Congratulations Jerry!

Jerry has passed his professional examination and will be looking forward to exploring new pastures. The word of his passing examination reached us appropriately just after the Holy Qurbana on Saturday, April 12. Jerry, as a true Christian, had come to church on Easter Day and asked achen to pray. And he wanted to make sure that he appreciates what God has done to him and his family. Congratulations Sona!! (You should have seen Sona's beaming face when she heard the news.) We are proud of you all.

Power of Miracles

After Fr. Stephen Philip's visit to Cleveland on April 12, achen shared the following story while we went to visit Sunny and family (Sunny's mother's 40th day memorial was conducted after the service.)

Stephen achen was very active in ecumenical/evangelism work when he was in Kerala (he still does lot of it through his internet activities, etc. even now.) At one time achen was in Madhya Pradesh near Bhopal in India. They were conducting classes. Two young persons from Kerala joined him at that time. This got the attention of some local RSS people and police came to investigate. Achen's assistants started shaking seeing the police as they have heard of the police atrocities at the police station. The police came and asked achen what they are doing. Achen didn't want to tell a lie so he said "we are Christian missionaries." They were promptly arrested, put on a police jeep and was being transported to the police station. On the way (achen was not sure how that happened, as he had his eyes closed and he was praying.), the jeep flipped and, before he knew it, achen was standing outside leaning on the overturned jeep! The circle inspector came and questioned achen and he freed all of them promptly. (He probably didn't want another accident!)

St. Gregorios Church Remembers H.G. Makarios

During the Holy Qurbana conducted on Saturday, March 8, 2008 a special 'dhoopa prarthana' (prayer with incense) was conducted to pray for the departed bishop H.G. Thomas Mar Makarios, Metrpolitan in charge of the Canada, UK, and Europe Diocese of the Indian Orthodox Church and a Senior Metropolitan of the American Diocese of IOC. During the condolence meeting held immediately following the service, Dr. Jacob Mathew recollected his fond memories of the long association with H.G. Mar Makarios. Thirumeni had been to Wooster College around 26 years years ago, when the late Paulose Mar Gregorios thirumeni had conducted a holy qurbana as part of a summer course he taught there. Makarios thirumeni also was very close to St. Thomas Orthodox Church in Detroit and participated actively in programs there including the first funeral, first marriage, as well as the dedication of the first church building in Southfield. Jacob said his interest in our church prayers during the liturgy, especially the Promeon and Sedara, was kindled when, during a service in Detroit St. Thomas, Makarios thirumeni read a part of the promeon prayer and stopped at a passage, stating that, "Do not punish the sheep for the transgression of the shepherd." Thirumeni read the passage, stopped; and read it again so people paid attention to that passage. Later, in a lunch meeting at the residence of Fr. Philip Jacob he had an opportunity to talk to HG in depth about the richness of our prayers. People who attended the marriage ceremonies conducted by thirumeni will never forget his sermons that are interspersed with practical advise on relationship issues, wisdom, as well as humor.

Jacob pointed out that thirumeni's funeral in London was attended by all major church heads. An additional observation was the participation of 3 bishops from the Jacobite church at Thirumeni's "nagari kanikkal" service and at the funeral. He said we lost a great bishop, but we can be sure that he will be there to intercede for us.

Makarios Thirumeni News

Congratulations Shaji Thomas

Saturday, March 8, 2008 was a very special day for Shaji Thomas and family. First, it was Shaji's birthday. So, Shibi had prepared a great "payasam" for the congregation.

But more importantly, it was the day when Shaji was elevated to the honor of serving in the alter. Interestingly, Shaji was pretty cool; but Shibi was very nervous as to how Shaji will handle all the readings. The kids handling the marvasa was proud to show him when to ring the bell etc.! Shaji's addition will fill the much needed gap of an assistant who can read malayalam during the qurbana. Welcome Shaji.

Digging Out From the Snow

As we all know, Saturday, March 8, was not a day for feeble minded people to venture out. When Jacob (Mathew) brought achen to the chapel, the parking lot and driveway was not ploughed and there was no way to know where the driveway was. Well, he did guessed wrong and the vehicle got stuck in the lawn under 3-4 feet of snow! The van was left there till the end of the service and everyone went out to rescue the van. It was not an easy task. The security at the college removed the surrounding snow and lent a shovel. Everyone took turns in shoveling snow from under the van and near the tires. The college security put bags of salt under the van; but all in vain. When AAA was called, they said due to the emergency in Cuyahoga County they cannot respond till Sunday.

We were all set to leave the van there and pitch a ride with Sam Mathew when Achen said he want one chance. He prayed and then said, "move the van." Jacob Thomas, drove the van right out!!! Do you need any more proof for the power of prayer?

Apart from experiencing the power of prayer and faith, this incident also provided all of us to do some team work and "male bonding." Women, in the mean time, were in the chapel listening and studying some new songs. A great way to spend the worst snowy day in Cleveland!!

Sunny Paul Lost His Beloved Mother

Yesterday (Wednesday, February 20), Sunny got the dreaded news from his home at the foothills of Western Ghats. His mother has gone to eternal rest with our Lord. Although for Christians, death, in no way, means end of anything, but the beginning of the long life with our Savior, it, nevertheless, is very hard on us when we lose our loved ones. It gets worse because we feel the guilt of not being with them in their last moments on the earth. We share the grief with Sunny and his family on this loss and we pray that God strengthen them to overcome this loss. Sunny will be leaving today (Thursday) by the noon flight to Kerala. The funeral is scheduled for Saturday.

Congratulations to Sabu, Aji and Shaji

In the general body meeting conducted on Sunday, January 20, 2008, and presided over by Rev. Fr. Mathew Vazhakkottam, visiting priest, the members unanimously reelected Sabu (George Mathew) and Aji Mathew to another term as Secretary and Treasurer. The members also elected Shaji Thomas (aka Mathew Thomas) to the managing committee as the at-large-member.

Aji presented the unaudited accounts for 2007. In spite of the fact that our monthly contributions do not fully pay for expenses of 2 services per month, we managed to show a surplus for the year thanks to the shrewd fiscal management of the current management team combined with generous support of the members.

Welcome Andrew

We welcome Andrew Jacob Thomas to the alter team. Andrew was elevated by Fr. Mathew Vazhakkottam during our service on Sunday, January 20, 2008.

Congratulations Jerry and Sona

St. Gregorios Church Remembers H.G. Makarios

During the Holy Qurbana conducted on Saturday, March 8, 2008 a special 'dhoopa prarthana' (prayer with incense) was conducted to pray for the departed bishop H.G. Thomas Mar Makarios, Metrpolitan in charge of the Canada, UK, and Europe Diocese of the Indian Orthodox Church and a Senior Metropolitan of the American Diocese of IOC. During the condolence meeting held immediately following the service, Dr. Jacob Mathew recollected his fond memories of the long association with H.G. Mar Makarios. Thirumeni had been to Wooster College around 26 years years ago, when the late Paulose Mar Gregorios thirumeni had conducted a holy qurbana as part of a summer course he taught there. Makarios thirumeni also was very close to St. Thomas Orthodox Church in Detroit and participated actively in programs there including the first funeral, first marriage, as well as the dedication of the first church building in Southfield. Jacob said his interest in our church prayers during the liturgy, especially the Promeon and Sedara, was kindled when, during a service in Detroit St. Thomas, Makarios thirumeni read a part of the promeon prayer and stopped at a passage, stating that, "Do not punish the sheep for the transgression of the shepherd." Thirumeni read the passage, stopped; and read it again so people paid attention to that passage. Later, in a lunch meeting at the residence of Fr. Philip Jacob he had an opportunity to talk to HG in depth about the richness of our prayers. People who attended the marriage ceremonies conducted by thirumeni will never forget his sermons that are interspersed with practical advise on relationship issues, wisdom, as well as humor.

Jacob pointed out that thirumeni's funeral in London was attended by all major church heads. An additional observation was the particpation of 3 bishops from the Jacobite church at Thirumeni's "nagari kanikkal" service and at the funeral. He said we lost a great bishop, but we can be sure that he will be there to intercede for us.

Congratulations Shaji Thomas

Saturday, March 8, 2008 was a very special day for Shaji Thomas and family. First, it was Shaji's birthday. So, Shibi had prepared a great "payasam" for the congregation.

But more importantly, it was the day when Shaji was elevated to the honor of serving in the alter. Interestingly, Shaji was pretty cool; but Shibi was very nervous as to how Shaji will handle all the readings. The kids handling the marvasa was proud to show him when to ring the bell etc.! Shaji's addition will fill the much needed gap of an assistant who can read malayalam during the qurbana. Welcome Shaji.

Digging Out From the Snow

As we all know, Saturday, March 8, was not a day for feeble minded people to venture out. When Jacob (Mathew) brought achen to the chapel, the parking lot and driveway was not ploughed and there was no way to know where the driveway was. Well, he did guessed wrong and the vehicle got stuck in the lawn under 3-4 feet of snow! The van was left there till the end of the service and everyone went out to rescue the van. It was not an easy task. The security at the college removed the surrounding snow and lent a shovel. Everyone took turns in shoveling snow from under the van and near the tires. The college security put bags of salt under the van; but all in vain. When AAA was called, they said due to the emergency in Cuyahoga County they cannot respond till Sunday.

We were all set to leave the van there and pitch a ride with Sam Mathew when Achen said he want one chance. He prayed and then said, "move the van." Jacob Thomas, drove the van right out!!! Do you need any more proof for the power of prayer?

Apart from experiencing the power of prayer and faith, this incident also provided all of us to do some team work and "male bonding." Women, in the mean time, were in the chapel listening and studying some new songs. A great way to spend the worst snowy day in Cleveland!!

Sunny Paul Lost His Beloved Mother

Yesterday (Wednesday, February 20), Sunny got the dreaded news from his home at the foothills of Western Ghats. His mother has gone to eternal rest with our Lord. Although for Christians, death, in no way, means end of anything, but the beginning of the long life with our Savior, it, nevertheless, is very hard on us when we lose our loved ones. It gets worse because we feel the guilt of not being with them in their last moments on the earth. We share the grief with Sunny and his family on this loss and we pray that God strengthen them to overcome this loss. Sunny will be leaving today (Thursday) by the noon flight to Kerala. The funeral is scheduled for Saturday.

Congratulations Shaji Jacob's Family

We all had a chance to meet Shaji Jacob's dad when he visited Cleveland last summer. He attended several services as well as the picnic. He is one of the few early dentists in Kerala and is a very knowledgeable person.

He has written a book that is in the process of being published. According to Shaji, who previewed the book, it incorporates most of the teachings of Jesus with special emphasis on the sermon on the mount. It is being published by the Sunday School group. He is also writing a companion book describing his trip to America. The book is currently written in Malayalam; but Shaji says that there is a good chance to translate it into English.

He is a good speaker and also is active with outreach ministry (and so is Shaji). We will have to make sure that we provide an opportunity for him to speak in our church next time he visits. He is currently in Ranni.

Congratulations Shaji. Please convey our congratulations to your dad.

Sunny and Mercy's Daughter Recovering from Surgery

On Monday, Sunny and Mercy's daughter had a surgery at CCF - Beachwood facility. The surgery went well. She is now recovering at home. Please pray for her for the continued healing.

Congratulations to Sabu, Aji and Shaji

In the general body meeting conducted on Sunday, January 20, 2008, and presided over by Rev. Fr. Mathew Vazhakkottam, visiting priest, the members unanimously reelected Sabu (George Mathew) and Aji Mathew to another term as Secretary and Treasurer. The members also elected Shaji Thomas (aka Mathew Thomas) to the managing committee as the at-large-member.

Aji presented the unaudited accounts for 2007. In spite of the fact that our monthly contributions do not fully pay for expenses of 2 services per month, we managed to show a surplus for the year thanks to the shrewd fiscal management of the current management team combined with generous support of the members.

Welcome Andrew

We welcome Andrew Jacob Thomas to the alter team. Andrew was elevated by Fr. Mathew Vazhakkottam during our service on Sunday, January 20, 2008.

Congratulations Jerry and Sona

Sona gave birth to a baby girl on Tuesday, Jan 15 at 7:00 PM. Congratulations new parents!!

Christmas Carol Report by Sabu

Christmas Carol Singers on the first day of the Carol

2007, Christmas Carol is again a record breaker in collection and an excellent enjoyment for the singers. We were laughing all the way, making fun of Christmas sprit and jokes.

Our songs director Mathew John (Blesson), music director Levi Mathew and an enthusiastic team leader Jacob Mathew did a remarkable job for the success of this program. All the homes we visited, they provided warm welcome and lot of food to keep our energy and enthusiasm. (Watch your Sugar levels).

This year, a total of above 4000.00 dollars was collected for charity. All this money will be distributed to the needy families and organizations within the next few months. We want to thank all the families who generously donated money for this Christmas carol.

On Dec 2nd the following families provided:
1. Breakfast - Mini and Levi Mathew (Appam and Chicken Curry)
2. Lunch - Aji and Sam Mathew (Rice and Curry)
3. Dinner - Sini and David Francis (Rice and Curry)

On Dec 15th
1. Breakfast -Binzy and Showbu Thomas – Idli and Chutney
2. Lunch - Sherly and Sabu – Kappa and fish curry
3. Dinner - Mary and Korathu Paily-(Rice and Curry)

On this year all the transportation was provided by Jacob Mathew, Jacob Thomas, Showbu Thomas and Shaji Thomas to our Carol singers.

In creating the music and track, we went up one more level this year. Levi Mathew and Jerry Varghese did a tremendous job of separating track for our new songs with Blesson's direction and supervision. This added another feather to our hat.

Shaji took pictures from the families we visited and published in our website.
I hope all of you have seen that pictures. (Due to some technical difficulties, he lost few pictures).

We had this year one more noticeable improvement. Shaji bought a karaoke set for our carol singers. That kept all of the signer’s voice better and louder. (Our Abraham Pannikottu always wanted to hold a microphone).

The co-ordinates (Levi and Sabu) wanted to thank all those singers and families we visited. Our entire Carol singers (Blesson, Levi, Skariah, Jacob Thomas, Showbu, Johnson (New member), Jacob Mathew, Shaji Thomas, Babychayen, Abraham Pannikottu, Anish, Shinoi and Sabu) deserved a great treat. God bless you all for keeping our Kerala Christmas tradition (going through homes and sing songs) and charitable work.

Thanks,
Sabu.

WOW! What a Christmas Carol

The first day of Christmas Caroling is now history. The East side from Willowick to Solon to Kent to Akron to Copley to Hudson is now complete. We visited about 23 houses and collected over $2400 for charity as a result of the endeavor of dedicated volunteers. The west side will be covered on December 15th.

The day started with breakfast prepared by Mini and Levi. After a late night Indian Christian program on Saturday, it was doubtful if everyone would get there in time at 8:30 AM. But everyone did. The singers consisted of Sabu and Levi (coordinators), Blesson (Music Director), Jacob (Thomas), Shaji, Showbu, Skariah, Johnson (New to Cleveland) and Jacob (Mathew). Shaji brought a portable PA system to give rest to the vocal chords.

We were extremely honored and humbled by the show of affection and friendliness by the homes we visited. Everyone had cooked something and it was very difficult to say "no" when we knew how much time and effort they expended in making all these delicacies. Belram Kaimal's wife prepared so many dishes that she could not fit all of them in a table! Belram also treated us to his rendition of "Periyare". Aji had her mother bring some halwa and Kerala delicacies especially for the carolers and served the lunch. Yes, we had shrimp curry too!

Shama commented that our singing of "Yesu Maharajan" was the best she has heard. Raju and Jolly had prepared so many delicacies and they were worried if we will make it there as we got there well past 9 PM. (I sneaked a vada from there for Keesha and she has approved it and wanted more. The skeptics like Skariachen wondered if a dog will eat vada!)

The day ended with dinner at David and Sini's house. Sini prepared a purely vegetarian feast capped by a delicious payasam. Sini and David commented that our rendition of carol songs were far superior to and better organized than what they have experienced in New Jersey.

It was a long day. Many did not reach home till well past midnight on Sunday. We want to thank all of you for your kindness, understanding and hospitality and for your generous support. The west side will be covered on Saturday, December 15th. I will not be there as I will be in Birmingham, AL to attend Seena's graduation. Abraham and Anish are expected to join the team on that day. So there will be plenty of singers.

See Photographs of the Carol here (photos courtesy of Shaji Thomas)

A Retreat to Remember

WOW what a day it was! Thomas family from Dallas, TX mesmerized the audience with their Christian songs. We had live evidence of the saying, "a family that prays together stays together." I asked Anitha during the lunch time if she was a singer before, or she got into this after marrying Jason. They replied that Anitha was the one who directed Jason to God with her prayers, but neither of them had no formal singing experience. It was even awe-inspiring when we heard later a testimony from Jason that he had throat cancer and many doctors predicted that he may not be able to speak well, not to talk of singing! We saw live the evidence for "with God everything is possible."

The there was Toby. Although I knew Toby before mainly from association with Rev. Philip Jacob, I never knew how good a speaker he was. He spoke from the heart. He eloquently spoke for the need for personal rejuvenation and the first step in that is to recognize our sins, repent, and then confess so that it will be wiped away from our "liabilities" by the priest who has power to do so as given in the bible. After listening to Toby, several people went for Holy Confession and later received holy qurbana. Toby's description of his turnaround of life (first 40 years and the last 7 years) was indeed very inspiring. We were amazed by the power of God who has healed him from a spinal cord injury that had him paralyzed hip down and confined to a wheel chair to a person on his foot giving live testimony to the glory of God!

Stephen achen, as usual was just great. He taught the kids the song "I surrender it all" - he illustrated what that means to surrender everything to God. I had an entirely different experience when I went for confession. I felt I was in the presence of God and telling him about my short comings and after the conversation left me feeling relaxed and at peace. One less thing to burden the soul. The qurbana, with the PA system in place, sounded grand too.
 

Sherly and her cohorts did a great job in organizing kanji, payar and pickle. I am with Bose in this, who commented that the different payar preparations looked so different that he had to sample all! In spite of it, we had plenty of leftovers.

Sabu and Aji should be congratulated for organizing such a grand event. We have taken the retreat to a different level this time.

More details on the retreat

Retreat Pictures: http://www.photoblog.com/prayergroup (Photos courtesy of Shaji Thomas)

A Grand Picnic

By all accounts, our picnic this year, held on Saturday, July 28, 2007 at the Campbell in Willoughby Hills was a grand success.

A new director is born ...... Picnic - 2007 (Yes, it is a teamwork.)
For more pictures of the picnic, go to http://prayergroup.photoblog.com/ (Thank you Shaji and Shibi for the great photos.)

Here is a message from Sabu:

Our Church picnic was a great success because all of your great work and participation. We enjoyed warm weather, wonderful food and games. I wanted to thank all of you and your family for the participation and the items you brought. The picnic could not have been such a great success without the help of all of you. As you noticed we have around 60 people attended. I really appreciate everyone's effort to make our picnic a great success.
Sabu

This was a flawlessly choreographed and implemented program. Everyone had a great time. It was sunny, with cool breeze; great weather for the outdoor games and indoor games like playing cards.

Libby's Brother Passed Away

We have got the word that Libby's brother had passed away to his eternal home. Both Libby and Bobby had made an emergency trip to Kerala to see him. He died shortly after they reached Kerala. We extend our condolences to the bereaved family.

Koruthu Rehospitalized

Recently Koruthu was again rehospitalized at Marymount Hospital for complications from Parkinson's he is suffering from. Mary said he loses balance occasionally. Please continue to pray for them.

Thomaskutty Buys Home

Thomaskutty and family have bought a home in Willowick and has moved into their own first home in America. Congratulations!

Fr. Stephen will celebrate holy qurbana instead of Fr. Philip Jacob on May 5

As most of you know, our Philip achen was scheduled to conduct our holy qurbana this weekend (May 5). It was kind of a home coming service as achen is the co-founder of our church here and one person we could always count on to call on whenever we need anything from him. Achen's dedication and devotion to service are unquestionable.

Achen's daughter Paula is getting married on Sunday May 27. As you know, there are millions of things to do arranging for the wedding with only precious few days left. These days are especially hard on achen because as per our tradition the time from Easter to Pentecosty is the time for all house blessings. With over 100 families in Detroit, this is not a small task. In spite of all these, achen still wanted to come to Cleveland.

Knowing achen's predicament, we felt it is a gross injustice and selfishness on our part to subject achen and family to have him come over here this weekend when he has so many other things to arrange. We felt that to reschedule achen for sometime after Paula's wedding is the right thing to do. This was our decision and not, in any way, requested by Philip Jacob achen. People who are close to achen could feel his internal agony and we wanted our part to offer achen some relief as we were always on the receiving end from achen and never in the giving end. So, I (Jacob) have personally had a long talk with achen and convinced achen that we can wait till June to have a qurbana by him and that he need the time at Detroit. Achen reluctantly agreed. He want to make sure that we convey to you all that this was entirely our decision and not because achen was not willing to come.

As this decision was made only on Thursday morning, the next question was what to do with the Saturday service. Sabu made a few telephone calls and found that Rev. Stephen from Detroit was available this Saturday morning for qurbana. So, with God's grace, we will still have holy qurbana on Saturday as scheduled. Robin and Vishin will be hosting achen. We thank achen for responding to our last minute request so quickly.

We will let you know as soon as we schedule a date with Philip Jacob in June. James achen from Kerala is going to be here for Paula's wedding and we may also have him in the service. St. Thomas is also conducting a family conference in the weekend of June 15-17 led by James achen. Everyone is invited to attend that too.

Bobby Koruth Pailey and Libby will be Relocating to Philadelphia

Bobby, who is our current treasurer, and Libby are planning to relocate to Philadelphia at the end of May or beginning June. Bobby said his decision to relocate was prompted by family in Philadelphia area. With Koruth and Mary staying in Kerala most of the year, they were feeling a bit lonely. Unfortunately for us, this means we will be losing another one of our active families. We wish Bobby and Libby all the best in their new home.

Passion Week -2007

Memorable not just because it has snowed all weekend long. See the details.

Conducted by Fr. Ham Joseph, Chicago

Palm Sunday, April 1, 2007 at 8:30 AM

Good Friday Service, April 6, 2007 at 8:30 AM

Holy Saturday Service with prayer for departed, April 7, 2007 at 10 AM

Easter Service, April 8, 2007 at 8:30 AM

The service was magnanimous with the sanctuary full of alter assistants. Thomaskutty and achen helped us to improve our musical abilities by leading the songs with great musical tunes. The chorukka on Good Friday was a hit as it was probably more sweet than sour; but Shila has guaranteed that it had the healthy ingredients. There was a lot of kanji and the accompaniments even after some people had more than three helpings. Learning from the past year when the pickle ran out early, this time, there were pickle left over to take home! Some people had difficulty visualizing the different ways beans can be cooked; so they took samples from each of the preparation.

The Easter Sunday feast was also very memorable. Sherly and Sheela did a great job in organizing all the items and presenting it. There were even two payasams (in the absence of our payasam master Mary Koruth who is still in Kerala). There was left over food even after some people tried both the payasams. One new item this year was the lamb stew.

There was also amble spiritual food during the week. On Palm Sunday and on Easter Ham achen talked eloquently about the biblical significance of these events. On Good Friday, Thomaskutty talked eloquently about relating the Good Friday with our own experience of facing trials and tribulations. Jacob talked about the real significance of Good Friday - that is the resurrection that will follow. He said it is important that we keep our goal on the eternal life without being sidetracked in pursuit of material things in life and to develop an attitude of unconditional service. He said that is the great way that we can experience the real peace Jesus promised us through his disciples.

New Office Bearers for St. Gregorious Orthodox Church

In the general body meeting on Sunday, November 19, 2006 presided by Fr. Thomas from New York, the following office bearers were chosen:

Bobby Koruth
George Mathew (Sabu)

COPS -- In search of ....

COPS (Cleveland Orthodox Priest Search) in on new prowl. The mission is to search for a regular priest for the Orthodox Community. In the general body meeting on November 19, 2006, the following members were elected to the COPS committee

Shinoi Verghese
Sam Mathew

Showbu and Bincy Introduces --- Sara

Little Sara was born on October 16. We congratulate the proud parents and family.

We Bid Good Bye to Eldho and Dhanya

Eldho and Dhanya are relocating to Wilmington, SC. We wish them all the best.

Thomas clan celebrates Rachel Thomas' 70th Birthday

Thomas family celebrated the grand event with a great birthday party where everyone was invited. A holy qurbana was conducted by Fr. P.C. Thomas on September 23, 2006. Many persons spoke. This was followed by a great lunch. We wish Rachel another 70 years!

HG Mathews Mar Severios Conducted HQ on Saturday, June 3

Thirumeni, who has visited Cleveland more than any other bishops from our church, conducted the service on Saturday, June 3.

Bidding Farewell to More Members

Roy and Ackhsa has relocated to Chicago.

Passion Week Services- 2006 sets Another Milestone

Ursulene College chapel was the point of attraction for most of Orthodox, Jacobite and MarThoma members the whole of passion week this year. Fr. P. C. Thomas, currently secretary of American Diocese, led traditional passion week services that included the full service as well as evening prayers everyday. The services included palm Sunday service, Maundy Thursday Service (on Wednesday night), Good Friday services, Holy Saturday services, and finally culminating in the Easter Services on Sunday. Evening services were held on Saturday through Saturday. Many faithful also participated in confession.

We want to thank Bobby and Anju for hosting achen for the whole week. Anju and the ladies are to be especially congratulated for the great food. People especially appreciated the value of food served after long services when we didn't have anything on Palm Sunday. Also special thanks to Thomachen for arranging the chapel and to Ursulene College for graciously allowing us to use the chapel for the whole week. Thank you all for coming and making this a very special week.

Welcome Thomaskutty, Sally, and Family

One new family who just jumped into the middle of things was Thomaskutty and family. Thomaskutty arrived for the first time in the USA a few days before Palm Sunday after getting stranded at Chicago airport. He and his son immediately joined the alter assistant team. It was indeed a great pleasure to listen to Thomaskutty's readings in poetical Malayalam. Welcome.

Congratulations Thomachen

On April 1, 2006 Dr. Thomas Mathew reached the milestone popularly known as Shastipurthy or 60th birthday. Raichel has organized a special surprise party for him with a full orthodox service led by Slomo achen followed by lunch with selected guests. The prayer group has honored Thomachen by presenting two personalized plaques. We wish Thomachen a long life.

Are You Worried?

The following article was sent to us by a dear friend who wants to remain anonymous. This has greatly helped us to overcome the recent crisis we went through. I like to include it here so that others can benefit from it too. Read article.

Meaning of Sign of Cross and Kneeling

During passion week, we make the sign of the cross and kumbideel (kneeling) an estimated 500 times. What is the meaning of this? Read here.

Paul and Annie Grieves at the Loss of Their Nephew

Paul's sister's son died from drowning on Tuesday, April 4. He was 18 years old and was a 1st year engineering student. Paul was very close to this youngster and is devastated by the news. Our condolences to Paul and Annie. May God give you and your sister's family the strength to overcome this tragedy.

HQ Celebrated to honor the life of Baselious Mathews 11 Bava of Blessed Memory

On Saturday, March 18, we had a special HQ to celebrate the life and times of Bava Thirumeny. It was special because it was conducted by Rev Fr. Philip Jacob who was brought up by Bava. We also were honored to have Bava's younger brother Baby and family, as well as Dr. Rickey, his nephew, who came from Pittsburgh to attend the program. In fact Ricki and family threw in a sumptuous lunch in the tradition of 40th day celebrations.

Fr. Philip Jacob recalled the great times he had under Bava. He said Bava single handedly established numerous institutions in Quilon area; but he had always led a very simple life. Once achen took a letter to him to sign on an inland; Bava scolded him for wasting money when he could have done that with a post card and saved 4 paise!

Achen is proud that one of the last official functions Bava did was to bless his house in Kerala when Bava was too sick to even walk and was on the way to Kangazha hospital to get emergency medical care.

Baby uncle talked fondly of his elder brother who was 25 years his senior. He said Bava was already in Dayara when he was born; so he did not have much personal contact. He remembered the times Bava getting very annoyed at him and scolding him when he was not praying "right."

Ricky said Bava was like a grandfather to him. He was very fair and had absolutely white hair and moustache to go with that. Ricky said he still remember about the three advises Bava always gave him for success in life.

1. Pray relentlessly.
2. Be Good. But remember that you have to be good in God. Remember, When you take GOD away from GOOD, what is left is a BIG "O". So, you should be good in the eyes of God.
3. Hard work.

The point of Hard work and service of thirumeni was further amplified by Aji who recalled an event when Bava was in the Dayara, when he used to clean the bathrooms at night when everyone have gone to sleep. She said bava lived by the commandment of Jesus that to be a leader you first have to serve.

We want to thank everyone for coming and making this a "very special day."

Cleveland Conducts the Official 40th day Remembrance of Baseliose Mathews II Valia Bava

Couple Talk - Another First for Cleveland

On Saturday, Feb 18, we had another first for Cleveland. It is dubbed Couple Talk - a great idea by Anju. Jacob and Shila were picked as the guinea pigs to work the details out.

At the end of the program, everyone thoroughly enjoyed the program. Many people said we should have more of these type of programs with other couples.

Jacob and Shila talked about one of the main problems couples face in their life - managing trials and tribulations. If handled wrong, these can fracture and potentially break up a marriage. So, obviously, it is an important topic. Their point was that we all will face trials and tribulations; but we should look upon these as opportunity to learn from. Just like a metal cannot be refined unless we pass it through hot oven and melted or a master sculpture cannot be built unless you pass the rough metal to hot furnace where it can be made soft and pliable so the master can reshape it, our trials are vehicles God uses to make us better and go to the next step. They had illustrated the talk with examples from their own life and how they handled the events as well as what came out of it. There was a lively discussion after the program indicating that the audience enjoyed it well.

Feedback from Mini Shinoi Varghese (about Couple's Program):
 

Rev. Fr. (Dr.) K. M. George, Principal of Orthodox Theological Seminary Kottayam Conducted HQ on Feb 5, 2006

George achen is visiting Pittsburgh Theological Seminary for advanced research. We were fortunate to have achen to come and bless us with conducting the Holy Qurbana. The service was well accepted.

Condolences for Passing of Valia Bava

Fr. Philipkutty Mathews, Professor of History from Nagpur Seminary, from Kanom, Kerala (same parish as from Bincy Showbu Thomas) conducted the Holy Qurbana on Saturday, January 14. The gist of the excellent sermon by Achen was that Jesus likes sincere devotion and faith; he gave examples after examples from the Jesus' public ministry as reported in the gospels to prove the point. He also challenged everyone to keep the culture and traditions alive here as done by Greek Orthodox who have never changed their liturgy after 7 seven generations here.

In our Christmas Program General Meeting we have elected Bobby George as the third person to convene the program here. This is so we can give some relief to Shinoi who has been coping with a new job.

Robin has been elected unanimously as the Internal auditor on the meeting on January 14, 2006. Thank you Robin.

We want to thank Anju for doing such an outstanding job in organizing the kids and to resuscitate the prayer meeting. Our next prayer meeting will be on the campus of the Ursulene College so we do not have to worry about finding a host family, which is getting harder to do.

Our Christmas Carols have become a much anticipated tradition in Cleveland. Several people told me how much they look up to finding out the new song selections that are carefully selected and choreographed by our music master Blesson. Blesson spends days making the finer touches to the list of songs. Then one song receives the much coveted award of MVP (For those who do not know, MVP stands for "Most Valuable Pattu" - It is equivalent to a spot in the Hollywood star walk or ABC TV Horse Trailer, or Hall of Fame.

This year we have a song that was partly composed locally. A very talented poet Levy wrote one full stanza to our MVP this year.

After spending days preparing and practicing, it is finally time to go public. The carol coordinators (Showbu, Levi, and Shinoi this year) goes over the route, prepares the order, contacts hosts, arranges food, etc. etc. and worries a lot. Lot of work goes into this.

Well our first day of carol this year was on Sunday, December 11. We covered from Garfield Heights to Westlake to Brunswick. The carol began with a breakfast at Showbu's house at 8 AM, and ended with a dinner at Levi's house in Solon at about 11 PM. Lunch was served by Sabu and Sherly at Strongsville.

About 14 carol singers in 3 vans braved the inclement weather and sang in 24 houses. We raised $1967 for the charity.

The second day of the carol will be on Saturday, December 17. We will cover the area bounded by Akron to the south to Willoughby Hills to the North, Chagrin Falls in the east and Cleveland/Shaker Heights to the west.

Most Memorable Quote

Vishin to Robin:

"Make sure that you eat well (dinner at Levy's house)."

Caroler's Interpretation of what that meant: "I am not keeping any dinner warm for you. So, make sure you have your dinner."

Robin's Interpretation: "No breakfast on Monday!"

Christmas Carol Day 2 - A Great Finale to A Most Memorable Event.

After the great start of the previous week, we were all wondering how we can top that. However, the week 2 caroling really did that. By all accounts, this year's service had been the most memorable. Perhaps it is the absence of any skirmishes that invariably pop up up at this time of the year. Or may be that we finally has attained the true Christmas spirit.

The day started with a breakfast at Titus' house. Reena had stayed up most of the night preparing the breakfast as she had to leave for mandatory work in the morning. Due tot he scheduling problems the lunch was served at about 4 PM by Abraham and Mini in Akron. The dinner was served by Sam Mathew and Aji in their new house in Hudson. The after Carol mela was hosted by Jacob and Shila. It was a great time for singing and enjoying. Belram, Blesson, Anju, and Levi entertained all of us with their songs. The party went on till nearly midnight.

The day's collection tallied up to over $1500.

The following account of Levi summarizes this year's event better:

"Actually I enjoyed this year's better than the 3 previous years I participated. It was so nice of Mr. Sam Mathew's family to dine us sumptuously at the end of the carol rounds. Even after the dinner, we were entertained by Sheila Aunty for a great dessert.

Then came the grant finale of singing songs; of course, for the "drunkards" the wine too. We laughed and talked for a long time.

Well anyway, happiness was the key of  X'mas.

Levi"

A Cleveland First! English Qurbana with a mini - retreat

We had a Cleveland first on Saturday, November 12, 2005. Rev. Fr. John Brian Paprock, from Holy Transfiguration Orthodox Mission, Madison, Wisconsin led the English service.

The aim of the session was to educate those who want to know the meaning of Holy Qurbana and its mysteries. Fr. John Brian is an expert in Eastern Orthodoxy. The qurbana was conducted with 3 breaks in between explaining the significance of what transpired and what is coming so you will have a better understanding of the Orthodox liturgy.

After the qurbana, we were treated to a potluck lunch organized by Anju. This was followed by a celebration of the birthdays for all who celebrates one in November (about half of the church!) The discussion session that followed had a live question and answer session. In fact, we had to cut the session short due to the time crunch.

Our prayer group members were treated to a surprise on Saturday, September, 24. There were clues of something special in the air for some time. The first clue was the pronouncement from Babychayan that no one need to bring any food for the pot luck dinner. Next, when we reached Babychayan's house for the prayer meeting, Marykutty was seated with the audience as opposed to her traditional place in the kitchen being busy preparing food and coffee. And Babychayan was waiting at the top of steps for the food to arrive! Well, after a great message by Dr. Sam Mathew, who pointed to us how badly we all flunked our Christian life test, the secret was out. It was Marykutty's official 60th birthday. All her family (including Bibby, Suddha, Sunil, and, of course, Babychayan) and extended family were there to celebrate it with her. What a great way to celebrate a birthday - with a prayerful heart thanking God for all His blessings!

Congratulations Marykutty and many happy returns of the day!

Liju and Minu celebrates the arrival of Ria

Robin and Vishin celebrates the arrival of John Peter Paul

Welcome Jeena Joseph
Jeena is a postDoc in pharmacology at CWRU. She is originally from Trichur. She lives in Cleveland Heights. Welcome Jeena and thank you Sanjeev for introducing her to the group.

Sam Mathew and family has moved into Hudson, America's most beautiful city. Welcome.

Saturday, July 23, 2005 at 9:30 AM

On Saturday. July 23, 2005, we were treated to a truly historic Orthodox Service. We had a service co-celebrated by Rev. Fr. Dr. Johns Abraham Konat (Vicar of Pampakuda St. John's Valiyapally and also the Secretary of Kandanad Diocese of IOC) and Rev Fr. John Brian
Holy Transfiguration Orthodox Mission, Madison, Wisconsin.

What made the service unique was the presence of Fr. Brian, who is an American Born priest of Indian Orthodox Church who does not speak any Malayalam. He is one of the four Americans Makarios Thirumeni has ordained to organize St. Gregorios Missions in different parts of the USA. Fr. Brian gave a great sermon based on the bible passage where the shepherd goes in search of the lost sheep. Later, Fr. Konat gave a short discussion on the prayerful life.

Rev. Fr. Dr. Johns Abraham Konat

Johns achen is the son of Rev. Fr. Abraham Konattu Malpan, a great Syriac Scholar of the 20th century who translated and published the famous prayer Book now used by Malankara Syrian Church, popularly known as 'Pampakuda Namaskaram', published in 1910 with the permission of the Patriarch of Antioch H. H. Mor Ignathious Abded'Aloho II. Besides this, he had translated & published a newer version of the entire New Testament and also many other Church books.

Rev Fr. John Brian

Fr John Brian heads the St. Gregorios Mission in Madison, Wisconsin. St. Gregorios Mission was originally believed to have been founded by Parumala Thirumeni; but most recently by Makarios Thirumeni.

In 1987, Makarios Thirumeni founded the Mission Society of St. Gregorios of India. He ordained Fr. Michael Hatcher as the first American priest of the Malankara Orthodox Church on the same year. He later established a mission center in Montebello, New York. Fr. Michael Hatcher was elevated to chorespiscopos in 1994 and placed in charge of the Mission Society and mission parish in Spokane, Washington.

Today, there are four American priests and four mission parishes: The Mission Center in New York, St. Gregorios Mission Parish in Spokane, St. Thomas Mission Parish in Seattle, Washington and Holy Transfiguration Mission Parish in Madison, Wisconsin. John Brian achen leads the center in Madison, Wisconsin.

You can learn more about the mission its work from:

http://www.angelfire.com/ms3/mission/

More on the Holy Transfiguration Mission at:

http://www.angelfire.com/wi/inroads/transfig.html

This year was also different from the theological point of view. It was one of the rare occasions when Anunciation to St. Mary fell on the same day as Good Friday. So, according to Orthodox tradition, Holy Qurbana had to be celebrated on that day although we don't do that on Good Fridays. Thampan achen explained the significance of the day and celebrated the Qurbana and along line of people stood to receive Holy Communion. After a break, the Good Friday Service started. It ended at about 4:30 PM. Anju and Sherly organized a great Kanji treat to everyone. This year's star attraction was home made Mango pickle. In spite of the fact that 3 vessel full of this was brought, it ran out on the first round to the total dismay of Anju. That probably was the biggest compliment that can be shown to the cook!

Great Saturday service was conducted to commemorate Jesus going and visiting the departed on Saturday after crucifixion. Again we had several visitors from Detroit attending the service.

Easter service started early sunday morning. Achen made the service very interesting by interspersing English with Malayalam within the service. The service was followed by the sumptuous lunch organized by Anju and Sherly. This time, to the delight of Anju, there were plenty of food left over.

At the end, around 11 PM on Saturday, December 18, when the carolers sat around the table in Jacob and Shila's home in Hudson, celebrating another successful conclusion of the Christmas Caroling Season, the overwhelming feeling in everyone's mind was "slomo" - peace. After all, isn't that Christmas is all about? The "good news" the angels gave the shepherds was "peace." When Jesus departed earth, he told his disciples and everyone around him that "I give my peace to you." It is what Christianity is all about. In the 'busyness' of this season, we often forget that Christmas is about Jesus Christ and the slomo. The carolers parted in peace after a job well done: There was no ugly politics, no fights; just pure bliss. Everyone hugged each other before departing wishing each other peace. Thank you lord!

The carolers collected well over $3000, 100% of which will be given to deserving persons and worthwhile charities in 2005. Everyone agreed that the music was better this year, thanks to the untiring efforts of our music director Blesson. Blesson had almost gave up on the whole thing up as a lost cause on the second day of practice at Titus' home, when 8 people sang in 10 tunes and 15 rhythms. He persisted and it paid off. We received several compliments for the harmony of the music. We also had another first this year. The carolers presented the US premier of a Christmas Carole song written and composed by Singing Professor in Australia. Professor Bandy, a world renowned expert in nanotechnology and a fellow alumnus of Jacob Mathew at IIT Kharagpur, is known also for his musical talent. His first English Christmas Song was composed for an International Conference on Nanotechnology held in Calcutta in November 2004. He sent the song to Jacob for review and Jacob, after listening to it, was so impressed by it, he asked Blesson for his opinion and with Blesson's concurrence, asked Bandy for permission to perform it in Cleveland. The rest, as they say, is history.

Showbu and Shinoi deserves a special salutation for their stellar performance in organizing the event. They got some flack for running late on the first day of the carol. But they learned from it and the second day virtually went on schedule (a few cancellations does help in the cause also!) Most people do not recognize the difficulties involved in choreographing the program with many uncertainties such as weather, traffic conditions, and then request from the people to come after certain time etc. The aim of the carolers is to offer a "caroling experience" to those we visit. Although there is always some hue and cry that we should "speed up," cooler heads prevailed. It is easy to see why. People are waiting for the carolers all morning or all afternoon, with treats, drinks etc. They like some quality time with "slomo" experience. Rushing there like lightning does not serve the purpose.

Day 2
7:15 AM Saturday, December 18 - South side

Carol Practice Hosts

Thank you Jacob and Sheela Thomas for hosting our Christmas Carol practice on Saturday, Nov 20 at 5 PM. Sheela has prepared a sumptuous dinner including the famous "shrimp curry!"

Thank you Titus and Reena for hosting the carol practice on Thursday, November 25. In spite of the fact that Reena had to go elsewhere for thanksgiving dinner, she has prepared a dinner and trained Titus to warm it and serve it right. Thanks a lot.

The last practice was hosted by Babychayan and Marykutty. Marykutty had forsaken her sleep to prepare a great dinner for all. True Christmas spirit! Thank you!

Meal Hosts

December 12:

Breakfast: Jacob and Sheela Thomas
Lunch: Blesson and Susan (and Mary Daniel)
Dinner: Thomas and Mary Thomas

December 18

Lunch: Abraham and Mini Pannikottu
Dinner: Jacob and Shila Mathew

Organization

Coordinators: Shinoi Varghese and Showbu Thomas
Music Director: Blesson (Mathew Johns)

Carolers

Mathew Johns
Varghese (Titus) Kunnathu
Jacob Mathew
Levi Mathew
Abraham Pannikottu
Robin Roy
Biju Thomas
Jacob Thomas
Shaji Thomas
Showbu Thomas
Thomas Thomas
Shinoi Varghese

12/20/04

For example, look at the Christmas Carol yesterday.

But what were we talking at the end of the day?

Get back to reality guys. Our coordinators, Shinoi and Showbu, did a wonderful job. They spent countless hours working on getting all the obstacles out. Let us thank them for the great, thankless job they have done.

Our music director Blesson deserves a big hand for selecting those beautiful songs, spending personal funds to prepare the music, and then patiently teaching all us dummies how to sing. Anyone else would have given up!! Many people at ICF program came and told me what a great job we all did. It was after many years that we went back singing at ICF program.

God had saved us from any new issues and problems. People who didn't want us graciously told us so. Instead, the God has provided us with new homes to go. The miracle is that we got new referrals too!

Yes, we need to make our itinerary as realistic as possible so people don't have to wait 3 hours to see us. Shinoi was given the wisdom of listening patiently to the outrage of a person for our being late. But don't let that single flaw shadow the great job the carolers, the coordinators, and the music director did. A big hand to them!! Great job.

Now let us hope that we can match that on the second day with the "southerners."

November 14, 2004

November 14, 2004