lineage and to his confederates, for men and
for women, and for all his relatives, and his children of his law for ever. The
said king
Signed
Witness these people
Codaxeri canden
Cherucara protachaten comeren - King's
Chief door keeper
Areunden counden - King's
councsellor
Amen Atecounden guerulen - Captain
of the Army
Chirumalapro taitiriuicramen
Comeren - Registrar f East side of Malavar
Preu i ualaitiataadi - singer of
the King's Court
Perubal atia tacottocoude - Guard
of the Gate
Bichremen Chinguen -King's
Chamberlain
72 privileges
by Cheraman Perumal to Knai
Thommen
72 privileges granted by Cheraman
Perumal to Knai Thommen in the Cheppedu
These Cheppeds were grants
inscribed on copper plates, of several privileges, given by the ruler of
Malabar of the time Cheraman Perumal to Knayi Thomman in AD 345.
This Cheppedu consisted of two
copper plates each about one foot long and two inches wide inscribed on both
sides and tied together at its left with chains in iron. This Cheppedu was in
the possession of the descendants of the Syrian colonists till the arrival of
the Portuguese in 1498. But it disappeared with the Portuguese mysteriously
soon after the Coonan Kurisu Sathyam.
Ambari (Howdah on an elephant)
Ankaram (courtyard)
Antholam (palanquin)
Ammoolam (tax gathering)
Arpu (cheers)
Aala vattam (Peacock feather fan)
Aana savari (Elephant riding)
Uchippoovu (Head Turban)
Kacha (Robes)
Kacha puram (Over coat)
Kankanam (Bangles)
Kaal thala (Anklet Rings)
Kaal chilambu (Anklets Bells)
Kurava (Tongue Cheers)
Kuthirasavari (horse ride)
Kuzhal (Bugles)
Kodi (Flag)
Kaikara (Hand Ornaments)
Kaithala (Bangles)
Cheli (a kind of tax)
Chemkombu (another tax)
Chenda (Drum)
Thamburu (String Instruments)
Thazha kkuda (Royal Palm Umbrella)
Ner vaal (Straight Sword)
Pattu chatta (Silk Coat)
Patturumal (Silk Handkerchief)
Pattumundu (Silk dothi)
Pakal vilakku (Day Lamp)
Padi pura (Entry Gate House)
Pathakkam (Necklace)
Panni pudava (Embroidary Robes)
Paravathani (Carpet)
Pavaada (Royal Cloth)
Pallakku (Palanquin)
Pavada (Royal Cloth)
Panchavadyam (Five Instrument
Orchestra)
Pandal Vithanam (Pandal
Decoration)
Pathinezhu Parichamel Kathruthwam
(Control over the 17 Low castes)
Maddalam (Hand Drum)
Manarkolam (Platforms)
Mudi (Crown)
Mudikuzhabharanam (Head ornaments)
Mammoolam (Tax)
Methi adi (Wooden Chappels)
Raja vaadyam (Royal Orchestra)
Raja Sankham (Irippu) (Honour to
sit in court with the King)
Rajabogham (Honor to eat with
King)
Veena (String Instrument)
Deevetti (Indigenous Torch)
Thookku manchal (Swinging Cot)
Thondon
Thoranam (Decoration)
Thol vala (Armpit Bangle)
Theendalkattal (untouchability)
Nada (Cheers)
Nayattuhubhogam (Privilege for
hunting)
Naikudiparisha
Nedizakuda (Royal Umbrella)
Nettipetti (Cloth Box)
Nettikettu (Head Dress)
Veera vaadyam (Heroic Bugles)
Veera madalam
Veera srimkhala (Royal Chain)
Viri panthal (Honour to errect
Pandal)
Venchamaram (Royal Fan)
Sankhu (conch)
Sangu Edam Piri (Conch with left
screw)
Sankhu Valampiri (conch with
right screw)
Bhoomi Karamozhivu (land tax
evation)
Nayattu (Hunting)
Paalamarangal (Forest concession)
Bishop Theophilus AD 354
Bishop Theophilos was a native of
Maldive Islands, off Kerala coast. Emperor Constantine took him as a hostage so
that the Maldive people will not plunder Roman ships as it passed that way. In
Rome he became a Christian and became a Bishop. He visited India and noted that
their worship practices differed considerably from those of other parts of the
world. Particularly he noticed that Indians sang, heard the gospel and worshipped
sitting down (which is the Hindu tradition) he thought they were outrageous and
ordered it changed. Probably the practice of worship standing was introduced
from that time onwards.
Fr.Daniel
AD 425
It may be assumed that Indians
sent their priests for training and studies to Syria. There was one Daniel who
translated the commentary on the Epistle to the Romans from Greek to Syriac in
Edessa. He signed it as Daniel, the priest, the Indian. Ecclesiastical language
of India was probably Greek and Syriac as the teaching of Bible came from there.
Greek inscriptions are found on the bells of several churches. Until very
recently the liturgy was mainly in Syriac. We maintain the flavor of this
liturgy even today by retaining several Syriac phrases like Amen, Kurialaison, Brakomor,Sthaumenkalos
et. and several Syrian chants.
Cosmos
AD 522
Around AD 522, Cosmas
Indicopleustes,a rich Christian merchant from Alexandria visited this coast. He
says that in "Male" where the pepper grows, there are Christians and
that at "Kalliana" there is a bishop, usually ordained in Persia. It
is supposed that Male here means Malabar and Kalliana seems to be not Quilon
but Kalyan near Bombay, but in order to form an opinion it is necessary to read
his book called "Universal Christian Topology".He describes his visit:
"We have found the church
not destroyed, but very widely diffused and the whole world filled with the
doctrine of Christ, which is being day by day propagated and the Gospel
preached over the whole earth. This I have seen with my own eyes in many places
and have heard narrated by others. I as a witness of truth relate: In the land
of Taprobane (Srilanka), Inner India, where the Indian sea is, there is a
church of Christians, with clergy and congregation of believers, though I know
not if there be any Christians further in this direction. And such also is the
case in the land called Male (Malabar), where the pepper grows. And in the
place called Kallia (Kollam) there is a bishop appointed from Persia, as well
as in the island called Dioscores (Socotra) in the same Indian Sea. The
inhabitants of that island speak Greek, having been originally settled there by
Ptolemies, who ruled after Alexander of Macedonia. There are clergy there also
ordained and sent from Persia to minister among the people of the island, and
the multitude of Christians...."
Council of Ephesus
AD 431
Soon after the formation of the
Church Heresy and variations in teachings were in existence in one form or
other. During the Apostolic Period, they were settled with the mediation of the
Apostles and Apostolic Synods and councils. The first of the council was the
council of Jerusalem where the question of gentile inclusion in the church. However
after the apostolic period this continued. Even today we have large number of
theological systems varying ever so slightly. These movements arose powerfully
around 400 A.D when Christianity became free from oppression and being a
Christian became a prestige. In the year AD 425 Nestorius, a presbyter of the
Church of Antioch became the Patriarch of Constantinople. He legitimately
objected to the epithet of "Theokotos" "Mother of God" as
applied to Mary since Mary was only the mother of the incarnation and not the
mother who produced a God. This would imply that Mary was a Goddess. (We can
now see how this epithet has led to the Marialotary and all the attempts to
make Mary coredemptrix and equal in status with the trinity). In this sense he
was indeed right. However he was understood to have propounded the concept that
the Logos of God indwelt Jesus the man. Thus there were two natures in Jesus at
the same time. If we are to judge by the Nestorian churches of today this was a
misunderstanding.
Cyril the Patriarch of Alexandria
opposed this dual nature concept and insisted on the unity that Jesus was
perfect man and perfect God without inconsistency. The controversy reached a
climax when these Patriarchs excommunicated each other. However the conduct of
the Ephesus council was totally deplorable that Nestorius was not ever given a
hearing. By the time Nestorius arrived at Ephesus the council had voted against
him and he was excommunicated and exiled. Its decision though universally
accepted, the way the issue was treated is still considered deplorable. The
Nestorius a genius theologian of the time was derided without even giving him a
hearing. Nestorius certainly foresaw the consequence of the epithet Theokotos.
Council of Chalcedon
AD 451
The fight went on and in AD 451
the Nestorians claimed a victory in the council of Chaldeons in the year 451. In
this council it was declared that in Christ the two natures were hypostatically
united, without mixture, confusion and divisibility.
Cyril the Patriarch of Alexandria
and John the Patriarch of Antioch finally reconciled. Nestorians adopted the
name Chaldeon Church and the Patriarch took the title of Patriarch of Babylon.
These in fights in the Middle
East and Europe had its repercussions in India too. There exists a Chaldean
church with few followings even today, though majority of the Christian
churches remained faithful to the declarations of Nicea and Ephesus.
The Christian Dynasty of
Villarvattom
A.D 510 - 1439
By this period, the great Empire
of the Chera Kingdom came to ruins and an immense number of small independent
Kingdoms came into existence. Their extents were limited. Thus the areas where
Christians were in prominence established themselves into Kingdoms. Christians
were traditionally good statesmen and warriors. Though there might have been
several such centers of strong hold of Christians in Kerala, one particular
Villarvattom Kingdom is mentioned often. This Kingdom Villarvattom Pana
extended from the coastal islands of Chennamangalam, Maliankara and others to
the north of and south of Udayamperoor. The capital of this kingdom was at
mahadevarpattanam in the island of Chennamangalam and later it was shifted to
Udayamperoor when the Arab invaders attached the island. Raja of Villarvottam
in A.D 510 built the Udayamperror Church, which stands even today. There are
several inscriptions in this church that supports this including the mention of
one Raja Thomas who ruled in AD 900=center.
Metropolitan
A.D 650
The coming to this coast of
bishops from Persia seems to have been interrupted in the seventh century by a
revolt of the Persian Metropolitan against the Nestorian patriarch of Babylon, the
Metropolitan of Seleucia. In "Asseman",is a long letter from the
Patriarch Jesujabus Adjabenus who was Patriarch from 650 to 660. The Patriarch
says:- "Not only India, which extends from the shores of the kingdom of
Persia as far as Quilon, a space of more than twelve hundred parasangs, but
also your own country of the Persians lies in darkness, deprived of the light
of divine doctrine which shines forth through bishops of the truth." About
this date one of the bishops in India obtained the rank of Metropolitan. From
the passage in "Asseman", it appears that this dignity was conferred
by Saliba- Zacha who was Patriarch of Babylon from 714 to 728. The names of the
Indian bishops have not been preserved, except in the case of two bishops, Mar
Sapir and Mar Prodh, who landed at Quilon.
The Council of Nicea laid down a
rule that all bishops should meet the Patriarch in an annual synod. This rule
was from time to time relaxed and finally in a synod held under Theodosius, who
was Patriarch from 852 to 858, the obligation upon the more distant
Metropolitans was reduced to sending a letter and funds every sixth year. The
words of the Synod are quaint:- "But other Metropolitans, that is to say, of
the Chinas, of India, of Persia and of Samarcand, situated in very distant
countries, hindered by mountain ranges infested with robbers and by seas fatal
with shipwrecks and tempests, so that they cannot come to us so often as they
otherwise might wish, shall take care to send, every sixth year, letters of
consent and union and in the same letters to set forth any business of their
countries which requires an opportune remedy: and they shall take trouble that
from all cities, great and small, be sent to the Patriarch what is right
according to the ability of each man and the Canons of the Fathers for the
expenses of the patriarch's house."
Copper-Plate at Devalokam, Kottayam
A.D 774
Some light upon the condition of
the Church of Malankara at seventh centaury may be obtained from four documents,
which have been preserved to this day. They are two copper-plate grants and the
inscriptions on two stone slabs. These stones can be seen in the "Cheria
palle" Orthodox church at Kottayam. That church is only three hundred
years old but the stones are said to have been brought from a much older church
that existed near Cranganore. On each of the stones is carved a Cross and an
inscription runs above and below the cross. The older stone has the legend in
Pahlavi, which was the official language of the Sassanides dynasty in Persia. A
similar inscription and cross is on the stone in the church on St. Thomas' Mount
near Madras. The letters of this inscription on the older stone at Kottayam and
on the stone at the Mount are said to be of date about the second half of the
seventh century, but may, of course, be much later, because lapidary
inscriptions are often written in antique characters of a former period. The
letters are said to resemble the letters on a stone in China erected in the
year 781 to record the arrival of some Chaldean missionaries in 636. Attempts
to translate the inscription at the Mount and on the older stone at Kottayam
have given widely differing results. Dr. Burnell translated as follows: "In
punishment by the cross was the suffering of this one, who is the true Christ
God above and Guide ever pure." The translation by Dr. E. W. West is:
" "What freed the true Messiah, the forgiving, the upbraiding, from
hardship? The crucifixion from the tree and the anguish of this." Dr. Haug
of Munich translates it as follows: "He that believes in the Messiah and
in God in the height and also in the Holy Ghost is in the grace of him who
suffered the pain of the cross." The other stone in the Periapalle church
at Kottayam is said to be of later date, probably about the tenth century. Above
the cross is half of the Pahlavi inscription of the older stone, ""The
Messiah and God in the height and the Holy Ghost." " Below the cross
is a Syriac version of Galatians 6: 14, "Let me not glory except in the
cross of our Lord Jesus Christ."
The copper plate grants are in
the Catholicate Palace, Devalokam, Kottayam . The older grant is on a single
copper plate, said by Dr. Burnell to be of date 774. It is a grant by King Vira
Raghava Chakravarti to Iravi Korttan of Cranganore, making over to him the
territory of Manigramam and giving him the rank of merchant. It is in old Tamil
letters with some Grantha letters intermingled. The later document is on five
sheets of copper fastened together by a ring. Of the ten pages of copper thus
furnished, seven pages are written in Tamil and two pages are written in
Pahlavi and Arabic with Kufic characters. Four of the signatures are Hebrew. This
Kottayam five plate grant is said to be of date 824. Its purport is that with
the permission of King Sthanu Ravi Gupta one Miruvan Sapir is gives certain
land near Quilon to the church. From these inscriptions on stone and copper
plate appears that the Christians at that time built and endowed churches and
had a recognised position in the country.
AD 825
The arrival also of two pious
brothers, church-builders. Besides the arrival of St. Thomas Cana and his
colony, by which the early Christians benefited considerably, also records the
arrival on this coast of two individuals named Soper Iso and Prodho; they are
said to have been brothers and are supposed to have been Syrians.King Cheraman
Perumal gave them land and extended to them special privileges, inscribed in
two sets of copper plates. Three of these are still in the Old Seminary in
Kottayarn and two are with the Mar St. Thomas Church, Tiruvalla. The rulers
were interested in encouraging trade. That was why these immigrants were given
special privileges.
There is one important item that
the "Report" has preserved: "the said brothers built the church
of Quilon in the hundredth year after the foundation of Quilon." (This era
commences from 25 August, A.D. 825, and the date will thus be A.D. 925). The
second of the aforesaid copper-plates mention Meruvan Sober Iso, one of the
above brothers. It may be stated here that the Syrians of Malabar are as a body
natives of the land by descent, and the Syriac trait in them is that of their
liturgy, which is in the Syrian language. They call themselves Syrians by way
of distinction from other body of Christians on the coast, who belong to the
Latin Rite. The honorific appellation bestowed upon them by the rulers of the
country is that of Mapla, which signifies great son or child
Mar John III
A.D 1129
The Saxon Chronicle relates that
in 883 King Alfred the Great of England sent to India alms for St. Thomas and
St. Bartholomew. Le quien, in his Orient "Christ", says that about
the year 1129 the Catholicos of Bagdad sent to Malabar a Nestorian bishop, Mar
John III. The Venetian traveler, Marco Polo, about 1295 speaks of Nestorian
Christians in Malabar and narrates the tradition of the death in India of St. Thomas
the Apostle. He says: - "The Christians who have the administration of the
church possess forests of trees that bear the Indian nuts and from them they
draw the means of their livelihood. As tax they pay monthly to one of the Royal
brothers a groat for each tree."
Medieval travellers on the Thomas
Christians
During the centuries that these
Christians were isolated from the rest of Christendom, their sole intercourse
was limited to Mesopotamia, whence the Nestorian Patriarch would from time to
time supply them with prelates. But from the close of the thirteenth century
Western travellers, chiefly missionaries sent out by the popes, sent to the
West occasional news of their existence. Some of these it will be useful to
reproduce here. The first who informed the world of the existence of these St. Thomas
Christians was Friar John of Monte Corvino. After he had spent several years as
a missionary in Persia and adjoining countries, he proceeded to China, passing
through the Indian ports between the years 1292 and 1294. He tells us in a
letter written from Cambales (Peking) in 1305 that he had remained thirteen
months in that part of India where the Church of St. Thomas the Apostle stood (Mylapore);
he also baptized in different places about one hundred persons. In the same
letter he says that there were in Malabar a few Jews and Christians, but they
were of little worth; he also says that "the inhabitants persecute much
the Christians." (Yule, "Cathay and the Way Thither," I)
The next visitor is Marco Polo, who
on his return from China (c. 1293) touched the India of St. Thomas. Of his tomb
he tells us: "The body Of Messer Saint Thomas the Apostle lies in the
province of Malabar, at a certain little town having no great population; 'tis
a place where few traders go . . . Both Christians and Saracens however greatly
frequent it in pilgrimage, for the Saracens also hold the Saint in great
reverence....The Christians who go in pilgrimage take some of the earth from
the place where the Saint was killed and give a portion thereof to any who is
sick, and by the power of God and of St. Thomas the sick man is incontinently
cured. . . . The Christians," he resumes later, "who have charge of the
church have a great number of Indian nut trees [coconuts], and thereby get
their living" (Marco Polo, Yule's, 2nd edit., II, 338). Friar Jordan, a
Dominican, came to India as a missionary in 1321; he then had as companions
four Franciscan friars, but on approaching India he had parted from them to
make diversion; in the meanwhile the vessel conveying the others was by stress
of weather compelled to enter Tana, a port on the west coast, where the Khasi
of the place put them to death as they would not embrace Islam; the feast of
Blessed Thomas of Tolentino and his companions is fixed on 6 April in the "Martyrologium
Romanum". Later Jordanus, hearing what had happened, rescued their bodies
and gave them burial. He must then have gone back to Europe, for he is next
heard of in France in 1330, when Pope John XXII consecrated him at Avignon
Bishop of Quilon. He left for the East the same year with two letters from the
pope, one to the chief of the Christians of Quilon and the other to the
Christians at Molephatam, a town on the Gulf of Manaar. In the first the pope
beseeches "that divisions cease and clouds of error stain not the
brightness of faith of all generated by the waters of baptism . . . and that
the phantom of schism and wilful blindness of unsullied faith darken not the
vision of those who believe in Christ and adore His name."
Much the same in other words is
repeated in the second letter, and they are urged to unity with the Holy
Catholic Roman Church. The pope recommends the bishop to the kindness of the
people, and thanks them for that shown to the friars who are working among them.
All we know is that Bishop Jordanus was sent out with these letters, but
nothing further is heard of him. He wrote a small book named "Mirabilia",
edited by Col. A. Yule for the Hakluyt Society, published in 1863 (see also "Cathay",
I, 184). The next visitor is Blessed Oderic of Pordenone, who about 1324-25
landed at Tana, recovered the bodies of the four friars, Thomas and his
companions who had there suffered martyrdom, and conveyed them to China. On his
way he halted at Quilon, which he calls Palumbum; thence he took passage on a
Chinese junk for a certain city called Zayton in China. He mentions the
Christians at Quilon, and that at Mylapore there were fourteen houses of
Nestorians ("Cathay", I, 57). A few years later Giovanni de
Marignolli, the papal delegate to China, arrived at Quilon. He stayed there at
a church dedicated to St. George, belonging to the Latin Rite, and he adorned
it with fine paintings and taught there the Holy Law. After dwelling there for
upwards of a year he sailed to visit the shrine of the Apostle; he calls the
town Mirapolis. After describing the culture of pepper on the coast he adds:
"the pepper does not grow in forests but in gardens prepared for the
purpose; nor are the Saracens the proprietors, but the Christians of St. Thomas,
and these are the masters of the public weighing-office" [customs office].
Before leaving Quilon he erected a monument to commemorate his visit, and this
was a marble pillar with a stone cross on it, intended to last, as he says, till
the world's end. "It had the pope's arms" he says, "and my own
engraved on it, with an inscription both in Indian and Latin characters. I
consecrated and blessed it in the presence of an infinite multitude of people."
The monument stood there till late in the nineteenth century when by the
gradual erosion of the coast it fell into the sea and disappeared. He concludes
his narrative by saying that after staying a year and four months he took leave
of the brethren, i.e. the missionaries who were working in that field.
First Latin missionary
A.D 1291
The first Latin missionary who is
known to have visited India was John of Monte Corvino, afterwards Archbishop of
Cambalec in Cathay. Sent out by Pope Nicholas IV as a missionary to China, he
on his way halted in India about the year 1291. In a letter which he wrote from
Pekin in 1305 he says:- "I remained in the country of India, where stands
the church of St. Thomas the Apostle, for thirteen months and in that reign
baptised in different places about one hundred persons." In a letter dated
1306 he speaks of Malabar and says:- "There are a very few Christians and
Jews and they are of little weight. The people persecute much the Christians
and all who bear the Christian name.
The next Latin missionary was a
Dominican Friar named Jordanus, a Frenchman from near Toulouse. Perhaps as
early as 1302 with other Dominican and Franciscan Friars he found his way to
the Bombay coast where the Mahomedans put his companions to death. After
various adventures Friar Jordan returned to Europe and wrote a small book
called Mirabilia in which he briefly mentions the wonderful things he saw in
the East. The only mention of Christians is as follows:- "In this India
there is a scattered people, one here, another there, who call themselves
Christians but are not so, nor have they baptism nor do they know anything
about the faith. They believe St. Thomas the Great to be Christ! There, in the
India I speak of, I baptised and brought into the faith about three hundred
souls." In 1328 Pope John XXII at Avignon consecrated Friar Jordan as
bishop of Quilon and sent him in 1330 with a Latin letter addressed to the
chief of the Nazarene Christians at Quilon. The letter asked the goodwill of
the Nazarene chief towards Bishop Jordan and his missionaries and ends by
inviting these Christians to abjure their schism and to enter the unity of the
Catholic Church. Bishop Jordan set out for India with this letter but it is not
known if he reached his destination or if he had any successors in the See of
Quilon. Another traveller, Friar Odoric, collected the bones of the martyred
companions of Friar Jordan and in 1321 passed down this coast and touched at
Quilon, where there were Christians, and at Mailapur, where were fifteen houses
of Nestorian Christians.
AD 1400
In 1490 the Christians of Malabar
dispatched three messengers to ask the Nestorian Patriarch to send out bishops;
one died on the journey, the other two presented themselves before the
Patriarch and delivered their message; two monks were selected and the Patriach
consecrated them bishops, assigning to one the name of St. Thomas and to the
other that of John. The two bishops started on their journey to India
accompanied by the two messengers. On their arrival they were received with
great joy by the people, and the bishops commenced consecrating altars and
ordaining a large number of priests "as they had been for a long time
deprived of bishops".
Vasco Da Gama and Roman Catholic
Mission
AD AD 1498
In 1498 Vasco de Gama anchored at
Calicut but on that occasion he had no intercourse with the Christians. On his
second voyage to India, when he arrived at Cochin on December 7th 1502 the
Christians applied to him for protection against their Mahomedan neighbours and
presented to him the sceptre above mentioned, as a sign that they became the
vassals of the King of Portugal. He started the Colonization process of India
by the Western Nations. Along with this came the religious domination of Roman
Catholic Church over the independent churches of Malabar. Portuguese being of
Roman Catholic persuasion wanted to bring the Malabar Christians under the
pontificate of Rome. According to the Roman concept the Pope of Rome is the
heir to the throne of Peter and is the Vicar of the Church Universal all over
the world wherever it may be. The Roman Catholicism claimed that Pope of Rome
was the supreme head of all the churches of the world and Indian Churches
should also submit to this supremacy if they are to remain true as Catholic
Church. The first such claim came with Friar John, whom Pope John XXII ordained
as Bishop of Quilon in AD 1330 when he was sent him with a letter. Friar John
is reported to have come to Quilon and founded a church in Latin rite. However
historically there is no evidence that he ever came to Quilon. He is said to
have been martyred at Kalyan in Bombay. There were similar visits from other
legations from Rome. Though these were received with Christian courtesy it did
not lead to acknowledgement of Papal supremacy as expected.
AD 1500
Between 1500 to 1650 the
Portuguese made an effort to convert local inhabitants to the Roman Catholic
faith and also bring some of the existing members of the Syrian Christian
Church under Roman Catholic influence. The climax of this was what is known as "Synod
of Udayamperur" . The Portuguese power declined by the 17th century. That
weakened the influence of the Roman Catholic Church in Kerala.
Those who kept away from the
Synod of Udayamperur continued as a small separate church in Trichur and were
called the Chaldean Church.
Western Influence
A new era dawned in the religious
horizon in India, by virtue of the discovery of the new sea-route to India by
the Portuguese Admiral Vasco de Gama who landed in Calicut in 1498 and made
friends with the Zamorin, the ruler of Calicut. Gama was followed by Cabral who
had with him priests both secular and Franciscan. In Calicut they set up an
Oratory in 1500 and began evangelization with the help of a Brahmin convert by
name Michael a S. Maria. A fortress was built in Cochin in 1505, and Cochin
became the seat of the Portuguese Viceroy from 1505 to 1530 when it was shifted
to Goa.
When the Portuguese came to India,
the Malabar Christians spontaneously welcomed and treated them as brothers in
faith. The Portuguese soon realized that the Thomas Christians were a powerful
community and their support would be essential to their commercial, political
and religious interests.
The King of Portugal sent more
priests to Kerala for missionary activities and they tried to rejuvenate the
faith and religious practices of the ancient Christians of St. Thomas. Leading
a Jesuit group to India, St. Francis Xavier, landed in Goa in 1542, and arrived
at Cochin in 1544. His mission in Travancore was a splendid success, converting
several thousands of people to Christianity in the sea-coast.
Although the Portuguese
missionaries were happy to meet Christians in the midst of Hindus and Muslims, they
very soon noticed the differences in ritual and liturgy which were intolerable
to them. They wanted unity in the Kingdom of God and decided to take measures
to achieve this goal.
From the beginning of the 16th
century the Portuguese began to exercise their power in India. They baptized
several thousands of non-Christians in the Latin rite. Cochin in Malabar, and
Goa, outside Malabar, were their politico-ecclesiastical centers. Goa became a
bishopric in 1534, and a metropolis in 1558 with Cochin as its suffragan see
erected in the same year. Both these sees were under the Padroado (Patronage) of
the Portuguese crown. With certain obligations the Portuguese crown had the
privilege to nominate Prelates for these sees. Goa's jurisdiction extended from
the cape of Good Hope as far as China. Cochin's jurisdiction was roughly from
Canannore down to the south and up to the south east.
With the rise of Goa as the chief
seat of Portuguese political and ecclesiastical power in the East, they wanted
to bring the Syrian Church directly under Rome and thus under Goa. The
Portuguese adopted several coercive measures, including the kidnapping of
Syrian bishops, accusing the Syrian Church of heresy and imposing sea blockades
to prevent the importing of prelates from the Eastern Patriarchs. Although the
Portuguese clergy contributed much to the spiritual uplift of the faithful here,
the ancient Christians could not appreciate the Latinising policy of the
Portuguese. The policy was so intolerable to the native Christians that it led
to an open rupture.
For the Portuguese in general the
ideal of a "true" Catholic was to be of the Latin rite. The Padroado
was their idol. They, therefore tried every means, even illegal and unjust, to
Latinise the Thomas Christians and to reduce them under their Padroado
jurisdiction. They trained some Thomas Christian youths in their seminary at
Cranganore according to the Latin rite, and sent them to Portugal. In the
beginning there was some mutual understanding. But gradually, step by step, the
Portuguese, became aggressive. They had by then with them some Thomas Christian
priests who were trained in their seminary at Cranganore, and who were ordained
in the Latin rite. They contended that the Prelate of Goa was the Prelate of
All-India in opposition to the All-India of the Metropolitan of the Thomas
Christians. They could not suffer the existence in India of the jurisdiction of
the Chaldean Patriarch. The Thomas Christians however, would not part with the "Law
of Thomas". i e., the Chaldean liturgy and rite with the Christianized
Indo-Malabar customs, nor would they give up their Chaldean Patriarch and the
Chaldean Prelates. The Portuguese smelt Nestorian heresy and schism in
everything even in the liturgical and social peculiarities of the Thomas
Christians, while the Chaldean Prelates became their special target. The
division of the Chaldean Church under the Patriarchs of the line of Sulaqa, and
under those of the line of Sulaqa's rival worsened the situation in favor of
the Portuguese. The Thomas Christians were legally under the Prelates who were
sent by the Patriarchs of the line of Sulaqa who had Roman confirmation.
There appeared in Malabar some
Prelates who were from under the Patriarchs of the other line. This and books
that contained passages dealing with St. Cyril, Nestorius etc., as well as with
Christological doctrine which they did not understand properly, gave the
Portuguese ample matter for self justification. The Chaldean Prelates in spite
of explicit or equivalent Papal recommendations, were imprisoned, or expelled
from Malabar as Nestorian heretics. After Mar Jacob's death (1950-52), the
Thomas Christians had no bishop for a few years. Having despaired of getting
bishops from the Seleucian Patriarch they showed themselves inclined towards
the Portuguese. The Portuguese exerted all their influence in Rome, and by the
end of the 16th century, and by the beginning of the 17th century they gained
much of what they were trying for.
Synod of Diamper
The Portuguese missionaries
wanted to do away with Chaldean jurisdiction over Malabar and wield their
politico-religious power over the Thomas Christians. The archbishop of the
Thomas Christians, Mar Abraham, sent by the Catholic Chaldean patriarch, was
found guilty of heresy by the Portuguese missionaries. In the light of the
report of the missionaries, in 1595, Pope Clement VIII sent two apostolic
briefs to Archbishop Dom Menezes of Goa. These were only to inquire into the
life and doctrine of Abraham and, if he was found guilty or if he died, to
appoint a Vicar Apostolic. Mar Abraham died in 1597, and then Dom Menezes, the
Portuguese archbishop of Goa, and the ex-officio political ruler during the
absence of the Portuguese Viceroy of Goa, entered Malabar, claimed he had
authority from the Pope, and visited the churches of the Thomas Christians
exercising jurisdiction. Using force, he opened churches and exercised jurisdiction
over them by giving confirmation. He did not mind the excommunication served to
him by the archdeacon. Visiting churches, he held three ordination services and
ordained at least a hundred, making them condemn Nestorianism. He thus gained
to his side those who were ordained and their relatives. The Malabar kings, especially
the one of Cochin, also were threatened and won over.
Dom Menezes made hasty
preparations for his synod to which, sub poena excommunicationis latae
sententiae, were summoned all priests and other clerics and four lay men
elected from each church, even from the churches he had not visited. Around 153
priests and 671 laymen (elected ones and specially invited ones) from some 64
churches in 168 villages met at Diamper (Udayamperoor) in the territory of the
king of Cochin. The synod was held in June (20-29), 1599, at which the Thomas
Christians had to sign the Profession of Faith at the beginning, and the
decrees at the close of the synod. They were also to condemn the Patriarch as a
heretic and schismatic and to swear they would not accept any bishop except the
one immediately nominated by Rome. The Patriarch thus condemned was Denha Simon
who was in explicit communion with Rome being also honored with the sacred
Pallium from the Pope.
Menezes passed decrees using
force which practically converted the Malabar Church into a branch of Latin
Church. The synod enacted fundamental changes in the rite, liturgy and
ecclesiastical laws of the Thomas Christians. Portuguese and Latin laws and customs
supplanted all others. This Latinization was mainly based on the discipline of
the Council of Trent.
The Synod cut the link of the
Malabar Church with the Mesopotamian Church which was at that time in full
communion with the Church of Rome. This Synod was publicized in the west as the
conquest of heretics for the Catholic faith. It should be noted that there is a
contradiction between this notion and the fact that the Thomas Christians were
summoned to the Synod under the pain of "excommunication"!.
On the other hand, the laws of
the Synod of Diamper had no binding force as it was not a lawful synod because
of lack of authority on the part of those who convoked it, absence of intention
on the part of those who attended it, lack of form in the manner of conducting
it and lack of integrity in the text promulgated. It is Possible that the laws
concluded by the prelates who ruled the Malabar Church and which were all Latin
in form and content were made under the erroneous assumption that Latin laws
were universal.
Roz S.J. and Campori S.J. who
were present at the synod, clearly state in their letters to the General of the
Jesuits and his Assistant in Portugal that the "synod" was not "in
forma". According to these letters 1) the Thomas Christians were not
consulted in the "synod", 2) they understood nothing of all that was
decided upon there, 3) there was no synod, but only reading of regulations
which were not understood by those concerned, 4) Dom Menezes said he behaved
like that just to show the way of salvation to the assembled without hindrance,
5) there were many things in the decrees unacceptable to the Thomas Christians,
6) those who assembled put their signature to the acts only at the insistence
of Roz S.J., 7) the zeal of Dom Menezes was preposterous, 8) Dom Menezes made
additions to the acts after the "synod" was over, 9) Dom Menezes
obtained from Roz S.J. the signatures of the assembled detached from the
original and had them attached, to his copy prepared to be sent to Rome for
approbation, 10) the authors of the letters pray that the Pope may not approve
the synod to rectify which they say, Roz S.J. (as bishop) had celebrated a
synod at Angamaly "in forma" with the satisfaction of all, undoing
certain things which Dom Menezes had ordered at Diamper. Such is the "synod"
of Diamper, the acceptance of which was later on insisted upon even as a
condition for the reunion of non-Catholic Thomas Christians. There is no
document which says that the Holy See ever approved the "synod" of
Diamper.
The Synod of Diamper, although
not legitimately and properly conducted, is the first formal and canonical
endeavor in Malabar Church on such a large scale. It has great historical value.
It brings to light many ancient practices of the Thomas Christians. This has
become the unique and sole important document in this respect because many of
their other books were burned after the synod. The synod helped the
organization of the diocese into parishes and their administration. It helped
the evangelization of the low castes and also the raising of their social
status. Many of the canons and decrees of the synod were just reproductions of
the Councils of Trent, Lateran and Florence. Unfortunately the Synod of Diamper
effected Latinisation in the Malabar Church, and later the Latin jurisdiction
was imposed over this Church.
Documentary Evidence
AD AD 1504
We at last come to the period for
which there is some documentary evidence. In 1504 certain Nestorian bishops in
India wrote a report to the Nestorian Patriarch of Babylon and this Syriac
report is in the Vatican library with a latin translation dated 1533 of the
report and of an addition to the report, which addition gives the history of
these bishops and of their companions. From this document we learn that in 1490
three faithful Christian men set out from the remote regions of India to ask
Mar Simeon, Patriarch of the East, to give bishops for their provinces, One of
the three travellers died but the two survivors, Joseph and George, appeared
before the patriarch and stated their errand. Two monks were selected from the
monastery of St. Eugene and were consecrated by the Patriarch under the names
Thomas and John. The Patriarch furnished the two bishops with letters under his
signature and seal and sent them forth with prayers and blessings to seek the
shores of India. The four arrived safely and were received with great joy by
the Christians who ran to meet them and carried before them the book of the
Gospels, the Cross, torches and a thurible. The two bishops consecrated altars
and ordained a large number of priests, because for a long time there had been
no bishop there. Mar John remained in India but Mar Thomas, with Joseph, returned
to the patriarch taking first fruits and offerings. In 1493 Joseph returned to
India but Mar Thomas remained for some years in Mesopotamia. The Patriarch
Simeon died in 1502 and was succeeded by Elias, who chose three monks from the
monastery of St. Eugene to be consecrated as bishops for India. Of these three,
David, who took the name of Jaballah, was Metropolitan. The others were George,
who took the name of Denha, and Masud, who took the name of Jacob.
The four bishops journeyed to
India, found Bishop John still living and in 1504 they wrote a long report to
the Patriarch, in the following words:- "There are here about thirty
thousand families common in faith with us and they pray God for your prosperity.
Now they have commenced to build more churches and there is abundance of all
things and they are mild and peaceable. Blessed be God. Also Christians now
again inhabit the Church of St. Thomas. It is distant a journey of 25 days, situated
on the sea near a city called Meliapor in the Province of Silan. Our province
in which the Christians dwell, is called Malabar and has about twenty cities, of
which three notable and firm cities are Carangol, Palor and Colom and others
nearly come up to them. In all these the Christians live and churches have been
built. Near by there is a large and rich city, Calecut, which the infidels
inhabit". The report then gives a narrative of the fighting at Calecut
between the Mahomedans and the Portuguese and then continues. "About
twenty Portuguese live in the city of Cannanore. When we arrived from Ormuz at
Cannanore we presented ourselves to them, said that we were Christians and
explained our condition and rank. They received us with great joy, gave us
beautiful garments and twenty drachmas of gold and for Christ's sake they
honored our journey more than it deserved. We remained with them for two and a
half months and they ordered us that on a fixed day we also should perform the
holy mysteries, that is, should offer the Oblation. They had prepared a fitting
place for prayer and their priests every day sacrifice and complete the holy
Oblation, for that is their custom and rite. Wherefore on Nosardel Sunday, after
their priest celebrated, we also were admitted and performed the holy rite and
it was very pleasing in their eyes.Setting out thence we arrived at our
Christians who dwell at a distance of eight days from that place."
Joseph, one of the two men who
went to the Patriarch in 1490, took passage for Europe with the Portuguese
admiral Cabral, sailing from Cochin on January 10th 1501. Arrived at Lisbon
this Joseph was an object of much interest. He traveled to Rome, where he had
an audience of Pope Alexander VI, to Venice, to Jerusalem, again to Lisbon and
so back to India. From the information obtained by persons who talked to Joseph
a book was published. Gouvea, p.5, says that it is in Latin and appended to
Fasciculus Temporum. An Italian version appeared at Vicenza in 1507 called
Paesi novamente retrovati, it is cited also as Novus Orbis or as The travels of
Joseph the Indian. It gives a description of the Thomas-Christians which may be
taken for what it is worth. Joseph says that the Church was under the control
of a supreme head "summus antistes", who had under him twelve
Cardinals, two Patriarchs, and many Archbishops and bishops. From one passage
he seems to say this of the Patriarch of Antioch although Asseman says that he
must have meant the Nestorian Patriarch. Joseph goes on to say that there were
priests, deacons and sub-deacons. The priests shaved the whole of the upper
part of the head as a tonsure. The churches were buildings similar to those in Europe,
with vaulted roofs and adorned by a cross but by no pictures. The faithful were
called to prayer not with a bell but by the voice. Baptism is administered when
an infant is fourteen days old unless there is danger of death. Unfermented
bread is used in the Eucharist. They have confession but not extreme unction. Both
Advent and Lent are kept as strict fasts. Their festivals are Sundays, the
festivals of the Apostles, Ascension, Trinity, Christmas, Epiphany and the
Purification, Assumption and Nativity of the Virgin Mary. Their greatest
festival is the Octave of Easter, because on that day St. Thomas put his hand
in the wounded side of Christ. There are monasteries, a supply of books and
eminent teachers. In the palace of the Zamorin at Calicut are four large halls,
one for Hindus, one for Mahomedans, one for Jews and one for Christians. Many
writers with an authority, which it cannot deserve, have cited this description
by Joseph of the Christians. There is no certainty that the persons who spoke
to Joseph clearly understood what he said or accurately remembered it.
two Syrian Bishops
The two last Syrian bishops were
Mar Joseph Sulaka and Mar Abraham; both arrived in Malabar after the arrival of
the Portuguese. Their case presents two questions for discussion; were they
canonically appointed, and had they completely rejected Nestorianism? As to the
first there is no doubt that his appointment was canonical, for he, the brother
of the first Chaldean patriarch, was appointed by his successor Abed Jesu and
sent out to Malabar, and both the above patriarchs had their jurisdiction over
the Church in Malabar confirmed by the Holy See. Mar Joseph was sent to India
with letters of introduction from the pope to the Portuguese authorities; he
was besides accompanied by Bishop Ambrose, a Dominican and papal commissary to
the first patriarch, by his socius Father Anthony, and by Mar Elias Hormaz, Archbishop
of Diarbekir. They arrived at Goa about 1563, and were detained at Goa for
eighteen months before being allowed to enter the diocese. Proceeding to Cochin
they lost Bishop Ambrose; the others travelled through Malabar for two and a
half years on foot, visiting every church and detached settlement. By the time
they arrived at Angamale war broke out. Then Mar Elias, Anthony the socius of
the deceased prelate, and one of the two Syrian monks who had accompanied them,
left India to return; the other monk remained with Archbishop Joseph Sulaka. For
some time the new prelate got on well with the Portuguese and Jesuit
missionaries, in fact, they praised him for having introduced order, decorum, and
propriety in the Church services and all went harmoniously for some time. Later,
friction arose because of his hindering the locally-ordained Syrians from
saying mass and preaching and instructing his flock. Eventually an incident
revealed that Mar Joseph had not dropped his Nestorian errors, for it was
reported to the Bishop of Cochin that he had attempted to tamper with the faith
of some young boys in his service belonging to the Diocese of Cochin. This came
to the knowledge of the bishop, through him to the Metropolitan of Goa, then to
the viceroy; it was decided to remove and send him to Portugal, to be dealt
with by the Holy See.
The following is the nature of
the incident. Taking these youths apart, he instructed them that they should
venerate the Blessed Virgin as the refuge of sinners, but were not to call her
Mother of God, as that was not true; but she should be styled Mother of Christ (Nestorius,
refusing at the Council of Ephesus the term Theotokos proposed by the council, substituted
that of Christokos, which the Fathers refused to accept because under this
designation he could cloak his error of two person in Christ). Mar Joseph was
sent to Portugal; arriving there he succeeded in securing the good will of the
Queen, then regent for her young son; he abjured his error before Cardinal
Henry, expressed repentance, and by order of the queen was sent back to his
diocese. Gouvea tells us that as he continued to propagate his errors on his
return he was again deported and Cardinal Henry reported his case to St. Pius V.
The pope sent a Brief to Jorge, Archbishop of Goa, dated 15 Jan., 1567, ordering
him to make enqueries into the conduct and doctrine of the prelate; in
consequence of this the first provincial council was held; the charges against
Mar Joseph were found to be true and he was sent to Portugal in 1568, thence to
Rome, where he died shortly after his arrival.
While the former was leaving
India there arrived from Mesopotemia an imposter named Abraham, sent by Simeon
the Nestorian Patriarch. he succeeded in entering Malabar undetected. At the
appearence of another Chaldean who proclaimed himself a bishop the people were
greatly delighted and received him with applause; he set about at once acting
as bishop, holding episcopal functions, and conferring Holy orders and quietly
established himself in the diocese. (Gouva, p. col. 2). Later the Portuguese
captured him and sent him to Portugual, but en route he escaped at Mozambique, found
his way back to Mesopotamia, and went straight to Mar Abed Jesu the Chaldean
Patriarch, having realized from his Indian experience that unless he secured a
nomination from him it would be difficult to establish himself in Malabar. He
succeeded admirably in his devices, obtained nomination, consecration, and a
letter to the pope from the patriarch. With this he proceeded to Rome, and
while there at an audience with the pope he disclosed his true position (Du
Jarric, "Rer. Ind. Thesaur.", tom. III, lib. II, p. 69). He avowed to
pope with his own lips that he had received holy orders invalidly. The pope
ordered the Bishop of San Severino to give him orders from tonsure to the
priesthood, and a Brief was sent to the Patriarch of Venice to consecrate
Abraham the bishop. The facts were attested, both as to the lesser orders and
the episcopal consecration, by the original letters which were found in the
archieves of the Church of Angamale where he resided and where he had died.
Pope Pius IV used great tact in
handling this case. Abed Jesu must have taken Abraham to be a priest; he is supposed
to have abjured Nestorianism, and professed the Catholic faith, and conferred
on him episcopal consecration; the pope had to consider the position in which
the patriarch had been placed by the consecration and nomination of the man; the
defects were supplied, and Abraham succeeded also in obtaining his nomination
and creation as Archbishop Angamale from the pope, with letters to the
Archbishop of Goa, and to the Bishop Cochin dated 27 Feb., 1565. Such was the
success of this daring man. On arrival at Goa he was detained in a convent, but
escaped and entered Malabar. His arrival was a surprise and a joy to the people.
He kept out of the reach of the Portuguese, living among the churches in the
hilly parts of the country. As time passed on he was left in peaceful
occupation. As is usual in such cases the old tendencies assumed once more
their ascendency, and he returned to his Nestorian teaching and practices, Complaints
were made; Rome sent warnings to Abraham to allow catholic doctrine to be
preached and taught to his people. At one time he took the warning seriously to
his heart. In 1583 Father Valignano, then Superior of the Jesuit Missions, devised
a means of forcing a reform. He persuaded Mar Abraham to assemble a synod, and
to convene the clergy and the chiefs of the laity. He also prepared a
profession of faith which was to be made publicly by the bishop and all present.
Moreover, urgent reforms were sanctioned and agreed to. A letter was sent by
Pope Gregory XIII, 28 Nov., 1578, laying down what Abraham had to do for the
improvement of his diocese; after the above-mentioned synod Abraham sent a long
letter to the pope in reply, specifying all that he had been able to do by the
aid of the Fathers (see letter, pp. 97-99, in Giamil). This is called the first
reconciliation of the Syrians to the Church. It was formal and public, but left
no improvement on the general body, the liturgical books were not corrected nor
was catholic teaching introduced in the Church.
In 1595 Mar Abraham fell
dangerously ill (Du Jarric, tom,I,lib.II,p.614). Unfortunately he survived the
excellent sentiments he then had and recovered. After about two years, in 1597
(Gouva, p.ii) he was a second time again dangerously ill; Archbishop Aleixo de
Menezes wrote and exhorted him to reform his people, but for answer he had only
frivilous excuses. He would not even avail himself of the exhortations of the
Fathers who surrounded his bed, nor did he receive the last sacraments. Thus he
died. The viceroy made known his death to Archbishop Menezes, then absent on a
visitation tour, by letter of 6 Feb., 1597.
Diampore Synod
AD 1599
The Portuguese became powerful in
certain areas of India especially in Goa and Bombay. In Jan. 1599, Alexiyodi
Menessis, the Archbishop of Goa came to Cochin. Geevarghese Archdeacon was in
charge of the churches in Kerala at that time. Menessis Archbishop with the
colonial power behind him used the power to put Geevarghese Archdeacon arrested
and put in prison under the orders of the King of Cochin. Then he traveled
extensively and influenced the leaders and people. In July 5, 1599, he called
the famous Udayam Perror Council (Sunnahadose). There were 153 leaders and 660
laymen were represented in that council. Under the yoke of the Portuguese
Colonial force they, accepted the supremacy of the Pope of Rome. However the
sailing was not smooth for Roman church. This domination continued for over
five decades. Through political influence the Synod of Diamper (Portuguese name
for Udayamperoor) was held in 1599 and most of the St: Thomas Christians were
brought under the Pope. During this period the Malabar Church assimilated many
of the teachings and rituals of the Roman Catholic Church.
Roz S.J. was nominated as the
first Latin Bishop of Angamaly as successor to Mar Abraham, on Nov. 5, 1599. The
Metropolitan see of Angamaly was reduced to a suffragan see of Goa under the
Padroado on Dec. 20, 1599, and the title of Angamaly was changed into that of
Cranganore. On Aug. 4, 1600, the Padroado of the king of Portugal was also
extended over Angamaly. The Thomas Christians were thus placed under Latin
jurisdiction. Thus the Portuguese gained all that they ware trying for.
If Roz, S. J., had respected and
kept intact the liturgy of the Thomas Christians, and had left the Archdeacon
to govern according to the "Law of Thomas", things would have
proceeded peacefully. But, retaining the Syriac language, he Latinised and
mutilated the liturgy adding to it translations from the Latin liturgy. He
curtailed the time-honored powers of the Archdeacon treating him as a Vicar
General of the Latin Church. Quarrels and unrest, excommunication and
absolution of the Archdeacon etc., were the consequences.
The Latin-oriented policy of the
prelates and the subsequent restless state of the community, which saw several
of its customs and privileges disregarded, caused discord and tension. This
held back the laity from several positive contributions which they could offer.
As a result of the forced Latinization, an open revolt of Thomas Christians broke
out against the Jesuit Latin bishops, which led to the vertical split of the
community itself in 1653. The dissension after the oath (in 1653) of non-allegiance
to the Latin prelates, caused a wound still unhealed in the community. Efforts
were concentrated, first, to reconcile the split, and when that failed either
group tried to gather more adherents to its side.
"Coonan Cross Sathyam"
AD Makaram 3rd,Friday 1653
Those who kept away from the
Synod of Diamper continued as a small separate church in Trichur and were
called the Chaldean Church. In 1653, the Nestorian church in Persia sent a
bishop to Kerala. Knowing this the Portuguese authorities captured the bishop
before he could land in Cochin and was imprisoned there where he died in duress.
As soon as this was known, the enraged Christians in Malankara gathered under
the leadership of Thomas Archdeacon at Mattanchery Church in Kochi and the
nearby market on 1653 (Makaram 3rd, Friday). They took an oath proclaiming that
"We or our children and their children to all generations to come will
have nothing to do with the Roman Catholic Church nor the Pope of Rome from now
on." There were over 2000 Christians at the (Church compound. They took
the oath touching the cross in the front yard of the Church. Since all the
people could not touch the cross, they tied ropes from the church and every one
of the 2000 held the rope or touched the cross to take the oath. Since the
cross had a slight bent, this historic oath came to be known as the Koonan
Kurisu Sathyam. Thus ended the five decades of supremacy of the Roman church in
Malabar.
This shaking away of the yoke of
Roman Catholicism was accelerated by the fact that Portuguese supremacy in the
Indian Ocean was broken by the Dutch. Dutch were Protestants and gave their
full support to this change over. As a result Thomas Archdeacon was ordained as
the Bishop of Malabar under the name of Mar Thoma I by Mar Gregoroius the
Patriarch of Jerusalem. (The Patriarchate of Jerusalem was part of the
Patriarchate of Antioch. Mar Gregorious was the last of the Non-Chalchedonian
Patriarchs of Jerusalem. He came to Malankara for this ordination. He is still
remembered in the first dyptsych of the Orthodox Liturgy along with Mar
Ignatius, the Patriarch of Antioch, and Mar Baselius the Catholicos of the East.)
Since the Antiochian Patriarchate was known to have believed the theology of
Jacob Burdhana, the church came to be known as the Jacobite Church of Malabar. A
minority faction still remained faithful to the Roman pontiff.
Syrian Church of Thozhiyur
AD 1772
In 1772 Mar Gregorios consecrated
Abraham Mar Koorilose as bishop. This was not appreciated by his fellow bishop,
who hindered his ministry. Mar Koorilose eventually retired to Thozhiyur where
he led a life of prayer. This church continued as an independent church since
then. Three time during its life time the main Malankara Syrian Church found
themselves without a bishop. The Thoziyur Independent Church provided bishops
for it to maintain its apostolic succession. Later it also provided a bishop
for Mar Thoma Church when it found itself without a bishop even though the
doctrines of Mar Thoma Church and the Thozhiyur Church are different. In return
when the Thozhiyur Church was without a bishop, Mar Thoma Church provided a
bishop for it. Thus Thozhiyur church became an instrument of maintianing the
apostolic succession without break within the sister Malankara churches.
Until recently Thozhiyur was the
only church under this Biashopric. With the increased membership additional
churches are being built. Cochin currently has a new church.
British Missionaries
AD AD 1816
The next wave of colonizers came
in the East India Company. Later when the colonization became wide, the crown
took over with Viceroy at New Delhi. This opened up a wave of British missionaries
to India. Kerala, which now formed three Kingdoms Thiruvithamcore, Kochi and
Malabar also, came under the influence of the British. There was a resident at
the capitals of these states. Along with them came the Missionaries. One of the
firsts to be involved with the Malabar Churches was Claudius Buchanan. Mar
Divanyous was the Metropolitan of the Jacobite Church at that time.
AD 1836
The British missionaries started
teaching protestant theology and hence were rejected through a declaration
called the "MAVELIKARA PADIYOLA". This prompted them to form a new
church called CMS (Church Missionary Society) which later joined with another
Protestant denomination to form the CSI (Church of South India).
The CSI Church in Kerala had its
beginnings mostly from Anglican missionaries who had converted the local
population. However later on they united with the Basil Mission, Presbyterians
and Baptists and formed the group called Church of South India. As in the case
of catholics these various groups follow largely the relegious practices of
their parent groups world over.However lingustically,socially and culturally
they have much in common with other Kerala christian groups.
In addition to the aforementioned
major groups the early St. Thomas Christians have now spread out to about 30
groups in Kerala. Among them are such groups as the Chaleddeans and the
Pentecostals. At the time of Mar St. Thomas 6th a visiting bishop named Mar .Gregorios
elevated a priest from the Kattumangattu family to bishophood. This group came
to be known as Thoziur' church.
The Malayalam Bible
AD 1841
He gave a copy of the Syriac
Bible to Buchannan (one of the chaplains of the East India Company employees) who
got copies of it reprinted and distributed them mainly among the clergy. Finding
the impact of the Bible Mar Divanyous I translated the gospels into Malayalam, which
Buchanan got printed in Bombay. William Baily translated the New Testament by 1829
and the whole Bible was available in Malayalam by 1841. The word of God in the
hands of the common people made an impact and a surge of revival and
reformation took place. This was accelerated by the presence of the British
Missionaries. Among those was Dr. Hermen Gundort (Bassel Mission) who studied
Malayalam and wrote the first grammar book for Malayalam.
European Missionaries
AD Makaram 3rd,Friday 1834
The European Missionaries opened
up several Missions fields. They Included the Danish Mission in Tamil Nadu
under the leadership of Berthealonmese Segan Balgue; Baptist Mission in Calcutta
under the leadership of William Carey (who started the Serampore University); London
Mission Society (LMS) under the leadership of Tingle Tob in Trivandrum area, Tamil
Nadu; and Bengal; Basal Mission (1834) under Samuel Hebic and Gundort in
Mangalore and surrounding areas, and in Malabar. Church of Scotland Mission and
many others.
C.M.S Church
AD 1836
The first wave of Missionary
thrust to India was by the Church Missionary Society (CMS) in 1816. Though many
of the Jacobite theology was at variance with the Protestant theology there was
lot of cooperation between the two groups. Among the prominent missionaries
were Thomas Norton, Benjamin Bailey, Joseph Fenn and Henry Baker, who were
famous among these C.M.S. missionaries. They started the CMS Press in Kottayam
in 1821, and began to publish Malayalam Bible and Christian literature for the
use of common people. 1825, they published the gospel of Matthew, and in 1828, the
New Testament, and in 1841, the complete bible.
The church leaders of Malankara
Syrian Christian Church and C.M.S. worked together from 1816 to 1836. The
Bishops of Malankara Syrian Christian Church, Pulikkotil Mar Dionysius (1817-18),
Punnatra Mar Dionysius (1818-27) and Cheppadu Mar Dionysius (1827-52) along
with the CMS missionaries started the Seminary now known as Pazhaya Seminary (Old
Seminary) for the training of the clergy in 1818.. The theological differences
came to surface and in January 16, 1836 there was clear rift between the
Missionaries and the Syrian Churches, and CMS and the Church separated. CMS
then turned to evangelization among the Hindus.
In 1835 Bishop Daniel Wilson of
Calcutta visited Travancore and at once saw that the system was unsuccessful. He
made a proposition that the Syrian church should reform itself and at the same
time keep its independence. Others in vain attempted to induce the Syrians to
come to terms. A synod of the Syrian church was held and a majority of those
present carried a resolution dissolving connection with the missionary society.
The Travancore Darbar, with the
approval of the government of madras, appointed arbitrators who divided the endowments
of the Syrian college. With the portion allotted to the society, a new college
and chapel were erected at Kottayam and English education was continued in it.
Towards the end of 1838 the
committee of the C.M.S. sent out directions to their Travancore missionaries, that,
with the consent of bishop Wilson, they should commence direct missionary work.
this they did and thus commenced the second period of the society. The
separation resulted ultimately in more friendly intercourse with the Syrians. Some
thousands of them have joined the C.M.S. congregations and from them have been
chosen and ordained the majority of the clergy of the Anglican Mission.
In the C.M.S. Travancore Mission
several eminent missionaries have laboured. Besides the trio already mentioned,
Benjamin Bailey (1816-1850), Henry baker (1817-1866), and Joseph Fenn (1817-1826),
there were Joseph peet (1833-1865), John Hawkesworth (1840-1863) and Henry
Baker Jun. (1843-1878), all of whom died at their posts. Peet founded the
mission at Mavelikara, Hawkesworth that at Thiruvalla and Henry Baker jun. the
interesting mission to the hill Araans. John Chapman, (1840- 1852), fellow of
St. John's college, Cambridge, was the principal of the college. He was
succeeded by Richard Collins M.A. (1854-1867).
Girls' schools were conducted by
the wives of most of the early missionaries but chiefly by Mrs. Baker Sen. who
managed a school from about 1820 until her death in 1888. Another school was
conducted by Mrs. Baker Jun, which was continued by Miss baker and is still
managed by the misses' baker. Mr. and Mrs. Lash started another school by the
name of the Buchanan institution at Pallam in 1891 for educating native girls
and training school mistresses. This has several Branch Schools connected with
it. The present principal is the Rev.E. Bellerby
The principal station of the
society is at Kottayam. Here is the college already mentioned. Messrs Chapman
and Collins have been mentioned as its principals. The Rev. J.H. Bishop M.A., Trin,
succeeded Mr. Collins. Coll. Cambridge,(1868-1878), who raised it to the
matriculation standard. He was followed by the Rev. C.A. Neve (1878-1888). The
Rev.A. J. French- Adams m.a., Balliol Coll. Oxford, succeeded him and raised it
to the F.A. standard and from that time it has rapidly developed in numbers. The
present Principal is the Rev.F.N. Askwith m.a., Queen's Coll. Cambridge. The
strength of the college in 1890 was 590.
The Rev. John Hawkesworth for the
training of mission agents started the Cambridge Nicholson institution also in
Kottayam in 1860. Mr. Hawkesworth was succeeded as principal by the Rev. John
Martindale Speechly (afterwards bishop). Divinity classes for the training of
candidates for the ministry were started in his time. The Rev. Jacob Thompson m.a.,
began to send up candidates for the oxford and Cambridge university preliminary
examinations for candidates for holy orders and several have since passed that
examination with credit. The C.N.I. is also recognized by government as an
upper secondary training institution. The present principal is the Rev. J.J.B. Palme
Other stations of the C.M.S. besides
Kottayam are: Alleppey which was occupied in 1816 by T. Norton, Mavelikara
founded by Joseph Peet in 1838, Thiruvalla by john Hawkesworth in 1849, Pallam
by H. Baker Sen. in 1843, Mundakayam by H. Baker Jun. in 1855. The Rev. R.H. Maddox
started the Alwaye Itinerancy with headquarters at Alwaye in 1868 and it has
been continued up to date under the following missionaries, Rev. F. Bower, Rev.
C.E.R. Romilly, Ven. Archdeacon Caley, Rev. J.H. Bishop and the Rev. I.J. MacDonald.
The Ettumanur Itinerancy, formerly known as the Mundakayam district, was worked
by Rev. A. T. painter and latterly by the Rev. C.A. Neve.
In the Cochin state, the society
in 1842 and Kunnamkulam in 1854 occupied Trichur. The town of Cochin was
occupied as early as 1824 and the Rev. James Ridsdale was the first missionary
who worked there. The station was afterwards given up but was resumed in 1856. At
present there is a native congregation under a pastor connected with the
society.
John Hawkesworth in the Tiruvella
district first preached the Gospel to the Pulayas of Travancore as early as 1859.
Now there are several vigorous congregations of these down trodden classes all
over the country.
Several natives have been
ordained to the ministry as pastors of the native congregations. The first of
these was George Mathan, who was ordained in 1844 and died in 1870. The second
was Jacob Chandy who was ordained in 1847 and died in 1870. The next were a
group of four ordained in 1856, the Rev. Koshy Koshy, the Rev. O. Mammen, the
Rev. G. Kurian and the Rev. J. Tharian.
A church council for the
management of the several congregations was formed in 1869 and most of the old
missionary stations are now under native pastors in connection with the council,
thus relieving the European missionaries for direct evangelistic and
educational work.
At first the missionaries were
under the jurisdiction of the Bishop of Calcutta but from the printed account
of the visitation in 1840 of Bishop Spencer of madras it appears that the
missionaries took licenses from him. They remained under the Bishop of Madras
until 1879 when the Rev. J.M. Speechly was ordained under the Jerusalem
Bishopric Act 111 as bishop having supervision over the C.M.S. missionaries in
Cochin and Travancore. Upon his resignation, the Rev.E. Noel Hodges M.A., Queen's
College, Oxford, Principal of Trinity College, Kandy, Ceylon, was selected as
his successor and was also consecrated under the Jerusalem Bishopric Act as a
Missionary Bishop. In 1885 Bishop Speechly appointed the Rev. J. Caley as
Archdeacon of Kottayam and the Rev. K. Koshy as Archdeacon of Mavelikara. Archdeacon
Koshy was the first native of India appointed to that office and for his services
in Bible Revision the Archbishop of Canterbury conferred upon him the degree of
D.D. in 1891. He died in 1900 and the Rev. O. Mammen was appointed Archdeacon
in his stead. The Rev. W.J. Richards who came out in 1871 as Vice Principal of
the College and afterwards worked as Principal of the C.N.I. and missionary at
Alleppey, also got a Lambeth D.D. in 1891 for his services in the revision of
the Bible and Prayer book.
So the missionaries turned to the
non-Christians and started working among them. According to a panchayat court
verdict, the properties and schools which were common among the missionaries
and the Malankara Syrian Church were divided following the declaration of the
church commonly known as Mavelikara Padiyola.. One group of believers and
priests who believed in the reformation principles joined with the C.M.S and
started the CMS church. Those who came from the Syrian Christian Church
retained their identity even within the new church. Another group of believers
under the leadership of Palakunnathu Abraham Malpan (1796-1845) decided to stay
in Malankara Syrian Church and worked for reformation from within the church.
Mar Thoma Church
AD AD 1876
Towards the end of the 18th
century and in the beginning of the 19th century the Jacobite Church of Malabar
(Malankara Church) was in confusion. Life within the State and the Church was
grievously disturbed by varying factors such as political, social and
theological issues. There were divisions and fights for power and authority. It
is at this opportune time the Anglican Church of England extended support.
The English displaced the Dutch
from Cochin in 1795 and with the arrival of the English, the foreign domination
of South India changed hands. The East India Company under which the English
operated in India, appointed a British Resident for Cochin and Travancore. The
first two Residents, Colonel Macaulay and Colonel John Monroe were men of
strong Christian convictions and they were prepared to help the Syrian
Christians. The Malankara Metropolitan Mar Dionysius I was deeply interested in
instituting schools in the parishes. Towards the close of Mar Dionysius I's
life, Dr. Claudius Buchanan, Principal of Fort William College, Calcutta
visited Malabar in 1806-1807. He had received a special commission from Lord
Wellesley, Governor General of India, to study and report on the Malankara
Church. Later, Dr. Buchanan reported the needs of the Church to Lord Wellesley.
On his return to England, Dr. Buchanan warmly advocated the cause of the Syrian
Christians and as a result, the Church Missionary Society (CMS) under the
patronage of the Church of England, provided the services of Rev. Thomas Norton,
Rev. Benjamin Bailey, Rev. Joseph Fenn and Rev. Henry Baker.
The first Anglican mission (CMS) started
to work in Kerala in 1816. A number of Jacobites came under their influence and
reforms were introduced on Anglican lines. Leadership for this reform group was
provided by Palakunnath Abraham Malpan and Kaithayil Geevarghese Malpan, the
two professors of the Syrian Seminary at Kottayam.
The first synod of the Indian
Jacobites was celebrated in 1836 and it decided to sever all ties with the
Anglicans. But Abraham Malpan and his party continued to carry on the reforms
already started, for which they were excommunicated by Dionysius IV in 1837. There
followed a period of confusion. Mathew Mar Athanasius, who had been consecrated
bishop by the Jacobite patriarch in 1842/43 emerged as the leader of the reform
group. The tussle continued for some time more, and in 1875 Mathew Mar
Athanasius was deposed by Ignatius Mar Peter IV, patriarch of Antioch, who
visited India that year. Consequent to this excommunication, Mar Athanasius and
his followers were deprived of all the churches and properties. The Church
plunged into a litigation known as the 'Seminary Case'. Finally, in 1889, with
help of the CMS, they organized a new Church - the "Mar Thoma Church".
The Mar Thoma Church is an
amicable blending of two characteristic tracts, namely, the Orthodox Church
features and reformation (Protestant) ideals, or in other words, blending of
Eastern and Western forms. This nature of the Church points to its uniqueness
when compared to other Churches. The supreme authority of the Church is the
General Assembly which is consisted of the bishops, the clergy and elected
representatives of the local parishes.
The conventions convened time and
again enriched the spiritual life of the people. Of all the conventions the
Maramon convention which began in 1896 ranks first with respect to the large
number of people attending it every year. There are around half a million
members in this Church.
The two leaders, Palakunnathu
Abraham Malpan (Malpan means Professor of Theology) and Kaithayil Geevarghese
Malpaan and their followers were dismissed from the Orthodox-Jacobite church. Palakunnathu
Abraham Malpan sent his 23-year-old nephew who was at that time a deacon, to
Syria in 1843 and done the Patriarch of Antioch ordain him as Bishop Mathews
Mar Athanasius. Immediately on return, he was declared the Malankara
Metropolitan by the decree of the King. Following this Pulikkotil Joseph Ramban
of the orthodox tradition went to Antioch and got himself consecrated as bishop
with the name Joseph Mar Dionysius. He returned to Kerala with the Patriarch of
Antioch Peter III and convened the synod of Mulanthuruthy in 1876. During this
synod the church accepted the spiritual supremacy of the Patriarch of Antioch. Mathews
Mar Athanasios died in 1877, and was succeeded by, Thomas Mar Athanasios (1879-1889).
The struggle between Bishop Athanasios and Bishop Dionysius led to the
excommunication of one bishop by the other and resulted in the separation of
the Malankara Syrian Church into Jacobite and Marthomite Churches. Those who
supported the reformation within the church organized as Malankara Mar Thoma
Syrian Christian Church as an independent church without any affiliation with
any foreign patriarchate. Since the Bible in the hands of the common man in
Malayalam and with large number of theologically trained clergy, it was no more
necessary to have any Syrian affiliation. The liturgy was translated into
Malayalam with necessary changes to reflect the reformation theology.
The missionary oriented
Marthomite Church though started, as a small church grew strong in time. The
Sunday school Samajam (The institution of Sunday School) and the Suvisesha
Sangham (evangelism board) have played a big role in this reformation. Punchamannil
Mammen Upadeshi, Edayaranmula Sadhu Kochu Kunju Upadeshi, Pennamma Sanyasini
and several preachers led the revival in Marthoma Church at the dawn of the 20th
century; I n 1895, the Maramon Convention was started in the sands of Pampa, which
became the biggest convention in the world.
AD 1878
Salvation Army originated in
London England in 1878. William Booth was the founder.Salvation army came to
the state in 1878. They centered their activities in southern Travancore.
AD 1889
In 1889 the Patriarchate accepted
Joseph Mar Dionysios as the head of the Malankara Church. This resulted in the
separation of the reformation group and a new church was formed by the
reformists called "St. Thomas Church".
AD 1910
DeivaSabha (Church of God) was
started by a methodist priest from the U.S.A in 1884. A Kerala branch was
established in 1910. Lutheran mission run by followers of reformist Martin
Luther established themselves in Perurkkada near Trivandrum in 1911.They
operate in some 70 centers in sothern Travancore.
Division in Orthodox Church
AD 1912
Though the acceptance of the
Antiochian supremacy was expedient for those opposing the reformation, not all
members of the church were happy with it. This group sent a request to the
Patriarch of Syria to ordain a Catholicos for Malankara. Patriarch Abdul Messiah
of that time denied the request. Few years later the next Patriarch, Abdulla
came to Kerala and wanted Vattasseril Geevarghese Mar Dionysius to sign a
document declaring that the Patriarch had temporal powers over the Malankara
Church. Mar Dionysius refused to sign this document and he was therefore
excommunicated by the Patriarch.
The church consequently split
into two groups, one group supporting the Patriarch and called them the "Bava
party" and the group of supporting Mar Dionysius called themselves the "Metran
party". Following a request by Mar Dionysius in 1912 to Patriarch Mar
Abdul Messiah to come to Kerala and enthrone a Catholicos in 1964 a Catholicos
was ordained as Catholicos Augen I. In 1972 the "Bava party" with
their own Catholicos and bishops separated themselves and formed the Malankara
Orthodox Church. The Other group is known as the Malankara Syrian Church. or
commonly called as Jacobite Church.
Malankara Metropolitan had
deposited about 3,000 Poovarahan (gold coin currency of Kerala at that time) on
8% interest, with the British government. This deposit money is known as
Vattipaanam. As the Church got separated a raging court case ensued which
prolonged over many years in bitterness to both groups.
AD 1925
Pentecostal Church. Pastor Cook
started the Kerala Pentecostal church in Mulakkuza near Chenganoor in 1925. There
are several sub groups like Pentikostu Deiva sabha, Indian Pentikostu sabha, Pentikostu
Deiva Samuham, Celyon Pentokostu, Apostolia united pentikostu, independent
pentekostu, Adhakrutha pentikostu, Penticostu Gospel group and Philadelphia
Penticostu.
AD 1930
A group of people left the
orthodox church together with Mar Ivanios and Mar Theophilos to join the Roman
Catholic church.
AD 1958
After many years of litigation
that started in 1912 due to the "Bava party"/"Metran party"
split, the Supreme court of India recognized and gave judgement in favor of
orthodox Catholicos. This led to the mutual recognition of the Patriarch and
the Catholicos and the groups were again unified. In 1964 The Patriarch of
Antioch came for the enthronement of next Catholicos Augen I. In 1972, Unfortunately,
in 1972 the two groups got again seperated.
Travancore-Cochin Anglican church
is a break away faction from CSI going back to 1966. Brotherans, a break away
faction from the Baptists have their headquarters in Kumbanadu near Thiruvalla.
The miracle crusaders are fast
gaining ground in the state. In a small town Potta near Trichur, Father Naickam
Parambil is attracting thousands of devotees.
Christianity in India Today
There are 25 million Christians
in India which is just below 3% of the total population of the country. Kerala
has the largest number of Christians among the states. However, in North India,
the Church is represented only by small and scattered communities. Christians
including Catholics, Orthodox and Protestants,form the third largest group in
India.They are mainly: the Syrian Orthodox Christians divided at present into
two groups (Bava Kakshi and Metran kakshi), the Anjoorians, the Anglicans (CMS),
the Marthomites,the Mellusians or Nestorians, and the St. Thomas Evangelical
Church of India. There are around 6 million non-Catholics in India, including
Orthodox Christians and Protestants. The Catholic Church in India is Composed
of three individual Churches : Latin,Malabar and Malankara: with their own
independent hierarchies. Diversity of Christians is noticeable: Syrian
Christians,Knanaya Christians, Goan Christians, Tamil Christians, Anglo-Indians,
Naga Christians, etc. They differ in language, social customs and economic
prosperity. Christians Occupy high positions: cabinet ministers, governors of
states, high court judges, University vice-chancellors, top-ranking officers, etc.
Christians also have been the main contributors to education in India. Their
contribution in the social work is out of all proportion to their numbers.
Kerala is the cradle of
Christianity in India. There the Christians play a decisive role in the fields
of education, social work and even in politics. In 1959 it moved Pundit Nehru, the
then Prime Minister of India, to remark (on the occasion of the dismissal of
the Communist Government of Kerala) that the Christians of Kerala are a power
to be counted on. 22% of the population of Kerala is Christian. In the
educational field, the work of the Christians of Kerala has been noteworthy and
it is due to their efforts together with that of the government and of other religious
and cultural groups that Kerala became the leading state in India for literacy.
Government of India, in 1990, declared that the state of Kerala is 100%
literate. This is recorded in the Guinness Book.
The Identity of Syrian Christians
Only recently westerners have
begun to recognize Christianity's Eastern foundation. Christianity in Kerala is
older than Rome according to the St. Thomas tradition. It began as an Oriental
religion. Syrian Christian priests wear cassocks, caps and beards as seen also
in west Asia. The Syrian Christians have a special identity. Their customs and
manners are different from those of other Christian groups. Their names are
unique, St. Thomas is Mammen, Peter is Ommen, Paul is Peeli, Elizabeth is
Eliamma and so on.
Today Kerala Christians are a
prosperous community commanding extraordinary Political clout. The religious
practices of this group were shaped in the place of origin and is dominated by
Church services which follow traditional patterns.
liturgy, Faith and customs
Their basic belief is in the
Christian doctrine and life after death. The clergy laity relationships are
very strong. Syrian Christians have strong and active religious organizations
and a majority of the people attend Sunday Church services. Church services are
conducted in Malayalam with some segments often in Syriac. Baptism is practised
by all Kerala Christians. The Episcopal Churches emphasise child baptism and
use sprinkling of water in the name of the Triune of God. Believer's baptism by
immersion in water is practised by Pentecostal groups.
The Eucharist liturgy of the
Syrian and Mar St. Thomas Churches stem from Eastern traditions and is based on
the liturgy of St. James. The liturgy of the Roman Catholics is western. The
liturgy of the Church of South India combines elements from both these. Pentecostal
Churches do not follow a definite liturgy. The mainline Churches also practices
Kayyasturi (in Malayalam) an oriental custom meaning kiss of peace, which
enhances the celebration of the Lord's Supper. It is done by a form of eastern
handshake. The Pentecostal's also practice this, but in their case the brothers
kiss brothers and sisters kiss sisters. The manner of celebration of the Lord's
Supper varies from denomination to denomination. Syrian Christians use several
accessories such as the bells, the veil, the altar, the cross the coverings and
the candles.
Christian community in Kerala is
not a homogenous entity. However most Kerala Christian groups follow certain
common practices derived from local cultural influences such as wedding customs,
and use of Malayalam language in liturgy. Most groups also believe in the St. Thomas
tradition.
The present Christian population
have descended from these early groups. Some of the early Christians were
Paklomattam, Shankarapuri, Kalli, and Kaaliyankavu in the north and Thayyil, Pattamukkil,
Manki, and Madathilen near Niranam . They are popularly referred to as Syrian
Christians because of the Syrian Liturgy which they continued to use in church
services. They have also sometimes been called Nazaranis (followers of Jesus of
Nazarene) or St. Thomas Christians. In some official documents Syrian
Christians are even now referred to as Nazaranis.
An added fillip to the growth of
the Church took place when a group of about 400 people migrated from Syria in 345
AD and joined the then existing Kerala Church. The leader of this group was
Thomas of Kana. They stayed on in the region. The descendants of this group
even today maintain their separate identity, and are known as Kananites. Syrian
Christians remained as an independent group, and they got their bishops from
Eastern Orthodox Church in Antioch in Syria.
The Portuguese who arrived by sea
in 1498, gradually established their power base and were eager to bring all
Christians in the fold of the Church of Rome. With their superior
organizational skill and with the help of Portuguese political power Bishop
Alexis De Menzes succeeded in establishing the Roman Catholic Church as the
dominant Church of Kerala.Between 1500 to 1650 the Portuguese made an effort to
convert local inhabitants to the Roman Catholic faith and also bring some of
the existing members of the Syrian Christian Church under Roman Catholic
influence. The climax of this was what is known as "Synod of Udayamperur"
. The Portuguese power declined by the 17th century. That weakened the
influence of the Roman Catholic Church in Kerala.
In 1653 there was a re-affirmation
of allegiance to the Syrian Orthodox tradition in front of an improvised cross
at Mattanchery. This event is popularly known as' Coonan Kurisu Satyam' (Oath
taken on a bent cross). The immediate provocation was the alleged murder by
Portuguese authorities, of a Bishop who was sent from Syria After the decline
of the Portuguese the next major influence sprung from British rule. There was
a significant influence in the area of education through the efforts of the
Christian missionaries which account for the high literacy rate and high degree
of education among Keralites.
The subsequent history of the
Syrian Christian Church of Kerala includes the evolution of the Syrian groups
and the Roman catholic groups. First let us look at the Syrian groups.
Around 1800 one of the Syrian
Christian Bishops, Mathew Athanasius, influenced by one Abraham Malppan made a
move to the Protestant side and this was the beginning of the Kerala Mar Thoma
Church. They developed strong links to the Western missionaries and emphasized
evangelical renewal and Bible study. But the majority of the parent Syrian
Church remained loyal to their own Bishops.
On September 14, 1912 a visiting
patriarch from Mardin elevated one of the local bishops in the Syrian Church to
Catholicose, a position that existed before in Tigris. This event took place at
the famous Niranom Church and subsequently led to disputes and litigation
between the factions called Orthodox Syrians and Jacobite Syrians of the Syrian
Church in Kerala.Several Catholicose followed.
Their names are testament to the
Churche's eastern connection. The first Catholicose was Basaliose Poulose the I
(September 14, 1912 to May 2, 1913) The second was Basliose Geeverghese I. (April
30, 1925 to December 17, 1928).
During the time of the third
Catholicose (Basaliose Geeverghese III, ( Feb 15, 1929 to January 3, 1964) the
positions of 'Malankara Metran' (Head Bishop) and Catholicose were combined. The
fourth Catholicose was Basaliose Ougen I (May 12, 1964 to December 8, 1975) and
the fifth Basaliose Mar Thoma Mathews I (October 27, 1975 to April 27, 1991).When
Basaliose Mar Thoma Mathews I retired sixth Catholicose Basaliose Mar Thoma
Mathews II took office on April 29, 1991.
When Basaliose Mar Thoma Mathews II retired Seventh Catholicose Basaliose Mar
Thoma Didimos I took office on October 31,
2005.
Catholics together constitute
about 61.4%, the Syrian Orthodox and Syrian Jacobites together about 21.4%, the
Marthoma Syrians about 5.7%, the Church of South India 5.2% and others about 6.3%
of Christian in the state. The Syrian orthodox and Syrian Jacobites are
sometimes referred to as Syrian Christians today. All affore mentioned groups
together constitute Kerala's Christian population
During the 1930s one of the
leading Bishops of the Syrian Christians, disillusioned by the split between
the Catholicose group and the Patriarch group left the Church and moved to the
Roman Catholic Church, forming a group called "Reethu". (Malankara
Roman Rite) Nearly a hundred thousand people went over to this new rite from
the Syrian Orthodox Church.
The two groups of the Syrian
Church, namely the Jacobite Syrians and the Orthodox Syrians continued court
battles and finally in 1960 the Supreme Court of India ruled putting an end to
the litigation. Bbut even after this temporary reunion the division emerged
again. Today there are again two divisions, the Orthodox Syrian Christians
owing allegiance to the Catholicose of the East and the Jacobites Syrian
Christians owing allegiance to the Patriarch of Antioch in Syria. Very recently
the supreme court of India has once again ruled putting an end to legal
struggles between those two groups and recognizing the legitimacy of the
Catholicose.
Now let us turn to the Roman
Catholics The Roman Catholic Church accepted allegiance to Pope and came to be
known as Syrian Roman Catholic. There are Roman Catholics converted by European
missionaries known as Latin Roman Catholics. There is also Roman Catholic group
mentioned earlier called "Reethu" or the Malankara Syrian Rite.The
Roman Catholic Church went through it's own evolutionary struggles after the
Portuguese power declined in India. In 1662 the Dutch took over Cochin from the
Portuguese. The Portuguese before departing elevated a local priest to bishop
and papal representative. He ruled the church from 1662 to 1687.
There was a period of dominance
by Carmalite missionaries during the Dutch period. However there was an ongoing
struggle for local autonomy in the church. In 1887 the process of
liberalization started. Two new diocese, Kottayam and Trichur started with
local autonomy. Three Kerala priests were appointed as bishops In 1896 for the
first time. New diocese in Palai, Kothamangalam, Tallicheri and Manathavadi
were started.In 1956 the status of Changanacheri diocese was upgraded.In 1969
the metropolitan of Eranakulam was elevated to Cardinal. For the Catholic
Church of Kerala the most momentous occasion was the visit of Pope John Paul II.
The Pope visited Kottayam and performed the beatification of a Kerala priest
and nun.
Eventhough the Kerala Catholics
follow the religious practices of Roman Catolics world over, they have much in
common with other Kerala christians. They follow Syrian rites as opposed to
Latin rites. As stated earlier Roman Catholics along with other Christian
groups use malayalam language for service and follow certain local customs and
traditions during weddings funerals etc. A Kerala catholic, while accepting
papal authority and mainstream Roman Catholic practices might be inclined to
feel more at home with other Kerala Christian groups socially and culturally.
The CSI Church in Kerala had its
beginnings mostly from Anglican missionaries who had converted the local
population. However later on they united with the Basil Mission, Presbyterians
and Baptists and formed the group called Church of South India. As in the case
of catholics these various groups follow largely the religious practices of
their parent groups world over. However linguistically, socially and culturally
they have much in common with other Kerala Christian groups.
In addition to the aforementioned
major groups the early St. Thomas Christians have now spread out to about 30
groups in Kerala. Among them are such groups as the Chaleddeans and the
Pentecostals. At the time of Mar Thoma 6th a visiting bishop named Mar .Gregorios
elevated a priest from the Kattumangattu family to bishophood. This group came
to be known as Thoziur' church.
The Pentecost followers lead a
simple life and prefer to treat sickness through prayers. Their origin was in
Tennassie state in 1887. Pastor Cook started the Kerala Pentecostal church in
Mulakkuza near Chenganoor in 1925. There are several sub groups like Pentikostu
Deiva sabha, Indian Pentikostu sabha, Pentikostu Deiva Samuham, Celyon
Pentokostu, Apostolia united pentikostu, independent pentekostu, Adhakrutha
pentikostu, Penticostu Gospel group and Philadelphia Penticostu.
Travancore-Cochin Anglican church
is a break away faction from CSI going back to 1966.Brotherans, a break away
faction from the Baptists have their headquarters in Kumbanadu near Thiruvalla.
Salvation Army originated in
London England in 1878. William Booth was the founder.Salvation army came to
the state in 1878. They centered their activities in southern Travancore.
Yuyomayam was started by an
anglican priest Yusthoose Youseph. He was also known as 'Vidwan Kutty' and was
the son of a Brahmin from Thirunalveli.He forcasted that Christ will come for
second time in 1980. Another prediction was that darkness will encircle the
earth on August 10, 11, and 12, 1875.
DeivaSabha was started by a methodist
priest from the U.S.A in 1884. A Kerala branch was established in 1910.
Russel church , otherwise called 'Jehovaha's
witnesses was started by C.T.Russel in U.S.A. The Kerala branch was established
in Mallappalli in 1925.
Lutheran mission run by followers
of reformist Martin Luther established themselves in Perurkkada near Trivandrum
in 1911.They operate in some 70 centers in southern Travancore.
The miracle crusaders are fast
gaining ground in the state. In a small town Potta near Trichur, Father Naickam
Parambil is attracting thousands of devotees.
While the Church in the West is
still Evangelical, in India the focus of the main line Church is social. There
is also a strong ecumenical movement. Today Kerala Christians are a prosperous
community commanding extraordinary Political clout. The religious practices of
this group were shaped in the place of origin and is dominated by Church
services which follow traditional patterns. Their basic belief is in the
Christian doctrine and life after death. The clergy laity relationships are
very strong. Syrian Christians have strong and active religious organizations
and a majority of the people attend Sunday Church services. Church services are
conducted in Malayalam with some segments often in Syriac. Baptism is practised
by all Kerala Christians. The Episcopal Churches emphasise child baptism and
use sprinkling of water in the name of the Triune of God. Believer's baptism by
immersion in water is practised by Pentecostal groups. The Lord's Supper is
celebrated by various groups and the Aramaic word Qurbana which means "offering"
is used for the practice. The Greek word "Eucharist" which means
thanksgiving is also used and is an expression of one's renewal of faith and
participation in the death and suffering of Jesus Christ.
The Eucharist liturgy of the
Syrian and Mar Thoma Churches stem from Eastern traditions and is based on the
liturgy of St. James. The liturgy of the Roman Catholics is western. The
liturgy of the Church of South India combines elements from both these. Pentecostal
Churches do not follow a definite liturgy. The mainline Churches also practices
Kayyasturi (in Malayalam) an oriental custom meaning kiss of peace, which
enhances the celebration of the Lord's Supper. It is done by a form of eastern
handshake. The Pentecostal's also practice this, but in their case the brothers
kiss brothers and sisters kiss sisters. The manner of celebration of the Lord's
Supper varies from denomination to denomination. Syrian Christians use several
accessories such as the bells, the veil, the altar, the cross the coverings and
the candles.
Many Hindu traditions and customs
are followed by Kerala Churches. Among Hindus and Kerala Christians
consanguineous marriages are permitted only if the partners are separated at
least four generations. Both the Hindu women and the Nazarani women at the time
of marriage have an amulet tied around their neck by the bridegroom. It is
called "Thali" by Hindu and "Minnu" by Kerala Christians. There
are many other Hindu traditions followed by Christians such as dowry system, decorations
with rice flower, and forty one day observances after a death in the family.
Syrian Christians celebrate all
Christian religious days. The more orthodox people maintain Lent for twenty
four days prior to Christmas and fifty days prior to Easter. Those who do so, eat
only vegetarian meals and refrain from consuming alcoholic beverages during
Lent. Easter week is very important. There are special Church services on Palm
Sunday and also every evening including Good Friday on Pesaha (Maundy Thursday)
There is a special Church service with Holy Communion. Good Friday is of great
significance and Church services start at nine o'clock in the morning and
continue on to three o'clock in the afternoon. On Easter Sunday Church service
starts at four o'clock in the morning and concludes with Holy Communion. Easter
breakfast and family get together is traditional.
Only recently westerners have
begun to recognize Christianity's Eastern foundation. Christianity in Kerala is
older than Rome according to the St.Thomas tradition. It began as an Oriental
religion. Syrian Christian priests wear cassocks, caps and beards as seen also
in west Asia. The Syrian Christians have a special identity. Their customs and
manners are different from those of other Christian groups. Their names are
unique, Thomas is Mammen, Peter is Ommen, Paul is Peeli, Elizabeth is Eliamma
and so on. Some Syrian Christians still believe in astrology and horoscopes. Arranged
marriages are common. As mentioned previously during the marriage ceremony
exchange of rings is less important than the tali which the bridegroom ties
around the bride's neck.
Junior priests are allowed to
marry and eat meat. But only those who remain unmarried can rise to the rank of
bishops. Many Syrian Christian practices are distinctively eastern and early
western missionaries found them primitive and ignorant in their point of view. |
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