Pages from History: Thomas Mar Athanasius Suffragan Metropolitan passes away
Thomas Mar Athanasius Suffragan Metropolitan
27 November, 1984: Thomas Mar Athanasius Suffragan Metropolitan of the Mar Thoma Syrian Church passes away (b.26 May 1914). Bishop Thomas was born on 26 May, 1914, to the Panampunna family,Kottayam, Kerala. He was a scholar and continued his studies to the end of his days. He was known for his deep devotion and great ability to build up the Church. In 1953, he became bishop, and in 1978, he was designated as Suffragan Metropolitan.
He attended the first Assembly of the World Council of Churches at Amsterdam in 1948, and also the Assembly at New Delhi in 1961. He was a member of the Faith and Order Commission of the World Council of Churches since 1961. Thus he made significant contributions to the cause of ecumenism.
He has attended many other international conferences in the Churches and was a delegate to the Melbourne Conference where he had made a distinct contribution as a leader of Bible Study.
He also attended the sessions of the second Vatican Council on special invitation.
His sudden death on 27 November, 1984, was severe shock to the whole Church and to the ecumenical world.
Pages from History: 21 Nov 1881: Birth of Very Rev. K. E. Oommen
Very Rev. K. E. Oommen
21 Nov 1881: Birth of Very Rev. K. E. Oommen (21/11/1881 to 23 May 1984). Very Rev K. E. Oommen was one of the first four graduates who accepted ordination together in the Mar Thoma Church. He was one of the Divisional Secretaries of the church till 1939. With his evangelical zeal and wise counsel he gave great support to Abraham Mar Thoma and later Metropolitans.
He had a long and fruitful life. He died in 1984 at the age of 103. Most Rev Philipose Mar Chrysostom of the Mar Thoma Church is his son.
Pages from History: 9 November, 1917: Birth of Dr. Sosamma Philip – Medical Missionary
Late Dr. Sosamma Philip, Medical Missionary.
9th November, 1917: Birth of Dr.Sosamma Philip, Medical Missionary. Dr. Sosamma was the daughter of Late Rev. M.C. George Kasseesa (17 April 1874 – 23 October 1923) of Maliyekkal House, Kuriannoor.
The Late Most Rev. Dr. Alexander Mar Thoma Valiya Metropolitan (10 April 1913 – 11 January 2000) was her elder brother. Dr. Sosamma passed her final school examination in 1933, but she couldn’t afford a college education. She joined the undergraduate teacher’s training course in Tiruvalla and then became a teacher in Kuriannoor Middle School. The family had to sell a portion of their ancestral property to pay for her dowry.
In 1940, she married Dr. P.V. Philip (Palathinkkal, Kottayam), who was working with the Mission Hospital in Karappuram, Cherthala. But unfortunately, Dr. Philip died after nine months of their marriage. She also lost her mother, three months later. Dr. Sosamma had an earnest desire to continue the medical work of her departed husband. She joined Alwaye U.C. College and passed her intermediate examinations and applied for a seat in Christian Medical College, Vellore. As she did not get admission at CMC Vellore, she joined the American College in Madurai and finished her B.A. and then joined the Nicholson School, Tiruvalla, as a teacher.
But the desire for a medical education was burning in her heart, so she applied again and this time she secured an admission in Christian Medical College, Vellore. Immediately after getting her Medical degree, she joined the Karapuram, Cherthala Mission, where her husband had worked. After further passing her specialization courses in Chicago, she worked with the Kumbanad and Kattanam hospitals for many years.
In 1967, she joined the Sihora Ashram Hospital in Madhya Pradesh and remained there till her retirement, 30 years later in 1997. As recognition of her work and social service, the Church awarded her the “Manava Seva Award”.
After her retirement, she returned to stay with her relatives in Kuriannoor. She was called to her eternal home on 4 May 2008 and was buried beside her parents at the St.Thomas Mar Thoma Church Cemetery in Kuriannoor.
Late Rev. M.C. George Kasseesa (Father of Dr. Sosamma Philip)
Late Alexander Mar Thoma Valiya Metropolitan (Elder brother of Dr. Sosamma Philip)
9 Nov 2014: CSI, CNI and Mar Thoma Church celebrate ‘The Communion of Churches in India (CCI) Day’.
On 9 November, 2014, Sunday: the CSI, CNI and Mar Thoma Churches celebrate this Sunday as the ‘The Communion of Churches in India (CCI) Day’.
The Communion of Churches in India (CCI) has been constituted as the visible organ for common expression of the life and witness by the founding Churches, the Church of North India (CNI), the Church of South India (CSI) and the Mar Thoma Syrian Church (MTC) which recognise themselves as belonging to the one Church of Jesus Christ in India, even while remaining as autonomous churches, each having its own identity of traditions and organizational structures. “The Communion” invites other Churches in India to enter into full communion with the member churches separately and join “The Communion”.
World Sunday School Day: 1st November 2014 (Free Ebook – Robert Raikes and how we got Sunday School)
George Romney’s portrait of Robert Raikes, the newspaperman who popularised schooling on Sundays Photo: National Portrait Gallery, London
2nd November 2014 : World Sunday School Day – The first Sunday of the Month of November is celebrated throughout the world as Sunday School Day. The Mar Thoma/ CSI/ CNI churches are celebrating Sunday, 2nd November, 2014 as World Sunday School Day.
Robert Raikes (1735- 1811), an English Publisher, started the first Sunday School in the city of Gloucester in England in 1780. During the early days, reading, arithmetic and Bible was taught at the Sunday Schools.
In 1809, Church representatives of the Malankara Churches held a meeting at Kandanadu Church, near Ernakualam to arrange facilities to teach children in the Church about religion, prayers and sacraments. The India Sunday School Union was founded in 1876.The Mar Thoma Sunday School Samajam was established on 25 February 1905, at the Maramon Convention.
We encourage our readers to read and share this Free 4 page PDF Ebook Resource for your Sunday Schools and children’s services: Robert Raikes and How We Got Sunday School
Inscription on the tomb of Robert Raikes.
Pages from History: 4 October, 1836 – Abraham Malpan ends Maramon ‘Muthappan’ Festival
Image from maramonmarthomachurch.com
5 October, 1836: Malayalam Year 1012 Kanni 19: Members of the Mar Thoma Maramon Parish used to celebrate the festival of “Muthappan” every year.
Muthappan was a wooden idol in the shape of a human, made in memory of a foreign Bishop who came to Kerala in AD 1685. Offerings and prayers were conducted in front of this idol. The people of Maramon believed that the cause of all their prosperity and blessings was because of this semi-god, Muthappan.
Large crowds used to attend this yearly festival, which was a good source of income for the Maramon Parish. On 4th October 1836, the day before ‘Muthappan Festival’, the reformer of the Mar Thoma Church, Abraham Malpan threw “Muthappan” into the well situated in the Church compound and put an end to this festival forever, starting the reformation process.
Pages from History: 27 September, 1976: Juhanon Mar Thoma Metropolitan passes away
Metropolitan Juhanon Mar Thoma (Photo credit: LIFE magazine)
27 September, 1976: Juhanon Mar Thoma Metropolitan Passes away. (b.7 Aug.1893) .Dr Juhanon Mar Thoma was the Metropolitan of the Mar Thoma Syrian Church from 1947 to 1976. He provided the Church with the emblem having the motto: “Lighted to Lighten”. This has been appreciated by many leaders of Christian churches.
“Ecumenism was a reality for him; he restored peace with the Indian Orthodox Church. He actively participated in ecumenical councils such as the World Council of Churches. In 1948, he led the delegation to the first Assembly of the World Council of Churches in Amsterdam. At its second meeting at Evanston, Illinois in 1954 he was elected as one of the presidents of WCC. During the third Assembly in New Delhi in 1961 he was the chairman and guided the deliberations with distinction.
It was in 1974, it was decided enter into full communion with the Churches of South India, North India and with various provinces in the Anglican communion.” ~ wikipedia.com
On 26 June 1975 the then Prime Minister of India Indira Gandhi declared Emergency. Juhanon Mar Thoma was the only Christian leader in India who raised a voice and sent a letter to the Prime Minister arguing for the restoration of democracy.
Dr Radhakrishnan, vice-president of India (right) greeting Bishop S. U. Barbieri, Metropolitan Juhanon Mar Thoma and Archbishop Iakovos during the Third Assembly of the WCC in New Delhi, November 18 – December 6, 1961. (Photo from the Archives of wcc-coe.org)
The six new elected Presidents of the World Council of Churches (1954).
Standing, left to right, the are Bishop Dibelius of the Evangelical Church of Germany, Bishop Barbieri of the Methodist Church in Argentina, Metropolitan Juhanon of the Mar Thoma Syrian Church of Malabar, India, the Very Rev. John Baillie of the Church of Scotland, Bishop Sherril of the Protestant Episcopal Church of the U.S.A.
Seated, left to right, Bishop bell of the Church of England (Honorary President), Archbishop Michael of the Eastern Orthodox Church in North and South America. (Photo from the Archive of wcc-coe.org)
Pages from History: 15 September, 1853: First woman ordained in the United States
15 September, 1853: Antoinette Brown Blackwell becomes the first female minister ordained in America. Antoinette Brown, (May 20, 1825 – November 5, 1921), was the first woman to be ordained as a minister in the United States, when she was called to be the pastor of the Congregational church in South Butler, New York in 1853. Her ordination, however, was not recognized by her denomination. In 1857, she returned to her work as an orator and reformer for womens rights with her husband Samuel C. Blackwell. She also was a strong activist for the right to vote for women. She died at the age of 96 in Elizabeth, New Jersey.
Antoinette Brown Blackwell
Pages from History: 4 September, 1847: Henry Francis pens Hymn ‘Abide with me’
4 September, 1847: Henry Francis Lyte (1793-1847) writes the Hymn “Abide with me” (Malayalam – Koode paarkka neram vaikkunnitha, No.8 (7) in Kristheeya Keerththanagal). Lyte wrote this hymn at the end of his life, just two months before he died. The text for this Hymn was taken from Luke’s Gospel Ch.24 v. 29 “Abide with us; for it is toward evening, and the day is far spent”.
Henry Francis Lyte
Pages from History: 14 July, 1947, Punchamannil Mammen Upadeshi passes away
14 July, 1947: Punchamannil Mammen Upadeshi passes away. Mammen Upadeshi was born in the Vadasseri house of the Punchamannil family in Maramon on 25 Nov.1868, as the son of Mathai and Achiyamma.
Mammen’s elder siblings all died while they were still infants. So Mammen was baptized at home when he was very young by the Parish Priest Rev. Titus (Later Rt. Rev. Titus I Mar Thoma).
Mammen Upadeshi trusted the Lord like the Old Testament Prophet Elijah and lived like Elijah, spoke the messages of the Lord like Elijah, fought against evil forces like Elijah and even performed miracles like Elijah.
Punchamannil Mammen Upadeshi
Nalloor Library 