St. Gregorios of Parumala
Saint Gregorios of Parumala, affectionately called ‘Parumala Kochuthirumeni,’ was a metropolitan of the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church in India founded in 52 AD by St Thomas, the apostle of Christ. He was born in an aristocratic family in a village called Mulanthuruthy near Cochin in Kerala on 15th June, 1848. From his childhood he began leading a pious life and was elevated to the bishopric rank at his young age of 27. His full name was Geevarghese Mar Gregorios. He led a saintly life by setting a role model as a hermit and a loving Spiritual father. He led many a people into the light of Christ amidst severe hardships. He was popularly recognised as a saint even when he was alive. He had full reliance on God’s care and guidance. He was a man of unique charisma who could win the love of both the elite and the ordinary people alike. His rigorous religious life and fervent prayers made him a wizard of doing wonder-works and miracles. Because of his constant communion with the Triune God, he was filled with Holy Spirit. With the power he possessed, he could cast out demons in the name of God almighty and could heal many sick persons. He was a man who had no delicacy in humbling himself even before his subordinates but he always found happiness in highlighting his master Jesus through his thoughts, words and deeds in each of his life moment. He was looked upon with great reverence by everyone because of his unique lifestyle of simplicity, deep faith in God, and sense of humility.
He entered into the heavenly abode on 2nd November 1902, and was entombed in the St Peter’s and St. Paul’s Orthodox Syrian Church at Parumala, a serene place surrounded by the holy river- Pumba- at the meeting point of Alappuzha and Pathanamthitta districts in Kerala of India peninsula. He was the first Indian to be declared a saint. It was a coincidence that his canonisation to sainthood happened in 1947, the very same year when India got independence. Thenceforth, his tomb has become a pilgrim centre which attracts many a devotee to that shrine and acts as a source of blessings and spring of solace to all who seek his intercession before his Lord and Master Jesus Christ. He shines as a silver star in the cloud of witnesses shedding rays of hope to millions in their sufferings and struggles as has been prophesied in the book of Daniel 12:3.
He, who was the contemporary of the great sages of India- Swami Vivekananda, Mahatma Gandhi, and Sri Narayana Guru - worked laboriously for the uplift and enlightenment of the poor and the marginalised in the society. Though his life span was short, he could render great many things to safeguard the Orthodox faith in the soil of India. His writings on his journey to the holy land- Jerusalem- has widely been eulogised as the first ideal travelogue in the firmament of Malayalam literature. He can be best qualified for the title ‘the Prophet Elijah of India’ and the magnificent Church erected adjacent to his tomb at Parumala for the title the ‘Temple of Jerusalem in India’.
Fr. T George, Ireland