150 Years of Testament of a Loving Father

THE DAY OF THE LORD‍

Sr Jesny CMC We who are at the dawn of the twenty-first century may wonder to realize that stability of the family in the second half of the eighteenth century was comparatively far better, though there existed illiteracy and false beliefs. It was from such a social setting that Saint Kuriakose Elias Chavara wrote “Oru […]

“DO NOT LET YOUR LITTLE CHILDREN GO OUT OF YOUR SIGHT”

Dr Sr Josephine Joseph CMC A Zen story speaks about a young man who once got a thorn on his foot while he went walking outside his village.After getting it removed he vowed for life that ever after he would hop on one leg when he would walk outside the village so as to avoid […]

Endeavour to Repair Old Things

Sr Guna CMC “Your heart will always be where your riches are.” (Mt 6:21) Family is the foundation of communities and cultures. So to sustain the family life safe and holy St Chavara wrote his forty-point ‘Magna Carta,’ precepts for a family or Testament of a Loving Father (Chavarul). In the first Part of the […]

Material and Spiritual Debts (No.3)

Sr Mareena CMC The fourth paragraph in the first part of the ‘Testament of a Loving Father’ teaches about material and spiritual debts. Regarding the material debts St Chavara advises that “do not borrow money if it is absolutely necessary. Try to clear the debts as quickly as possible. The family without debt is the […]

Children – God’s Investment in the Hands of Parents!

Benny Mukalel CMI The epoch making statement St Chavara reads: “Children, you are God’s investment in the hands of your parents.” This tells us that every child is held in God’s infinite tenderness, and God is present in each child. Every child has inestimable value. God has a heart for children, and his heart grieves […]

Saint Chavara – Champion of Families

Fr Saju Chackalackal CMI In the loving Providence of God and with far-reaching foresight, Saint Kuriakose Elias Chavara wrote Oru Nalla Appante Chavarul (Testament of a Loving Father) on 13 February 1868 to the people of Kainakary (Alappuzha) in Kerala, his own kith and kin united in ‘spirit and flesh.’ This insightful and down-to-earth document, […]

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