Kuriakose Elias Chavara, a man of vision and action, born in the beginning of the 19th
century, became a blessing for the country, specially for the people of Kerala, more particularly for
women and children. He had a lofty vision of women and worked for the uplift of women especially in
Kerala.
The State of Women in the 19th Century
In the 19th century in Kerala, women were very much bound by the rules and customs of society.
It was definitely a patriarchal society and women had no freedom either at home or in society or in the
Church. Women were totally subject to men and no education was given to them after adolescence. In
other words, their education ended with the kalari under an aasan (master). The lowcaste
women were
forbidden to have even kalari education.
Among the Syrian Christians women were denied equality with men and hence they had no share
of the family property. They were married off at an early age and the dowry given to them became the
property of the husband. She was supposed to do the duties at home, be a good wife and mother. She had
no right to go for a job and earn money. It was a totally dependent life.
Even in the church they had a very low image. Girls were not supposed to participate in feasts,
weddings or sradham. They were not included in the policymaking
or decisionmaking
meetings.
Women were not allowed even to participate in the retreats conducted in the church grounds. They had
no representation in the parish council. They could not study Theology or any allied subject. In other
words, they had no particular role in society or in the Church, except childbearing,
rearing and working
for the comfort of everyone at home. Consecrated life for women was unknown. Because of these, Syrian
Catholic women were backward socially, economically, educationally and religiously. Their potentials to
serve humanity in varied ways lay hidden in themselves as circumstances were not favourable to bring
them out.
The Rise of a Luminous Star
In this social and religious background, the century witnessed the rise of a great leader of Kerala,
nay, of India, in Kuriakose Elias Chavara who was born on 10 February 1905. Until his death on
3 January 1871, he shone as a rare luminous star in the Eastern horizon. Chavara, a poet and writer,
describes beautifully his childhood at home, his vocation to priesthood, the establishment of the CMI and
CMC Congregations, and his innovations in the SyroMalabar
Church and also in the Kerala society
especially with regard to girls and women.
As Vicar General of the Verapoly Diocese, he fought against schisms and tried his utmost to bring
growth and unity in the Church. He started schools and made all efforts for the education of children and
worked for the cause of the poor and the destitute, and the sick and the dying. As a reformer this Star of
the East still shines gloriously in the Eastern sky.
CHAVARA’S LOFTY VISION OF WOMAN
1
Chavara had a lofty vision of woman. He had experienced the potentialities of woman. His first
knowledge of her is as one who forms a child. The future of the child is partially determined by the way
the child is loved and formed by his mother. Thereby he gives credit to his own mother for his formation.
He reminisces his infancy in his Compunction of the Soul, how his mother pours into his heart all the love
God has filled her with:
Or what in sooth could a frail mother do
To preserve her child from every ill on earth ?
While in sleep her infant quiet reposes
A sleepless angel, vigilant, her darling guards.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
A mother to feed me while yet a feeble babe
To shield me from pain and sorrow and tend me soft
To pour that tender love you filled her with
That nectar, unto my tiny blissful heart.1
Pope John Paul II in his Apostolic Letter, Mulieris DignitatemThe
Dignity and Vocation of Women,2
says : “In God’s eternal plan, woman is the one in whom the order of love in the created world of persons
takes first root. . . . God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been
given to us’’ (Rom 5:5).
The mother’s noble love is shared with the child, thereby she gives the babe not only nourishment for
the body but also spiritual sustenance:
Mixed in her sweet milk, she regaled me
With thoughts of heaven, and words of grace so pure!
And when reason grew strong, my little mind
Patiently, informed, to lisp holy names.
(CS, I, ll, 4952)
Formator of the Child
The woman, the mother, is the formator of the child. She is a person of prayer. She is the one
who, according to Chavara, creates a domestic church at home and the child is attuned to the divine. He
recollects:
Huddled close to her feet, I learnt aright
Gently, of matters sublime, of my faith
As at midnight she rose and knelt at prayer
Warding off sleep and petty dullness to the air.
Long hours, on her knee, in prayer she stayed
Leaning on her then I would seat myself
While devoutly [pray] a string of pious words
To Mother of God and the Christ, King of kings.
(CS, I, ll.5360)
2
The real formation and shaping of the mind takes place in early childhood. As the mother is, so
the child would be. The formation and disciplining of the child is not, according to him, with scolding
and beating. Mother is the queen of the child’s horizon and reigns supreme in his formation for the future:
And I listening to the lullaby sweet
Near my gentle mother quietly reposed.
And when my infant tongue ’gan to lisp
Up to the sky, her finger pointing oft
The holy names of Jesus, Mary and Joseph
She, my noble mother made me repeat.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Never once did she use the rod to chastise
Never with a harsh touch did she smite me
Her eyes, they wielded the mighty power to hit me
Or needs be, to fondle me, in approval
(CS, I, ll, 6570;
8184)
The noble vision of motherhood and the dignity and vocation of women are beautifully brought
out here by Chavara. In short, the son is giving credit to his mother for the making of a saint in him.
Sowing the Seed of Vocation
Chavara visualizes his mother as the basic instrument of his vocation. By her love, prayer and
example, the seed of priestly vocation was sown in him. This is true in those days as well as today. A
holy mother’s words, love and good example are always at the back of a priestly or religious vocation.
Chavara understood that the Church and society need holy mothers to bring the divine into the childrento
have holy men and women.
He describes his mother’s pain of parting and the joy of her son becoming God’s own:
My mother’s heart leaped with exultation
That God did earmark me to be his possession
Teardimmed
eyes gleamed as sun amid clouds
Could a heart maternal brave such parting?
Emotions twain wrung her heart in sooth
That her son, one of two, God’s own would be.
Pain of parting a wrench foreseeing
She wisely prepared, to the Holy Will to bow
She wooed detachment, her heart firm fixed on God
Praising for the Infinite Mercy he showed.
“Though a sinner, my unworthiness He redeemed
O wonder of wonders!” she cried, “Grace Supreme!
Your mercies will I sing for ever and ever!”
3
(CS, I, 119131)
Woman – the Spiritual Backbone of the Family
We know that only from good families, where Christian faith is really lived, vocations to
priesthood and sisterhood come. Christian families are the backbone of the Church. The way to animate
and renew the families is, in the main, through the women, the mothers. It is through women that faith,
morals and traditions are handed over to generations. Blassed Chavara seems to anticipate Pope John
Paul’s teaching on women in the Mulieris Dignitatem : “The moral and spiritual strength of a woman is
joined to her awareness that God entrusts the human being to her in a special way. . . . A woman is strong
because of this entrusting. . . .This awareness and this fundamental vocation speak to women of the
dignity which they receive from God himself, and this makes them ‘strong’ and strengthens their
vocation. Thus the ‘perfect woman’ (cf. Prov., 31:10) becomes an irreplaceable support and source of
spiritual strength for other people, who receive the great energies of her spirit. These perfect women are
owed much by their families and sometimes by whole nations” (MD, no. 30).
Woman – the Instrument of Peace
Chavara had a great conception of a Christian family. It is the image of heaven itself. There must
be peace and joy at home, Chavara says in his Testament of a Loving Father.3 In his vision, it is the
woman who acts as the instrument of peace. A woman, filled with love, cannot but give love and unite
everyone in love. Pope John Paul II, in his “Message for the World Day of Peace” on 1 Janauary 1995,
invites women “to be teachers of peace with their whole being and in all their actions. May they be
witnesses, messengers and teachers of peace in relation between individuals and between generations in
the family, in the cultural, social and political life of nations, and particularly in situations of conflict and
war. May they continue to follow the path which leads to peace, a path which many courageous and farsighted
women walked before them” (no.2).
In the “Closing Message to Women” of the Second Vatican Council, the Fathers instructed
women “to hold back the hand of man who, in a moment of folly, might attempt to destroy human
civilization.” The Fathers also believed that “women impregnated with the spirit of the gospel can do
much to aid mankind in not falling.” Chavara has anticipated this teaching when he wrote about his
mother and similar women.
Modesty, the best Ornament of Women
Chavara always valued purity, chastity and modesty. He thought it necessary that women be
modest in dress and behaviour and shine in virtues like the fear of God, holiness, gentleness, patience and
humility which are the real treasures and ornaments of women (cf. Testament of a Loving Father, no. 19).
Women to Promote Charity
The virtue of charity, of loving, helping and doing good to others, should be promoted and the
primary responsibility for this rests on the woman who inspires the husband and children to practise this
virtue. The saint must have been thinking of the good woman of the Proverbs; “She is generous to the
poor and needy” (31:20). According to him, the day one has not done any good to others, will not be
counted in the Book of Life. He advises to give to the poor, to the beggars and to all those in need as it is
the Lord’s commandment (cf. Testament of a Loving Father, nos. 13 & 14).
4
Chavara Respects the Freedom of Children
Chavara, although lived in the 19th c., had great respect for the freedom and rights of children:
“When children are old enough to determine their vocation, they should be given full freedom to follow
their bent of mind. It is their personal business to make the choice. It is not the parents’ duty. Negligence
on this point would cause a soul to be lost. So when a boy is sixteen or eighteen, and a girl fourteen or
sixteen, he or she must choose his or her vocation. And for the marriage, the likes and dislikes of an
individual must in particular be considered” (Testament of a Loving Father, no 14). Girls are to be treated
equally having freedom to do what they want to do.
Leading to the Mother of God
Chavara’s mother led him to the Blessed Mother of Jesus. While yet a child, she enslaved him to
the Mother of God and handed him over to her. And his mother used to remind him that he belonged to
mother Mary. He writes:
O Lady, clad in the rays of the sun
Holding, the moon at your feet
Forgive the sins of sinful me
And hold me to your feet!
(CS, III, ll. 6568)
Mother benign, O crown of mankind
Through you was God’s promise to man fulfilled.
(CS, IV, ll. 12)
“Beloved Mother, watch over me,
Show yourself a mother to me.”
(CS, V, ll. 7980)
There existed a beautiful, filial relationship between Kuriakose and the Mother of God. To him
blessed Mother was his longing, ideal, intercessor and protectress. Having entered into divine service
through his priesthood he claimed the Mother of God as his own Mother.
Mother of Christ – His own Mother
In the spiritual life, Kuriakose knew that there is no better guide who can reach him to the heart of
Jesus than Mary. There is no one else who can help him to become like Jesus. He prays to her:
Hence, my mistress my mother sweet, who else
My support today, if not you?
Your faithful servant, sure, I was of yore
Through desires sinister, a sinner became!
But you, my lady, my mother, forsook me not
Sure signs of your favour, I still do see
So, ashamed I feel of the desires base
And sensuous, that through my heart do course.
Fortunate, I deem it, you are the Mother of Carmel
5
Have as your servant donned me
Yes, me so base, unworthy you did choose
O, wherefore this joy, I’m unworthy to guess.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Oh, I’m favoured, highly favoured, my lady
For your son bequeathed to me His mother
As he did to all men; I was offered
Again by my mother, as slave at your feet.
And you did accept me, a blessing rare!
Once again through a mediator
St. Dominic who bound me to your Rosary
And lastly, as by sheer luck, I deem
A while ago, your holy ‘habit’ I donned
Through your devotee, Our Supreme Head
Was I accepted unto the House of Carmel.
(CS, VII, 165176;
193203)
Mary our Mother and Model
Chavara is showing a sure way to Jesus. The “woman of all women blessed,” takes our hand and
accompanies us in our journey to God. Pope John Paul II speaks of Mary thus in his Apostolic Letter,
Tertio Millennio Adveniente: “Mary gave full expression to the longing of the poor of Yahweh and is a
radiant model for those who entrust themselves with all their hearts to the promises of God” (no. 48).
Chavara lifts Mary and shows to all as the model to follow in our faith journey. She is given to us
by Jesus Himself to be our Mother. This is perfectly in accordance with the teachings of the Church. In
his Apostolic Letter, Rosarium Virginis Mariae, Pope John Paul II teaches that “through the same prayer
(Rosary) Mother Mary shows her maternal affection and there are many signs to this. Jesus entrusted her,
at the time of his death all sons and daughters of the Church by saying to her, ‘Woman, here is your son’
(Jn. 19:26). She has appeared to us several times and asked us to pray this meditative Rosary prayer, e.g.
at Lourdes and Fatima” (cf. no. 7). The Rosary is the bond of affection of Mother Mary and Chavara
shows his devotion to it (CS VII, ll. 19899).
Moreover, he is overjoyed when he donned the ‘habit’ of Carmel, the Scapular that the Mother of
Carmel gave to St. Simon Stock . In his Message to the Carmelite family on the 750th Anniversary of the
Scapular, Pope John Paul II says:
Over time this Marian heritage of Carmel has become, through the spread of the Holy
Scapular devotion, a treasure for the whole Church. By its simplicity, its anthropological
value and its relationship to Mary’s role in regard to the Church and humanity, this
devotion was deeply and widely accepted by the people of God that it came to be
expressed in the memorial of 16th July on the liturgical calendar of the Universal
Church. (25 March 2001)
All Women share in Mary’s Dignity
6
Through these Chavara is pointing out the august holy image of Mary, the Mother of Christ, the
one who inaugurated the liberation of women by her ‘Yes’ to the message of Archangel Gabriel sent by
God. In Mulieris Dignitatem, John Paul II speaks of this dignity which is shared by all women, which is
the originality of the Gospel: “To make his covenant with humanity, he [God] addressed himself only to
men: Noah, Abraham and Moses. At the beginning of the New Covenant, which is to be eternal and
irrevocable, there is a woman: the Virgin of Nazarath. It is a sign that points to the fact that ‘in Jesus
Christ’ ‘there is neither male nor female’ (Gal 3:28). . . . Mary is the new beginning of the dignity and
vocation of women, of each and every woman” (no. 11).
Bl. Chavara points to this august and welcome beginning in Mary shared by all women, so that all
women imbued by the Spirit feel their dignity and vocation. Chavara holds up Mary, the Mother of God,
as the model and mother to all people, especially to women, in her absolute surrender to God’s will, silent
suffering and motherly care of all children of God. This means, devotion to Mary is urgent for all,
especially to women, to rise in spiritual life and be supported by her.
Chavara honours St. Teresa in anticipation
The saint that Chavara loved and honoured most as “his mother”, next to the Mother of God, is St.
Teresa of Avila. He had thought that St. Teresa had taken charge of him as her own son. He even wanted
to learn her Interior Castle in the original Spanish in order to appreciate its beauty and depth. Chavara
says: “Meditation is a free and friendly colloquy with God. . . . For if mediation is a conversation with
God, it presupposes a friendship with God. . . . For, the heart has a language of its own. The very close
presence of the friend with no utterance of words is quite gratifying and heartwarming”
4
Chavara writes to the sisters of the Koonammavu Convent, recommending to them the Teresian
view that the essential mark of the Carmelite charism is unceasing prayer. Like St. Teresa, he also tells
the sisters: “Above all learn the art of loving Jesus Christ. Stay constantly in his presence. Walk along
with Him. Converse with Him continuously.5 He said to the sisters that our mother St. Teresa reached the
highest degree of prayer–seventh Mansion. Some of her sisters reached the nearby mansions. Chavara
advises the sisters to reach at least the Fourth Mansion. Chavara initiates not only St. Teresa’s way of
prayer, but also her compunction of soul and extreme humility before God and others.
What I see in this is Chavara’s admiration for a great woman saint, who was proclaimed as the
first woman Doctor of the Church a century after his death, in which the Church broke a tradition of
2000 years. Chavara foresaw the greatness of this great saint, especially in mystical prayer. Here we find
the unique innovative spirit of Chavara giving honour and love where it is due, even if it is a woman.
Chavara does not stop with one woman saint. He had special devotion to St. Mary Magdalene, Mary of
Egypt and Margaret of Cortona and made them his models in repentnce and penance.6
Women capable of Heroic Love and Death
Bl. Chavara is all admiration for St. Anastasia, a young Virgin Martyr of the 3rd century in Rome.
Emperor Valerian ordered this extremely beautiful virgin to renounce her Christian faith and pay homage
to the pagan Gods. Anasthasia set at naught what the world could give and prized her faith and virginity
to everything else. And so she was brutally persecuted and suffered unutterably and merited the glorious
crown of martyrdom.
She gave her life to Christ the Lord
With joy, with valour and with hope
7
She longed to do the will of God
She did His will, and breathed her last.7
This is also Chavara’s vision of women, capable of achieving heroic things like men, even to
martyrdom.
Women capable of Greatness
Chavara took to heart, the “Prayer for a good death,” written by a girl who at the age of 15
renounced Protestantism and embraced the Catholic Faith and died at the age of 18 in the fame of virtue.
Chavara used to pray this and had given the same in his wirtings.8 Here also we find Chavara’s
preference for a prayer written by a girl who boldly accepted the true church of Christ.
Moreover, whenever Chavara wrote about great men, he always referred to their mothers which
makes clear his vision that it is the mothers who have greatly contributed to what they were and what
they had become. For example, he refers to the mother of Palackal Thomachan whose father died and the
mother brought up the four children with extreme difficulty and suffering. 9 He also refers to Eliswa, the
mother of Anna, one of the pioneers of the CMC Congregation with great respect. He desired that all
women be like the above models and exercise their moral power and spiritual influence at home, in the
Church and in society. Chavara thought, as families could be redeemed through women, mothers, they
should be given education, training and animation. For this he desired to have a community or
congregation of consecrated women religious, And through them children, girls, and women could be
brought to the path of Christ, deepening in faith and morals.
Education and Formation through the Press
With the introduction of the printing press in Mannanam printing Chavara’s prayer books,
devotional books, the Scriptures and other occasional publications by Chavara from Mannanam,
penetrated the portals of every Catholic home far and wide and became the treasure of the family. Books
like Jnanapiyusham (Spiritual Nectar), Perpetual Adoration and Words of a Dying Father were of great
inspiration to the people in their spiritual life. This caused the women to grow in piety and help the
children in their spiritual formation which resulted in a boom in priestly and religious vocations.
People became devoted to Christ, the Blessed Mother, and the Holy Family and began to use the
sacramentals like the Carmelite Scapular and the Holy Rosary. Family prayer became a ‘must’ of the
family and a cause of God’s blessings.
Pallikoodams for All
Chavara, the Vicar General and the great educator, with remarkable foresight made Bishop
Bernardinos send a circular to all the churches asking them to start pallikoodams (schools) attached to the
parishes, and if the order was not headed, the parishes were to be closed. Chavara considered school
education one of the essential means for the uplift of women and of the community. Children, both girls
and boys of all denominations, castes and creeds were enrolled in those schools.
Upliftment of the Harijans including Women
8
In a very special way, Chavara tried to uplift the lower castes, the Harijans. He tried to bring them
to school. Girls also of all castes and creeds were brought so that they could be educated and be brought
to the main stream of society. This was Chavara’s way of helping the lowcaste
women who were
suffering the most as they had not even the freedom to cover the upper part of the body. He provided the
Harijans with food, dress, books and pencils, No social reformer ever thought of these at that time!
Chavara’s compassion went out to these unfortunate victims of caste.
The House for the Destitute
Chavara took a very keen interest in uplifting the poor, the orphans and the destitute. “He wanted
to inculcate in destitute men and women a healthy awareness of selfworth.
Also he wanted them to
understand that they are not ostracized from society, but rather, were entitled to be enriched both
financially and intellectually. They must develop both selfconfidence,
and sound spirituality and
morality.”10
Chavara also started a refuge for the aged, an entirely innovative institute. Here he anticipated
even Mother Teresa! He saw to it that these destitute people were taken care of and helped to die in
peace. He also began an organization, “The Helpers of the Dying who desire a peaceful Death,” to help
the charitable institute. This was given into the hands of the lay people to attend to their needs.
Religious Life for Women
Blessed Chavara lamented much that the Kerala Church was barren in that there were no saints as
in other countries. It is for this reason, in order to make the Church flourish with committed Christians
and produce saints that he founded the first indigenous religious congregation for men, “Carmelites of
Mary Immaculate’ (CMI) in 1831.11 After the congregation for men was approved by the Church in 1855,
his greatest desire was to have a religious congregation for women so that they also could become
committed to Christ and become saints. Besides, he knew that by a women religious congregation he
would succeed in the immediate task before him, that is, to form girls into good women and good
mothers for the future of the community. He was ever dreaming of the same and discussed it with the
Vicar Apostolic Most Rev. Franciscos Bernardinos. The Chronicle of the Koonammavu Convent notes
thus in the first page itself:
Then by the grace of God the abovementioned
Vicar Apostolic himself decided that a
convent too should he opened for women. In 1860, in the church property to the east of the
cross of Puthenpally, the foundation was laid and incurring a great expense a compound
wall of height thirteen feet was being constructed all around (p.2). It was at this time, that
a Syrian Bishop, defying the Holy sec, arrived from Babel. Then most of the churches
went over to his side. This one at Puthenpally also joined the opposition. On account of
the turmoil created, the construction of the convent too was stopped. By God’s grace
when the strife ceased, seeing that many souls were being lost for want of good priests, a
decision was taken to change the convent into a seminary. Accordingly it was made the
study house (scholasticate). With this we lost all the hope; we had again plunged into the
same former sad state of helplessness. It was when we were thus pulling on our life, that
our moopachan, the present delegate provincial, very reverend Leopold Maria de San Juse,
by his powerful assistance and hard work brought this convent into existence.12
9
The Carmelite Congregation for Women
In God’s time, God had inspired some women to dedicate themselves to God in a convent. The
spiritual daughters of Fr. Leopold Beccaro, the widow Eliswa Vakayil, her only virgin daughter Anna,
her sister Thresia, and Eliswa Puthenangadi (later called Clara) who was the spiritual daughter of
Chavarathese
were the first four members of the Convent at Koonammavu in the beginning. On 13th
February 1866 the first three members were brought into the small improvised bamboo mat convent
temporarily. The next day, although she was there waiting when others came, since Moopachan had not
seen her, Clara went to make her confession with Moopachan. Then she was also allowed to enter the
convent. This was the beginning of the first indigenous congregation for women in Kerala. Thus
Chavara’s attempts to begin a convent, thwarted six years ago, bore fruit. Eliswa, the widow, was
appointed superior of this first Carmelite Convent. After this Fr. Leopold opened and read the following
passage from St. Teresa’s writings:
Mother Teresa received a letter from the elders of India, to go over there and found a
convent. Lamenting over the misfortune (of the Indians ) she decided to go to India. But as
usual when she prayed to our Lord, he appeared to her and commanded, “Daughter, you
need not pray for this now: this is to be fulfilled through your sons. In the fullness of time,
your sons, the monks, will reach there. They will found congregations for monks and
nuns.13
Fulfillment
At this Chavara’s heart was filled with gratitude. He cried out: “O God! I believe that you have
lengthened my life to make me more obliged to you by allowing me to bear witness to this too. May you
be praised more and more always for ever. Amen”14
These words reflect the sense of fulfillment of Fr. Chavara. Like the old man Simeon in
the Jerusalem Temple, Chavara had seen the great thing he longed for. He felt, his life was
blessed. That lover of the Church rejoiced when he found various consecrated
communities and enterprises that enrich the Kerala Church, taking shape and thriving. He
envisaged a thousand forms of good that are going to be enjoyed by the people of God
through this community. His heart was satiated. 15
The Convent Building
It was necessary to collect funds to construct a proper convent building. Even when the monastery
needed funds for its completion, Chavara went about collecting funds for the convent. Once he was very
sick with a severe attack of rheumatic fever and remained unconscious for two days. He also got a
swelling on the leg. It shows how bent upon he was to construct the convent even risking his time, health
and life. Thus the convent at Koonammavu became the Mother house of all indigenous congregations for
women in the future. Here itself, as there were Latin and Syrian rite sisters, there was a separation later
on of the Latin sisters (CTC) and the Syrian sisters (CMC).
In the CMC, new foundations followed, the first one being in Mutholy and next in Vaikom. With
the reorganization
of the syroMalabar
dioceses in 1896 into Trichur, Ernakulam and Chaganacherry, the
Bishops took their sisters to their own dioceses and started independent congregations. This was marked
10
by fast growth and further divisions according to the dioceses. It was, for the Centenary of the
Foundation, as per instructions from the Holy See that these independent congregations came together
under the guidance of Bishop Hippolytus Kunnunkal, OFM, Cap., became a single large Pontifical
Congregation, and was called the Congregation of the Mother of Carmel! The Congregation has got now
over 6000 sisters and 585 convents in 20 Provinces and seven Regions.
Edukkumdat –Boarding for Girls
Immense good have come out of this religious Congregation. Attached to the first Convent at
Koonammavu was started in the beginning itself an Edukkumdat–Boarding for girls for their education
and formation. That is what Chavara wanted. Training for girls to be good, holy and educated. Many girls
from different parts of Kerala went there. They were taught languages–Malayalam, Tamil, English and
Latin; crafts like rosary–making and flowermaking
and sewing and knitting and cooking, music,
mathematics, needlework and Catechism. In other words, attention was given to the intellectual, mental,
social and spiritual development of the girls. They were disciplined and taught to pray and practise
virtues like humility, obedience, piety, etc. Of these girls most of them joined the convent and became
religious sisters. Others went home, married and became good wives and mothers and brought up their
children in a good family background.
School opened attached to the Convent
Chavara wanted for the development and welfare of women and children schools for their
education. This was realized on 16 October 1872 when the sisters were sent to teach in the school
formally. Chavara considered education as one of the best means of giving Christian formation to the
children and teaching them the principles of Catholic faith. “For Chavara organized the convents as
centers where Christian education and culture were to spread among the women of the country. He has
envisaged them as enclosures for those women who wanted to devote themselves to a life of prayer and
mortification and service of souls.”16
GROWTH AND SERVICE
Education
Blessed Chavara died on 3 January 1871, five years after the foundation of the Convent. This was
a great blow to the sisters. Still, with the spirit of Chavara in them and the help of Fr. Leopold Beccaro,
they entered the path of service. With every convent a boarding, school and often an orphanage also were
started. CMC spread all over Kerala. Education for girls became almost the monopoly of the sisters.
Industrial schools also prospered. Later, the sisters took up higher education and training with the
establishment of colleges. Convents grew in number. In Kerala itself CMC has got over 5000 sisters and
350 convents in 13 Provinces.
Medical care
In the long run sisters were called to do nursing also. And they started service in the medical field.
This was especially helpful to women in their physical ailments and needs. Blessed Chavara has said:
“Many saints reached the height of sanctity by nursing the sick. The nursing of the sick may be the most
difficult, unpleasant, detestable and degrading service before the fellowmen; but it is the most meritorious
11
service before God.” 17 Sisters took up health care, nursing, medical studies, hospitals and nursing schools
and colleges.
Social Service
CMC sisters also started social service, welfare centers, women empowerment programmes and
such activities as old age homes, orphanages, shelter for helpless women, etc. House visiting, listening to
the problems of women and children and helping them with vocational training became regular practice.
Prayer and Catechism
Children were taught Catechism and prayer. They were prepared for the sacraments such as Holy
Mass, Confession, Holy Communion and Confirmation. Youth were given training for prayer, marriage,
etc. Women were taught to pray, to participate in liturgical services, to be involved in group prayer,
intercessory prayer and to take leadership in prayer at home, in schools and centers.
Today if women are educated in Kerala, Chavara’s vision and foresight is behind it. If women are
in the forefront in the educational, medical, social, economic, moral and spiritual fields, the credit goes to
Blessed Chavara.
Missionary Service
Sisters have gone all over India as missionaries preaching the Word of God and caring for the
people in their physical, intellectual mental, social and pastoral needs. The first mission house of CMC
outside Kerala was founded in Jalandhar, Punjab, at the invitation of Mgr. Alban Swabrick, the Prefect
Apostolic of Jalandhar at that time. Bishop Parecattil of Ernakulam encouraged the sisters to set out for
the missions in 1958.18 This was the beginning of the great missionary thrust all over India. Now there is
hardly any place in India where our missionaries have not reached. At present there are seven Mission
Provinces and Three Regions in India. Of course, other congregations also followed suit in the missionary
enterprises. It would be hard to find a nook or corner where sisters have hot dared to step into. In the
missions outside Kerala CMC has got 1100 sisters and 176 centers in India.
Foreign Missions
The Congregation of the Mother of Carmel has spread all over the world–in Asia, Europe,
America and Africa with sisters teaching nursing and doing pastoral and social work. CMC has got 190
sisters and 30 houses abroad and four regions in Italy, Germany, America and Africa respectively.
Formation to other Congregations
As the first indigenous Congregation for religious women, the Congregation of the Mother of
Carmel was the Mother formator to the other congregations which rose up in its wake and Koonammavu
Convent the Mother House for all indigenous congregations. The Ernakulam Province gave training to
M.S.J. (Dharmagiri) Sisters, S.D. Sisters, Nazareth Sisters and Preshithramam Sisters. The first Superior
General, Mother Agnes Thoppil Kunnampilly, elected in 1926, sent two sisters to give training to the
beginners of the new congregation known as the Sisters of the Destitute (S.D.)19
12
In Changanassery in 1896 Bishop Makeel invited the CMC sisters to give religious formation to
the Visitation Sisters of Kaipuzha Convent.20 “Even before Mar Kuralassery became the Bishop, he had
already established a good relationship with the sisters of Mutholi. It was to this Convent that he sent for
education Plamena Vallayil (Mother Shantal) and fourteen girls who were to be the first members of the
Adoration Order (SABS) he had planned to start. Eight of them joined this order in 1908.” 21 Besides he
appointed Sr. Kathrina Thoppil as the Superior of the Adoration Convent at Chambakulam, Sr. Ursula
Chavara as the Boarding Mistress of the boarding newly started there, and Sr. Mariam Magdalena
Nethiamparambil as the Superior of the Clarist Convent in Changanassery. 22
In the Trichur branch also the C.M.C. sisters were called upon to give training to other
congregations. Mariam Thresia, the future Blessed Foundress of the Holy Family Congregation was sent
by Mar John Menachery to the St. Mary’s Convent, Ollur, for the discernment of her vocation. Mariam
Thresia stayed in the Ollur Convent for two months. Venerable Mother Euphrasia, CMC was the Novice
Mistress in the Ollur Convent. Mariam Thresia received training there especially from Sr. Euphrasia.
These two holy souls recognized the grace and work of God in each other. Sr. Euphrasia even wrote
down the daily Syriac prayers in Malayalam for Mariam Thresia. Bishop Menacherry asked the Carmelite
Sisters to help the new Holy Family Congregation, to give formation and to teach in their school in the
beginning. According to the instructions of Mar George Alappatt, Mother General Mother Scholastica
sent sisters in 1944 for the training of the Congregation of the Sisters of Charity (CSC). 23 The Carmelite
sisters also gave formation to the sisters of the Society of Nirmala Dasikal (SND). In the Missions they
were called upon for the formation of the Sisters of Jesus in M.P.
Thus we find that all the Syro–Malabar religious congregations received formation and training
either directly or indirectly through the Carmelite Congregation founded by Blessed Chavara, the Father
of indigenous religious life in Kerala.
Fruits of Sanctity in the Church
Sanctity was the aim of the Foundation of the Congregations–that there may be saints in the
Church as heroic examples for the people to see, learn and follow.
Sr. Alphonsa of the Clarist Congregation was hopelessly sick and was about to be sent home as
she was unable to lead the life of a religious. Chavara appeared and healed her. This happened on two
other occasions also.24 Here we see Chavara’s keen interest in religious life and holiness even after his
death. As a further confirmation of his intense longing to have saints in the Kerala Church through
religious congregations of men and women, we witnessed the Beatification of Fr. Chavara together
with that of Sr. Alphonsa at Kottayam in Kerala by Pope John Pual II himself, the first ever in India.
This was only the beginning; now we have Blessed Mariam Thresia, Foundress of the
Congregation of the Holy Family. Besides, in Chavara’s own CMC Congregation, Mother Euphrasia
has been declared Venerable. Soon we hope and pray that she will be beatified. Sr. Rani Maria, of the
clarist Congregation is a Servant of God. Chavara’s foresight, longing prayer and indefatigable efforts
have borne abundant fruit in holiness too.
Chavara the Gift of God to the Church, to the Country and to the World
In The Church in Asia John Paul II speaks of the necessity of schools by the Church where there
are no other ways in which girls, lowcastes
and handicapped children could get education.25 Chavara had
anticipated the above, practised and caused it to happen through his compassion, efforts and prayer. What
Chavara had started in the 19th c. has borne fruit in the 20th century. Chavara is the gift of God to the
Church, to the country and also to the world.
But there is still much more to be done. As faith and morals are handed over to generations
through women, and as women have a special charism to spread news, the good news, like the Samaritan
woman, women have to participate more and more in evangelization and other ministries of the Church.
Women can contribute immensely in Church services along with men, whether it be in the parish,
diocese, pastoral councils or diocesan synods. Their services have to be respected and promoted. Also
women will be able to be the presence of the compassionate Jesus among the poor, the sick, the wounded
and the downtrodden26 May that day come soon and may Chavara bless and help us as we walk along
towards the heart of God!
by
Dr. Sr. Cleopatra C.M.C.
