Kurisumala Ashram is a

Trappist The Trappists, officially known as the Order of Cistercians of the Strict Observance ( la, Ordo Cisterciensis Strictioris Observantiae, abbreviated as OCSO) and originally named the Order of Reformed Cistercians of Our Lady of La Trappe, are a ...

monastery A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in communities or alone (hermits). A monastery generally includes a place reserved for prayer which ...

of the

Syro-Malankara Catholic Church The Syro-Malankara Catholic Church, also known as the Malankara Syrian Catholic Church, is an Eastern Catholic '' sui iuris'' particular church in full communion with the worldwide Catholic Church possessing self-governance under the Code of Ca ...

in the Sahya Mountains in

Vagamon Vagamon ( ml, വാഗമൺ) is an Indian hill station and a revenue village primarily located in Peerumedu taluk of Idukki district (majority area including Vagamon town), and also Meenachil taluk and Kanjirappally taluk of Kottayam ...

Kerala Kerala ( ; ) is a state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile regions of Cochin, Malabar, South ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

History

Francis Mahieu, a Trappist monk from the

Scourmont Abbey Scourmont Abbey (''Abbaye Notre-Dame de Scourmont'') is a Trappist monastery on the Scourmont plateau, in the village of Forges which is part of Chimay in the province of Hainaut, Belgium. The abbey is famous for its spiritual life and for runnin ...

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

came to

to start the ashram in 1956. The invitation came from Zacharias Mar Athanasios, then the

Bishop A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ca ...

of Thiruvalla. Eventually, he was joined by

Bede Griffiths Bede Griffiths OSB Cam (17 December 1906 – 13 May 1993), born Alan Richard Griffiths and also known by the end of his life as Swami Dayananda ("bliss of compassion"), was a British-born priest and Benedictine monk who lived in ashrams in Sou ...

. On 1st December 1956, Mahieu and Griffiths laid the foundation at

Tiruvalla Thiruvalla, alternately spelled Tiruvalla, is a town in Kerala and the Headquarters of the Taluk of the same name located in Pathanamthitta district in the State of Kerala, India. The town is spread over an area of . It lies on the banks of ...

in the

. They obtained of land and on 20 March 1958, they travelled sixty miles to a mountain known as Kurisumala. The monastery was officially established 21 March 1958. They soon started a dairy farm with cattle imported from

Jersey Jersey ( , ; nrf, Jèrri, label=Jèrriais ), officially the Bailiwick of Jersey (french: Bailliage de Jersey, links=no; Jèrriais: ), is an island country and self-governing Crown Dependencies, Crown Dependency near the coast of north-west F ...

to support themselves . Within three years, the population of the monastery grew to fifteen individuals. Prayer services were initially held in

Syriac Syriac may refer to: *Syriac language, an ancient dialect of Middle Aramaic *Sureth, one of the modern dialects of Syriac spoken in the Nineveh Plains region * Syriac alphabet ** Syriac (Unicode block) ** Syriac Supplement * Neo-Aramaic languages a ...

. The monastery was incorporated as an

abbey An abbey is a type of monastery used by members of a religious order under the governance of an abbot or abbess. Abbeys provide a complex of buildings and land for religious activities, work, and housing of Christian monks and nuns. The conce ...

into the

Cistercian Order The Cistercians, () officially the Order of Cistercians ( la, (Sacer) Ordo Cisterciensis, abbreviated as OCist or SOCist), are a Catholic religious order of monks and nuns that branched off from the Benedictines and follow the Rule of Saint B ...

of Strict Observance in July 1998. After Acharya's death, Yesudas Thelliyil was blessed as the monastery's second abbot in March 2002. Bede Griffiths spent the last years of his life at

Shantivanam Saccidananda Ashram (also called Shantivanam) is a Camaldolese Benedictine monastery in Tannirpalli, India founded in 1950. Description Located in the village of Tannirpalli in the Tiruchirapalli District of Tamil Nadu, on the bank of the Ri ...

Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is a States and union territories of India, state in southern India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, tenth largest Indian state by area and the List of states and union territories of India ...

. Francis Acharya became the only religious leader of the Ashram at Kurisumala. A couple of years before his death in 2002, Acharya, who had kept in touch with the monastery of his youth, had the Kurisumala Ashram affiliated to the

Trappists The Trappists, officially known as the Order of Cistercians of the Strict Observance ( la, Ordo Cisterciensis Strictioris Observantiae, abbreviated as OCSO) and originally named the Order of Reformed Cistercians of Our Lady of La Trappe, are a ...

Name

''Kurisu'' is the translation of the word ''cross'' into

Malayalam Malayalam (; , ) is a Dravidian language spoken in the Indian state of Kerala and the union territories of Lakshadweep and Puducherry (Mahé district) by the Malayali people. It is one of 22 scheduled languages of India. Malayalam was des ...

, the language of Kerala, while on the other hand ''Mala'' means ''mountain'' and ''

ashram An ashram ( sa, आश्रम, ) is a spiritual hermitage or a monastery A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in communities or a ...

'' means ''monastery''.

Practice

In the monastery, the liturgical services are in the Syro-Malankara tradition and use the Indian Rite

Mass Mass is an intrinsic property of a body. It was traditionally believed to be related to the quantity of matter in a physical body, until the discovery of the atom and particle physics. It was found that different atoms and different elementar ...

. The mass includes chants, ceremonies, and symbols which are adapted from Hindu tradition. The monks have a nightly ''satsang'', a time of reflection which may include readings from Christian or HIndu texts. The monastery has hosted

Hindu Hindus (; ) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism.Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pages 35–37 Historically, the term has also been used as a geographical, cultural, and later religious identifier for ...

guests and religious figures.

Bibliography

*Francis Acharya: ''Cistercian Spirituality: An Ashram Perspective'', Cistercian (Monastic wisdom series), 2011, 136pp.

References

External links

Official website

Syro-Malankara Catholic Church
{{Coord missing, Kerala Syro-Malankara Catholic Church Trappist monasteries Eastern Catholic monasteries in India