St. Kuriakose Chavara

Bishop Joseph Kallarangatt

India’s true treasure is said to be lying in her mines of spirituality. Syro-Malabar Church has proved herself her living capacity in this filed.  Catholic Church has an ideal gallery and galaxy of saints with a mosaic of different spiritual orientations. Each saint has his or her own characteristic uniqueness and traits, distinguishing each one from others, and revealing the nearness to God. Pope Benedict says: “the saint is the person who is so fascinated by the beauty of God and by his perfect truth as to be progressively transformed”.  Saints are containers of faith, hope and love.

St. Chavara was instrumental in founding the first indigenous religious congregation of our country. He was a versatile genius who gave remarkable leadership in the fields of religious life, education, printing, language studies, literature and women empowerment. At the same time, he never projected himself. St. Chavara could be considered as the godfather of print journalism in Kerala. The printing press he founded in Mannanam after much painstaking firsthand research eventually led to the publication of the first Malayalam daily. This was indeed a giant leap: we have here the beginnings of the dissemination and democratization of knowledge. (St. Chavara was a polyglot). The activities of Chavara are something like a cardiography of the national and religious struggle of our country of that time.

The first half of the 19^th century witnessed a raging debate as to the best education policy for India. The two rival factions in this intellectual fray were the Anglicists and the Orientalists. The Orientalists were in favour of valorising the traditional language, culture and religion of India. According to them the age old wisdom of our land could still be profitably utilized after due adaptations. By founding a Sanskrit school in 1846 for the education of Malabar Catholics, St. Chavara proved himself to be a first rate Orientalist. Though the school was meant to further the educational opportunities of Syrian Catholics, its portals were wide open for all students irrespective of caste, creed or gender. The choice of Sanskrit as the language of instruction was something revolutionary for the Christians. Admitting Dalit students to the school was revolutionary for the society as such.

St. Chavara was at once a Malpan (religious scholar) and a public intellectual. He encouraged the Syrian Christians to apply themselves seriously to the study of Syriac, which was by then largely neglected. He insisted that each parish has a church, school and dispensary. He visualized houses with prayer rooms, studies and dining rooms. The social and religious reformer in St. Chavara kindled two revolutions, one of holiness and another of education. A Prior for sixteen long years, he founded several new monasteries renewing thus the face of the Church.

According to Christian tradition, every saint undertakes a twofold journey. 1. A journey in search of the mystery of Christ. 2. A journey in search of the mystery of the Church. It is through these endeavours that we delve into the deeper levels of the reality that is man. That is how we enter with hope into the fundamental principles of afterlife and eternity. It was as part of their search for Christ and His Church that St. Chavara and St. Euphrasia rooted themselves firmly in the fertile soil of religious life. Pope Francis says: if the Church loses women, she risks becoming sterile. The twin Canonization is a fitting recognition of the efficacious ministry of the Indian Carmelites to the universal Church. The words of Pope Francis are inspiring: the Church is carried forward by saints. They really bear witness to Christ.  St. Euphrasia is actually the icon of womanhood and sainthood. She has much to do in this contemporary world.

Chavara Kuriakose was really a promoter of nation building. A nation is built on God’s values and principles. It is the law of justice that keeps a nation steady and strong. Chavara was a champion of this. He was a transforming fire. He purified the society to a great extent. He was the conscience of the people of that time. He has rejuvenated the secular society of his time. He himself was a tradition that carries the past, present and future. Chavara always kept a living philosophy of moulding the society by purifying the people from injustice. The people enjoyed a rather easy oxygenation of the Gospel values through his activities. There are many values in him that could be proudly transmitted to the posterity. Actually Chavara became a nation builder through the Gospel values and prayers. Chavara was a genius who respected the national values of the county. Nation building is not a finished product. It is an ongoing process. Dr. Ambedkar says: We can only attempt to become a nation in the making.

Consecrated life has always been relevant to the life of the Church. The Church can surely boast of an uninterrupted tradition of consecrated persons from the first centuries. The religious men and women play a unique role in the identity formation of each Church sui iuris. Monasteries ideally cater to the sanctity of the secular priests and the laity as well. The Liturgy which is the supreme self-manifestation of the Church ought to be celebrated in all its solemn perfection in monasteries. Fr. Chavara called the Mannanam hills Beth rauma – a noble house set up on high. Really each consecrated religious is like a holy house built on high. They purify the Church by their simplicity and holiness, and not by their criticisms and pomp. Fr. Kuriakose and Sr. Euphrasia are two religious leaders: a spiritual father and a spiritual mother. Their spiritual fatherhood and motherhood were founded on the Gospels. When we take them together there is a perfect blending of Martha and Mary. In our times there is a dearth of spiritual fathers and mothers. We may accept these two saints as two unique ways for new evangelization. They were both fearless to the core. They were never tired of proclaiming Jesus. Both of them have expressed the pastoral fatherhood and the pastoral motherhood of the Church. The three saints -Alphonsa, Chavara and Euphraisa are the three attractions of the time. The Gospel spreads by attraction. Evangelization is by attraction. All the three were incarnation of prayers. They correct the Martha complex in us and they are the reminders of our spiritual Alzheimer.

Pope Francis: When we face challenges together, then we are strong. Then we discover resources we do not know we had. Jesus did not call the apostles to live in isolation. He called them to form a group, a community. This enabled Chavara to start religious congregations.

Gopalkrishna Gandhi wrote on Rajagopalachari (CR): He was abashedly God minded and pious, placing his talents and time very consciously on the altar of reverential belief. He wrote on Scripture as a sacrament, on politics as a duty, on social issues as an obligation. He wrote on Gandhi as Mk, Mt, Lk, Jn and Paul wrote on the prince of Nazareth Jesus Christ. In a similar way whatever St. Chavara has written is golden.