Saturday Evening Post
Making of the Encyclopaedia
From the Horse’s own Mouth
George Menachery
Seven
From this time onwards it became my habit to get up at around 3 a. m. frequently, take my bath, dress and proceed to the bus stop, not only to go to Vadavathoor, but also to any location in Kerala where there was any possibility of examining the exquisite objects of art and architecture of Kerala, especially the churches, or of meeting some person, generally some elderly person, priest or layman, who could provide some information on the history or culture of the St. Thomas Christians. Often I used to board the first bus that came along arbitrarily, trusting in providence to take me to some useful destination. Thus sometimes I went to Kothamangalam, sometimes to Chengannur, sometimes to Kuravilangad. Wherever I went thus I was able to collect some useful information on the Church, or some souvenir or other publication, or some photographs. In the period from 1970 to 1972 I must have visited at least a hundred locations in Kerala travelling mostly by bus. On a few occasions I hired a taxi for two or three days and visited scholars or bishops or interesting locations or studios in different parts of the State. My journeys were mostly towards the south as there are not many early Christian centres to the north of the Trichur District.
My mother used to awaken me punctually at any
time in the night as instructed by me the previous day and get ready the hot
water for my bath. Any appointments I had I used to inform her and she
invariably reminded me the date and time of such appointments at the right
moment. She was more punctual than an alarum clock. Now I understand that she
must have been often keeping herself awake many nights in order to awaken me at
3 a. m. or 3.30. But in those days I was not sufficiently considerate to
understand the inconveniences I was causing people who made my life
comfortable, especially my mother and father. For I was consumed by my passion
to accomplish one thing or another.
Accordingly as mentioned above I boarded a bus
from Ollur to Kottayam at 5 a. m. and reached Kottayam by around 9.00 o’clock;
breakfasted on a Masala Dosa from Anandabhavan and proceeded to the Vadavathoor
Seminary by Autoricksha. In those days the charge was only Rs. 35, now it is nearer Rs. 150. At the Seminary
entrance I asked for Fr. Koodappuzha and the boy took me a rather long distance
along twists and turns to the staff recreation room near the dining hall. Fr.
Koodapuzha was very glad to see me and he took me to the rector Dr. Joseph
Pallikkapparambil and introduced me to him. When I mentioned the purpose of my
visit Dr. Pallikkapparambil allotted me a room in the staff quarters.
This meeting with the rector Dr. Pallikkapparambil
was one of the most fruitful events in the Encyclopaedia’s tedious journey.
From that time onwards whenever I had to visit the seminary alone or in company
with one or two of my assistants I was given a right royal welcome and
comfortable accommodation. I could roam in the library at will. And Fr. Paul
Marocky the librarian lent me rare books like Monier-Monier Williams’
dictionary, and the Malabar Church edited by Dr. Vellian in honour of Fr.
Placid, and “Eastern Christianity”of Tisserant-Hambye, all for long long
durations. In fact I was asked to return these volumes only after the
publication of the Kerala Volume.
I met Dr. Jacob Vellian also there who wrote
two articles for the Kerala Volume. Two books by Farquhar edited by him I have
included in the Indian Church History Classics, Volume I, The Nazranies. Our
trips together to the US to participate in a Seminar on the Early History of
Christianity in India, organized at the Concordia College, Bronxville, New
York, and again another one at Chennai, by Dr. John Samuel of the ICSCI of Chennai were memorable ones.
Dr. Paul Chittilappilly, who afterwards became
Vicar General of Trichur, Bishop of
Kalyan, and later Bishop of Thamarassery,
also was there at Vadavathoor as a Professor. He contributed the article
Patriarchal
Dignity for the Syro-Malabar Church. This article was much quoted and
discussed and had some indirect influence in the Syro-Malabar Church becoming a
Major Archi-Episcopal Sui Juris Church.
For the Encyclopaedia I had envisaged a
Propaedia, Micropaedia, Macropaedia approach – though this was before the
Brittanica adopted such a style. I had Major Articles which dealt with
important topics at great length. But many items remained untouched. Hence I
had a section entitled Minor
Articles which dealt in
short articles with some four hundred odd items. Dr. Pallikkapparambil
permitted and even encouraged, all the theology students of 1st
Theology, 2nd Theology, and 3rd Theology classes to write
one or two of these short entries each. This saved me a lot of time and energy,
although at the time of going to press I had to trim and polish most of the
contributions of the young seminarians. I also appended the names of the
contributors to their respective entries in the Encyclopaedia. This I have been
told was a great incentive to them to study and write about matters connected
with the Church in later years. Many of them took their doctorates. Later on
from the ranks of these contributors arose bishops, vicars general, chancellors,
seminary professors, provincials, and principals in various dioceses and
institutions.
As for Dr. Koodappuzha himself, he consented to
be a member of the Board of Editorial Consultants, and wrote two major
articles: One, The Faith and Communion of the Thomas Christians, and two, The
History of the Church in Kerala in the Pre-Portuguese Period. But he
performed a much more salutary service. He told me that for information on
non-Catholic Churches, in Kerala but specially outside Kerala in India, the best source would be Fr. Dr. Paul
Varghese, then Principal of the Orthodox Theological College, Kottayam, and
later the Orthodox Bishop of Delhi as Paulos Mar Gregorios. Straight away I
went to the Orthodox Theological Seminary and met Dr. Paul Varghese. He not
only consented to be a member of the Board of Editorial Consultants but contributed the major article
The
Church in Kerala at the Coming of the Portuguese and the very important
article on The Syrian Orthodox Church. But more importantly he was
constantly available for consultation on all matters connected with the
non-Catholic Churches in India and introduced me to scholars from various
Churches outside Kerala who contributed articles on their own churches for the
first volume. Later he also became President of the WCC. His assessment of the
Encyclopaedia can be read in the extracts from reviews given earlier. All these
good omens gave me an added appetite to be up and doing – to work tirelessly to
make my dream of the Encyclopaedia a reality. “Because there is a force [as Melchizedek
told the shepherd boy in the Alchemist] that wants you to realize your Personal
Legend; it whets your appetite with a taste of success.”
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