Abraham Malpan - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Palakunnathu Abraham Malpan of Malankara Church

Malankara Church

The Malankara Church is the church of the Saint Thomas Christians of Kerala, India, with particular emphasis on the part of the community that joined Archdeacon Mar Thoma in swearing to resist the authority of the Portuguese Padroado in 1653...

, was a strong Churchman, loyal to the best traditions of his Church. He wanted only to effect such reforms in the Church as were consistent with the apostolic and truly evangelical traditions of the Church. This he tried to do by translating and revising the liturgy and by doing away with the unscriptural practices which had crept into the Church and by restoring the Church to what he considered to be its pristine position before the Synod of Diamper

Synod of Diamper

The Synod of Diamper, held at Udayamperoor/Diamper, is a diocesan synod by which Latin usages were formally adopted by the Christians of Saint Thomas. It was convened on June 20, 1599, under the leadership of Aleixo de Menezes, Archbishop of Goa. Archdeacon George was forced to comply with the...

. He therefore strove hard for the abolition of auricular confession, prayers for the dead, invocation of saints, and unhealthy veneration of sacraments. He reintroduced the practice of giving Holy Communion to the people in both kinds. Further he emphasized the reading and study of the Bible, family-worship and evangelistic work. He also insisted on a high moral standard of conduct for laity and clergy alike. All this created a ferment in the Church and its effects are still discernible in the Syrian Church

Syrian Church

Syrian Church may refer to:*Syriac Orthodox Church*Syriac Catholic Church...

as a whole”.

Introduction

Malankara now known as Kerala

Kerala

or Keralam is an Indian state located on the Malabar coast of south-west India. It was created on 1 November 1956 by the States Reorganisation Act by combining various Malayalam speaking regions....

, is the south western state of India. Here, the Malankara Church, one of the oldest Christian Churches in history was founded by Thomas the Apostle

Thomas the Apostle

Thomas the Apostle, also called Doubting Thomas or Didymus was one of the Twelve Apostles of Jesus. He is best known for questioning Jesus' resurrection when first told of it, then proclaiming "My Lord and my God" on seeing Jesus in . He was perhaps the only Apostle who went outside the Roman...

of Jesus Christ.It is believed that it was founded at the same time as that of the Church of Corinth

Corinth

Corinth is a city and former municipality in Corinthia, Peloponnese, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Corinth, of which it is the seat and a municipal unit...

, by Saint Paul

Palakunnathu Family

In the seventeenth century, a member of the Panamkuzhy family (a branch of the Pakalomattam family), came and settled in Kozhencherry

Kozhencherry

Kozhencherry is a small town in Pathanamthitta district of Central Travancore region in Kerala state, South India. It is on the banks of river Pampa. It is a commercial centre with many of the Banks and trade companies have their establishments here. It is believed that once the Kovilans of...

on the banks of river Pampa. Later they moved to Maramon

Maramon

Maramon is a small town on the Pampa River, opposite to Kozhencherry town in the state of Kerala, India. It is 12 km from the Pathanamthitta district headquarters, the town of Pathanamthitta. Maramon is famous because of the Maramon Convention, the largest Christian gathering in Asia...

, and lived at Chackkalyil, on the other side of the river . The second son in that family, Mathen moved to the nearby Palakunnathu house. He had six sons and a daughter. The daughter was married to Pavoothikunnel family and the first four sons moved to Themoottil, Neduvelil, Periyilel and Punamadom. The fifth son was a hermit priest (sanyasi achen). As was the custom, the youngest son Mathew lived at Palakunnathu family house. (This house still exists). His second son Abraham Malpan later moved to Palakunnathu Kuzhiathu house.

A number of Marthoma Church leaders were born in this family. Mathews Mar Athanasius Metropolitan (Mar Thoma XIII); Thomas Mar Athanasius

Thomas Mar Athanasius

Thomas Mar Athanasius Mar Thoma XIV was the Metropolitan of the Malankara church. Mar Athanasiu's period was a turbulent one in the history of this Church. There was a litigation that took ten years to settle. After the final verdict, the Church passed through a period of transition. Malankara...

Metropolitan (Mar Thoma XIV); Titus I Mar Thoma

Titus I Mar Thoma

Titus I Mar Thoma was known as Thithoos Mar Thoma Metropolitan among his people, and was the fifteenth Mar Thoma . He was a saintly and missionary bishop of the church...

Metropolitan (Mar Thoma XV); Titus II Mar Thoma

Titus II Mar Thoma

-See also:* Mar Thoma Church* Syrian Malabar Nasrani* Saint Thomas Christians* Christianity in India* List of Catholicoi of the East and Malankara Metropolitans* List of Syrian Malabar Nasranis* Titus I Mar Thoma* Abraham Mar Thoma-For further reading:...

Metropolitan (Mar Thoma XVI); were from this family. The present head of the Marthoma Church, Dr. Joseph Mar Thoma

Joseph Mar Thoma

Joseph Mar Thoma Metropolitan is the present head of the Mar Thoma Church with its center in Kerala state in south-western India. He is the 21st Mar Thoma.- Palakunnathu Family :...

Metropolitan (Mar Thoma XXI), is also from this family.

Early age

Abraham Malpan was born on May 30, 1795 as the second son of Palakunnathu Mathew and Mariamma of [Pakalomattathil-Mullasseril] (പകലൊമട്ട‍ത്തില്‍ in Malayalam) / Pakalomattom (പകലൊമററം) Family, [[Mullasseril]] house

House

A house is a building or structure that has the ability to be occupied for dwelling by human beings or other creatures. The term house includes many kinds of different dwellings ranging from rudimentary huts of nomadic tribes to free standing individual structures...

, Chengannur

Chengannur

Chengannur , is a municipal town in Alappuzha district of the state of Kerala in South India. Chengannur is located in the extreme eastern part of Alappuzha district. It is north of the state capital Thiruvananthapuram on the MC Road. Chengannur is connected to Kollam and Kottayam by NH 220...

, Pandanadu, Kerala

Kerala

or Keralam is an Indian state located on the Malabar coast of south-west India. It was created on 1 November 1956 by the States Reorganisation Act by combining various Malayalam speaking regions....

. He lost his parents before he was three years old and was brought up by his uncle Mathen Thomma Malpan, a Sanyasi (സന്നയസി)/Celibate/hermit priest.

As a Clergy

According to Church practices and Biblical Instructions, theological students were made deacons at the age of 20 and priests at the age of 30. But during the time just before the reformation small children of 7 years were ordained as deacons by the Bishops after taking big bribes from the parents. And people who did not have any theological education were made priests at the age of 16 or 17.

Palakunnathu family had a priestly tradition and Thomma Malpan was a devout Syrian Christian priest. He was anxious to direct Abraham to the ministry to continue the family tradition and Abraham was happy and well inclined to follow his uncle’s advice. So after his Malayalam Education, he was sent to study Syriac, the language of the liturgy, under Padinjarekutu Korah Malpan, Puthupally. It was a residential discipleship like the ancient Indian Gurukula education. Abraham obtained good fluency in Syriac and the Bible and acquired a sound knowledge of Christian theology as he had the innate ability to delve deep to ascertain spiritual truths. He was ordained as a Semmasson (deacon) in 1811, and received the priestly ordination as a Kassessa (priest) in 1815 from Mar Thoma VIII. He was appointed as the Vicar of Maramon

Maramon

parish.

Reformation

During the time of Marthoma VI, Rev.Dr. Claudius Buchanan

Claudius Buchanan

Claudius Buchanan was a Scottish theologian, an ordained minister of the Church of England, and an extremely 'low church' missionary for the Church Missionary Society....

, an Anglican missionary visited Malankara. He met Marthoma in 1806. With his help, the Bible was translated from the original Aramaic language and was distributed to the parishes. Soon after his meeting, representatives of the parishes met at Aarthattu church and declared (Aarthattu Padiola) that the people should not follow the teachings by Rome, Antioch or other foreign Churches. This meeting can be considered to be the beginning of Sucheekarana Prasthanam ('Purification Movement - Reformation) in Malankara Church.

In 1816, Mar Thoma X, (Pulikottil Mar Dionysius) appointed Abraham Malpan as a professor of Syriac at the Kottayam

Kottayam

Kottayam is a city in the Indian state of Kerala, spread over an area of 55.40 km2. It is the administrative capital of the Kottayam district. Kottayam Kottayam (Malayalam: കോട്ടയം) is a city in the Indian state of Kerala, spread over an area of 55.40 km2. It is the administrative...

Seminary.

His uncle, Thomma Malpan was of opinion that many of the beliefs that infiltrated into Malankara Church were against the teaching of the Bible. While he was the guardian of Abraham Malpan in his younger days, they talked about restoring the Church to its pristine position before the Synod of Diamper

Synod of Diamper

. Teaching at the Kottayam Seminary, gave him enough time to read and study the Bible in his mother tongue (Malayalam). That made Abraham Malpan think of reforming the Church.

Mar Thoma XI, (Punnathra Mar Dionysius) convened a meeting of representatives of the Malankara Church at Mavelikkara

Mavelikkara

Mavelikara is a town in Alappuzha district of Kerala, India, spread over an area of 12.65 km2. It is in the southern part of Alappuzha district on the banks of the Achankovil River. Mavelikara is located 8km east of National Highway. Mavelikara is known as the capital of...

, on December 3, 1818. In that meeting a committee was appointed to recommend reforms in the Church. Abraham Malpan, Kaithayil Geevarghese Malpan, Eruthikkal Markose Kathanar, Adangapurathu Joseph Kathanar were members of this committee. This was the first step in carrying out the Sucheekaranam (Purification - Reformation) in Malankara Church. For Abraham Malpan it was a great step forward. His friends and members of his home parish (Maramon

Maramon

) gave him full support for reformation. But after the demise of Mar Thoma XI, things changed. Cheppad Mar Dionysius became Marthoma XII.

Due to doubts about the validity of the consecration of Mar Thoma VIII, Abraham Malpan had some doubts about his own ordination. So when a Jacobite

West Syrian Rite

The West Syrian Rite, also known as the Syrian Rite or the Syro-Antiochene Rite, is a Christian liturgical rite chiefly practiced in the Syriac Orthodox Church and churches related to or descended from it. It is part of the liturgical family known as the Antiochene Rite, which originated in the...

bishop from Syria

Syria

Syria , officially the Syrian Arab Republic , is a country in Western Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the West, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east, Jordan to the south, and Israel to the southwest....

came, he and two others had themselves reordained by him. Dionysius lodged a complaint against them to the government of Travancore and they were fined 336 fanam (Rs.84) for flouting the authority of the Indian bishop.

In 1835, Bishop of Calcutta Rt.Rev. Daniel Wilson visited Kerala

Kerala

or Keralam is an Indian state located on the Malabar coast of south-west India. It was created on 1 November 1956 by the States Reorganisation Act by combining various Malayalam speaking regions....

. He made certain recommendations to Mar Thoma XII, (Cheppattu Mar Dionysius) for the continuation of relationship between the Syrian Church and the Missionaries. Mar Thoma did not like this interference of the Anglican Missionaries in the Church affairs. So Mar Thoma convened a meeting of Church representatives at Mavelikkara

Mavelikkara

on January 16, 1836, in which the Synod declared that , “We, the Jacobite Syrians are under the rule of the Patriarch of Antioch

Patriarch of Antioch

Patriarch of Antioch is a traditional title held by the Bishop of Antioch. As the traditional "overseer" of the first gentile Christian community, the position has been of prime importance in the church from its earliest period...

.. .. ..”

Trumpet Call

On September 6, 1836, the battle cry for reformation was sounded. Strategy was formed by a group of 12 senior clergy under the leadership of Abraham Malpan(died on sept 9,1845). They issued a letter describing the wrong teachings and a statement listing twenty-four evil practices of the Church which crept in by its association with other churches and religions.

Reforms

At the time of Purification, a number of reforms were made in church. A few of them are given below.

Translated and revised the liturgy thus removing the unscriptural practices.
Abolished prayers for the dead, invocation of saints, and unhealthy veneration of sacraments.
Abolished auricular confession.
Reintroduced the practice of giving Holy Communion to the people in both kinds.
Emphasized the reading and study of the Bible, family-worship and evangelistic work.
Removed pictures and drawings and statues were removed from the churches and places of worship..
Insisted on a high moral standard of conduct for laity and clergy alike.

On Sunday August 27, 1837 Abraham Malpan conducted the Holy Communion service in Malayalam at his home parish in Maramon

Maramon

. Clergy, who supported him also did the same thing in various other parishes on the same day.

Every year on the first week of October, there was a church festival at Maramon

Maramon

, connected with saintly Maphriyono-Catholicos Mor Baselious Yeldho. A wooden image of the saint named ‘Muthappen,’ was taken around in procession and people used to offer prayers and offerings to it. In 1837, Abraham Malpan took the image and threw it into a well saying, “Why consult the dead on behalf of the living?” (Isaiah 8:19). So when the festival came there was no image to be taken out for procession.

After effects

Abraham Malpan and Cheppad Philipose Mar Dionysius (Mar Thoma XII)

Cheppad Philipose Mar Dionysius (Mar Thoma XII)

-See also:* Indian Orthodox Church* Mar Thoma Church* Jacobite Syrian Christian Church* List of Catholicoi of the East and Malankara Metropolitans* List of Syrian Malabar Nasranis-Further reading:...

, were great friends. But when Abraham Malpan used the revised liturgy and brought about changes in practices, that offended Marthoma XII who threatened him with excommunication. But Abraham Malpan informed him that if excommunicated, he would not come begging to revoke it. Marthoma XII, did not excommunicate him, but refused priesthood to the deacons trained under him. Abrahma Malpan was not disheartened. He continued with the reforms. He returned to Maramon

Maramon

. Many of his students joined him to continue their studies. All those who believed that the church need to revitalize also joined him. Members of parishes in Kozhencherry, Kumbanad,Koorthamala, Eraviperoor, Thumpamon, Elanthoor, Kundara, Kottarakara, Mavelikara, Mallapally, and many other places made trips to Maramon

Maramon

to attend the service in Malayalam and listen to his sermons. Doors were also opened for reformation in other places by clergy who supported him.

At this stage he had three choices in front of him. Repent and go back to the old beliefs; join the Anglican Church with western beliefs; or go forward with the reformation to restore the Church to its pristine position before the Synod of Diamper

Synod of Diamper

. He decided to choose the third one.

Mathews Mar Athanasius Metropolitan

Mathews was the son of the elder brother of Abraham Malpan. After completing his studies at Kottayam, he joined the school established by Rev. John Anderson (now Madras Christian College) in Chennai. After completing his studies, he told his friend George Mathen (later Rev.), his ambition. “If I live, it is only for my mother Church. I will throw away the weeds and restore the Church to its original purity.” With the help of his teachers in Chennai, he was able to make his travel arrangements to go to Antioch. He reached Antioch, was ordained as a Metropolitan (bishop) in February 1842, Bishop of a region for a few months and returned home in March 1843.

Last days

Abraham Malpan was a diabetic patient. Those days there were no proper treatment for diabetes. At the age of 50 he became very sick. He died at 3.00 pm on Sunday, 9 September 1845. Malpan was fully conscious till the last breath. He was buried on the next day in the Maramon

Maramon

Mar Thoma Church. The funeral service was conducted by his nephew Mathews Mar Athanasius Metropolitan.

Conclusion

Abraham Malpan “was of a conservative temperament and yet progressive in oulook.”

Abraham Malpan was a courageous leader and he advocated the reformation with sound Biblical knowledge, sense of history, with integrity and determination, following a habit of prayer and sustaining the faith in his mission. The progress of the Marthoma Syrian Church in Kerala

Kerala

or Keralam is an Indian state located on the Malabar coast of south-west India. It was created on 1 November 1956 by the States Reorganisation Act by combining various Malayalam speaking regions....

and in the global Diaspora was rooted in the inspiration of Abraham Malpan.

External links

http://www.marthomasyrianchurch.org
http://www.kuwaitmarthoma.com/e-library
http://www.palakunnathu.org

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