Saturday 27 July 2013

To the glory of the Triune God and in loving memory of the late lamented Dr. Geevarghese Mar Osthathios, a study circle was formed on 16 February, 2013. The main aim of the forum is to dwell on the thoughts of his grace and to popularize it. Come, join us!

PRAYER FOR THE CANONISATION OF DR. GEEVARGHESE MAR OSTHATHIOS METROPOLITAN OF BLESSED MEMORY.  
    
“In the name of  Father, Son and Holy Spirit, the One true God forever and ever, Amen+

God, the Lord of all flesh and spirit!  Thou hast trampled down the thorn of death and hast over thrown the devil whereby Thou hast restored the life to the world.  Now, O Lord Jesus Christ!  Grant to Thy faithful servant, metropolitan Geevarghese Mar Osthathios, who hast departed from us with faith, hope, and love in Thee after finishing a fruitful life on earth, an everlasting joy and spiritual refreshment in the chamber of Thy light together with all the saints who pleased Thee.

O good and merciful God, who loves humankind! Pardon every sin which he might have   committed, whether by word or by deed or by thought, for there is no man on earth who is free from sin.  Thou alone art sinless, Thy love and righteousness are Eternal and Thy Word is true.  May Mar Osthathios, our beloved father and guru, rejoice in the communion of your infinite love and praise you unceasingly in the company of all the angelic hosts and saints.
   
O Blessed Triune God! We thank Thee for having graced the holy Church with bishop Geevarghese Mar Osthathios and for allowing the tenderness of Thy Fatherly care, the divine mercy of the Cross of Christ, and the splendour, power and wisdom of the Holy Spirit to shine on the world through our beloved shepherd –Mar Osthathios. We now realise him as the one who had possessed noble virtues, engaged in doing good deeds and directly experienced Thy divine presence in his life time. Trusting fully in Thy everlasting love and in the intercession of all saints, he has manifested to us a living image of Jesus –the Good Shepherd – and has shown us that holiness and sharing of love are the necessary paths of obedience to be traversed by ordinary Christians in order to achieve eternal communion with God.  Grant us, by his intercession, and according to Thy will, the graces we implore, hoping that Thy faithful servant Mar Osthathios will soon be recognised among the Saints.

God, who infuses power into the bones of the saints! Kindly release stream of blessings from Thy reservoir of grace through the holy relics of Mar Osthathios to those who come at his tomb in prayer. We ask this in Thy all-encompassing love, Amen”.



   

Saturday 1 June 2013

Monday 25 February 2013

Q.How can we believe in miracles in this age of science?



Answer - By Geevarghese Mar Osthathios metropolitan:

The first thing to be noted is that Jesus refused to perform miracles as a means of having people believe in Him. At the very beginning of His public ministry he overcame the feeling to jump from the pinnacle of the temple of Jerusalem and to make the people believe in Him by such a feat. Whenever He performed any miracle he told the healed person not to tell anyone about it (Mt. 8: 4; Mk. 8: 26, 30; 9: 9; Lk. 5: 14; 8: 56). Christ chastised the people who followed Him to eat the bread that he increased miraculously. He wanted the people to know that His ability to provide is constant (Mk. 8: 14-21). The next point is that all the miracles of Jesus were miracles of overflowing Love, which He revealed as the very nature of God. Does he not supply food in the desert for His followers even today, out of His bounteous love ? Any Mother Theresa of history would still bear witness to the fact that he continues to increase five loaves and two Fishes to feed five thousands even today. The story of Dr. Ida Scudder and the Christian Medical College, Vellore, is the story of God's miraculous feeding and healing of thousands out of very little. Thirdly, science magazines are now describing miracles they see and cannot explain. Albert Einstein was right in pointing out that the more we know of the physical universe we are convinced that there is yet more to be known. After all, how limited is our knowledge of God's activities in the billions of stars and planets ? Science is not scientific when it says that there is no God or no miracles as science can only say something positive about the known facts and nothing negative about the unknown universe and mysteries. A scientist who casts a net of one inch holes in the sea and catches one inch size fish can only say that there are one inch size fishes in that sea and not that there is no smaller fishes in it because a later scientist might make a smaller sized net and catch smaller fishes. From what we know of science, it is not yet scientific to say that miracles are impossible. That which is miracles in one generation may not be miracle in the next and yet miracle as such remains as long as we are finite. Fourthly, if we believe in an Almighty God, under Whom are the laws of nature, we should not limit God under the laws He created and say He cannot end it or mend it. He who fixed the laws of nature for the good of man will have the right, freedom, and power to over-rule it at any given situation to show His love of His children. The virgin birth and the resurrection must be seen in such a light. He who fixed a modus operandi for procreation is free to enter His world through a virgin and also to rise again on the third day to His pre-existent glory. Belief in miracles is belief in the power of God over the created nature. Fifthly, Bultmann's 'demythologization' is an aid to the interpretation of the miracles of the Bible to an age of Science. There is something behind each of Christ's miracles which is more miraculous than the physical miracles. If a German mind sees the change of heart of the people to part with their hidden bread and fishes when the small boy gave all his bread, and also as a result of listening to the preaching of Christ, there is still a miracle Christ effected in the hearts of the people, which is deeper than the increase of bread and fishes by a supernatural action of Christ. I am not saying that all miracles must be demythologized, but that there are physical and psychological miracles. Finally, there is a qualitative distinction between the two incarnational miracles of virgin conception and resurrection and other miracles and that these two miracles are necessary to explain the supreme miracle of God-Man.

Thursday 14 February 2013

Daily Prayer

 

Tuesday 12 February 2013

About Thirumeni




His Grace Dr. Geevarghese Mar Osthathios is a senior bishop of the Indian Orthodox Church. He was the metropolitan of the Niranam diocese from 1975-2007. He is a renowned theologian, orator and writer. Currently he's retired from his duties as the metropolitan of any diocese.

Childhood and Education.

He was born on 9 December 1918 to Kochitty and Mariamma Kochitty of Munduvelil family in Mavelikara. He obtained his B.D from Leonard Theological College, Jabalpur, M.A from Drew University in America and his S.T.M from Union Seminary, Bangalore.

Priesthood

He received the order of Korooyo (sub-deacon) from Metropolitan Augen Mar Timotheos on 9 August 1947 and his priesthood from His Holiness Baselios Geevarghese II, Catholicos on 10 May 1956. He was nominated to the post of Metropolitan by the Malankara Association which met at Niranam on 2 October 1974. Metropolitan Daniel Mar Philexinos ordained him as a Ramban at at St. Mary's Cathedral Puthencavu. He was consecrated as a bishop by His Holiness Baselios Augen I, Catholicos of the East on 16 February 1975 at Niranam Valiya Palli. He was appointed as the Metropolitan of the Niranam Diocese on 1 April 1975.

Other Contributions

He was the member of Faith and Order Commission of the World Council of Churches. He is currently the Senior faculty member of the Orthodox Theological Seminary, Kottayam, President of the Mission Board of the Indian Orthodox Church and the Director of St. Paul's Mission Training Centre, Mavelikara. He is the founder of a good number of charitable programmes, mission centers and institutions which include Marriage Assistance Foundation, Sick Aid Foundation, Save A Heart Foundation, House Building Aid Fund, Mission Training Centre, M.G.D Ashram Balabhavan Karunagiri, St Pauls Asram Puthuppady, Haripad Mission Centre, Yacharam St.Gregorios Balagram, Bethanya Bhavan, St.George Balikagram Pune ,etc.