🇮🇳 🇻🇦 𝗕𝗹𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗲𝗱 𝗔𝘂𝗴𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗲 𝗧𝗵𝗲𝘃𝗮𝗿𝗽𝗮𝗿𝗮𝗺𝗯𝗶𝗹 𝗞𝘂𝗻𝗷𝗮𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗻
Priest ( ✝️ 1973 Anno Domini A.D.) Feast: 16 October
𝘈𝘯 𝘜𝘯𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘢𝘳𝘬𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘗𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘞𝘩𝘰 𝘉𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘈𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘵𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 "𝘜𝘯𝘵𝘰𝘶𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦𝘴"
Blessed Augustine Thevarparambil Kunjachan was rather unremarkable. He was a short man with no particular talents to speak of - he wasn't a theologian 📚 or a great orator 🗣️ . But by virtue of his priesthood, he was a father. And as a father, he changed the lives of thousands of outcasts, simply because he loved them 💗 .
#Catholic
https://www.instagram.com/p/CVEbXiMINWS/
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/57977545-pray-for-us
https://gab.com/adagioforstrings/posts/115381044377405459
https://truthsocial.com/group/catholics-on-truth/posts/115381019731358875
Born to a Syro-Malabar family in the Kerala region of India , and area with many Catholics, Augustine was the youngest child in his family and always the shortest in his class, never reaching even five feet. He was ordained a priest at age thirty and given the nickname Kunjachan (Little Father) because of his diminutive stature 🤏 . For a few years, Kunjachan lived the ordinary life of a parochial vicar, but he was compelled to move back home to recuperate from a serious illness 🤒 .
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https://www.facebook.com/muttarkoventhachurch/posts/pfbid0TXYc918ncozzLsLMpHUJ3yVd7z71zUdB7VLYN2vhBzj52vY8mBakpSTFqfErTHSKl
It was there that Kunjachan began to notice the plight of the people he (and most of India) had always overlooked: the Dalits (often called "untouchables"). These were people who were considered unclean by the caste system, who were treated as subhuman and used for what amounted to slave labor. Though St. Kuriakose Elias Chavra had devoted his life to their service, most Indians, Catholics and non-Catholics alike, had avoided contact with these abandoned children of God. For the first time, Kunjachan began to question this. He started visiting the Dalits in his home parish ⛪ , speaking to them about Jesus and inviting them to be baptized. Kunjachan wasn't a compelling speaker, nor a brilliant administrator capable of mobilizing missionaries into the slums. He was simply a father, and as a father he went searching for his Dalit children. Each day he rose at 4 a.m. 🕓 🌞 to celebrate Mass 🍷 🫓 and then set off with a catechist to visit his people. That he bothered to learn their names, let alone enter their homes, was a tremendous testimony to their dignity. He helped children obtain an education 🏫 👨🏫 👨🎓 , starting schools in sheds to fight the universal illiteracy among the Dalits, who were barred from entering the public schools. He assisted women in obtaining fair pay 💰 and helped change the narrative surrounding this people despised by their compatriots. But more than anything, he spoke the name of Jesus to people who were longing (perhaps more than most) for the love of Christ.
For nearly fifty years, Kunjachan lived with the Dalits, baptized them, and used any that came his way in their service ⚱️ . Rather than accept the lie that the Dalits were subhuman, he fought to honor their innate human dignity, whatever the cost. He ignored opposition from Christians and non-Christians, many of whom felt that his work was unbecoming a man of his status. Having encountered a God who gave his life for outcasts, Kunjachan disagreed.
Kunjachan had no interest in other people's good opinion. He worked for love of his people, not for any accolades that might come. And outside the parishes whose Dalit population he served (crossing parish boundaries to be with his people), he was almost entirely unknown. This humility gave him the freedom to be a true father to his people. At his funeral ⚰️ , the priest who buried him announced, "We are participating in the funeral of a saint." Unlike most graveside canonizations, this one wasn't hasty. It was the culmination of a life of humble service lived by an ordinary man with nothing to offer but the heart of the Father ❤️🔥 .
Many Saints have left behind organizations and foundations to continue their work long after their death, but not Kunjachan. In all his years of service, Kunjachan accomplished no systematic change, founded no hospitals 🏥 🚑 or universities. His work wasn't about changing the world but rather about speaking hope into one heart at a time. He was never even made a pastor, preferring the freedom of a lowlier position that allowed him to spend his days eating with the Dalits, sitting by their bedsides, praying 🙏, weeping, and hoping with them. Instead of leaving behind a legacy of foundations and structures, he left behind five thousand Catholic Dalits, men and women transformed by the love of Christ.
Augustine Thevarparambil Kunjachan is a Saint for the ordinary Christian, for all of us who find holiness not by headlines 📰 but by loving the person right in front of us 🫂 . Through his intercession, may we leave behind all desire for human respect and focus on doing small things with great love.
#BlessedAugustineThevarparambilKunjachan #PrayForUs #OraProNobis
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