Pages from History: Ordination of Mr. M. N. Abraham (1911)
30 April, 1911: Ordination of Mr. M. N. Abraham (30 Oct 1880-1 Sep.1947) Metropolitan Titus II ordained Mr. M. N. Abraham and Mr. M. P. Pothen as deacons on Sunday 30 April 1911 at the St. Thomas Mar Thoma Church in Tiruvalla.
M. N. Abraham later became Abraham Mar Thoma Metropolitan and M. P. Pothen a missionary in Honavar, Karnataka.
Abraham Mar Thoma Metropolitan (Mr. M. N. Abraham)
Pages from History: John Milton sells the copyright of Paradise Lost for £10
27 April, 1667: Blind, bitter and poor, Puritan poet John Milton (9 Dec.1608 – 8 Nov.1674) sold for ten pounds the copyright of Paradise Lost. The book influenced the English thought and language nearly as much as the King James Version and the plays of Shakespeare.
The theme of the epic appears in its opening lines: “Of man’s disobedience and the fruit / Of that forbidden tree, whose mortal taste / Brought death into the world, and all our woe, / With loss of Eden.”
Pages from History: Birth of Mathews Mar Athanasius Metropolitan (1818)
25 April, 1818: Birth of Mathews Mar Athanasius Metropolitan (d.16 Jul 1877) He became Bishop at the age 24 in February 1842. He was the Metropolitan of the Mar Thoma Syrian Church from 1842 to 1877.
As the head of the church he worked hard for the education of the clergy and raising the moral standards of ordinary people. He was one of the ablest bishops the Syrian Churches ever had.
Mathews Mar Athanasius Metropolitan
Pages from History: Birth of Freedom Fighter (Advocate) Rev. C.V.George B.A., B.L
16 April, 1913: Birth of Rev. C. V. George B.A. B.L, Chandanakuzhiyil, Ettichuvadu, Ranny. Rev. George was an Advocate (Lawyer). Before his ordination, he was in jail for almost a year for his participation in the Freedom movement of India. He became a priest in 1947.
From 1947-1950 he was the General Secretary of the Mar Thoma Sunday School Samajam. He was the only Mar Thoma Priest who is recognized and awarded as a freedom fighter by the Government.
He was also the founder president of the Ranny Medical Mission. He passed away on 31 Oct.2001 and was buried at the Nazareth Mar Thoma church cemetery in Ranny.
Rev. C.V.George
Pages from History: Strange But True! Lightning kills Mar Thoma II (Head of the Malankara Church) (1686)
14 April 1686: Pakalomattom Parampil Thomas Kathanar was consecrated as Mar Thoma I on 22 nd May 1653 at the Alangattu Church. He ably guided the Malankara Church till his death on 25 th April 1670. He was buried in the Marthomman Church Angamaly.
His brother/ nephew was consecrated as the Mar Thoma II in 1670. Mar Thoma II was killed by lightning on 14 April 1686 while he was taking rest in the Pally Meda (guest Room) of the St. Mary’s church in Niranam. He was buried in the same church cemetery.
This may be the only incident in the history of the Christian Church where a head of a church died due to a lightning strike.
Night Lightning by Sebastien D’ARCO
Niranam St.Mary’s Orthodox Church
Pages from History: Birth of The Rev. C.V.John – Defender of Faith (1909)
10 April, 1909: Birth of Rev. C. V. John, Chirapurathu, Thottakkad (d.2 Sep 1979). After his theological training from Theological College in Serampore he became a priest in 1938.
He started as a teacher at the M.T. Seminary High School, Kottayam and then became a teacher at Mar Thoma Theological Seminary. He was the Vicar of the Jerusalem MTC, Kottayam, St. Peter’s MTC, Manganam, and the secretary of the North Division of the Church. For two years, from 1956, he served as a student chaplain in USA. In 1963, he became the Principal of the M. T. Seminary.
Through his hard work the seminary was upgraded to B.D. Level in 1974. Achen was the second defendant in the Daniel Case
(Dr. Juhanon Mar Thoma was the first defendant) and was examined by the court for many days. His statements during the trial regarding the faith and practices of the Church are commendable. Achen was a gifted orator and writer.
Rev. C. V. John
Pages from History: Formation of the Church Missionary Society (1799)
12 April, 1799: Formation of the Church Missionary Society. Founded in 1799, CMS has attracted more than nine thousand men and women to serve as mission partners during its 200-year history.
The Society was founded in Aldersgate Street in the City of London on 12 April 1799. The founders of CMS were committed to three great enterprises: abolition of the slave trade, social reform at home and world evangelisation.
“The contribution made by the society in creating and maintaining educational institutions in Kerala, the most literate state in India, is significant. Many colleges and schools in Kerala and Tamil Nadu still have CMS in their names. The CMS College in Kottayam may be one of the pioneers in popularising secondary education in southern India.”
“Benjamin Bailey was appointed to the Kottayam CMS mission in the Indian state of Kerala. Benjamin Bailey translated the complete Bible to Malayalam language. Also Authored the first printed Malayalam-English dictionary and the first Malayalam-English Dictionary. He is considered as the father of Malayalam Printing.”
Today there are about 150 mission partners in 26 countries in Africa, Asia, Europe and the Middle East. A budget of £7.02 million a year is needed to maintain and expand this work.
Pages from History: Birth of Alexander Mar Thoma Valiya Metropolitan (1913)
10 April, 1913: Birth of Alexander Mar Thoma Valiya Metropolitan. Alexander Mar Thoma was born in 1913 as the son of Rev. M. C. George (17 Apr.1874-23 Oct.1923), Maliyekkal, Kuriannoor.
Before his ordination, he was a teacher at Kottayam C M S High School for 12 years. He took his Ph.D. on the Bhagavad-Gita (Holy Book of the Hindus) from the Kennedy School of Mission of the Hartford Seminary Foundation, Hartford, Connecticut, USA.
He was ordained in 1945 and became bishop on 23 May, 1953. He became the Metropolitan of the Mar Thoma Syrian Church in 1976 and passed away on 11 January 2000.
Alexander Mar Thoma Valiya Metropolitan
Pages from History: Strange But True – Malpan ex-communicates his cousin
6 April, 1839: Abraham Malpan ex-communicated his cousin brother for plucking vegetables (Colocasia) on Sunday. Sunday was regarded as a day of rest for the Syrian Christians and no one was allowed to work on that day.
Abraham Malpan, as vicar of the Maramon Mar Thoma parish ex-communicated his cousin brother because he uprooted a Chembu- Colocasia (a vegetable similar to potato) on a Sunday morning to make vegetable curry. He was taken back only after a proper written apology.
Abraham Malpan
Pages from History: Bishop Reginald Heber dies at Thiruchirappalli (1826)
3 April, 1826: Bishop Heber (b.21 Apr.1783) was the second Anglican Bishop of Calcutta. He is known for his hymn Holy, Holy, Holy sung on Trinity Sunday.
He was on his way to the Southern Kingdom of Travancore to visit the Syrian Christian Church Leaders as part of a visit to the churches in South India to look into issues of caste plaguing the church. He baptized 42 people the day before he died. “On 3 April, after attending an early-morning service at which he gave a blessing in the Tamil language, Heber returned to his bungalow for a cold bath. Immediately after plunging into the water he died, possibly from the shock of the cold water in the intense heat.”
Heber died at the age of 42 on 2 April, 1826 of a cerebral hemorrhage at Thiruchirappalli. He is buried at St. John’s Church, Thiruchirappalli, Tamil Nadu, India (north side of the altar)
Portrait of Reginald Heber at the British Library
Nalloor Library 