On the cool morning of 10^th August, 2021, the Mumbai community rose up early to sing “Jubilate, Jubilate” to Fr Cyril Pullan as on this day he was completing 50 years of his dedicated ministry as a Pauline Priest. The celebration began with the Thanksgiving Eucharistic Celebration in our community chapel. In his introductory words, Fr Alfonso Elengikal briefed the gathering of his upbringing and highlighted his generous services to Pauline life and apostolate and his special love and unique contributions to our Hindi publications.

Fr Alfonso recalled that as a junior professed, he did the final proof reading of the first complete Catholic Hindi Bible printed and published by St Pauls in 1965, and he helped in the printing machine and in the binding of the same. His studies in Rome did not diminish his passion for our national language and he continued to teach, to write and to translate in Hindi, giving a major contribution to our Pauline Hindi publications.

Fr Alfonso quipped, “Though so many of us began our Pauline life in Allahabad and lived there so many years, Fr Cyril stands out as one of those few Paulines who realized the apostolic value of learning Hindi, our national language, and showed keen interest in mastering it, mostly by self-study and hard work from his very early years of formation.” “In the six decades of his Pauline life he has made valid contributions to every field of our apostolate…. He has by now translated more than ten books into Hindi from other languages and is always ready to do more.” He continues to assist in the publication of Ish Vachan (Hindi Bible Diary), Prabhu ka Din, and the books of Atmonnati Prakashan. He has to his credit the christening of our Hindi publications as “Atmonnati Prakashan”.

The Eucharistic celebration was presided over by the Jubilarian himself and Fr Varghese Gnalian, the Provincial, and Fr Johny, the Superior as co-celebrants at the altar. The community glorified God for His marvelous blessing by singing “Gloria in Excelsis Deo” with rhyme and rhythm. Bro James Uppani composed and sang solemnly the responsorial Psalm, “Tu es sacerdos in aeternum secundum ordinum Melchisedek” (You are a priest forever in the order of Melchizedk).

The homily was given by the Provincial. In his homily, he mentioned the various responsibilities which Fr Cyril held in the Province namely as editor of Hindi Publication, as bursar in many communities, as teacher, translator, editor of Inspirational Quote, Sunday Liturgy, Prabhu ka Din, etc. The Provincial also appreciated his dedication to the apostolate, his spirit of prayer, personal discipline and poverty. He is very gentle and humble in character and friendly and approachable always. At his age of 79 he enjoys good health because of his disciplined habits in eating and daily exercise.

On this 50^th Anniversary celebration Day, Fr Cyril once again uttered with joy and thanksgiving in Jesus’ own words, “This is my Body which is broken for you….this is my Blood poured out for you..”. Fr Cyril has truly lived his Pauline Priesthood in great fidelity and love, a true and loyal son of Alberione in the Indian soil.

After Communion, the Jubilarian thanked God for the gift his Pauline vocation and priesthood, he thanked his parents for his life and Christian upbringing, and the two uncle priests who encouraged him to become a priest and his uncle Fr Stephen Pullan, ssp who brought him to Society of St Paul. He gratefully remembered all those teachers in the school, our Blessed Founder Alberione in Rome and all the superiors, masters and others who had played vital roles in his priestly life and apostolate. He also thanked Fr Johny and all the community members for all their love and efforts in arranging this day as special and memorable for him.

The Solemn Felicitation Ceremony was kept for the evening when the Provincial community with local community gathered together in the dining hall for an entertaining time of fellowship and food. The program began with the grand entry of the golden boy in royal costume and everyone welcoming him with a thunderous applause. After a prayer dance, he was felicitated with a floral bouquet, with gifts and with songs. A pre-recorded interview with Fr Cyril was presented on the screen by Fr Renold, in which the Jubilarian touched the hearts of those present by sharing some of his happy and sad moments in his life. However, he said he was always happy to be a Pauline and he tried to make himself useful in the apostolate and joyful in his life.

The programme stretched into a “housie game” in which the first “jaldi five” was won by the golden boy himself. He also won other prizes during the rounds. Finally, the memorable Jubilee Day ended with grand dinner arranged by Fr Johny and our expert kitchen staff.

Fr Cyril and his beautiful life example as a convinced, committed, humble, simple Pauline Priest will remain always indelible in the minds of many people in the Pauline family and outside. He said “It is not a completion but a continuation”. May he continue to cherish and live fully his Pauline priestly life for many more years, enjoying good health. Ad multos annos!

On July 31, 2021, while celebrating the memorial of St Ignatius of Loyola, Brs Francis Aind and Damiyan Borgoary were instituted with the Ministry of Acolyte by Rev Fr Varghese Gnalian, the Provincial Superior. During the homily, Fr Varghese reminded everyone, especially the Acolytes, to offer themselves to God as spiritual sacrifices that are acceptable to Him through Jesus Christ and to have genuine love for the mystical body of Christ, the people of God. He exhorted them to become the body of Christ broken for others and blood of Christ shed for others in their lives and thus live faithfully the Ministry they have received.

Rev Fr Varghese Gnalian, our Provincial Superior and Fr Sebastian Thomas Elavunkal (DGA) paid a fraternal visit to Pune community on July 30, 2021. During the Eucharistic celebration in the evening, Fr Sunil Varghese was installed as superior of the community for a second term and later the councillors were elected and formed the government. Brs Amit Toppo and Hendry Gonmei were instituted the ministry of Reader by Fr Provincial. During the homily Fr Varghese thanked Fr Sunil for the great services he rendered to the Community and to the people around and wished him all the best during his second term. The recipients of the Ministry of Reader were told to focus on their responsibility as official Readers at the Eucharistic celebration, to meditate on God’s Word and to proclaim it to others as faithful ministers.

BR JOHN PIUS KOCHUPARAMBIL, SSP

“I am the Resurrection and the Life” (Jn 11:25)

On 14 July 2021, at 9.30 a.m., Br John Pius Kochuparambil entered into eternity. We, the members of the Society of St Paul, pray for the repose of his soul.

All those of us who have lived and worked with Br Pius Kochuparambil will testify without any hesitation that Br Pius is truly a silent and hard worker in the vineyard of the Lord. He is indeed a man of few words and is somewhat reserved in relating to people both within the congregation and outside of it. Coming from a very traditional catholic family Br Pius always believed in the values of silence, self-discipline, peerless character and hard work in his consecrated and Pauline missionary life. Punctuality and orderliness in personal life had become almost a second nature to Br Pius and they had become very handy and useful for his almost two and a half decade long book centre apostolate at the Examiner Book Shop, Mumbai and St Paul Book Centres, Kochi and Kozhikode.

With great generosity and apostolic zeal, Br Pius has put his youthful energies and personal gifts at the service of the apostolate of the press and book centre. The very next day of his joining the community of Bombay in 1960, he began his Pauline mission in the composing department of our press. Having learned the work of the department within a short time, he was made in-charge of the department. He continued this form of apostolate also in Allahabad where he had gone in 1964 to do his two-year novitiate. During the years of his Novitiate and 2 years of Juniorate spent in Allahabad, he was appointed to work at the monotype machine under the guidance of late Br Dominic Lakra, manager of the department and operator of the machine in our press at Allahabad.

Soon after his return to Mumbai 1968, Br Pius was appointed to the Examiner Book Shop in Fort, Mumbai, where he began his long apostolic innings which lasted 18 long and uninterrupted years. Br Pius, young, energetic and enthusiastic for the apostolate, gave his best with great generosity and commitment. He handled very efficiently the dispatching section of the bookshop for several years. Returning to Bandra in our vehicle, exhausted and tired after the day’s activities, Br Pius would wait for the daily rosary of the road to be over, somewhere near Cumbala hill or Hagiali, to begin to dose off while next him would be late Br Luke who would start snoring!! Neither of them was disturbed by the other and instead they were helped by the pin-drop silence of others in the vehicle. This daily exercise would continue till the vehicle reached Bandra junction!! Of course, God has His own ways of providing rest and relaxation to his chosen ones!!

From the Examiner Book Shop Br Pius moved to Bangalore to take up the house propaganda (diffusion). After three years of his service in Bangalore, Br Pius was appointed to assist at St Paul Book Centre, Kochi and thereafter at Kozhikode. At the end of a six-year book centre ministry in the South, Br Pius returned to Mumbai to be inserted into the diffusion department of BYB/ST PAULS. His love for his vocation and commitment to the apostolate was manifested very vividly in his total availability to go wherever he was sent and to accept whatever has been asked of him. He is simple at heart, transparent in his dealings and honest to the core. This is Br Pius whom many of us may not know very close.

John Kochuparanbil was born at Muthalakodam, Kerala, on 17 February 1938, to Paily and Mariam Kochuparmbil, a very pious and devout catholic couple belonging to an ancient family in the area. His family atmosphere and the social environment in which he grew up helped him greatly to nourish the gift of his religious vocation. Being convinced of his vocation, at the end of his high school studies, John decided to enter religious life and sought admission to the Society of St Paul. On 26 June 1960, John joined the community of Bombay and after the initial formation, he left for Allahabad for his novitiate. At the end of his two-year novitiate, on 16 July 1966 John made his first religious profession taking the name Pius.

After an eventful and active Pauline ministry lasting more than four decades in the different communities of the Province, Br Pius returned to Mumbai in the year 1996 with the intention of giving a helping hand to the diffusion department. As the years passed by, Br Pius began to feel that his memory was gradually fading as he found it difficult both to remember and retain items of daily life. This has almost forced him to slow down his apostolic activities and eventually to give up completely his contribution to the apostolate and community. In spite of the best of medical attention and care, his health condition could not be improved.

The nobility of Br Pius, according to those who knew him very personally, consists in his awareness and acceptance of some of his own limitations. “Father, neither I have the qualifications nor I have the confidence to accept the responsibility that you are proposing to me,” said Br Pius years ago to one of his Provincials. He has given his best to the Congregation and to its mission and continues to do so through his silent personal presence. The Province remains ever grateful to Br Pius for his self-gift to the Congregation and all that he has accomplished in the vineyard of the Lord. His unfailing love and fidelity to the Pauline vocation, his spirit of hard work and commitment to whatever is asked of him will remain as a source of inspiration for the young generation of Paulines for years to come. Thank you, Br Pius!