1 John 3:7-10; Ps 98(97):1. 7-9a. 9b-d; John 1:35-42
Today is a good day to pray with and for our local Syro-Malabar Community as it is an optional memorial for one of their saints.
St Kuriakose Elias Chavara (1805-1871)
Saint Kuriakose Elias Chavara is remembered as co-founder and first prior general of the congregation of the Carmelites of Mary Immaculate in India, as well as a social reformer, defender of church unity and a man of prayer and devotion.
Kuriakose was born at Kainakary in Kerala, India, February 10, 1805. He entered the seminary in 1818, and was ordained priest in 1829. In 1831 Kuriakose joined two other priests in founding a monastic community, in Mannanam, under the title of Servants of Mary Immaculate. By 1855, the community had grown to twelve members who made religious profession in the Carmelite tradition. Kuriakose was nominated as prior of the Mannanam monastery and in 1861 the community became affiliated as a Third Order Institute of the Order of Discalced Carmelites. The congregation then became know as the Carmelites of Mary Immaculate. Kuriakose was also an advocate for the establishment of Carmelite convents for women in India, co-founding the Sisters of the Mother of Carmel in 1866.
In 1861, Kuriakose was named vicar general for the Syro-Malabar church and in this role he defended ecclesial unity that was being threatened by schism when Mar Tomas Rochos was sent to India to consecrate Nestorian bishops. He also advocated for education for the poor of Kerala as part of the Church’s mission in the region.
Kuriakose died in 1871 at Koonammavu, Kerala, India. During an address at his canonisation in November 2014, Pope Francis memorialised Fr Kuriakose as “a religious, both active and contemplative, who generously gave his life for the Syro-Malabar Church, putting into action the maxim ‘sanctification of oneself and the salvation of others’.” [MT, Universalis]
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