Syro-Malabar Catholicism
Lent looks different for Syro-Malabar Catholics
While Roman Catholics account for nearly 99 percent of the worldwide Catholic population, the remaining 1 percent is made up of about 17 million people who belong to more than 20 Eastern Catholic churches, according to the Annuario Pontificio 2018. Each of those Eastern churches is considered fully equal in dignity to the Latin tradition.
There are some pretty substantial differences between the practices of Eastern churches and the Roman Catholic Church. For example, many of the Eastern rites admit married men to the priesthood in their region of origin, though they do not permit marriage after ordination.
The Syro-Malabar rite, also known as St. Thomas Christians, is an Eastern church based in Kerala, India. It has more than 4 million followers worldwide and roughly 90,000 in the United States, according to documents from the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.
Fr. Shiju Paul, SVD was born and raised in this rite. Today, Fr. Shiju lives at the Divine Word Theologate in Chicago where he serves as formator and also works with a group of men and women in the city who are HIV positive, incarcerated, unhoused or part of the LGBTQIA community.
Fr. Shiju’s home parish in Kerala is more than 1,000 years old and its rich history is preserved in writing on palm leaves. Growing up, he says his life was “entirely guided by the cycle of faith followed by the church.”
For followers of the Syro-Malabar rite, the Liturgical Season of Lent is called 50Nombu and begins on Ash Monday, two days before those in the Latin rite observe Ash Wednesday. It lasts for 50 days because the Sundays are counted and in Kerala, Fr. Shiju said most Christians abstain from meat the entire time.
The Sunday prior to Lent is called Pethratha Sunday, which is derived from the Syriac word Peturta, meaning “looking back” or “reconciliation.” On this day, Christians in Kerala prepare a traditional dish called Pidiyum Kozhiyum, consisting of rice dumplings in a thick sauce.
On Palm Sunday morning or the night before, Syro-Malabar Catholics make a sweet rice-based dish called kozhukatta.
Holy Thursday is called Pesaha and those in the Syro-Malabar rite observe it by sharing an unleavened bread called Pesaha appam with Passover coconut milk. Before the bread is baked, a cross is made on it out of blessed palm leaves from the preceding Palm Sunday. The head of the family reads a Bible passage about the Last Supper while the bread is broken into 13 pieces to represent Jesus and the Twelve Apostles. The same ritual takes place in parishes in the evening.
Mark Varghese, a senior at Divine Word College in Epworth, Iowa was baptized and raised in the Latin rite but his parents were both brought up in the Syro-Malabar rite. When he was a child, Mark’s family occasionally attended Syro-Malabar services, known as Holy Qurbana. He said he remembers receiving Pesaha appam at the end of Lenten services and feeling a sense of community and celebration as he ate and drank with the other people at the church.
Good Friday services take all day for most Syro-Malabar Catholics. They begin early in the morning and are followed by a solemn Way of the Cross and public procession with the crucifix in the late afternoon. At the end of the ceremony, Fr. Shiju said church goers drink choruka, a concoction made of bitter gourd juice and vinegar that helps them recall the memory of Jesus being offered vinegar when he was thirsty on the cross.
Varghese
Good Friday services take all day for most Syro-Malabar Catholics. They begin early in the morning and are followed by a solemn Way of the Cross and public procession with the crucifix in the late afternoon. At the end of the ceremony, Fr. Shiju said church goers drink choruka, a concoction made of bitter gourd juice and vinegar that helps them recall the memory of Jesus being offered vinegar when he was thirsty on the cross.
“Children take just a sip because it’s really bitter when you drink it,” Varghese said. “It helps you to look back and really reflect on the Passion of Christ.”
On Holy Saturday, new fire and water are blessed in the morning and the solemn Easter Liturgy begins at 3 a.m. on Easter Sunday.
Around 1,000 families belong to the Mar Thoma Sleeha Cathedral, also known as St. Thomas Syro Malabar Catholic Cathedral of Chicago, in Bellwood, Ill. It is one of three Syro-Malabar churches in the Chicago area.
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