Varghese Payyappilly Palakkappilly
| Varghese Payyappilly Palakkappilly | |
|---|---|
 Varghese Payyappilly Palakkappilly | |
| Born |
8 August 1876 Perumanoor, Kerala, India |
| Died |
5 October 1929 (aged 53) Konthuruthy, Kerala, India[citation needed] |
| Honored in | Syro-Malabar Catholic Church |
| Feast | 5 October |
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Varghese Payyappilly Palakkappilly was a Syrian Catholic (Syro-Malabar Catholic) priest from the Indian state of Kerala and the founder of the Congregation of the Sisters of the Destitute. He was declared as Servant of God by Varkey Vithayathil, Major Archbishop of the Syro-Malabar Catholic Church in 2009.[1]
Family
Varghese Payyappilly Palakkappilly was one of five children. He was born as Kunjuvaru on 8 August 1876 at Perumanoor to Payyappilly Palakkappilly Lonan and Kunjumariam. Payyappilly Palakkappilly is an ancient Saint Thomas Christian family in India.[2] His family had a close involvement with the Church.[3]
Early life
Varghese was educated in the parish school at Perumanoor and at St. Albert's School, Ernakulam. He received his religious training from the Central Seminary at Puthenpally and the Papal Seminary at Kandy, Sri Lanka. He was ordained a priest on 21 December 1907. He learned the Syriac language under the guidance of Mar Aloysius Pazheparambil.[4]
Palakkappilly served as parish priest in Kadamakkudy (1909–11), Alengad (1911–13) and Arakuzha (1920–22). During his tenure in St. Mary's Syro-Malabar Catholic Forane Church, Arakuzha he began the St. Mary's Higher Seconday School there. His efforts transformed the parish and helped to solve many long-lasting family problems. He gave the lands to the tenants of the church and had some profitable land purchased for the church, thus making it self-sufficient.[4] He also purchased 12 acres (49,000 m2) of land in M. C. Road for constructing St. Joseph's Syrian Catholic Church in Meenkunnam.[5]
Later life
He was manager of St. Mary's High School, Aluva, Travancore, between 1913–1920 and 1922–1929. The school had lost its recognition in 1909.[4] According to Joseph Parecattil, who was a pupil at the time, the school was a seedbed of priestly vocations during Palakkappilly's tenure.[6]
Palakkappilly served as a member of the Diocesan Council, as Director of Apostolic Union as well as Priests' Provident Fund. He was a good mediator and people approached him seeking solutions to their problems.[6] He was held in great honour by the church authorities and equally by the officials in the education department and government officers.[4] His concern and care for the poor and the suffering were noted particularly in the way he helped the victims of a flood in 1924: he turned St. Mary's High School into a shelter for the suffering people and brought food for them in a hired boat.[2]
Sisters of the Destitute
On 19 March 1927, Palakkappilly founded the Sisters of the Destitute in Chunangamvely. This organisation was intended to continue what he saw as Christ’s redemptive mission among the poor. He found abandoned people, brought them to the shelter of the Home for the Aged and nursed them. The S.D. was originally named Little Sisters of the Poor but in 1933 the name was changed to Sisters of the Destitute in order not to be confused with another congregation having the same title.[4]
Death
Palakkappilly fell ill in September 1929 and eventually was hospitalised. He died of typhoid on 5 October 1929 and was buried in St. John Nepumsian Syrian Catholic Church, Konthuruthy.[4]
Cause of Canonization
The Cause of the Beatification of Palakkappilly was initiated on 6 September 2009.[7] Subsequently, in February 2011, his remains were exhumed, identified and transferred to a new tomb.[8] The Miracle Tribunal that had been established to study the miraculous healing of Sr. Mercina through Palakkappilly's intercession was closed in May 2012[9] and the Archdiocesan Tribunal was closed in November 2012.[9]
Gallery
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Elder members of the Payyappilly Palakkappilly family at the tomb of Varghese Payyappilly Palakkappilly during his 50th Dukrana on 5 October 1979
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Kanjirappally bishop Mar Mathew Arackal and others at the tomb of Varghese Payyappilly Palakkappilly during his 81st Dukrana
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Tomb of Varghese Payyappilly Palakkappilly at St. John Nepumsian Syrian Catholic Church, Konthuruthy
References
- ↑ Syro Malabar Church Official Website
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Sisters of the Destitute Founder
- ↑ Obituary - Priests, Archdiocese of Ernakulam-Angamaly
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 Sr. Savio S.D., Springs of Compassion — Biography of the Servant of God Varghese Payapilly Palakkappilly
- ↑ http://www.ernakulamarchdiocese.org/payyappilly.pdf
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Cardinal Joseph Parecattil, I as Seen by Myself — Autobiography of Cardinal Joseph Parecattil, pp.128–138
- ↑ Varghese Payapilly Palakkappilly
- ↑ "Daivadasan" (in Malayalam). Ernakulam Missam. March 2011.
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 "Archdiocesan Tribunal Closing" (in Malayalam). Ernakulam Missam. November 2012.