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HISTORY OF THE CAUSE OF SERVANT OF GOD DEVASAHAYAM The history of the Cause is presented here in four phases:
- Diocesan Phase II - Diocesan Phase III 1. Preliminary Phase
2. Introductory Phase First move by a group of Laity:
In this meeting, attended by "hundreds of Catholics" elected a three members committee to begin this great work: The group consisted of 1) Mr.Amalagiri Antonimuthu (a fifth-generation family member of Poet Thomman Thiru Muthu, a contemporary of Devasahayam who was with him in prison), a member of beatification committee of Bl. Alphonsa and the one to initiate the process among the laity, 2) Mr.Antony Thamburan, a Tamil scholar and a recent convert and 3) Mr.P.J.Dhas, a deputy director of All-India Radio, Thiruvananthapuram.
3. DIOCESAN PHASE I :
The work of the beatification committee from 1984 to 1992 had provided enough background to the Bishop of Kottar and the birth of the year 1993 saw a new beginning in the process of the cause. The Most Rev. Leon Tharmaraj initiated the diocesan phase by appointing Rev. Fr. A. Gabriel as Postulator (in the diocese) on 01.01.1993 (Norms, 2a). The newly appointed Diocesan Postulator of the cause took his oath in the presence of the Bishop (norms, 5a). If the Laity initiated the preliminary phase in the cause of the Servant of God, a layman martyr, it seems fit that the Laity of the diocese came in once again at the starting of the diocesan phase by presenting a requisition to the Conference of Regional Bishops, the Tamil Nadu Bishops' Council on 20 Feb. 1993, with translation in English. The Bishop of Kottar presented the cause at the meeting of the Regional Bishops of Tamil Nadu at Nagercoil on 01 March 1993. The cause was discussed in detail and the chairman of the Tamil Nadu Bishops' Council issued a Nihil Obstat (norms 11a, 1983). The Bishops of Tamil Nadu marked the occasion by a solemn Concelebration in St. Francis Xavier's Cathedral, Kottar The Bishop constituted a tribunal for the cause on 03 Dec. 1993, the Feast of St. Francis Xavier. The Presiding Judge, the Promoter of Justice and the Notary took oath in the presence of the Bishop on 14 Dec. 1993 (Norms, 5a). A Historical Commission was also constituted, consisting of 13 persons on 08 Dec. 1993. The preparatory Historical Commission held nine meetings up to 18 April 1995. Two of these meetings were held in the Bishops' House campus (14 & 26 March 1994). Seven meetings were held at Devasahayam Mount (14 April, 07 May, 10 June, 16 August, 23 August, 08 October 1994 and 14 Jan. 1995). The meetings were dedicated to share the findings of members on the life and the killing of Devasahayam for faith in Christ. The historical commission placed its findings in a report to the tribunal on 18 April 1995. The work of the first tribunal and its cessation: From the time of its constitution until 18 April 1995, the tribunal, either in part or in toto sat through all the meetings of the Historical Commission for 9 meetings in two years. The Notary, who also served as Secretary of the beatification committee, which included all members, had written the reports. However the Tribunal did not function formally because the Historical Commission had not completed its work nor had it presented a list of witness to be examined. The formal functioning of the first tribunal was altogether hindered at this stage by transfer of Rev. Fr. V. Paul Leon, the Presiding Judge, (who was also the Vicar General), as Professor in Regional Seminary in a distant city, and the transfer of Rev. Fr. George Ponnaiah, the Notary, from Devasahayam Mount to another parish. DIOCESAN PHASE II: This phase started with the appointment of Rev. Fr. Cruz M. Hieronymus as the new Vicar General. Between 14.11.1995 and 15.11.2003, exactly eight years, the beatification committee, which included the members of the Historical Commission and some more interested priests and lay persons, conducted 48 meetings; most of them presided over by the Vicar General. The following were the important points discussed in these meetings.
During the meeting of 17 June 1996, the historical committee dealt with the allegation that is found in some of the later writings that the Servant of God was condemned to death not because of his conversion to Christian faith, but either because of his involvement in transporting timber illegally to build a church in Nemon Mission or for some other reason. The committee refuted such allegations by referring to books in which these have been already dealt with (e.g. A.Madavadian, Devasahayam Pilla Charitram (Malayalam). Trivandrum: L. J. Fernandez & Sons, City Press, 1947 (First impression 1931). In March (25) and April (24,25,26) 1998, some members of the Historical Committee and some other members of the Beatification Committee made a visit to many places in Tamil Nadu where there were some traditions concerning the Servant of God. The first of such places was Avur a parish in the diocese of Tiruchirapalli. The team confirmed the fact that Fr. Buttari, S.J., who baptized Devasahayam in 1745 at Vadakkankulam, carried out the final phase of his ministry there from 1751, until his death in the same place in 1757. He is buried there. Gnanappu, the wife of the Servant of God, is said to have visited that place and carried on some mission work there until her death at Vadakkankulam in 1766. Other places visited were Vellode, Siriya Nayakkanpatti, Ponnumanthurai, Karisalpatti, Anumantharayankottai, Kosavapatti, Muthalagupatty, Mylapore, Manchampatti, Karungulam, Pugailaipatti and Purathakkudi. The visiting team gathered the following facts and pieces of information: It is unique that the mortal remains of a layperson were buried in front of the main altar in St. Francis Xavier's Cathedral, Kottar. The tomb lies buried with just an inscription on the floor. People who came in great numbers to visit the Church, which also housed a small church constructed during St. Francis Xavier's time, hardly noticed the tomb. Therefore the beatification committee decided to propose construction of a small monument at some place within the cathedral. The Bishop approved the idea and the small monument was constructed within the church, in order to remind the visitors of the presence of the tomb of the Servant of God. The monument was blessed on 03 Dec. 1999, the Feast of St. Francis Xavier, the Patron of the diocese. In its usual monthly meeting on 11 July 2000, the beatification committee discussed ways and means of making the people of the diocese aware of what is being done for the beatification of Devasahayam and to get the people more actively involved in the process. As one of the ways of achieving this, the committee decided to propose to the Bishop the observance of January 14, the day of killing of the Servant of God as "Martyr Devasahayam Day" every year. To initiate this annual observance, the Bishop sent out a circular to be read in all the churches of the diocese on Epiphany Sunday 2001 No.24, English translation published in the diocesan News Letter-KNL). In that circular, the Bishop called for a diocesan pilgrimage on Jan. 14 to Devasahayam Mount. 14.01.2001 was observed as "Martyr Devasahayam Day" by the diocese at Devasahayam Mount in the presence of a large crowd of pilgrims coming by vans, cars, buses and bikes from all over the diocese. The Vicar General, Msgr. E. John Kulandai presided over the concelebration, during which prayers were offered for the beatification of the Servant of God and offerings were collected for the same purpose. The committee discussed at length the reasons for keeping or for dropping the suffix "Pillai", usually appended to the name of the Sevant of God. "Pillai" is understood as a caste name in Tamil Nadu, since it is appended to the male names of persons belonging to one particular "high" caste. After a heated discussion the committee decided to drop it for the following reasons: In the meetings of the beatification committee (which is usually held together with the meeting of the Historical Commission, the absence of a sufficiently documented book on the Servant of God was brought to fore (07.01.2000, 11.07.2000). The committee decided to ask Rev. Dr. Narchison to take up that work in the name of the Committee. It was also decided to authorize him to make such research journeys as may be necessary, so that the committee may be able to bring out the book as soon as possible. Accordingly the diocesan administration commissioned Fr. Nachison with the work. He took up journeys in India and abroad (Rome and Lisbon) from September to November 2001. Between 11 Dec. 2001 and 18 May 2002, the committee sat up to discuss the draft of the six chapters of the book. As an important process towards the completion of the work, Dr. Narchison, accompanied by Fr.A.Gabriel, the diocesan Postulator and Fr.R.Antony, the Archivist of the diocese of Kottar and Mr. G. Varghese Antony, the member of the Beatification Committee visited some important places connected with the life and death of the servant of God. The group had also a meeting and discussion with the historian, Mr. Amalagiri P. Anthonimuthu, at his residence. The work was completed on 03 Dec. 2002, the Feast of St. Francis Xavier, the Patron of the diocese, and was released in a grand function on the occasion of "Martyr Devasahayam Day", 14 January 2003 titled: MARTYR DEVASAHAYAM: A DOCUMENTED HISTORY (J. Rosario Narchison, Martyr Devasahayam: a Documented History, Nagercoil: Assisi Offset Press, 2002). The committee considered this English work as a completion of its work for the Cause in its diocesan phase. There was a sense of fulfilment and the committee began preparation of what is to be submitted to the Congregation for Causes of Saints. The Beatification Committee decided to summarize the book into 50 articles to be submitted to Rome. Dr. Narchison drafted it and the Vicar General, Dr. John Kulandai presented the final draft, carrying out the amendments proposed by the committee which approved the document on 8 July 2003. As preparations were going on for the presentation of the Cause to the Holy Sea, the committee saw it fitting to support the efforts by a renewed prayer throughout the diocese. The Bishop approved the new prayer on 26 Oct. 2003 based on the prayer already being said No.28 with translation dated 01-01-2004). This prayer was circulated to all the parishes with the proposal to recite the prayer before the final blessing at every Holy Mass in parishes. SOLEMN INAUGURATION OF THE DIOCESAN ENQUIRY OPENING SESSION
The Reverend A. Gabriel, the Vice-Postulator
of the Cause, read out before the large assembly, at which were
present many priests, religious and distinguished lay people,
the mandate of his appointment as Vice-Postulator and handed it
to the presiding bishop. Bishop Leon A. Tharmaraj inspected the
mandate and passed it on to the Episcopal Delegate, who in turn
passed it on to the Promoter of Justice, so that they also could
verify it. As all of them found it in order, the Bishop handed
it over to me, the Chancellor, to be registered among the acts
of the Opening Session.
After him the Episcopal Delegate, the Deputy Episcopal Delegate, the Promoter of Justice, the Notary, the Vice-Notary, the two Translators and the three Copyists took their oaths. Finally, the Vice-Postulator took the prescribed oath. He then presented to the Bishop the documents pertaining to the setting up of the Diocesan Enquiry. The Vice-Postulator presented to the Bishop also the list of witnesses, reserving to himself the right to produce other witnesses as shall be deemed necessary. The Bishop then ordered that these documents, along with the signed formulae of the oath, be inserted into the acts of this opening session. He also ordered me, the undersigned Chancellor, to prepare the necessary letters to the Bishops of those dioceses, where the listed witnesses are living. He then decreed that the next session will be held on 4th July 2006 in the Tribunal Hall at the Kottar Animation Centre, Bishop's House, Nagercoil, for the purpose of examining witnesses. He then ordered me to issue citations to the Promoter of Justice and to one of the witnesses on the list submitted by the Vice-Postulator of the Cause. The latter proposed Bro. Paul Chinnappan S.J., whose name is on the list. The Bishop then ordered me to establish a public record of whatever was accomplished in this first session. As proof of this, the same Bishop Leon A. Tharmaraj, the Episcopal Delegate, together with the Promoter of Justice and the Notary, signed as follows:
Concerning all the above-mentioned things so done, I, B. Dionysius, Chancellor of the Diocese of Kottar, have effected this public document and, as required by law, I have signed it in faith and hereunder placed my seal. Done at St. Francis Xavier's Cathedral, Kottar, on the 3rd day of July, in the year of Our Lord 2006. sd. B. Dionysius Chancellor.
4.ROMAN PHASE:
November 2003 was an important month to remember. It was during this month that the Cause of the Servant of God Devasahayam was submitted to the Roman Congregation for Cause of Saints. It was a happy coincidence, that by the Holy Providence of God, we believe, that the Ad Limina visit of the Bishops of the Region of Tamil Nadu, was to take place at the same time. Having sent an application in duplicate and with all necessary enclosures, to the Congregation for Cause of Saints through the Apostolic Nunciature, New Delhi, on 25 Oct. 2003, the Bishop took a copy with himself and presented it directly at the decastery on 15 Nov. 2003. The Regional Bishops too, who were in Rome for the Ad Limina visit, presented a memorandum, urging the Congregation for Causes of Saints to accept the Cause. In the meanwhile, on 14 Nov. 2003, Bishop Leon A. Tharmaraj appointed Rev. Fr. George Nedungatt, S.J., Professor of Oriental Canon Law at the Pontifical Oriental Institute, Rome, as the Postulator in Rome for the Cause. He has also the faculty to appoint one or more vice-postulators to assist him in the promotion of the Cause. This appointment order was also taken to the Congregation for Saints. 22 December 2003 is a day to remember. It was on that day that the Congregation for Causes of Saints issued the declaration "NIHIL OBSTAT" for "beatification or declaration of Martyrdom" of the Servant of God Devasahayam, numbered Prot. N.2580-1/03, dated 22 December 2003. On 23 Jan. 2004, the Congregation approved the appointment of Rev. Fr. George Nedungatt SJ as the Postulator of the Cause in Rome. The 26th meeting of the CBCI, General Body, from 7th to 14th January 2004 at Trichur, offered a timely occasion to make the Cause known at the national level. Planning to seize the opportunity, the Beatification committee met the President of the CBCI, The Most Rev. Dr. Cyril Mar Baselios, OIC, Archbishop of Trivandrum and presented him a request that "the Cause of Martyr Devasahayam, a married lay person, might be included in the agenda for the CBCI meeting in January 2004, so as to write a letter of recommendation to the Congregation for Saints". The letter added "This will also bring the awareness on this great martyr to the entire Christian community of India". During its plenary session on 9 Jan. 2004, the meeting took up the item on the Agenda on Martyr Devasahayam. First, the Bishop of Kottar made a presentation on the life and martyrdom of the Servant of God. Each of the Bishops was given a copy of the Book: Martyr Devasahayam a Documented History by Dr. J. Rosario Narchison. There was a discussion and then "the house accepted the proposal unanimously. The following day's important dailies brought out news-reports on the acts of CBCI concerning the Cause. It evoked both positive and critical responses from readers. The doubts raised by some historians were also answered. However the newspapers did not publish our reply, sent in by our historian Dr. J. R. Narchison, probably the news papers did not wish to continue the controversy, because the circles close to the Hindu Nationalist Political outfits had raised the objections. From the formal inception in 1993, all the matters relating to the Cause were carried out in the office of the Vicar General of the diocese. On 25 May 2004, a separate office was opened within the premises of the Bishop's House. Rev. Fr. A. Gabriel, the Postulator in the diocesan phase of the Cause began to function as the Vice-Postulator for the same Cause in its Roman phase. The Postulator for the Cause of Servant of God Devasahayam, Rev. Fr. George Nedungatt S.J., made a visit to the diocese of Kottar during the first week of July 2004, with the intention of visiting places connected with the Servant of God and helping the Canonization Committee in the promotion of the Cause. Arriving on 02 July 2004, Fr. George Nedungatt, S.J. started his visit with a concelebrated Eucharist in St. Francis Xavier's Cathedral, where the mortal remains of the Servant of God have been buried. Then he visited various places connected with the life and death of the Servant of God and celebrated Eucharist at the spot at Aralvaimozhy or Devasahayam Mount where Devasashayam was shot dead on 14 Jan. 1752 and preached to the people on the greatness of the martyr's death as witness of Faith. On Monday, 05 July 2004, the Postulator had a sitting with the canonization committee While appreciating the committee, which he called "an extraordinary thing", he acknowledged that the committee had done some work, but pointed out that the work was not yet complete. He also pointed out that the work so far done, did not meet the conditions placed by the laws. He underlined the need of appointing a Historical Commission, which should carry out its work after taking oath in a formal way. Its work should follow a historical method, presenting sources from which the evidences were taken, so that any historian could verify the finding. On July 6, 2004, Fr. George Nedungatt, S.J. met the press of the Town, Nagercoil. He gave out a statement to the Press, which came out in various Tamil newspapers on the following day, with the other things that he said, reporting all the visits the Postulator made during his stay here. The visit of the Postulator made one thing very clear: that the "historical commission" appointed by the Bishop of Kottar in 1993, could be considered only as "a preparatory historical commission" in the Cause of the Servant of God Devasahayam. Now that the work of the preparatory historical commission was accomplished some way, with the production of a documented work on the Servant of God and the drawing up of the 50 articles on his life and martyrdom, it was necessary for the proper procedure of the Process to appoint a historical commission "to complete its work and to give due form to its findings according to the law of the Church. By a decree dated 5 July 2004, the Bishop The Most Rev. Leon A. Tharmaraj constituted a historical commission consisting of Rev.Dr.J.Rosario Narchison (Convenor), Rev. Dr. E. John Kulandai (Secretary) and Mr. Varghese Antony (member). All the three members took Juramentum immediately and started working in a formal way. The historical commission made a journey to Mannuthy, on 12 September 2004 with the intention of seeing for themselves the work of the historical commission for the Cause of the Servant of God, Fr.Joseph Vithayathil (1865-1964). Since Fr.George Nedungatt, S.J. who was also the Postulator for the Cause of the Servant of God, Fr.Joseph Vithayathil, was there; the historical commission members had a first-hand information on how to go about its work.
On 12 Jan. 2006, Archbishop Peter Fernando, Madurai in the presence of the Bishops of Madurai Ecclasiastical Region, declared open a museum on the life and martyrdom of Devasahayam. The museum is being visited by thousands of people every week. On 14th Jan 2006, the Martyr Devasahayam Memorial Day, a diocesan pilgrimage was made to Nattalam, the birthplace of the Servant of God. As declared on that day, Nattalam was turned into a weekly Retreat Centre for all people. The retreat, held every Friday (in memory of the Servant of God who was martyred on a Friday), attracts hundreds of people from all walks of life. Since the first tribunal for the Cause, constituted in 1993, failed to function formally and two members of the tribunal have been transferred to far off places, the Bishop constituted a supplementary tribunal for the Cause on 03 March 2006, with Rev. Fr. Solomon, MCL as the Presiding Judge, Rev.Dr.I.Kulandaiswamy, DCL, as the Promoter of Justice and Rev.Fr.M.Soosai as the Notary. The new tribunal assumed charge by taking Juramentum on 11 March 2006. In order to have a direct knowledge and experience of living traditions on the Servant of God in many places in Tamil Nadu, the Historical Commission arranged to make a visit to some places in the dioceses of Tiruchirapalli, Dindigul, Madurai and Tuticorin. The places visited were: Avur, Avarampatty, Vellode, Karungulam, Sirunayakkanpatty, Anumantharayankottai, Muthalagupatti, Pugailapatty, Purathakudy, Notchiodapatty, Irundalai Parai, Maravapatty, Sempatty, Attur, Tattar Madam, Thinayoorani. The visits were carried out on 20 and 21 March 2006 and 23, 24, 25, 26, April 2006. The visit was helpful also to gather names of some witnesses to be presented to the tribunal. www.martyrdevasagayam.org Bishop Leon Tharmaraj, Bishop of Kottar, solemnly inaugurated the Newly Constituted Tribunal with the Opening Session on 28 June 2006, in the presence of Fr. George Nedungatt, SJ, the Postulator.
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