St. Ignatius Elias III intercede for us
Fr. Jerry
Dear friend in Christ,
The St. Ignatius JSO Church has been blessed with the relic of St. Ignatius Elias III, the 119th Patriarch of Antioch entombed in Manjinikara. The blessed saint performed miracles during his life time and many miracles afterwards were ascribed to his intercession for the needs of people. This led the Holy Synod of the Universal Syrian Orthodox Church to declare him a saint. One of the most successful and people friendly pilgrimages in Kerala and in the world is the Manjinikara pilgrimage in February every year. Tens of thousands of people walk for big distances to reach Manjinikara and intercede to the blessed saint.
Archcorepiscopos Curien Kaniyamparambil was a teenager when St. Ignatius Elias III visited Kerala and later went into eternal rest in Manjinikara. He was blessed to have been close to the saint and even translated for him on different occasions. The tomb was opened three decades later and the Archcorepiscopos was present at the time. He was given a portion of the relic which was collected from the opened tomb. The Archcorepiscopos safely kept the relic with him for over half a century.
I have on my own personal level been blessed to be a student of the Archcorepiscopos and more than that is considered as a son by him. He was my vicar in Thiruvalla St. George Simhasana Church and I have been lucky to spend time and learn a lot from him. On requesting him to give us the relic of St. Ignatius Elias III, he readily agreed as it would be kept in a church which is in the saint’s name. This is how God with the blessed intercession of St. Ignatius Elias III has led to the relic reaching our church.
We are duty bound to pray for Archcorepiscopos Curien Kaniyamparambil as he is suffering from ill health. God has guided him and strengthened him for 103 years and we hope that he goes on to live more. He has contributed in the fields of Syriac translation, church history, theology, faith and doctrines of the church, liturgy and translated the Syriac Peshita bible by himself. His writings have been in Syriac, Malayalam and English and he has written more than 60 books so far.
Some of his known works are translation of the morning prayers used in church from Syriac to Malayalam, books on church history in both Malayalam and English, intercession prayers to St. Mary and St. Ignatius Elias III (which we have made use of in our own book in church), “What should I do to be saved?” and the well-known Malayalam bible. He is truly the best priest the church has produced over the last century. Praying for him is both a responsibility and an honor. He considers us as his own children and I request everyone to remember him in your daily prayers. We should also remember Deacon John Kattilparambil (Mathukutty shemashen) who has been his personal assistant for a long time and his two daughters Shantamma aunty and Somy aunty who is now with achen, and their families.
I also remember at this time H.G. Osthatheos Benyamin of blessed memory, who laid the foundation stone of our church parsonage and was the abbot and metropolitan in charge of the monastery in Manjinikara and also gave me my fourth ordination and was instrumental in me coming to Bangalore for my theological education. We should also remember H. G. Themotheos Thomas the former bishop of the Outside Kerala diocese who agreed to the formation of this church. We should be thankful to all the priests and bishops who offered Holy Qurbana and all the vicars of this church for their contributions to the church. Our prayers should also be there for the initial members, continuing members and present members for all the contributions in various ways being done for the church. Our special prayers should be said for our diocesan metropolitan H.G. Osthatheos Pathros for his guidance and help at all stages and for the special interest he showed in the setting up of the relic of St. Ignatius Bava. He continues to help us and our prayers should go out for him. Prayers should also be said for the committee members of the church and for the members of the St. Ignatius trust. We are responsible and duty bound to pray for the children, women and men of our church who have always wished and prayed for the well-being of our church. We also cannot forget the help done for our church by the members of the St. Mary’s JSO Cathedral, Queen’s Road and the other churches in Bangalore. We should also pray for all the priests in our diocese as they pray for us in all our endeavors.
St. Ignatius Elias III is the Patriarch who came to India for the purpose of peace in the church. He also chose a place of peace and tranquility as his final resting place. There is a sense of peace and happiness when we meditate at the tomb of St. Ignatius Elias III in Manjinikara. This is what our church is getting through the relic of St. Ignatius Bava. Hence forth I request everyone to come and meditate and pray for your needs in church. Intercede to Mor Ignatius Bava and see the turnaround in your life. Send your prayer requests to us and see how the saint will intercede for us and God will bless us. It is also our responsibility to share our blessing with others so that they can also come to church and spend time in church. We also have to be perfect hosts and good natured people when others come to church so that they experience the healing presence of God.
At this time may I also remind you that we are in the process of completing our St. Ignatius Community Education Centre, working on the progress of the St. Ignatius Public School and doing lot of charity through our church. We would request you to help the church which is seeing a turnaround through the blessings of God via the intercession of St. Ignatius Elias III. I request you to pray to the triune God and seek the intercession of St. Ignatius Elias III and see what you can do for the church. Our needs are
1. Completing the work of the St. Ignatius Community Education Centre. This will need another 50-60 lakhs. We request those who have already given a contribution to offer a loan to the church which will be repaid in 2-3 years’ time. Those who haven’t contributed yet can commit at least one month’s salary to the church and be blessed.
2. Offer help to construct a decent and good meditation room to keep the relic of St. Ignatius Elias III and keep it open for the public to come and pray at all times. This will be a maximum of Rs 5 lakhs.
3. Help the St. Ignatius Public School by offering help to buy a second hand Maruti Omni van for the children. This will be a maximum of 2 lakhs rupees. Those who have a van can also donate that to the church school. (Many are already helping the school by being part of a church chit which is being used to help the school.)
4. Be a part of the St. Ignatius charity fund. So far we are offering help for the chemo therapy of our care taker’s wife, helping a family which has very limited income and looking for help in giving fees for various children in school and college.
Please do pray and see what you
can do. All your contributions will please God because all that we are doing is
for the good will of the public and the church. May the blessings of God
through the intercessions of Mother Mary, St. Ignatius Elias III and St.
Gregorios be with you. Your servant in Christ. Jerry achen.
--
Lecturer, Department of Communications
United Theological College, Bangalore-46
St. Ignatius JSO Church, K.R. Puram, Bangalore
Mobile: 9483966951 (Bangalore), 9447602989 (Kerala)
www.jerryachensworld.blogspot.in
www.utcbangalore.blogspot.in/