Prayer for the birthday of St. Mary

Dear God, as we celebrate the birthday of Mother Mary help us understand why you choose people for doing your work. Help us to accept your choice instead of always desiring what someone else has. Mother Mary was young, inexperienced, had no backing of the prevalent power structure and yet was chosen by God to bear his son. We understand now that she feared God but was fearless when it came to engaging with the injustice in society, her wisdom was much beyond her year's and she had love and compassion for people in the world. Help us today God to be fearless, to act beyond  our age when the need arises and to have love and compassion for the poor and needy. We pray for individuals in society who have been Mary like through their actions. Some of them have been attacked and done away with but never the less they live on like Mary. Help us Jesus to accept that we must be fearless in our life and not be scared of death. It is better to die with courage than to live with fear. May we intercede to Mary and become Mary in our life so that God selects us to be God's workers to bring about justice and peace in this world. Intercede for us Mother Mary, the fearless one selected by God. Amen.

We need more priests like Arch Corepiscopa Dr. Curien Kaniyamparambil

Arch Corepiscopa Curien Kaniyamparambil achen is celebrating his 103 rd birthday today. He has completed a century and three years of his life, bearing witness to church saints like St. Ignatius Elias III and church stalwarts like Mor Dionysius Michael, Gheevarghese Mor Gregorios, Perumpally, Mor Yulios Elias Qoro and several priests belonging to the Elavinamannil, Kodiattu and a host of other families.

In the course of all this he has taught Syriac to several generations of students, conducted the baptism, marriage and funeral of several people in the same family, translated several prayers from Syriac to Malayalam and written books on church history, faith and tradition. His simple slogan “Christ needs this donkey” has inspired him to work tirelessly for the church and its people. He was and still is an icon to the people of Thiruvalla having been there for close to sixty years of his life.

His deep devotion and belief in the intercessory powers of Mother Mary has seen him wear a relic of St. Mary within his shirt pocket almost like a bullet proof vest, safe guarding him from any problems in life. His intercessory prayers and songs to St. Mary for the eight day September lent have been used by hundreds of thousands of people officially and unofficially. His translation of the Syriac morning prayers into Malayalam is by far one of the best translations of prayer songs. The Archcorepiscopa will make sure to pray at least three times a day religiously and intercede to Mother Mary at all times. His belief in honoring his teachers (gurus) will always see him giving credit to them and to how they have made him who he is.

Arch Corepiscopa Kaniyamparambil achen never fought with anyone. When he had to come out of the St. George JSO church, Kattapuram, Thiruvalla, all he took with him was his tears which he continued to have years after the painful incident of having to walk out of one’s own church. After that he was instrumental along with the Kodiattu family to set up and consecrate the St. George Simhasana JSO Church in Thiruvalla. Through this church he kept the Jacobite Syrian Orthodox believers in Thiruvalla rooted to their faith and pastored to them despite a very unfavorable environment.

He collected the money from the faithful and used it for the upkeep of the church, printing of several books and helping the poor. I have never seen achen spending money for himself. He has collected every single donation and used it for helping others, printing books to keep up the faith of the people, and give to the church in one way or the other. This is not known to many. The St. George Simhasana church in Thiruvalla flourished under him.

Arch Corepiscopa Kaniyamparambil was a great orator in his youth. He was a constant invitee in several churches as his knowledge of the bible, history and tradition of the church and preaching style were un paralled. His Good Friday service in church was a great experience of feeling the passion and suffering of Christ. He had the skill to translate Syriac to Malayalam on the spot and he used this to explain songs and bring people into a spiritual mood by explaining songs after each stanza and creating a real effect of commemorating the passion and crucifixion of Christ.

Achen’s faith has always been an important part of his life. His prayers were simple but deep. It would give you the strength to undertake a journey, write an exam, undergo an operation, come out of grief and expect good things from God. This coupled with his sense of humour made one want to go and spend time with him. He was always available in the arm chair, with his legs up and constantly writing on his writing pad. The sight of any visitor would make him stand up and he would seek the strength of your hand and in return give you the strength of his prayer.

Have we lost out on such priests? In a way yes. A comparison may be too harsh on the present generation of priests. The Arch Corepiscopa lived in an era where he had no mobile phone, no internet, no facebook and no luxury car. He lived in ordinary circumstances and perhaps that was what made him who he is even today. One inspiration for the priests of today would be his interest and his effort to write. His accomplishment in this direction is great. A list of 50 books and counting is not any average Syrian Orthodox priest for you! There would not have been a day without achen writing a page or two. This has been lost on today’s generation of priests. His single handed translation of the Syriac Peshita bible from Syriac to Malayalam has been the most understated fact in recent times. Who on earth can single handedly do something so difficult like that? Perhaps we should give the writer in Archcorepiscopa Kaniyamparambil more credit than he has received thus far.

Jesus wrote and he wrote so that he would be accountable and he would make others accountable. John 8:1-8 bears witness to that. Arch Corepiscopa Kaniyamparambil achen also wrote to be counted, to be held accountable and to stand up for what he believed in. Today history will attest to that. Unfortunately today’s generation of priests may not even write a status update on their own. I may be wrong and I will be happy if I am proved wrong. Kaniyamparambil achen should be an inspiration for us to write for the glory of God and write so that people may understand God’s word and will be kept in faith.

Humility is a character trait of Kniyamparambil Arch Corepiscopa that today’s priests should learn from. Anyone from around the world and Kerala could and can meet him any time. If he is awake and healthy one can meet achen. This is associated with his humility and his eagerness to meet people who go to see him. I wonder whether today’s priests are so eager to meet their congregation, chat with them and offer them advice and guidance? This again cannot be generalized.

Faith, hope and love have always been part of Kaniyamparambil Arch Corepiscopa’s repertoire. He has the faith as big as the mustard seed which can have him tell you to go in peace, God will help you. He has had his share of misfortunes and he has also been on the wrong side of decisions taken by higher ups. But he never gave up hope and always went forward. He was betrayed and used by his friends, colleagues, students and disciples. But this has not decreased his love for them. He still holds everyone with equal fondness and never speaks ill of or works against another. His love for another human being has been exemplary and this is something we can definitely emulate. What would one expect of a priest? These three things in all probability. A priest should be able to offer faith as healing to his congregation, should have hope that whatever the situation, God will help and that love and only love is God like and will take a church forward. This has somehow been lost in translation today. I hope that the Arch Corepiscopa can remind us that today for his sake we can rekindle these three in our ministry in the church.

Forgiveness has come naturally to Kaniyamparambil Arch Corepiscopa. When you meet him you feel the love he has for you and not the hatred. This has been possible through his efforts to forgive and seek forgiveness. Who won’t melt and change when a 103 year old priest asks you for forgiveness even when you have been the one who may have committed the wrong! This is what achen has done all through his career. It has not just been his willingness to forgive but his over willingness to seek forgiveness even when he never did anything wrong. This is a true lesson for priests today. A priest’s effort should not be to justify but to ask forgiveness even when there is a doubt in our mind and to give forgiveness when someone comes to us seeking for it. A priest should be a fountain of forgiveness which never dries and Kaniyamparambil Archcorepiscopa has borne testimony to this.

What then can we offer Kaniyamparambil Archcorepiscopa for his 103 rd birthday? If you speak to him he will ask us to pray for him and he will then utter “God bless you.” Even in his request there is something for us. The only way we can give him a gift which will compensate his stature is to pick any one quality of his and emulate it. It could be humility, faith, hope, love, writing, forgiveness, saving for the future generations, right use of funds and anything that I haven’t mentioned. At this age and at this stature I suspect there is anything on earth that we can get for him. If he can live on forever that will be a great blessing for this church. One way that is possible is to take a commitment that each priest and lay person will take one quality or several qualities of the Archcorepiscopa and live it out through our lives so that achen will live and live abundantly.

Here’s wishing our beloved Archcorepiscopa Dr. Curien Kaniyamparambil a blessed birthday, good health, an active mind and long life. Beyond everything here’s praying and committing that we take one part of your noble character and live it out remembering what you have told and showed us.

A century of faith and practice: Very. Rev. Dr. Curien Kaniyamparambil Corepiscopa.

The Jacobite Syrian Orthodox Church is buzzing with energy and enthusiasm. This recent burst of energy is not from its youngsters and young leaders but from its oldest priest, affectionately known as Kaniyamparambil achen. The church is celebrating the 100th birthday of this illustrious priest who has moulded the lives of hundreds of priests and bishops and given pastoral care and support to thousands of people in the church. His accomplishments are many like the number of books and articles he has written. The honours that he has received and his accomplishments are indeed many and known. But what can indeed be done again and again is to write about him from the personal experience that one has garnered. This will never end because Kaniyamparambil achen is so many things to so many different people.

1. An academician par excellence- Kaniyamparambil achen has been a vociferous reader and writer all his life. His urge to write is second to none and the Jacobite Syrian Orthodox Church simply does not have anyone who has written as much as him. This is a quality which is difficult to beat. His generation of people was a generation which had an oral tradition and reading and writing was not part and parcel of this tradition. Corepiscopa achen turned this around single handedly by starting to read and write from a very young age. The younger generation should appreciate his translation of the morning prayers before qurbana as a work that only someone like him could do. His simplicity comes through in language even as he manages to maintain the depth of meaning. It is a writing and poetic style which is very difficult to imitate. His academic interest took him to the direction of doing something for his own church and thereby his research in Syriac, church history, faith and traditions have all been for the coming generations of the church. His Malayalam translation of the Syriac Peshita bible shows this commitment to the church in unimaginable ways. The honorary doctorate that he received is not a simple decoration but evidence of the scholarship that this church father possesses. Indeed this is difficult to comprehend for a generation which does not know what true scholarship means! The half century of books that he has already published is evidence of his will to write for the church. Even today he continues writing like an old man in a hurry! It is of special interest that many young priests have made use of him to write their theses and assignments. I am specially honoured that the college I am teaching in now has one of his books in its library.

2. A perfecter of the art of simplicity and prayer- Many of achen's congregation members and spiritual children (including myself) will remember that whenever we have prepared to say good bye to him, he has stood up to pray for us and led us to a higher spiritual realm. His written works always start with “Daivathinu sthuthi” (Praise/thanks be to God). His favourite verse is “The Lord is in need of this donkey.” Kaniyamparambil achen believes that simplicity takes one closer to God. He wishes to be of help to God whenever and wherever. Those who have had the pleasure of his pastoral ministry know that achen's simplicity and approachability brought great dividends to his flock. He prayed and interceded every single day and his faith is the faith of a true Christian. His faith taught us that we should believe without seeing and that faith is not just some inexplicable experience but is simple and everyday as well. Achen’s faith in and intercession to St. Mary is second to none. He can be credited with the Wednesday Qurbana and intercession to St. Mary in many parts of Central Kerala. The Holy mother has indeed interceded for long life for this beloved son of hers.

3. A delightful preacher- Achen taught many of us the importance of preaching. We grew up hearing his sermons and knowing how to develop our thoughts from the bible verses. He was a popular preacher and took it upon himself to teach his congregation what he knew, in the hope that all who listened would not go astray. Many young priests learned to preach from him and the importance of preaching during a qurbana and how one should develop one’s sermon are invaluable lessons that one learnt from him.

4. A supporter of his friends and well wishers- It is always good to come back to someone whom you know will support you. All through his years of pastoral ministry, his congregation grew up in the assurance that he would be there when they came back home. This constant presence still continues and offers hope to hundreds of people for whom seeing him itself offers a rare calm and gives much hope to their lives. Apart from this, one can always count on achen to support you through whatever ups and downs you go through in life.

5. A role model of a true priest- Kaniyamparambil achen offers a true and firm model of what and who a priest should be. As priests, we grow up with the faith, traditions and practises of the church. Along with this, seminary education teaches us what we should and should not do. But if one wants to see first hand on how to be an ideal priest it will help to learn from achen. His prayer life, commitment towards sacraments, behaviour to people and deep spiritual love teaches us a lot on who a priest should be.

6. A priest accepted by all- Achen has been accepted by all in the church. One can say that it is a rare exception that a priest could be accepted by all people in the church. So much that there could be no doubt as to who the priest trustee of the church could be. One need not search further to know the greatness of this very mature priest. If one were to conduct a transparent poll in the church today I am pretty much sure that people across regions would vote for Kaniyamparambil achen as the most loved, respected and accepted priest in the whole of the church.

7. An upholder of sense, calm and peace in the church- Achen is from Kanjiramattom but lived the majority of his life in Thiruvalla. There is a substantial difference between the culture of the North and South regions of Kerala and this is reflected in the church as well. Kaniyamparambil achen managed to transcend this and one cannot help but saying that he could do this because of his commendable nature of constructing a sense of belonging to the place he was attached to. Achen should be honoured separately for his ability to transcend human made boundaries and build a strong network between the North and the South. The true teacher Gamaliel, as he was called by the Catholicose Mor Baselios Paulose II of blessed memory, truly taught us that we can be a one, strong and united church and that separate regions don’t matter. Achen’s presence made the welcoming of pilgrims from the North during the Manjinikara festival even more pleasant and easy because here was a priest who could go beyond small things and lead us to bigger and better things.

8. A strict follower of authority- One could learn from achen that the church follows authority and respects the hierarchy in the church. It was evident that even when a particular order from above may not have made perfect sense, he obeyed the position and authority associated with the order. This may have been taken advantage of during the early days of the schism in the church but nevertheless he does show us a different view point of the oft quoted ‘first obey then question.’

9. An accommodator of others- The brilliance of Kaniyamparambil achen is accepted by all today. We have indeed seen many instances of others seeking the shadow of achen’s presence to come into the lime light on their own. Many have thus used achen’s prowess and acceptance as a way of coming up. Achen has never prevented this even though I am sure he was aware of this all the time. His genuine character has always given this space for others to grow in his lingering and cooling shade. To be a scholar oneself is one thing but to be able to allow others to grow in that scholarly shade is unique to achen’s bountiful character.

10. There will be only one Kaniyamparambil achen- Achen cannot be replaced or outdone. I remember people telling me during my ordination that I should try to be another Kaniyamparambil achen! For me this is something that is simply not possible and something which should not be tried. There cannot be another priest who will come up to the stature of this noble priest. There are and will be great priests and bishops in the coming years but no one will do what Kaniyamparambil achen did. In his hundredth year we must realise that he is our most unique, talented and gifted priest of this century that we have passed. This honour belongs to him and him only. We will do well to stand aside and feel happy in the accomplishments and greatness of this very revered priest. The church has done well to honour him with a specific order of Arch Corepiscopos. It is unique and I hope it stays so for years to come. Till then shall we all pray for the mighty pen of our honourable Arch Corepiscopa Kaniyamparambil achen to continue writing.