CARMELITES OF MARY IMMACULATE

Fr.Thomas Palackal
(1780-1841)

Malpan Thomas Palackal was born in the year 1780 in Palackal family in Pallipuram Parish. He was ordained in the year 1804.

Malpan Thomas Palackal is one of the founders of our Congregation. A man of prayer with a spirit of self-sacrifice, Fr.Thomas Palackal started a small seminary, where aspirants to priesthood were being trained. He was secretary and advisor to the Archbishop of Verapoly. In his capacity he helped for the orderly development of Syro-Malabar Churches. He was also interested in starting an indigenous religious congregation and a seminary for the training of their members.

To achieve this objective and to get the permission of the Archbishop, he worked together with Fr.Thomas Porukara. Fr.Cyriac Elisas Chavara, one of his disciples, also worked along with them and brought the idea to fruition. All the three are considered founders of the CMI Congregation. But Fr.Palackal passed away on June 16, 1841, before the canonical erection of the Congregation. He was buried at Pallipuram.

Kuriakose (Cyriac) Chavara was born in 1805, of pious and devout catholic parents of Syro-Malabar Church, in Kainakary, Kerala, India. In baptism he was given the name Kuriakose (Cyriac). After his early schooling in the native village and priestly studies under Fr.Thomas Palackal at Pallippuram, he was ordained priest in 1829.

Co-operating with Fathers Thomas Palackal and Thomas Porukara, he founded the indigenous religious congregation for men, (1831) now known as the Carmelites of Mary Immaculate (C.M.I). It was after the death of the senior companions in the foundation that Fr.Kuriakose with the first members, made the religious profession in 1855. In religion he took the name Kuriakose Elias of the Holy Family.

Starting seven religious houses, besides the first one at Mannanam, in different parts of Malabar, the new congregation made great strides in a spiritual renovation in the Church of Malabar. Seminaries for the education and formation of clergy, introduction of annual retreats for priests and people, a publishing house for the propagation of Catholic doctrine, a house for the dying and destitute, special attention to catechumens, schools for general education, were among the few of various activities under Father Kuriakose Elias' leadership. Many valuable improvements in the Syro-Malabar liturgy are largely to his credit. In 1866, with the co-operation of Fr.Leopold Beccaro OCD, he started the Congregation of the Mother of Carmel (C.M.C) for women. A schism threatened the church in the area in 1861, creating a very critical situation. Kuriakose Elias Chavara, then Vicar General of the Syro-Malabar Church, is gratefully remembered and acknowledged by the then and later leaders of the church and by the catholic community in general, for his strenuous fight, strong stance and effective leadership in thwarting Thomas Rochos' intrusion and saving the church in Malabar from schism.

Amidst his diverse and manifold activities he found time and leisure to write a few books, both prose and verse for the benefit of the faithful. His counsels to the Christian families given in the form a "Testament of a Loving Father" are universally applicable and are relevant to this day. Essentially a man of prayer and intense charity, he stayed in close communion with the Lord amidst his several religious and social activities permeating his spirituality to all around him, so much so that he was accepted and referred to as a man of God, from his early years.

In 1871, on January 3rd, Fr.Kuriakose Elias Chavara after a short but painful illness, died at Koonammavu preserving his baptismal innocence. His mortal remains were later transferred from Koonammavu to Mannanam in 1889 and are piously kept in St.Joseph's Monastery.

The diocesan process for his beatification was inaugurated by the Archbishop of Changanacherry on January 3rd, 1958 at the request of the late Rev.Fr.Maurus CMI the then Prior General.

The Sacred Congregation having scrutinized the writings of the Servant of God and other relevant documents formally introduced the cause on March 15th 1980. On April 7, 1984, Pope John Paul II solemnly declared the heroic virtues of the Servant of God thus elevating him to the status of Venerable. On February 8, 1986 during his historic visit to Kottayam, Kerala, Pope John Paul II raised venerable Servant of God Kuriakose Elias Chavara to the honours of the Altar declaring him "BLESSED".

Fr.Thomas Porukara was born on Dec.27, 1799 in Porukara Family of Champakulam Praish. He was ordained on Sept.22, 1823.

Fr.Thomas Porukara is one of the founders of our Congregation. He had his priestly training in a Latin seminary enabling him to learn Latin language and traditions. Ordained at the age of 23, he was first appointed to his home parish, Champakulam. Being a great devotee of St.Joseph, Fr.Thomas encouraged people to grow in that devotion. This devotion of his was instrumental in dedicating the Church and Monastery at Mannanam in the name of St.Joseph.

After two years of service at Champakulam, Fr.Thomas was transferred to Thankasserry as the vicar of the Latin Church there. He introduced the tradition of Sunday homily. His abiding interest in silence and prayer prompted him to work for the foundation of the first indigenous religious congregation. With the foundation of the church and house at Mannanam, this dream was partially realized, though Fr.Porukara did not live to see the day, when the first eleven fathers took their vows in 1855. He was called to eternal rest on January 8, 1846, and was buried in Mannanam.