Saint · Modern
St. Kuriakose Elias Chavara
1805–1871 · Syro-Malabar renewal; Carmelite spirituality
Canonized 2014; co-founder of the Carmelites of Mary Immaculate (CMI) and the Congregation of the Mother of Carmel.
A priest of the St. Thomas Christians of Kerala who founded the first indigenous religious congregations of the Syro-Malabar Church, established a Syriac printing press, attached a school to every parish, and as Vicar General held his Church to Catholic unity during the Roccos schism of 1861. His “Chronicles,” “Compunction of the Soul” and “Testament of a Loving Father” are classics of Malayalam Christian literature.
Why he matters: The first canonized saint of the Syro-Malabar Church and the shaper of its modern religious, educational and devotional life; the Church's Eastern lung in India breathes through him.
Reading
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Compunction of the Soul (Atmanuthapam)St. Kuriakose Elias Chavara · His devotional poem on the life of Christ and the soul's repentance.
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Testament of a Loving FatherSt. Kuriakose Elias Chavara · A short letter on Christian family life, still read in Kerala homes.
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Blessed Kuriakose Elias ChavaraThomas Panthaplackal, CMI (ed.) · A biography with his writings in context.
Documented positions
Where this thinker stands on each dispute the test covers.