Prot. No. 935/2005
PASTORAL LETTER ON EUPHRASIA
VARKEY CARDINAL VITHAYATHIL, the
Major Archbishop of
Ernakulam-Angamaly, to the
Archbishops, Bishops, priests, Men
and Women Religious and Lay Faithful
of the Syro-Malabar Church,
blessings and peace in our Lord
Jesus Christ.
Venerable Brothers and Beloved
Children,
The
Kerala Church is nearing a moment of
great joy and pride in its history.
Venerable Euphrasia of Ollur is
about to be declared Blessed, the
5th in the line of the Blessed in
the Syro-Malabar Church. The Sacred
Day fixed for this declaration is 3
December 2006. Then, along with
Blessed Chavara Kuriakose Elias,
Blessed Alphonsa, Blessed Mariam
Thressia and Blessed Thevarparambil
Kunjachan, Mother Euphrasia also
will be raised to the honours of the
Altar. The Universal Church, in
particular the Kerala Church greatly
rejoices on this occasion and offers
thanks to the Almighty God.
Mother
Euphrasia (Rosa) was born on 17
October 1877, in Kattoor, in the
parish of Edathuruthy, which
belonged at that time to the Diocese
of Trichur (now in the diocese of
Irinjalakuda). Rosa was the eldest
child of Eluvathingal Cherpukaran
Antony and Kunjethy. On the 8th
day she was baptised in the
Edathuruthy Church. She got good
Christian training from her mother.
From younger days she showed great
interest in devotional exercises and
acts of self-sacrifice. She also
manifested great devotion to the
Blessed Mother and the Rosary.
Rosa
was greatly desirous of offering
herself to God and leading a
consecrated life though she was
living amidst the luxury of a lordly
family. She prayed earnestly, and
boldly overcame the strong
opposition from her stubborn father.
In her twelfth year, Rosa joined the
boarding attached to the first
indigenous Carmelite Community
founded by Blessed Chavara Kuriakose
Elias and Rev. Leopold Beccaro in
1866.
She was
often disturbed by her ailments. Yet
she excelled in the spirit of prayer
and the constant practice of the
presence of the God, and in her
interest in the devotional
exercises. Rosa was miraculously
healed of a fatal disease in 1889 by
the vision of the Holy Family. With
that her vocation to Religious Life
was confirmed.
In
1897, Mar John Menachery, the first
native Bishop of Trichur,
established a Carmelite Convent in
Ambazakad (now belonging to the
Diocese of Irinjalakuda). Then he
brought from Koonammavu all who
belonged to his Diocese including
Rosa on 9th May. On the
next day Rosa received her headdress
and the name “Euphrasia of the
Sacred Heart of Jesus”, and in 1898
the Religious Habit of Carmel. Sr.
Euphrasia faced all obstacles in
life with constant prayer and
unwavering trust in God.
Sr.
Euphrasia took her perpetual vows on
24 May 1900 during the blessing of
the newly founded convent at Ollur.
Until she was called to her eternal
reward in 1952, Sister Euphrasia
lived and served almost 48 years
there, with a short break in
between.
After
she took her perpetual vows, Sr.
Euphrasia was appointed Novice
Mistress. She paid much attention to
her duty and performed it with great
discernment. Later as Asst.
Superior, and Superior, Sr.
Euphrasia manifested great care and
vigilance in her responsibilities.
She was ever eager to do her tasks
with deep humility and to dispense
gladly the spiritual gifts God had
endowed her with for the good of
others. Sr. Euphrasia desired to do
humble tasks and to show loving
kindness to the sick and to the
domestic servants.
God has
willed in His infinite mercy that
Sr. Euphrasia, who was born in the
latter part of the 19th
century, and who led a hidden life
in Carmel in the early half of the
20th Century, be raised
to the honours of the Altar.
According to John Paul II, “A
distinctive aspect of ecclesial
communion is allegiance of mind and
heart to the Magisterium of
the Bishops, an allegiance which
must be lived honestly and clearly
testified to before the people of
God by all consecrated persons” (V.C.
46). These words of the Holy Father
have been realized in sister
Euphrasia in anticipation. In
Euphrasia we witness, how the
Religious by their presence,
suffering, prayer and sacrifice,
accompany in the day-to-day life of
the Church, the Ecclesial
authorities, and the people of God.
Mar
John Menachery, the first native
bishop of the diocese of Trichur,
guided her as spiritual director for
two decades. Having observed some
extraordinary mystical events in Sr.
Euphrasia’s life, he directed her to
write them down. We have now around
80 such letters written by her to
the Bishop and which he preserved.
Sr.
Euphrasia who kept great intimacy
with the Sacred Heart of Jesus,
stayed long hours daily before the
Blessed Sacrament. She was
extraordinarily eager and steadfast
in spending her time in tender
loving conversation with Jesus and
in silent adoration. She was known
among the people as “the Praying
Mother”. She desired to identify
herself with the Crucified Lord.
She manifested surpassing patience
and stability in faith amidst the
long-sufferings and afflictions
caused by the powers of darkness.
Though
Mother Euphrasia lived in Carmel at
a time when Carmelite sisters could
not go out of the convent walls to
do apostolic work, people came even
from distant places, seeking the
Praying Mother to get solace and
support in their sufferings. She
taught them how to keep fidelity in
one’s state of life and how to trust
in the Lord in one’s fears and
anxieties. She also taught them that
‘even if we lack in riches, never to
lack in virtue’. She also imparted
to them the experiential knowledge
of how to secure good jobs,
successful marriage alliances, the
gift of children, success in
examinations and peace at home
through prayer, sacramental life and
through devotion to the Rosary. She
taught them, instructed them and
convinced them of the love of God
through the practice of prayer. Let
us praise and thank the Lord that
Mother Euphrasia who interceded for
the people through her ascetic life
has been declared a Blessed
religious for our times.
As the
fragrance of the holiness of this
virgin spread everywhere, Mar Joseph
Kundukulam, the bishop of Trichur,
started the initial steps for the
Beatification process as he
instituted the Diocesan Tribunal for
the Cause of Mother Euphrasia in
1987. When Pope John Paul II on 5
July 2002, declared the heroic
practice of the theological virtues
and the cardinal virtues of Mother
Euphrasia, she was called Venerable.
On 26 June 2006 when Pope Benedict
XVI confirmed the miracle done
through her intercession, all steps
in the process of Beatification were
completed.
His
Holiness Pope Benedict XVI has
appointed me as his representative
to declare Mother Euphrasia Blessed
on Sunday, 3 December 2006 at
Euphrasia Nagar, St. Antony’s Forane
Church, Ollur, Trichur. Let us bless
the Lord for this great opportunity,
for this sacred moment in the
history of the Syro-Malabar Church.
May it have great spiritual impact
on our lives and on our people!
Invoking God’s blessing upon you, in
the name of + the Father and of +
the Son and of + the Holy Spirit.
+Varkey
Cardinal Vithayathil
Major
Archbishop of the Syro-Malabar
Church
Given
from the Major Archiepiscopal Curia
of the Syro-Malabar Church at Mount
St Thomas on 15th October
2006.
________________________________________________________________________
N.B:
This pastoral letter is to be read
out during the Holy Mass on Sunday,
12th November 2006 in all
churches and chapels of the Syro-Malabar
Church where there is Sunday Mass
for the public. |
