Dr. Fr. Thomas Kalayil CMI: A Placid Scholar and a Solid Professor

It was during the Christmas vacation of 1986 that I met two people who became highly influential in my life. One was a priest and the other was a scholastic. For the next three years I continued to have periodical interactions with both of them. Eventually, on June 4, 1989, I joined the CMI congregation at Chethipuzha. By the grace of God, these two gentlemen were there to receive me and to initiate me to religious life. Dr. Fr. Thomas Kalayil and Br. Francis Njallampuzha were my rector and assistant rector respectively, for the next one year. As trainers they were the best ones in the Saint Joseph Province, Thiruvananthapuram of the CMI Congregation could provide us with.

Fr. Dr. Thomas Kalayil CMI

Fr. Thomas Kalayil, for me was a great source of knowledge. During the one year when I was trained under him, I could not think of anything that he could not deliver to me. Until the moment I joined the seminary, I thought my father to be the most knowledgeable person on earth. I corrected my opinion after meeting Fr. Thomas. He could clear all the doubts I had, whatever the magnitude might be. My fascination never ended as everyday he brought surprises.

One day some foreigners visited the monastery. They were with Fr. Thomas when I first met them on the corridors of the Sacred Heart Monastery, Chethipuzha. When I passed them, I heard Fr. Thomas speaking to them in a tongue that I had never heard. I was curious. In the evening, during the daily gathering after supper, my curiosity burst out. I asked Fr. Thomas about the language in which he was conversing with the strangers. “Italian,” he replied. I became more curious. My next question to him was, where he learned Italian. He then told us that he had studied in Rome. From the very next day, several things were revealed to me about this great man who was looking after a bunch of fifteen year olds. He completed his Doctorate in Biblical Theology in May 1973 from the Pontifical Gregorian University, Rome with the maximum possible grade of Summa Cum Laude Probatus. The title of his doctoral dissertation was Christ’s Work of Redemption according to St. Ephrem. He had reached the Gregorian University in 1965 to complete the Licentiate in Theology. He continued his studies and acquired a second licentiate in Sacred Scripture from the renowned Pontifical Biblical Institute, Rome during 1967-69, with the grade Cum Laude Probatus.

Hence, I did not find it strange to believe his fluency in Italian. What astonished me was his mastery in other languages. He taught us Latin from mid year. I came to know that he taught Hebrew, Greek and Syriac as well at various levels in several other place.

Fr. Thomas Kalayil is a formator par excellence. He loved his students as his own. He treated the formees under him as his own children. He used to address us in the same rhythm and melody our parents used to address us, quite often using our pet names. The Johannine construction of Jesus as a loving father to his apostles (John 21:5) was very much exemplified in Fr. Thomas.

During the month of November and December he entrusted us to Fr. Joseph Puthenpura and left for Dharmaram College. This was his plan ever since he took up the rectorship of minor seminary students in the year 1982. We came to know that he was teaching Biblical Theology in Dharmaram College. He lectured Pentateuch, Wisdom Literature and Introduction to Sacred Scripture at Dharmaram College.  I was fortunate enough to attend his lectures in Wisdom Literature, when I was doing my Bachelor’s in Theology in 2002. I remember him always as a placid, jovial and contented scholar.

Immediately after completing the doctoral studies, Fr. Thomas Kalayil was appointed to Dharmaram College. He served Dharmaram College for two terms as a member of the faculty. His first innings was from 1973 to 1982. He came back to Dharmaram in 2007 and continued there till 2017. Between 1982 and 2007, he served Dharmaram College as visiting faculty. During his long tenure of service at Dharmaram College, he held several administrative positions such as that of Academic Secretary (Registrar, 1973-75), Controller of Examinations (1978-81) and Master of Students (1975-82, 2007-2008). Fr. Thomas was always a protective father to the scholastics who were entrusted to him. His students knew him, heard his voice and loved him. (John 10:14, 27) In the entire history of Dharmaram College, among all the Masters of Scholastics, he would ever be remembered among the most popular ones.

Fr. Thomas Kalayil is systematic as a spiritual director. He made sure that he meets his directees periodically. A distinct feature of his spiritual direction is that, he schedules the sessions with the directees well in advance so that none of them misses the mandatory meetings. He keeps the record of all those who are under his spiritual direction. He prays for them regularly. Even when he travels outside for classes, his scheduling made sure that his directees never misses the regular spiritual directions. While living as an aspirant I experienced his spiritual interests and involvements. At Dharmaram, Chethipuza and Mannanam, for several years, he was the one who was giving introduction to the celebration of Raza, the most solemn celebration of the Eucharistic Liturgy. When he was our rector, he used to train us in the active participation in the Liturgy. Between 2008 and 2017, as a spiritual director, he guided numerous scholastics in their spiritual discernment.

Fr. Thomas Kalayil has been a much sought after teacher. He has an engaging style of teaching. It was a delight to see him giving lectures. He has a very attractive body language while delivering lectures. He involves everyone to be actively participative. The vast knowledge he has in almost every field makes his classes great. This is the reason why he had invitations from a good number of places for regular classes. He served as a visiting faculty in Kristu Jyoti College (Bangalore), Vidya Deep (Bangalore), Sandesa Nilayam (Changanacherry), Mar Thoma Vidyanikethan (Changanacherry), Amala Theological College (Changanacherry), Missionary Orientation Centre (Kottayam) and Vijnana Nilayam Institute of Philosophy and Religion (Eluru, Andhra Pradesh). He treated all his students in a dignified manner.

One of the unavoidable things in the life of a religious is to minister as a superior. In religious life, administration is often considered as penance. In two separate terms for about a total of six years, he was the Vicar Provincial of the St. Joseph Province, Thiruvananthapuram. During his first term, he also served as the Provincial Councillor for education and communication. In the second term, he guided the province in the affairs of evangelization and pastoral ministry. His personal contacts with the then heads of the eparchies helped him to make sure that the relations between the province and the eparchies were cordial and functional. St. Joseph’s Monastery, founded in 1831, is the first monastery of the CMI congregation. It is also known as the mother house of the CMI congregation. He was appointed Prior of St. Joseph’s Monastery, Mannanam in 2002 for three years. His leadership gave the monastic community a newfound vitality. His loving presence and caring attitude attracted people around, to the monastery. He had special care for the supporting staff. His sense of history helped him build a strong network of supporters for the monastery. As an ardent devotee Saint Kuriakose Elias Chavara, he took several steps to popularize devotion to him. During the same period, he was also the parish priest of the St. Joseph’s parish at Mannanam.

His administration was not without any hurdles. He had to face one of the tumultuous times in the history of Kuriakose Elias College, Mannanam, while he was its manager. A good number of teachers participated in the state-wide strike of the government employees and teachers. The entire college was almost paralysed. The road between Mannanam Bus Stop and College gate were flooded with posters, placards and supporters of the strike. Fr. Thomas took the leadership in obtaining the High Court order in asserting that the road is a private road of the Monastery. This forced the eviction of the striking staff and removal of posters and placards. He ordered strong action against some of the teachers including a state level leader of the teachers’ organization. Some of these measures helped to clamp down the strike to a certain extent. A usually calm and pleasant Fr. Thomas became fearless fighter for the cause of rights of the Monastery.

Fr. Thomas has deep love and sense of history. It was during his tenure as Prior of the Monastery that a serious attempt was initiated to organize the archives at Manannam to make them more accessible to researchers. He spent a good amount of time in cataloguing the documents in Syriac, Latin etc. He was pulled drawn into another unfinished work during that time. The work towards the compilation of the complete works of the legendary writer and father of St. Thomas Christians, Dr. Placid Podipara, that had begun a couple of years before, was almost moribund by then. As a student of Fr. Placid and a great admirer of him, he took up the daunting task of editing and publishing them. It was a laborious effort on several counts. He had to literally read every line as the number of typos was enormous. The main reason for this was the presence of the numerous theological and historical terms that were not available in the computer dictionary. Word by word, he read, re-read, copyedited the works of Fr. Placid, almost every day. When he completed his term as Prior, he was half way through the editing. However, he didn’t get an opportunity to continue living in the Mannanam monastery after his term was completed. He was transferred to Thiruvananthapuram and then to Thiruvalla. During the next three years, he lived in Thiruvalla with limited facility and mobility. He was without any official assignment during those days. This was a blessing in disguise. He continued and completed the editing work while at Thiruvalla by not just completing the proof reading but by writing authentic and authoritative introductions to each and every work of Fr. Placid. The great works of Fr. Placid are accessible to the whole world now, thanks to Fr. Thomas Kalayil. No one can think of a better person than Fr. Thomas Kalayil for bringing such a magnum opus in five volumes consisting of over 3000 pages. The Church, in particular, that of St. Thomas Christians is perpetually obliged to Fr. Thomas Kalayil for this great accomplishment. I would say, it is an invaluable asset to researchers all across the various fields of theology. This might be one of the greatest theological contributions by the CMI congregation in modern times. As for Fr. Thomas, he had delivered numerous talks on Fr. Placid. He had written on Fr. Placid in several journals and annuals. In the souvenir Placidachan published in 1995 to commemorate the tenth death anniversary of Fr. Placid Podipara, the article titled “The Profile of a Prophet” contributed by Fr. Thomas Kalayil is a much talked about item in scholarly circles. There will not be a disputed in attributing Fr. Thomas Kalayil as the foremost Placid scholar of our time.

Fr. Thomas is a prolific writer. He is one of the few theologians in India who regularly contribute to the development of theology in the vernacular. His articles on the Bible, biblical themes and Church History were appearing frequently for decades in the periodicals such as Biblebhashyam, Mathavum Chinthayum, Karmelakusumam and Kathiroli, etc. In Kathiroli alone, more than 100 articles were published which were much appreciated by the laity, religious and clerics. Fr. Thomas also had contributed to the theological journals such as Asian Horizons, Christian Orient and Jeevadhara. In many of the bulletins and annuals too, he contributed regularly. It might be another mammoth task for anyone to collect all the works of Fr. Thomas Kalayil. He is a solid professor with content and delivery.

During his youth, he was part of the great initiative of the translation of Peshitha to Malayalam. He collaborated as translator and General Editor in the publication of a new Malayalam translation of the New Testament from Mannanam in 1978, which many scholars consider as one of the best Malayalam translations of the New Testament theologically and literarlly.

He is on the committee of the members of Dharmaram College who are preparing its history. Fr. Thomas has a collection of a host of rare documents. Added to this is his memory about events and persons. Several of the chapters of the history including the introduction have heavy contributions from Fr. Thomas Kalayil. During the various rounds of the meetings of the history committee, his adaptability was very visible. Fr. Thomas is communitarian to the core. He thoroughly enjoyed the semestral outings of the staff members. He makes sure that he cancels all his programmes to take part in community activities. Although a man of conviction and courage, he never tried to insist that his views are the final ones. In several theological and related controversies, he always stood for the common good.

In December 1989, he celebrated his Silver Jubilee of Priestly Ordination. His mother, Birgitta was fortunate to take part in the jubilee celebrations. His father Joseph belonged to the noble family of Kalayil from Koonamthanam, Chethipuzha, Changanassery. He was born on August 18, 1937. His primary education was at St. Anne’s (Convent) School, Changanacherry during 1943-48. Later he continued his school studies until the Secondary at St. Berchmans English High School, Changanacherry.

In 1955 he was admitted to the Mary Immaculate Minor Seminary, Mannanam. In the very next year, he was trained at Mary Queen’s Minor Seminary, Mutholy. His novitiate and juniorate were at Sacred Heart Monastery, Chethipuzha during 1957-1959. On May 16, 1958, he became a professed religious. He reached Dharmaram College in 1959 for his ecclesiastical studies. During the historical Eucharistic Congress at Bombay where for the first time a Roman Pontiff, Pope Paul VI, visited India, he was ordained priest on December 1, 1964.

The octogenarian Fr. Thomas Kalayil belongs to a rare galaxy of the priests in India who contributed extensively to theological literature. His type of persons is a rarity. The life and times of Fr. Thomas Kalayil remind every CMI priest to respond positively to the talents each one is bestowed with. Fr. Thomas used to get up very early in the morning. His usual day begins with morning meditation and the Holy Qurbana. He then reaches the chapel at 6 AM, to take part in the morning prayers along with the community. Then he goes back to his room for academic work. This routine gives him sufficient time to read and write. The vast collection of books, articles and documents he has in his room are not just decorations and space fillers but are accreditations and mind chillers of his scholarship. Living with him, studying under him and knowing him for almost three decades, I can undoubtedly say that his veins contain the true blue blood of holiness and scholarship, like that of Saint Kuriakose Elias Chavara, Emmanuel Andumalil, Bernard Alencheril, Placid Podipara, Mathias Mundadan, et al.

(Published in Ascend to Holiness(ISBN 978-93-84964-92-4), Dharmaram Publications, pp. 1-8, 2018)

181st Anniversary of the Founding of the CMI Congregation

It was on May 11, 1831 that the foundation stone of our first Monastery at Mannanam was laid by Malpan Thomas Porukara, in the presence of Monsignor Mourelius Stabilini, the local ordinary, Malpan Thomas Palackal and Blessed Kuriakose Elias Chavara. In 1838, Fr Geevarghese Thoppil joined the new religious movement and it attracted several priests and young men of that time, from then on. After several attempts, the community was canonically erected on December 8, 1855 when eleven priests under the leadership of Blessed Kuriakose Elias Chavara made their religious profession. The name of the new movement was Servants of Mary Immaculate. The strength of the community grew larger and larger and six more monasteries were established within a decade. Till 1885, there was as only one Prior and all the monasteries were headed by his vicars. From 1885 to 1902, the congregation was ruled by Prior Generals chosen from outside of the Congregation and their delegates from among the members of the Congregation. Moreover, head of each monastery was called Prior, from then. From 1902 to 1952, an elected member of the Congregation headed it with the title Prior General, with the approval of the new set of rules. In 1953, it was divided into three provinces. In 1958, it received its current name Carmelites of Mary Immaculate. Currently the Congregation has 14 Provinces, with around 3000 members working and studying in all the continents in all arenas of the Christian apostolate.  The Congregation has well defined identity and triple roots viz., Indian, Eastern and Carmelite.

Raza - The Most Solem Eucharistic Celebration of the Mar Toma Nazrani Church

The three fundamental elements of Catholic life are the Sacred Scripture, the Magisterium and the Tradition. As part of the tradition, the liturgy evokes and expresses the faith experience of the Church. Any Church is the symbol of the continued presence of Jesus Christ in the world. It is primarily in her liturgy that a Church proclaims and exhibits her nature through signs and symbols.

The Catholic Church is a communion of 23 Churches of equal rights yet with distinct identity spread all around the world. They come under four liturgical families, viz., the East Syriac or Chaldaic family, the West Syriac family consisting of the Antiochene, the Maronite, the Byzantine and the Armenian Liturgies, the Alexandrian with the Coptic and the Ethiopian liturgies, and the Latin. Sharing the Christ-Experience from St. Thomas the Apostle, the Mar Toma Nasrani Church (Syro-Malabar Church) follows the East Syriac Liturgy which was developed by the disciples of St. Thomas, around Edessa and influenced by all St. Thomas Christians. The Raza or the most solemn form of the Eucharistic celebration is the distinctive feature of the Syro-Malabar Liturgy. Though it is unknown to many in the East Syriac family, Raza was always in use in the Mar Toma Nasrani Church.

The Syro-Malabar tradition summarizes the whole mystery of salvation in its celebration of the Eucharist. The Eucharistic Celebration is called Qurbana, which means an offering, a gift or an oblation. The most solemn Qurbana is the Raza. The word Raza could mean mystery. In the Raza, the word Raza itself is used 26 times both in singular and plural. The Sliba (Cross), the Word of God, and the Body and Blood of Christ are three living representations of our Lord. They are given supreme priority in various prayers, hymns and rituals of the Raza. The mystery of the Sliba, the Word of God and the Body and Blood of Christ is completely unveiled in the Raza. Thus Raza is the celebration of the Sliba, the Word of God, and the Body and Blood of Christ.

The Raza is introduced by the remembrance of the command of Christ (Lk 22:19) by both the Celebrant and the faithful. The Raza begins with the proclamation of the incarnation of our Lord through the symbol of the Angels’ Hymn, “Glory to God in the highest….” (Lk 2:14). Gradually the worshipping community enters the Old Testament background of the incarnation and the hidden life of Jesus in the Enarxis (Introductory Rites). The community responds to it by pronouncing Amen. It comes from the Hebrew word Aman which means ‘truthfully, faithfully, certainly’ and so on. The liturgical assembly responds to the reenactment of the whole Mystery of Salvation by pronouncing Amen. In the Raza Amen is used 65 times whereas repeated use of it as Amen Amen is seen 13 times. 

The Lord’s Prayer is recited thrice in the Raza as in other forms of the Qurbana. As a distinctive feature of East Syriac Liturgy, the Lord’s Prayer is recited at the commencement and at the conclusion of the Raza. After the Rite of Reconciliation, the confident community without blemish, with pure hearts and trustful countenance, calls the Father in heaven using the Lord’s Prayer, as is usual in all Liturgies including that of the Latin Church.

One of the often repeated prayers in the Raza is n-Salle Slamma Amman, i.e., Let us Pray. Peace be with us. It is uttered by the deacon. Slamma means peace, but it is not just peace alone. Slamma stands as the symbol of the risen Lord. In the Raza, Slamma Amman is used 15 times in different contexts. In a way Raza is a celebration of Slamma, the Risen Lord.

The Church uses the Psalms as symbols to lead more deeply into the Mystery of the Incarnation. They help the community to identify themselves with the Old Testament life and proclaim it as part of the mystery of our salvation history.

One of the unique features of the Raza is the observance of a special rite after the Psalms, viz., the Anthem of the Sanctuary (Onitha d-Qanke) and the Kissing of the Sliba. After the priestly prayer which follows the Psalms, the first Deacon hands over the Sliba in the Bema to the Celebrant. After paying respects to it by kissing, he helps the Archdeacon, the deacons, the other ministers and the faithful to do the same. The choir sings the proper Anthem of the Sanctuary during this time.

The resurrection hymn, Laku Mara d-Kolla is sung thrice in every Raza. This hymn is attributed to the Catholicos Simeon Bar Sabba (AD 323-341). Laku Mara d-Kolla is a hymn of celebration by those who were in Siol when our Lord descended into it after His death, for His victory over suffering, death and Satan. It is also an ancient creed. When Laku Mara is sung, the sanctuary veil is drawn. The sanctuary veil separates the sanctuary from rest of the Church. The sanctuary veil indicates that the heaven is hidden from ordinary human perception. It is in liturgy that one is given the experience of heaven. The sanctuary veil symbolizes Jesus, who is the only mediator between God and men (1 Tim 2:5). The sanctuary is veiled again during the Karozutha and during the hymn Dhil-At just before Holy Communion.

During the Laku Mara, the deacon incenses the whole sanctuary, the whole church and the community assembled. Incensing is a symbol of our total submission to God, of the prayer that rises up to heaven from the community and is a sign of forgiveness of sins. There are four more instances in the Raza where incensing is done. During the rite of preparation the chalice and paten are incensed. Incense is part of the procession of the Evangalion book. At the beginning of the Qudasha, as an expression of showing reverence and adoration to the Eucharistic gifts and to the altar the celebrant incenses them. Finally, during the rite of reconciliation as a symbol of forgiveness of sins, the celebrant, the deacons, the community, the altar and the Holy Mysteries upon it are incensed. This elaborate rite of incensing during the rite of reconciliation is seen only in the Syro-Malabar liturgy.

The public life of our Lord is commemorated during the Liturgy of the Word in the Raza.  It begins with the Trisagion (Is 6,3; Rev 4,8) sung thrice. The Church recognizes this hymn as one proclaiming the role of the most Holy Trinity in human salvation, and one that expresses the great joy of the liturgical assembly in hearing, understanding and accepting the details of this salvation history through the Sacred Scripture.

There are four Scriptural Readings in the Raza which are according to the day of the Liturgical Season. In general, the readings are from the Law, the Prophets, the Apostle and the Gospel. The four readings in the Raza are a comprehensive celebration of the whole Bible, and a confession with unconditional acceptance of it as the source of Christian faith. The combination of the Responsorial Hymn (Shurraya), Instructional Hymns (Turgamma) and the Alleluia Hymn (Zummara) during the Raza show how important the Word of God is for human beings. Instructional Hymns before the reading from the Apostle and the Gospel and the solemn procession of the Evangalion book are unique features of Syro-Malabar Liturgy, especially to the Raza.

At the end of the Alleluia Hymn, the Archdeacon and the deacon accompanied by all other ministers, take the Evangalion book and the Sliba which are placed on the right side and on the left side of the Altar respectively. The Archdeacon leads the procession by lifting the Evangalion book up to his forehead, reaches the Bema and hands it over to the Celebrant. The Celebrant kisses it first and then extends it to other ministers, if possible to all the faithful, to be kissed. He then places the Evangalion book and the Sliba on the table in the Bema. The deacons go to the entrance of the Sanctuary, face the people and alternate the Turgamma of the Gospel with the community. At the end of the Turgamma, the Celebrant chants the Gospel, while the deacons stand on either side of him with lit candles and the Archdeacon on his left side holding the Sliba. After the chanting of the Gospel, the Celebrant closes the Evangalion book, kisses over it and gives it to the deacon at his right side, who places it on the table in the Bema. The Sliba is also placed on the same table.

The second deacon proposes the Proclamation Prayer (Karozutha), which presents the actual disposition and situation of the faithful. The response to the Karozutha prayers, “Our Lord, have mercy on us,”(Mt 20,29-34; Mt 15, 22; Lk 17, 13) shows the right attitude of someone asking favours. After the Karozutha, the celebrant prays in a loud voice with hands extended. Once the prayer is over, the archdeacon takes the Sliba and hands it over to the celebrant, who in turn, passes it to the deacon at his left side. The Celebrant then takes the Evangalion book and gives it to the deacon at his right side. The deacons go up to the altar and stand facing one another in front of it.

There is the Imposition of Hands at the end of the Liturgy of the Word. It is to be noted that the blessing is believed to be directly given by God and hence during this time, everybody in the community including the celebrant bows the head. The celebrant goes accompanied by the archdeacon to the middle of the nave near to a large veil with Sliba printed on it, spread out on the floor, and recites the prayer facing the altar.

Now, the deacon dismisses and sends out all those who are not baptized, those who have not received the sign of life (proper reconciliation) and those who are not prepared to receive the Holy Communion. Then the second deacon kisses and receives the Evangalion book held by the first deacon and the first deacon kisses and receives the Sliba held by the second deacon. The Evangalion book and the Sliba are then placed at the right and left sides of the Altar, respectively. This symbolizes that the Son and the Holy Spirit are seated at the right and left side of the Father.

The Celebrant then begins the hymn Kahnaik Nelbshun and the Choir and the deacons sing their part. After each part of the hymn, the celebrant kneels and kisses the veil on the floor three times and stands up and blesses the community with the sign of the Sliba.  He does this on the other three sides of the veil and comes back to the original position facing the altar. The deacons now facing the altar sing the couplets “For ever more…” and turn to the celebrant and sing “We entreat Your great mercy…”. The celebrant and the deacons sing the couplets “Behold, I am with you all…” and “By Your grace ….” respectively thrice. After each set is over, the deacons walk down toward the celebrant. Once they reach the veil and stand opposite to the celebrant they all sing “Save us from temptations …”. All then prostrate together and kiss the veil. While kneeling, the celebrant blesses the deacons. Then all of them stand up and the celebrant blesses all. The archdeacon and the deacons kiss the sacred Paina of the celebrant. The whole ritual which is unique to the St. Thomas Christians of India is seen as humbling of the celebrant as an immediate preparation for the Qudasha, veneration to the Sliba and as a farewell ceremony of the celebrant as he will soon leave the Bema.

The celebrant washes his hands at the Bema as a symbol of purification of the community as the archdeacon and deacon go to the Beth gaze. The bethgaze, the treasure houses, are arranged on both sides of the altar. The chalice and paten are prepared in the south and north bethgaze respectively. In each Raza, only the particles needed for the communion are prepared. While the choir sings Onitha d’Raze, the Archdeacon and the deacon bring the Eucharistic gifts to the altar which symbolizes the funeral procession of our Lord. The Archdeacon then raise them in his hands in cross form, deposits them on the altar and covers them with soseppa. This is to be seen as the burial of our Lord and covering of the tomb with a stone.

In the Liturgy of the Word, we celebrate the public life of Jesus and during the rite of preparation we commemorate His passion, death and burial. The rite of preparation being an immediate preparation to the central part of the Qurbana, namely the Qudasha or Anaphora, whatever is celebrated in the Qudasha is proleptically proclaimed in the rite of preparation as well.

In the second part of the Onitha d’Raze, the community remembers all those who are intimately related to the Mystery of Salvation in a typical St. Thomas Christian perspective, viz., the Holy Trinity, Blessed Virgin Mary, all the apostles very specially  St. Thomas the Apostle, the Partirarchs, martyrs, just, confessors and the departed ones.

The Nicene Creed which is the summary of the mystery of salvation, is solemnly said by the community as they are moving to Anaphora, the central part of the re-enactment of the mystery of salvation in the Raza.

The celebrant approaches the altar with all humility by bowing down thrice on the way. After he reaches the altar, he kisses in the middle, the right and the left of it, representing the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, respectively.

In the Qudasha (Anaphora), the celebrant seeks the prayers of the community thrice, which is an expression of the intimate relation between the celebrant and the liturgical assembly in the ecclesial body. During the Qudasha, the climax of the Christ-event, death and resurrection of Jesus is celebrated and proclaimed. The Resurrection is proclaimed as the supreme action of the Holy Spirit. Thus the decisive action of the Holy Spirit in human salvation is also proclaimed in the Anaphora through the typical rite of Epiclesis. In the Qudasha of the Apostles Mar Addai and Mar Mari, there are four g’hanta prayers, prayers of inclining.  They are said by the celebrant with bent head, low but audible and modulated voice. They are thanksgiving prayers to God. All the g’hanta prayers are introduced with a Kushappa, supplication prayer, and concluded with a qanona, antiphon of praise and thanksgiving. Kushappa is to be said in a low voice.  At the end of the second g’hanta, the “Holy” hymn (Is 6,3; Rev 4, 8) is sung. In the middle of the third and fourth g’hanta prayers, the Institution Narrative and the Epiclesis are inserted, respectively.

The Rite of Reconciliation underlines the reconciliation of humankind with the heavenly Father by the help of the Holy Spirit. This Rite begins with praying “Peace of those in heaven….” which is a combination of Pauline theology in the captivity epistles and the theology of Psalms. Psalm 51 and 122 are used to open up a repentant heart, which is ready to confess the sins and seeks absolution. During the breaking of the Body and its mingling with the Blood, the purificatory effect of the Holy Qurbana is proclaimed along with the role of the most Holy Trinity in the celebration of the Mysteries. After the commingling of the Body with the Blood, the two halves are placed on the paten, one upon the other cross-wise, so that the broken side of the particle below faces the chalice, and the particle above, the celebrant. After this the celebrant makes the sign of the Sliba on his own forehead and that of the deacons. This is a summary of an elaborate Rite of Reconciliation that existed in the early Church. This shows the re-admission of the repentant sinner to the community. With the dialogue prayer in the second part in the Rite of Reconciliation, Raza becomes a public act of reconciliation with both the vertical and horizontal aspects of it. The dialogue prayer begins with the celebrant reciting the Pauline Salutation used at the end of the second Epistle of St. Paul to the Corinthians. The Pauline Salutation is already used in the Raza before the dialogue prayer leading to the second g’hanta prayer. This salutation is a public confession of the fact that the Holy Trinity gives itself completely in Jesus Christ to man.

Since all those who are unworthy to continue, are dismissed at the end of the Liturgy of the Word, communion is a must in Raza. Communion under both species which are consecrated in each celebration is distributed to the community.  In the Rite of Communion, the faithful are united to the risen body of the Lord and thus become inheritors of the heavenly Kingdom. After the communion, the community, the deacon and the celebrant express their thanksgiving separately. Then after the Lord’s Prayer, the Huttamma, the sealing prayer is said by the celebrant standing a little to the right of the sanctuary door. Huttamma is concluded with the celebrant making the sign of the Sliba over the community and blessing them. The Raza is concluded with the celebrant’s bidding farewell to the Altar, with the prayer “Remain in peace, altar of forgiveness….” said alone silently and by kissing it.

The Syro-Malabar Qurbana is a Liturgy that presents a unique mystical world. The mystical experience of this world is beyond human logic and ideas. It takes human beings to the Heavens, i.e., raising the earth to the Heavens and bringing down the Heavens to the earth. It is the meeting point of Heaven and earth. They become one. Hence, the challenge of Zophar to Job is also a challenge to all of us, “Can you fathom the mysteries of God or probe the extent of his perfection?” (Job 11: 7).

References:

Pathikulangara, Varghese. QURBANA, Kottayam: Denha Services, 1998.

Kalluveettil, Paul. RAHASYAVUM DAANAVUM, Kottayam: Oriental Institute of Religious Studies, 2009.