Blessed Augustine Thevarparampil (Kunjachan)

Blessed Kunjachan is considered as the apostle of the Delits as St. Paul is considered the apostle of the Gentiles. For centuries in Kerala, India, the Delits were treated as untouchables and even as unapproachables. The upper caste Hindus kept them at a specified distance. If this was violated, they had to purify themselves by a cleansing bath. Those low caste people were not even allowed to use the public roads.

In 1926, when Kunjachan became the assistant Vicar of Ramapuram Parish and started his ministry among the Delits, he saw himself as one among them. He called them his children, his heart beat in sympathy with theirs, partaking of their joys and sorrows, worries, and consolations. At the beginning, there were not more than 300 Delits Catholics in the Parish but at the time of his departure from this field he could number no fewer than 5,000. It is by fervent prayers, fasting, and acts of penance that he was able to accomplish so much. Even when he fell ill, he would inquire about his beloved "children" and give them instructions from his sick bed. He loved them sincerely and in their turn the Delits loved him tenderly. They grew so fond of him that they came to think of him as their "own" Kunjachan. He was a father to them, spiritually and bodily. In treating his patients, he is known to have performed many miraculous cures. Hearing of these wonderful cures, even upper class Christians and Hindus sought his help and they were all carefully treated and looked after by him. Furthermore, he possessed God’s grace, the charism of working miracles, and the gift of prophecy. Several occasions have been reported about his foretelling the future of some of his spiritual children and others who trusted in him.

Kunjachan was a man of God. He was in constant communion with the Lord present in the Blessed Sacrament. He spent long hours by day and night to converse with Him and to plead for help of various kinds for his people and for the Church as a whole. He would gladly accept from the hand of God the sorrows that would be his share in the role of Christian witness facing the challenges of earthly living and dying. His life was rooted in faith and nourished by a fervent love of God and man. It was a life fortified by the practice of virtues – the evangelical virtues of poverty, obedience and chastity; the moral virtues of justice, patience, temperance and fortitude. Kunjachan lived his life of virtue and charity at a level of excellence that can be called heroic.