Baselios Augen I
Holy Apostolic See of Saint Thomas | |
---|---|
Installed | 22 May 1964 |
Term ended | 24 September 1975 |
Predecessor | Baselios Geevarghese II |
Successor | Baselios Marthoma Mathews I |
Orders | |
Ordination | 1908 by Sleeba Osthathios |
Consecration | 15 May 1927 by Ignatius Elias III |
Personal details | |
Born | 26 June 1884 |
Died | 3 December 1975 Kottayam, Kerala, India | (aged 91)
Buried | Catholicate Palace, Devalokam, Kottayam, Kerala, India |
Baselios Augen I was the 17th
Early days and education
He was born on 26 June 1884 at
In the Middle East
In those days, Mathai met Dn. Sleeba from Syria (later Sleeba Osthathios Metropolitan). Together they visited almost every Church in Malankara. Mathai used to translate the Syriac speeches of Sleeba. Mathai left for Syria with Sleeba in 1905, and was ordained Deacon at Mar Mathai Dayaro (St. Mathew's Monastery) in Assyria. During his stay at the oldest monastery of Mar Augen in Tur-Abdin, Mathai adopted the name Augen. He stayed for a few days with the Patriarch of Antioch,
While staying at Tur-Abdin, Augen Ramban corresponded with some of the leaders in Malankara. He provided the information about the deposed Patriarch Ignatius Abdul Masih II to the Metropolitan Vattasseril Dionysius.
Return to India and Ordination
On his return to Malankara, Augen Ramban was ordained to priesthood by Metropolitan Sleeba Osthathios at Kottayam Cheriya Palli (an ancient Church in Kottayam). In 1909, Fr. Augen Ramban accompanied Patriarch Abdulla and Metropolitan Osthathios to the churches they visited, to translate their speeches. He was impartial in the factional disputes in the Malankara Church. When Patriarch Ignatius Abdul Masih II arrived in Malankara in 1912, Fr. Augen visited him at St. Mary's Church, Niranam and held an audience with the Patriarch. There he also attended the enthronement ceremony of Metropolitan Paulos Ivanios as the Catholicos of the East Baselios Paulos I. Later he left for Madras to serve the faithful and conduct Holy Mass there.
He was consecrated as Metropolitan by name Thimotheos on 15 May 1927 at Jerusalem by the
In the late 1930s he left that faction and joined the faction of Malankara Church which submitted to the authority of the Catholicos of the East. He later became the Principal of the
Catholicos of the East and Malankara Metropolitan (1964–75)
After the Supreme court order in 1958 which ended the half-a-century long litigations, the two factions of Malankara Church re-united as the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church as part of the Syrian Orthodox Church, under the 1934 Constitution.[1]
When the re-unified Malankara Association met at Niranam on 17 May 1962, Augen Thimotheos was elected as the successor-designate to the Catholicos of the East
In his speech during the enthronement, the Patriarch told the multitude gathered to witness the occasion:
You must conserve the peace established in Malankara very firmly. That would be your precious present for me. Moreover you must lead a holy spiritual life. There will not be any use to the Church or for anybody to talk about or make quarrel on the basis of the rifts which existed in the Malankara Church. If somebody is trying to create problems based on the previous unpleasant events, they will have the fate of the wife of Lot.
On 20 November 1964, it was decided to consecrate a few more Bishops, considering the progress of the Church.
Visit of Pope Paul VI
Pope
Addis Ababa conference
In January 1965, 81-year-old Augen I attended the
The conference began on 15 January. Patriarch Ya'qub II, Armenian Supreme Catholicos Vazken I, Catholicos Augen I, Catholicos of Cilicia Khoren and Abune Theophilos(then deputy of the Patriarch of Ethiopia) were seated on both sides of the Emperor on the dais. The emperor inaugurated the function. From 18 January onwards, several important decisions were taken at the Conference with regard to Orthodoxy.
On 25 January, Augen I along with the Indian delegation reached Cairo as the guests of the Coptic Orthodox Church and visited the important Churches and places there. Two days later, they went to Jerusalem. After visiting Beirut and Antelias ( the seat of the Catholicos of Cilicia), the party reached Damascus on 3 February. The Patriarch Ignatius Ya'qub III gave a warm reception to the Catholicos and the members of the Indian delegation. After holding friendly dialogue with the Patriarch, the Catholicos visited Homs, Aleppo, Hesakka, Derik and Mosul.
Relics of Apostle St. Thomas
At Mosul, the Patriarch Ya'qub III and Metropolitan
The Catholicos and the delegation then visited Baghdad, Basra, Bahrain, Qatar and the Malankara Syriac Orthodox Congregations there, and then returned to India. The holy relic of St. Thomas is kept at the Catholicate Palace, Devalokam, Kottayam.
Consecrations and important declarations
By the end of March 1966, Augen declared Mar Elia Chapel, Kottayam as the official Thronal Cathedral of the Catholicos of the East.
On 24 August 1966, Augen I elevated Yuhanon Severios,
As Catholicos of the East, Augen I consecrated the
Second rift of the Malankara Syrian Church
By the early 1970s, there was a second rift in the
Syriac scholarship
Having stayed at the various Syrian Orthodox monasteries in Turkey and Syria, he came in contact with various Syriac scholars which helped him to master the Syriac Church language. With his mastery of the Malayalam, Sanskrit and Syriac languages, he composed the 'Pemkisa (Fenqitho) Namaskaram' in Syriac for the feasts of St.Mary and St. Gregorios of Parumala and translated them into Malayalam. His major translations from Syriac are 'Prumiyonukal', ' Valiya Nombilae Namaskaram', 'Pattamkoda Shushrusha Kramangal' and 'Pallikoodasha Kramangal'. He also composed the 'Hoothomo' for 'Holy Synods' and the 'State after death'.
Retirement and death
Due to ill health from old age, Baselios Augen I relinquished the throne on 24 September 1975 and Baselios Marthoma Mathews I was installed as the Catholicos.
Two months later, on 8 December 1975, Baselios Augen I died and was buried at the Catholicate Palace, Devalokam, Kottayam. The Church celebrates the memorial feast of the Catholicos on 8 December.[8]
Further reading
- H.H. BASELIOS AUGEN I FOURTH CATHOLICOSE [1964-1975] By EDITOR DR. RAJAN MATHEW, PHILADELPHIA
- K. V. Mammen Kottackal & Jose Kurien Puliyeril; Mar Augen Catholicos, the Strong Prelate Behind the Catholicate (Biography in English); Kottackal Publishers, published May 1976.
- K. V. Mammen Kottackal; MAR AUGEN BAVA The Guard of Catholicate (മാർ ഔഗേൻ ബാവാ, കാതോലിക്കേറ്റിന്റെ കാവൽഭടൻ - Biography in Malayalam); Kottackal Publishers, Manganam, Kottayam; Third Impression : 8 December 2000. [pdf - https://web.archive.org/web/20120113054439/http://www.malankaraorthodoxtv.in/Books/Biography%20of%20Augen%20Bava.pdf]
- malankaraorthodoxchurch.in - HH Baselios Augen I
- Photos of Catholicos of the East Baselios Augen I - oldphotos.marthoman.tv Archived 3 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine
- Dedicated portal on Addis Ababa Conference, powered by the Orthodoxy Cognate PAGE
See also
- Catholicos of the East and Malankara Metropolitan
- List of Catholicos of the East
References
- ^ "THE CONSTITUTION OF THE MALANKARA ORTHODOX SYRIAN CHURCH" (PDF).
- ^ "» HH Baselios Augen I, Catholicos of the EastMOSC Old Photos". Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 28 May 2014.
- ^ "全富购彩 - 百度百科". Archived from the original on 16 June 2018. Retrieved 28 May 2014.
- ^ "» HH Baselius Augen I Catholicos visits HH Paul VI Pope at BombayMOSC Old Photos". Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 24 June 2014.
- ^ K. V. Mammen Kottackal & Jose Kurien Puliyeril; Augen Catholicos, the Strong Prelate Behind the Catholicate; published May 1976
- ^ "Oriental Orthodox Research Center | Autonomous".
- ^ Thalakkulath, Fr. T. C. Jacob (June 1965). എത്യോപ്യൻ സുന്നഹദോസും വിശുദ്ധനാട് സന്ദർശനവും [The Synod/Conference in Ethiopia and Visit to Holy Land] (in Malayalam). India: MOC Publications, Kottayam. p. 14.
- ^ "The Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church". Retrieved 7 September 2019. [failed verification]