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"Leave
your country, your people and your father's household and go to the land
I'll show you" (Gen. 12:1). The proximate reason for the
establishment of Kurisumala Ashram was John Mahieu's (later Francis
Acharya) response to this divine call. Though a Belgium by birth,
the seeds of his vocation, which culminated in the oblation of his life
at Kurisumala as a true Indian, were sown by none other than the father
of the nation, Mahatma Gandhi. This took place during the days of
the round-table conference in London, where John was a student at that
time.
After
making profession at the Cistercian (Trappist) monastery in Scourmont,
Belgium, he followed a persistent call to India and set foot in this
"cradle of monasticism" in 1955. After an extensive
'stay-and-study' at major Indian Ashrams, he had a short stay with the
founders of Saccidananda Ashram (Shantivanam) in Tiruchirappalli.
Eventually, he accepted the invitation of Zacharias Mar Athanasios, the
then Bishop of the Syro-Malankara diocese of Tiruvalla, and officially
established Kurisumala Ashram near Vagamon on March 221, 1958, in the
company of Fr. Bede Griffiths, an English Benedictine monk, and a couple
of aspirants.
Enveloped
by the elements in the shadow of the cross, this small nucleus grew into
a koinonia of fifteen in three years under the watchful eyes of Fr.
Francis who was their father, mother, confidant and guru. Of the
scenic beauty of Kurisumala's surroundings, he wrote:
This joyous site of
rocks and hills,
The sparkling jewels of the highlands of Kerala,
A land of grassy slopes with flowers of many hues,
With glades where fair trees dance in the wind...
These pioneers of Kurisumala Ashram bent their backs and shed the sweat
of their brows and soon turned this beautiful but infertile tract of
land into a veritable paradise of green pastures, flower gardens, and
vegetable beds. Stone barriers were raised to protect crops and
conserve soil, trees were planted, terraces built, dams constructed, the
face of the earth was renewed... In the course of time, simple stone
buildings were erected for the church, living quarters and guest-houses.
A herd of cows was raised from scratch and soon a dairy farm was
operational, and it served the dual purpose of providing a livelihood
for the community and supporting the poor families nearby. Within
ten years, this agricultural development and the establishment of a
cattle-breeding center gave it an image of the Promised Land for many, a
land flowing with milk and honey...
Immersed
in the regular monastic milieu of prayer, work and spiritual reading,
this small band of sadhakas, brahmacharis and sannyasis continued to
cross milestones: Fr. Francis' Indian citizenship, Fr. Bede's departure
to Shantivanam as its superior, Fr. Francis' shashtiabdapurthi and his
taking of the title of Acharya, introduction of the Bharatiya Pooja,...
In 1998, the Ashram was incorporated into the Order of the Cistercians
of Strict Observance (a world-wide contemplative order with its
Generalate in Rome) with the status of an autonomous Abbey. The
Tarrawarra Abbey in Australia 'adopted' Kurisumala as its
daughter-house.
Fr.
Francis Acharya, who was blessed as Abbot in 1999, passed away on the 31st
of January, 2002, and Fr. Yesudas Thelliyil was subsequently elected and
blessed as the second Abbot of the community. Another important
moment of Kurisumala Ashram's history—the
50th anniversary of foundation—was
recently completed and celebrated on January 31st, 2008.
Trusting in the grace of God and the intercession of many here and
above, especially that of Our Lady, we look with eyes of hope towards
the future. |
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