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Distinct Faith and Unique Visions of St. Gregorios of Parumala St. Gregorios had three special qualities of his own. The first and most important was that he was a man of constant prayer. The saint maintained a close link with God Almighty during mid nights, mornings and at times of prayers and even in between. The faith of the saint was so strong and firm and its blessing was seen on his face. Secondly he was a great Master. The life and activities of the large number of his followers witness the truth. Thirdly he was a good shepherd who had considered the welfare and well being of the Church as a whole. Compassion, Love, Forgiveness and Other Spiritual Gifts All Saints always express the godly natures of compassion, love, forgiveness and other spiritual gifts through their glorified lives. They do pray earnestly for the entire universe and mankind while staying in Lord Christ (As alive & even after their worldly lives.) When the faithful offer prayers for the departed saints and seek the intercessions of the saints, the mutual prayers turns, as the expressions of the divine love of God which was exposed to the world through Lord Jesus Christ. From the visions, life style, writings and exhortations of St. Gregorios, one could witness the brightness of the so-called Eastern Christian tradition. St. Gregorios believed in the deepness of love and hence the saint taught that a real devotee would love his fellowmen well. Identified With The Traditions of The Church Fathers St. Gregorios tried his best to identify with the traditions of the Church Fathers. As a matter of fact, it is very difficult to identify the theological visions of St. Gregorios separately from that of the Church Fathers before and after him. The Eastern Church fathers before him have totally ignored the importance of the secular education and the peaks in this field where one learner could reach. The Church Fathers were of the opinion that the interpretations of the Holy Scriptures and the religious practice must be practical in word and deed, which could be easily practiced in the daily life. They were eager to find the roots and base of the faith of theology in the lives of the ordinary people. Practiced Eastern Christian Theology When St. Gregorios said that all creations of God are beloved, the saint was leading our attention to the nucleus of the Eastern Christian theology. He was explaining the deep meaning of this great tradition. The Holy Bible provides us enough evidences of God's nature of goodness, love and freedom: St. Basil of Caesaria, St. Gregory of Nazianzi and St. Gregory of Nyssa are considered as pillars of Eastern Christian tradition, as these three were well versed in God's goodness, love and freedom. In addition to the above faith, they taught about the share of those virtues vested in the entire creation. St. Gregorios of Parumala had identified himself to the above theological version of the Eastern Church fathers, who are generally refereed as Cappadocian fathers. And in fact the vision of St. Gregorios of Parumala had something more. Believed in the Goodness, Beauty and Truth of God in All Creations of God St. Gregorios of Parumala formed the divine theology connected with the creation, on the basis of the Biblical statement that after each creation "God found it good". The saint of Parumala defined that the goodness, beauty and truth of God are there in each creation of God. So also the saint exhorted the faithful to lead a life to attain the perfection of God's divine virtues. St. Gregorios used to pray for the entire mankind with real repentance, for and on behalf of the entire mankind with plenty of tears. The saint was confident that we are supposed to love all the creations irrespective of caste, color and creed. The feeling to love everyone and everything created by God enables man to get freedom from sorrow and desperation. When a faithful offers prayer with tears for his fellowmen, it would enable others to achieve more and more blessings from God. Prayerful Life In his life, St. Gregorios gave great importance to prayer. The saint gave great importance to pray as and when time would allow. The saint taught that "prayer is the enthusiasm of childhood, the dependence of the youth, and peace of the old age. One who loves his fellowmen is a real devotee. Because what all are created by God deserves love. Many things more than what we could dream are possible through prayer." Education/Teaching Mission Teaching mission was another important vision of St. Gregorios and the mission undertaken by the saint. In those days the media for mass education was the worships in the Churches, in addition to the practical teaching expertise by the elders in the joint families. In those days education in Kerala meant learning a few lessons of Sanskrit. And it was available to the high-class Hindu male members only. This system was radically changed by the effort of Christian Missionaries. In Kerala, English education was started in Orthodox Theological Seminary, Kottayam for the first time. The introduction of the "education for all" resulted in a great social revolution. In the Missionary Schools, there was no caste system. St. Gregorios was greatly influenced by the good effects of the activities of the Missionaries in the educational field. The saint desired that his own church should also be active. So the saint utilized his influence to open as many English Schools as he could. Worked for The Elevation of Socially Downtrodden Class St. Gregorios was considerate towards the socially downtrodden and the so-called Dalits, as the high-class people had not allowed the Dalit children to have education with their children. The saint started separate schools for the children of Dalits. St. Gregorios gave inspiration and the needy financial aid to so many Dalit youth for their Education, even though many of the Syrian Christians of those days had objected the saint's attempts to raise the standard of the socially down trodden people. During the period from 1895 till 1902, St. Gregorios gave the final shape for his visions like social reformation, educational activities as well as freedom struggle of the Dalits. St. Gregorios was able to establish English schools in Mulamthuruthy, Tiruvalla, Kunnamkulam, Niranam and Thumpamon. The efforts to establish the schools are the evidences for the saint's attempts for the social reformation of Kerala. One could find the saint's reactions against the poor status of the social system, from the private letters, sermons and articles of St. Gregorios. Missionary Works The saint was the first to start the mission work in the Indian Orthodox Church. He gave priority and exhorted the Church to give due importance to mission works both inside and outside the Church. It seems that he had instructed his followers to maintain the following.
Importance of Spiritual Education and Spiritual Life The life of St. Gregorios was converted as a message to the entire world where one could witness the message of Christian love and holiness of life. The prayers of different occasions of the worship were systematically arranged to remember and also to meditate the events that took place in the life of Lord Jesus Christ from childhood. The Holy Bible readings for an entire year is also set likewise for the use of the faithful from the beginning of the year till the end. St. Gregorios was of the opinion that the spiritual education could provide the knowledge in three shapes.
Respected All Religions St. Gregorios always expressed a religious vision, which was illustrated and illuminated through Jesus Christ. The same vision had likeness to the teaching of all world religions. When we attempt to analyze each religion through the vision of St. Gregorios, we could see Christ's picture drawn in different colors. When we would watch such a picture, we will make sure that there are no limits and boundaries for the glory of God. In addition to being the spiritual head of a Christian church, St. Gregorios had a vision towards other religions, which could be accepted by one and all. The following points could be considered as a sign acceptable to all religions.
The five statements mentioned above are acceptable to all religions as a means to enrich one's spirituality. St. Gregorios was a veteran in all these aspects and hence one could say that the saint maintained the vision of religions acceptable to one and all. Author, Translator St. Gregorios was the first person in the Orthodox Church to take initiative to translate the liturgies and prayer books from Syriac language to Malayalam. The saint had extra ordinary interest in compiling, translating and publishing the prayer books as well as many other similar books from the Syriac language. At the same time he had given inspiration and guidance to his own disciples and close associates to do so, independently. St. Gregorios had a special liking towards books and other publications. Dr. Samuel Chandanappally had collected almost all writings of the saint after the research of a very long period and published them with the title 'Holy writings' (Pavithra rachanakal) in 1980. The most important writing among others is the saint's speech named 'Pious verses'. In this speech the saint first explains his experiences during the journey to Jerusalem and secondly reminds his followers about their responsibilities. The saint gave importance for the freedom of the Dalits; need of English education and the significance of spiritual revival in his prophetic sermon named the pious verses. In the private and common letters of the saint, one could find the sound of affection, love, and care as well as the strictness for discipline, fear of God, etc. During the spare time after the prayers and worships, the saint used to write a lot as letters to individuals or to the parishes. From the writings of the saint we could understand that he was a veteran of the popular Malayalam literature of those days, which is generally known as the Missionary Malayalam. In fact the Malayalam literature became prominent as well as common due to the arrival of the missionaries as well as their contributions to the language. The saint had followed the missionary Malayalam, as it was very simple for the common man to use. The books of Christian priests have contributed a lot of means for the progress of Malayalam language especially the prose. The experts of the language and the prose consider the period from the time of Udayamperoor Synod (1599) till the release of the 'Holy Land Travelogue'of St. Gregorios (1895) as the time of Missionary language. The Holy Land travelogue is very rich in the value of literature. In this book the saint explains about his journey to Jerusalem, sights during the journey, blessings and experiences at Jerusalem, return journey to Kerala etc in the unique manner and style. St. Gregorios gives us a detailed description about the traditions, rituals and rites, cultures and civilizations etc, which he had seen and studied, in a very influential language and literature. The saint explains about the places of importance in the Holy Bible, as if he is standing there and showing us the location. The desire to visit the Holy Land, which was touched by the feet of Lord Jesus, was the intention of the saint's visit. When the saint visited the Holy Land, he longed to write a book for the sake of his sheep in India that were less fortunate to visit the Holy Land. It is a fact that all will agree to the statement that the travelogue of St. Gregorios has to its credit all the significant features of a perfect travelogue. May the intercession of St. Gregorios of Parumala be a fort of protection to one and all who seek the blessed intercession. Let us all thank God Almighty for the wonderful and magnificent gift of Parumala Thirumeni to this Church. Let us try to be identical to his spirituality. May God bless us all. Source: Indian Orthodox Internet Forum |
