Water and Christian Fishermen

Chapter-Three

6. The Richness of Water in the Economy of Sacraments and the
Christian World (Latin Rite)

Water as requisite for any life, determines the daily existence of all persons at all moments. We use it as we eat, bathe, or drink. It quenches thirst, freshens, cools, heals, cleans, and flushes the old out and the new in.[1] In religions, the importance and meaning of water is extremely rich as source of life, a generative and renewing power. The conception of a primal body of water from which everything is derived is specially prevalent among people living close to coasts and river areas- e.g., the Egyptian Nu (the primordial ocean), the Mesopotamian Apsu (the primeval watery abyss), and Tiamat (the primeval chaos dragon).[2] In the world of worship water is indispensable medium of ritual cleansing, which, frequently, alone accomplishes the premise of standing in connection with the ‘holy’. Indeed, when ascribed transforming powers, water is the medium of the ‘holy’ itself. For believers, water is especially a means of intensive sensory experience. Water can be felt, heard, seen, smelt, and tasted. All of the qualities ascribed to it are experienced, ‘felt,’ with all of the senses. Religion is then a matter of corporeal experience (Perception/Sensory System).[3] For the People of the Coast, water (sea) is a very rich symbol of life. They earn their daily bread from the sea. It has a great importance in the life of Christians as Christianity has traversed to India by the sea.


6. 1. The Richness and the Symbolism of Water in the Economy of Sacraments

The gift God showers from heaven to human beings is water. Water is viewed as vivifying, like the heaven-sent rain-water that moistens the earth. Water is also equated to flowing life forces of the body (e.g., blood, sweat, and semen). The African Ashanti designate their patrilinear groups as ntoro, which means water, river, and semen.[4] The importance and richness of water in the secular world also reflect in the religion because man is also a religious being with a basic configuration to and aspiration for self transcendence. The importance of water in the Christian world is very profound and vital. The Book of Revelation 22: 1-2 speaks of a stream of ‘living,’ crystal-clear water, flowing from the throne of God and the Lamb, and surrounded by trees that bear fruit twelve times a year.

Symbolising both external and internal purification, water is frequently used in the Liturgy. It is blessed by a priest (for religious purposes) who asks God’s blessing on those who use it.[5] The Church elevated this pre- Christian symbolism of nature into a Christian Sacramental.[6] There were many pre- Christian water rites. Our pre- Christian ancestors observed the effects of rain, and for them, water assumed a magical property of fertility and a new growth.[7] In its function as obligatory elixir of life, water stands for bestowing, nourishing, and fertile principle. In Hindu mythology, for example, water of the Ganges is associated with cow’s milk, and addressed as Ma (‘mother’). In the Johannine motif of water of life or living [i.e. running, flowing] water,’ in the Fourth Gospel and the Book of Revelation, water is the symbol of everlasting and inexhaustible life.[8] Water is a symbol of new beginning or a medium of transformation. Water is used in Christianity for baptism. To recall their baptism, Catholics sign themselves with holy water upon entering the Church.[9]

6. 1. 1. Water as the Source of Life in Mythology

According to Satapatha Brahmana (11.1.6.1), in the beginning only waters existed. The waters had a wish of procreation. They made an effort of ascetic heating (tapas). Consequently a golden egg appeared. This egg contained Prajapati. Manava Dharmasastra 1.8-9 says that “In the beginning he created only the waters and then, in the water, he laid his seed. And this became a golden egg. In this egg Brahma was born of himself, the ancestor of all living things.”[10] It is really fascinating to understand how water is precious and life giving to the ancient minds that created the myth of divine embryo develops into water as amniotic fluid. Australian Traditions, the earth was originally surrounded by water, and in it were many spirits. Through the action of one of these spirits, the earth grew warm, and the first men emerged from it.[11] Water is first a significant ele­ment of the universal order according to the Egyptian Heliopolitan creation myth. * Again what gives shape to a country or its border is often water than the land. Hence we can say that water often figures sim­ply as a geographical feature-the sea or a river defin­ing the shape of a country.

In the Greek mythology, the ancestral Earth gives birth to Heaven and to Pontos, the realm of the sea, composed of salt water.[12] In Bambara myth Faro the spirit falls into earth in the form of water.[13] In Siberian myth[14] and Guinean myth[15] we find even the earth is born of water. Hindu traditions affirm it saying: Vishnu himself went down to the bot­tom of the primordial waters in the form of a boar, in order to bring back some earth. The Sumerian and Greek myths say that water has life bearing and generative qualities.[16] The Babylonian Enuma Elish myth too echoes the same reality that life or the generating forces[17] and order that have come from the water. In the myth Tiamat- the primordial ocean from which the Hebrew word tehom is derived- is symbol of the forces of evil that are finally overcome by Marduk, the god of light.[18] It is without much doubt that almost all the religions believe that life sprang from the water.

It is worth making a reference to the Sacred Rivers of India, especially the Ganges. It is said that exceedingly potent among the powers of world-abundance are the rivers, and particularly the three majestic watercourses of the Ganges, Jumna, and Saraswathi. The rivers are considered the female divinities (because of feminine and fertility promoting qualities), food and life bestowing mothers, as such are prominent among popular divinities. Ganga is known as “the mother who both bestows prosperity (sukha-da), and secures salvation (moksa-da)”; she represents joy (in this life) and hope (for the life to come). She washes away the sins of him whose ashes or corpse are committed to her waters, secures for him rebirth among the gods in a realm of celestial bliss. Shiva one of Trimurthies (God of dissolution) he sings in her praise in Brahmavaivarta Purana: “She is the source of redemption… Heaps of sins accumulated by a sinner during millions of births are destroyed by the mere contact of a wind charged with her vapour………… If a man on an auspicious day begins to bathe in the Ganges, he dwells cheerfully in Vishnu’s heavenly world, Vaikunda, for the number of years equal to the number of his footsteps.[19]


6. 1. 2. Water and the Sacred Scripture (OT & NT)

The first mention of water in the Hebrew Scripture is found in Genesis 1:2 and the last mention is found in Revelation 22:17 of the Second Testament.[20] It is amazing to see that the whole biblical corpus taken as a literary unit is almost sandwiched between water in the first and in the last chapters. The symbolism as fertile and rich in meaning marks the so – called runway across the Scripture. We can say the Holy Bible begins with the water the spirit of God was moving over the surface of the waters (Gen. 1: 2) and ends with water (Rev. 22: 17). It won’t be an exaggeration to state that it will be hard to find a book in the Bible without any implicit or explicit mention of water.
In preparation for the first and solemn meeting with the God of Israel Moses is instructed by YHWH to see His people purify themselves by washing (kibbs) (Ex. 19: 10, 14). At the order of YHWH, Moses washes (rahas) Aaron and his sons before the consecration as Yahweh’s priests (Lev. 8: 6). Similarly the altar is sprinkled with water (nazah).[21] The ritual for the purification of the leprous persons (Lev. 14: 5) and leprous[22] houses (Lev. 14: 50-53) has to be performed not merely with water but with or over mayim hayyim, that is running or flowing water.
Again, the prophetic literature is heavily laden with water symbolism. In a deeper analysis and synthesis we could very well affirm that we see a gradual crescent from the First Testament to elevating water in the Second Testament to stand for divine life itself as is clear in the gospel of John.[23]
Jesus’ public ministry begins with water of Baptism and ends with flowing of water and blood from His side. No wonder Jesus came into this world to give the life giving water from his breast which is nothing but the Holy Spirit. Jesus’ first miracle itself is turning water into wine. It is really surprising to note that Jesus turned the water into wine, then later wine into his own blood in the institution of Eucharist on the last supper.
Thus water has many symbolisms in both the Testaments. Perhaps the most effective symbolism of water is divine life. Jesus, the Lamb seated on the throne will be their shepherd, and will guide them to the springs of the water of life; and God will wipe every tear from their eyes (Rev. 7: 17). Jesus is the one who came by water and blood; not with the water only, but with the water and with the blood. It is the Spirit who testifies, because the Spirit is the truth so that there are three witnesses the Spirit and the water and the blood; and the three are in agreement (1 Jn. 5: 5-8). The biblical symbolism of water thus is an amorphic and multilinear meaning symbol. As compared to the commonly held and used symbolism of purification it can symbolize many things.

6. 1. 3. Water as blessing of God the Father.
Water is God’s precious and natural gift to humanity along with all other elements of air, earth, ether and fire. It is really one among the many God’s blessings to mankind because we can not think of life without water. Who knows how many of us would have gone to extra terrestrial terrains to build habitats over there to chart a peaceful existence, if the other planets had water or had enough of it for survival?
Water as God’s blessing is not a strange idea in the Bible. Given the desert context where water became a treasure to nurture water was held to be a blessing. Since the crops depend on the rainfall, the people of Israel consider it one of the biggest blessings of God. The oasis was the most sought after spot in the desert in which human collectivities centred and organized their lives. There were wars to conquer such water rich terrains of the desert land mass. The Bible narrates the human search for water for animals and for people. Even the search of man for God is compared to a deer in search of water. The famous psalm 23 has a vivid imagery of the shepherd leading the sheep where fresh water was in abundance. In the history of the people Massah in the desert has a high significance where against the murmuring people God showed His power, though it ironically sealed the fate of Moses not to enter the Promised Land on grounds of lack of fidelity the opposite of which he always preached to his people. In the book of Exodus and Numbers there are three narratives of YHWH providing the Israelites with water in a most miraculous fashion, thus quenching their thirst and saving their lives. The episode at Marah (Ex. 15: 22-25), at Massah (Ex. 17: 1-7), and at Meribah (Num. 20: 1-13) amply demonstrate it.[24]
The Promised Land was many a time more fertile than that of Egyptian land that housed the people of Israel in exile. The comparison strongly expressed in the book of Deuteronomy has a textual quality in as much as it compares and contrasts the land of exile and that of the new promise. The former was dry and hard to cultivate and all the more for a people in slavery. Canaan on the other hand reflected a qualitative productivity and fecundity. With the biblical interpretation, understandably, the land of slavery could never be highly productive as freedom was wanting. The Promised Land with new found freedom was highly productive. This symbolism is explained through water as God’s blessing from above[25] as much as the freedom itself was: “For the land you are about to enter is not like the land of Egypt, from which you have come, where you sow your seed and irrigate by foot like a vegetable garden. But the land that you are crossing over to occupy is a land of hills and valleys, watered by rain from the sky, a land that your Lord your God looks after. The eyes of the Lord your God are always on it, from the beginning of the year to the end of the year” (Deut 11: 10- 12). The reference here is to the autumn rains (malqosh), called the “early rain”, needed just before the harvest for ripening the crops, and the spring rains (yoreh or moreh), called the “later rains” needed for sowing (cf. Deut 11: 14).[26]

The main source of water in Palestine is rainfall. The moisture is carried up from the sea in clouds and falls on the hills as rain or snow. Thus is supplied water for the springs and streams. YHWH is very powerful to provide water most miraculously, splitting rocks in the wilderness, quenching their thirst with unlimited water, conjuring streams from the rock and bringing down water in torrents as narrated in Psalm 78: 15-16. He made streams come out of the rock and caused waters to flow like rivers. YHWH is very powerful even to turn a desert into pools of water, a parched land into springs of water (Psalms 107: 35). All these citations from the sacred texts go on to prove two things among many others. Firstly, it’s the importance of water in the everyday enterprise of a people who had a chequered life from being nomadic to being settlers in a new land. Secondly, the dependence they had to have on God without whose providence their future was as much under threat as had been in the past in periods of exile.

6. 1. 4. Water and Jesus
At the start of the public ministry of Jesus as recorded in the synoptic gospels, the reference to water is found with regard to his baptism (Mt. 3: 13-17, Mk. 1: 9-11, Lk. 3: 21-22) and the grand finale of his ministry marks the flow of water and blood, symbols of baptism and Eucharist as highlighted by the Holy Father Benedict XVI in his Lenten message for 2007.[27] And the leadership paradigm specific to Christianity demonstrated by Jesus consists in three symbols, bending before, washing of and kissing the feet of his disciples. The washing as symbol of leadership taken together with the accompanying gestures speaks of two great realities, service and purification. Peter volunteering to be bathed is a case in point expressive of his desire to be purified as a fruit of service (Jn. 13: 1-11). The first miracle of Jesus too has the water reference: Jesus turns the water into wine (Jn. 2. 1-11). This miraculous event is the first of the seven miraculous signs by which John reveals Jesus's divinity.*
A paradigm shift takes place with regard to the location of rabbinical teaching. Jesus prefers the sea and the sea side instead of the traditional location of synagogue.* the synagogue caters only to the Jews and limited crowd and the sea caters to an unlimited crowd (the great multitude*) - the Jews and non- Jews. It’s like crossing the confines of set paradigms. It’s again like looking beyond the frontiers of establishment to give newness and quality to mission. The vast expanse of the sea itself is a symbol of universality which embraces the whole human family for salvation. Thus Jesus anchors his ministry to the Galilee coast (Mk. 1: 1-14) of the poor inhabitants unlike John in the desert (Mk. 1.4). The sea Galilee becomes a place to have divine embrace and healing touch for the marginalized, undernourished, sick ones and so on. It is to be noted that the seashore becomes the locus where the simple ones of the society approach Jesus for recovery of spiritual (Word of God) and physical health (deeds). In the Markan Gospel (Mk. 2: 13; 4: 15), the sea functions as background for Jesus’ teaching and in the Lukan Gospel too (Lk. 5: 1). The first parable of the Markan Gospel is the parable of the sower for which the sea becomes the setting. In Lukan Gospel Jesus makes Peter fisher of man on the sea and Peter and others brought their boats back to the land and they left everything and followed him (Lk. 5: 11). The first four disciples of Jesus are called as they were casting and mending the nets in the sea (lake) side (Mt. 4: 18- 22).
At the command of Jesus the dreadful storm stills, has a reference to Jesus’ victory over the Monster of Chaos. In the OT, the priestly writer shows that it is Israel’s God who is also God of the universe who rescued the earth from the engulfing waters of Great Abyss.[28]
Calming the sea is the good news to all the missionaries who work in the pagan land. The Primordial Chaos (the evils) may appear on the missionary journey, we will not perish because Jesus is in our boat. As Jesus was crossing the Galilee to preach the Good News to the pagans, the terrifying storm appears but Jesus with his mighty powerful words calms it. The stilling the sea shows that Jesus is the son of God (Mt. 8:23-27; Mk. 4:35-41; Lk. 8:22-25). All the evangelists report that Jesus walks over the waters (Mt. 14:22-33; Mk. 6:45-52; Jn. 6:16-24). We can find the allusion to Psalms 77: 19; 89: 9) which speak of: Your way was through the sea, your path through the mighty waters; yet your foot prints were unseen.
The Hebrew word for the ‘way’ is derek, which comes from the verb darak which mean to tread. And so the meaning is that Christ is treading on the sea, that is, the Monster of Chaos.[29] After the resurrection Jesus appears on the shore of Tiberius. Jesus has the intimate relation to water because he gives from his breast the living water- the Spirit.
6. 1. 5. Water and the Holy Spirit
Although the title ‘Holy Spirit’ occurs only twice in the OT, (Ps. 51: 11; Is.63: 10ff), the Spirit is the major category of thought in a number of passages in the OT starting from the creation story, where He is the Life-Giver. He moves and renews everything. “The Spirit of God is moving (Hovering over) the face of waters.” Here the analogy is that of a hen hatching the eggs by giving warmth and consequently the chicken comes out of the eggs. Without the power of Holy Spirit is the water is dead.[30] In the Bible we can find that God himself become the fountain of Living water. Jeremiah states that Israel has abandoned YHWH who is meqor mayim hayyim, that is, the “Fountain of Living,” and has run after the Baal (cf. Jer. 2: 13; 17: 13).[31]
One of the Korahite post-exilic psalms compares God to “flowing streams” (apike mayim) and says that as a deer longs for these so does he long for his God (cf. Ps. 42: 1-2) but instead of mayim hayyim, “Living Water” we have el hay or “Living God” (Ps. 42:2).[32] The water Jesus gives will quench the thirst eternally and will become in us a spring of water gushing up the eternal life. From his breast shall flow the fountains of living water. The living water is the Spirit (Jn. 7: 38). How amniotic fluid is essential to the growing baby in the womb of the mother, likewise a Christian is in need of the living water – the Spirit of God. Everyone is to be born of water and Spirit. Unless a man is born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God (Jn. 3: 5). As water is the Spirit, it is the symbol of word of God too. The Word of God is the pure water for which our souls thirst. Ephesians 5:26 speaks of this reality: “so that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word. Ezekiel 36:25 too speaks of the same truth: “Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and you shall be clean: from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you.”[33]
Catechism of the Catholic Church, 694 says that: In Baptism the symbolism of water signifies the Holy Spirit's action, since after the invocation of the Holy Spirit it becomes the efficacious sacramental sign of new birth: just as the gestation of our first birth took place in water, so the water of Baptism truly signifies that our birth into the divine life is given to us in the Holy Spirit. As by one Spirit we were all baptized, so we are also made to drink of one Spirit. Thus the Spirit is also personally the living water welling up from Christ crucified as its source and welling up in us to eternal life.[34]
6. 1. 6. Water and seven Sacraments

To introduce the subject matter under our enquiry, I deem it well in place to cite a custom in my place. When one enters the Church for Holy mass, Confession, liturgical activities and personal prayers, s\he uses the holy water from the font at the entrance while making the sign of cross. Holy water is ordinary water sanctified with a prayer of blessing by a minister authorised by the Church.[35] Immediately after the daily mass, the priests used to pray over those who ask for special blessings with holy water. It’s a common sight in the coastal parishes when children and elders rush to be prayed over and blessed with the holy water. Apparently a ritual repeated almost everyday this tradition has a deep sacramental symbolism. Almost every object of productive labour is brought to the Church to be blessed or the priest is invited to the homes to do the blessing. Thus one sees a vivid expression of a great connection between water (holy) and sacramental life concretely lived.

Water is used many ways liturgically. Its use is beneficial against temptations from spiritual enemies and at times of physical danger. It is a symbol of spiritual cleansing, most obvious at the sprinkling with water at Sunday Mass. Kept at home, it is not only a symbol of Baptism but reminds one of Divine blessings.[36]
In the liturgy of the Easter Vigil, the Church solemnly commemorates the great events in salvation history that prefigure the mystery of Baptism during the blessing of the baptismal water which is the rich symbol of grace.* We see the primordial water right at the time of creation which is the prefiguration of Baptism.

Since the beginning of the world, water, a humble and wonderful element of the created world has been the source of life and fruitfulness. Sacred Scripture sees it as “overshadowed” by the Spirit of God: At the very dawn of creation your Spirit breathed on the waters, making them the wellspring of all holiness. All the Old Covenant prefiguration* find their fulfilment in Christ Jesus. He begins his public life after having himself baptized by St. John the Baptist in the Jordan. After his resurrection Christ gives this mission to his apostles: Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.[37]

At the Eucharist, the priest’s mingling a few drops of water with wine to be consecrated symbolizes the union of the two natures in Christ, the unity of Christ and his people. The water mingled with the wine stands for the union of human nature with the One who assumed human nature for the salvation. The great sacrifice of Jesus on the cross where flew blood and water from his side marks the sacramental symbolisms of baptism and Eucharist re-enacted in the sacrament of the Eucharist. [38]
We can see a symbolism of two natures- the divine and human in Genesis “The Spirit of God is moving the face of water.” In the liturgical and sacramental use of water there is a great and inseparable link between the human and the divine be it when they refer to purification, sanctification or benediction. Often the mystery eludes the human mind to totally comprehend the dimension that essentially transforms symbols within the sacramental rites and rituals to mean a mystery that is really real. As in the act of creation recorded by the priestly author the presence of the Spirit of God on water gives a, though simplistic, realistic dynamism of the divine and the human in the use of water as a liturgical symbol. It is re-creative and re-constructive, going beyond the chaos. It accompanied by the divine, sketches colours of creation from the chaotic realities.

In Sunday mass there is a solemn service of sprinkling the Holy water to remind the faithful the grace of baptism. In the rite of Anointing of the Sick, the priest sprinkles the Holy water over the sick person to remind him the grace of Baptism. In the sacrament of Matrimony priest blesses the newly married couple with the Holy water. The same is done to the newly baptised.
In the sacraments of Confirmation, Penance and Holy Order there is no direct reference to water but indirect reference. In the Roman Rite of Confirmation, the bishop extends his hands over the whole group of the confirmants as custom, since the time of the apostles this gesture has signified the gift of the Spirit. The bishop invokes the outpouring of the Spirit in these words: All-powerful God, Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, by water and the Holy Spirit you freed your sons and daughters from sin and gave them new life. Send your Holy Spirit upon them to be their helper and guide. Give them the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of right judgment and courage, the spirit of knowledge and reverence. Fill them with the spirit of wonder and awe in your presence. We ask this through Christ our Lord.[39] The outpouring of the Spirit has the implicit reference to water (life) as one is confirmed in the Spirit for a mission. The Spirit as the living water gushes fourth in the fruits of the Spirit manifested in the life of the confirmants becoming a fountain of the living water itself. Thus confirmation is a great sacrament which invites the recipient to be configured to Christ, to be confirmed in the Spirit to produce fruits and confirmed in a mission shared by all the baptized for the establishment of the Kingdom of God.
Similar to confirmation, the Holy Order is a sacrament which in a special way invests the person to- be- ordained with the ministerial power in the sanctifying office of the Church. In the sacrament of Holy Order there is a reference to outpouring of the Spirit: The essential rite of the sacrament of Holy Orders for all three degrees consists in the bishop's imposition of hands on the head of the ordinanti and in the bishop's specific consecratory prayer asking God for the outpouring of the Holy Spirit and his gifts proper to the ministry to which the candidate is being ordained.[40]
In the sacrament of penance, there is an internal cleansing with power of the Holy Spirit or conversion. St. Ambrose says of the two conversions that, in the Church, “there are water and tears: the water of Baptism and the tears of repentance.”[41] The tears of the heart (soul) the sinner sheds when he repents and reconciles. The tears are reference to water.
6. 2. Christianity in Kerala

According 2001 census of Government of India, it is recorded over 24 million (2.4 crore) Indian Christians, comprising 2.3% of the country's population, whereas in Kerala 19.02 % Christians. Although Christianity was the second largest religion in Kerala in fifties, now it is the third largest religion as in our country.[42] The main concentration of the Christian population we can see in India either in the coast or in the tribal area. It does not reduce the importance of Inland Christians in Kerala. The traditional belief is that Christianity in India has its beginning with two Apostles, namely, St. Thomas and St. Bartholomew. Although the historicity has always been called to question, no one can rule out the possibility of the Apostolic connection with India, as India was not at all unknown to the Western or Mediterranean world.[43]

St. Thomas who, in the light of the Living Tradition and the Scripture, proclaimed the risen Lord Jesus Christ as Lord and God (Jn. 20: 28) and following the Lord’s command: “Go, therefore make disciples of all nations; baptize them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit (Mt. 28: 18-19), came to India. The traditional belief is that St. Thomas landed at Maliankara, a place adjoining Muziris port of Cranganore near Cochin. The origin of Kerala’s Christians dates back to 52 AD. He converted local inhabitants including many from the upper sect known as Namboodiri Brahmins. The living tradition says that St. Thomas founded seven Churches (Christian communities) in Kodungallore, Palayur, Paravur, Kokkamangalam, Niranam, Chayal, Korakkeni, Kollam and a chappal (half church-"Arappalli") at Thiruvankottu.[44]

6. 2. 1. Historical background of Christianity in Kerala

Oliver Wendell Holmes says that “A page of history is worth a volume of logic.” To trace the roots of Christianity in the Hindu soil is thousand times worth to know the greatness of India and its culture. The richness and magnanimity of Indian cultural heritage is always held with high esteem in the world. The religiosity and religious pluralism is at the heart of the Indian people and culture because India had accommodated other religions as sweet to the milk. From the beginning of religious history of the world India being the cradle of many great religions had been aware of the richness: “unity in diversity.” To have a thought of “unity in diversity” is divine. The words of Donald S. McGavran can be well fit here: “God is interested in luxurious diversity.

With the emergence of Hindutva movement, initiated and supported by some Hindu fundamentalist groups in India, “unity in diversity” is under big threat. The very ideology of Hindutva is dangerous to secular spirit (secularism)* of India. The Hindutva forces want to make India “a Hindu Rashtra with one homogeneous culture” reducing the other religious minorities to second class citizens.[45] The waves of the present religious situation in India are also partly reflected in Kerala. The sporadic communal riots that take place in Kerala are often politically motivated. Even then there is a growing mutual understanding between Hindus and Muslims, Muslims and Christians & Hindus and Christians.

Coming back to the History of Christianity in Kerala, we have a Christian Community founded by St. Thomas. It is almost impossible to accept that all St. Thomas Christians are Syrians. No one can precisely say that he converted only upper class people. The claim of many Namboodiri Brahmins were converted is not very easy to accept because Namboodiri Brahmins are the hard core Hindus. Buddhism and Jainism couldn’t make much impact on Brahmins. Christianity in its incipient stage was not the religion of so called higher class people, educated and intellectuals but the religion of poor. The history and patristic literature throws light on it. Moreover Jesus was concentrating in his mission the marginalised, downtrodden, sick and poor. If St. Thomas, the disciple of Jesus converted the people of India; it is the most probable that he must have converted the socially and economically marginalised especially the fisher folk. Since Jesus’ ministry was predominantly on the coast, the people of coast must have been converted by St. Thomas. Moreover the Muzaris port that was on the coast was one of the world’s principal ports and trade centres, from where various spices were exported to the Greco-Roman world.[46] The people around the coast of Muzaris port must have been fisher folk. Hence St. Thomas must have converted the fisher folk first and then he must have moved to the others in interior. Even the traditional claim that St. Thomas visited Cape Comerin has no documentary support. This tradition is being stressed by the living tradition of the community.[47] Basing the living tradition of the community Fr. Bebinson stresses the traditional claim in his B. Th final paper: “Life and Liturgy of the People in the Indian Peninsula” and says that Mukkuvas were probably a few among the first to receive the Christian faith from the Apostle St. Thomas.[48]

According to the Apocryphal writings (Acta Thomae 2nd century, The Doctrine of Apostles 3rd century and Passio Thomae 4th century) we have sufficient references of the arrival of St. Thomas. Acta Thomae portrays the Apostle St. Thomas as missionary to India. He as a labourer reached India accompanied by an agent of the Indian King Gundaphoras (Gundaphoras lived in India is a historically proven fact). Once he completed his assigned work, he went for the mission of preaching the Good news in the South. He died in the Kingdom of Misdeus (Mazdai) which tradition locates Madras.[49] The only unique tomb of the Apostle at St. Thomas Mount in Madras-Mylapore and the absence of the rival tombs in India prove once again that his mission was again on the coast. Hence St. Thomas who was very faithful to his Master whose mission was mainly on the coast, must have evangelized the coastal people.

Though the arrival of St Thomas, and the subsequent establishment of the churches is viewed with skepticism by Western historians on account of absence of documentary support. However, no one can deny it either because of the local living tradition. Thus we can say Indian Christians are of an apostolic origin and all three rites share this patrimony. Hence St. Thomas is not monopoly to one particular rite.
The second phase of Christianity in Kerala takes place in the 4th century with the arrival of Thomas of Cana. Though he strengthened Christianity, he introduced Syriac liturgy dating from fourth century. From this time onwards we find a better contact between Kerala Christians and the Persian Churches.[50] In reality we can trace the origin of Syrian Christians from the fourth century onwards. They may be the converts of St.Thomas Apostle. Hence they can claim the Apostalic origin which is not exclusive for them.
A sculptured stone found in the front wall of the Church in Poothurai, in the district of Kannyakumari, belonging to the Archdiocese of Trivandrum shows this date 01. 11. 1101. It must have been the stone showing the date of its establishment as a Church in this area.[51] Though St.Thomas converted people to Christianity in Quilon (Kollam), the Diocese of Quilon was erected on 9th August 1329 by Pope John XXII, while the Pope was in Avignon, with a decree Ad perpectuam rei memoriam. It was a first Catholic Diocese erected in India by Roman Pontiff. The first bishop was Iordanus Catalani of Severac.[52] According to the late Fr.Luois Roch from the Archdiocese of Trivandrum “The franciscans and Dominican who worked in Quilon in 13th century, much earlier the arrival of Portuguese in 16th century, also extentedn their work in Trivandrum. It is very reqasonable to believe that two chrches namely the Holy Ghost Church in Mampally and St. Antony’s Church in Valiathura have pre-Portuguese Orgine.”
6. 2. 2. Christian conversion in Kerala Coast by St. Francis Xavier (Latin Rite)

The landmark discovery of a new sea route to India by the great Portuguese admiral Vasco-de-Gama on 21 May 1498 opened a way for the Prtuguese mission in India. The third phase of Christianity in Kerala took place with the arrival of Portuguese missionaries, who reached the Malabar Coast in the late 15th century, made contact with the St Thomas Christians and St Thomas Syrian Christians in Kerala. Naturally the Portuguese must have sought to introduce among them the Latin Rite of the Roman Catholic Church because St Thomas Syrian Christians who followed the liturgy of East Syrian (Chaldean Rite) and are being governed by East Syrian Patriarchs and East Syrian bishops (these patriarchs and bishops were often called Babylonians and Armenians).[53] The Portuguese have rightly pointed out some expressions in the liturgical texts of St. Thomas Syrian Christians, which are in accordance with the Nestorian Heresy. Consequently, The Synod of Diamper (Udayamperur) in 1599 convened by the Latin Archbishop Menezes of Goa brought an end to the connection between St.Thomas Christians and East-Syrian Church. Dr. Placid J. Podipara is of the opinion that “At the end of 16th century the Portuguese Latin jurisdiction was imposed upon St. Thomas Christian and gradually their East Syrian rite was deformed to a great extent by mutilation and latinization. As a result many became dissidents in the 17th century adopting Jacobitism and later on also west Syrian rite.”[54] Dr. Selvister Ponnumuthan says that “Despite its various positive effects, the Synod of Diamper (Udayamperur) gradually led the Syrian Christians into various Churches and denominations.” [55]
The after-effect of the Synod of Diamper was the Coonan Cross Oath in 1653 at the Church of Our Lady of Life at Mattanchery.* It is historically notable because, on account of latinization by the Portuguese, the crowd gathered at Mattanchery took an oath that they would not be subject to the Portuguese Archbishop of Goa, Francis Garcia. As a result of it, St. Thomas Syrian Christians got split into two: one group continued to recognize the prelates appointed by Rome and the other broke away from Rome and joined the West-Syrian Jacobite Church of Antioch. This group came to be known as the Jacobites (Puthankootukar) or Syrian Orthodox Church of India. Again there was a division among the Jacobites. Due to Anglican Church influence in the 19th century a group of people left Jacobites are called Marthoma. It is interesting to note that the Jacobites were further divided into two groups: Methran Kakshi or the Bishop's group (Syrian Orthodox Church of India) whose Catholicos or supreme head resides at Devalokam, Kottayam and the Bhava Kakshi or Patriarch's Group (Jacobite Syrian Orthodox Church of India) whose head is the Antiochene Jacobite Patriarch. On 30 September, 1930 one group of Jacobites under the spiritual leadership of Mar Ivanios and Mar Theophilos came to communion with the Catholic Church. This group follows the Antiochene Liturgy are called Syro-Malankara Catholics. The Syro-Malabar Catholics who kept their ancient communion with Rome following their ancient East Syrian Rite and were not a part of Jacobites. They are now known as Syro-Malabarians or Chaldeo-Malabarians or Malabarians, and are constituted the Syro-Malabar Hierarchy.[56] They are said to be the first Christians in Kerala claiming the Apostolic Tradition of St. Thomas the Apostle (Some historians agree and some do not agree with the view of St. Thomas came to Kerala in 52 A.D. and Syrians in Kerala are the children of those who received baptism from St. Thomas himself.[57] The Syrian Christians (Syro-Malabar Catholics, Jacobites, Syrian Orthodox Christians, Marthoma Syrian Christians and Malankara Syrian Catholics) as a whole had same patrimony and ethnic identity at least till the time of the Portuguese. They are very influential in every respect.[58]
Vasco­­­-de-Gama, at his first arrival established friendly relations with Zomorin, the Hindu ruler of Calicut. Pedro Alvarez Cabral who followed Gama on 30 August 1500, brought with him a “Vicar,” eight secular priests, eight Franciscans, a student of philosophy, a lay-brother and a musician. In Calicut he erected a Church. The ecclesiastics began to preach Gospel. Among their converts was a Brahmin who took the name of Michael a S. Maria and helped the ecclesiastics as an interpreter. There was an uprise instigated by Mohammedans who killed three Franciscans. Due to the uprise they escaped to Cochin (Kochi) where they preached. In the island of Vaipin too they preached. In 1501 Cabral went from Kochi to Cannanore (north of Calicut). The second advent of Vasco­­­-de-Gama in 1502 and the arrival of Francesco Albuquerque in 1503 gave a fresh impetus to the work of Missionaries.[59] The Portuguese got access to Quilon in 1503 as Vasco-de-Gama was visited by the queen of Kollam at Cochin who expressed her wish to establish trade relation with the Portuguese. As result of it Albuquerque made a factory in Kollam. Albuquerque left a priest, Rodriego O.P., at Kollam, to instruct the traditional St. Thomas Christians of the place and to convert the non-Christians.[60]
The King of Cannanore wrote to the king of Portugal in1507 that conversions from lower caste such as Thiar and Mucua were taking place in Cannanore. Slaves and vassals too were becoming Christians as the King wrote in 1512. Lorenzo Moreno and Diego in their letter to King of Portugal (Cochin, 1510) say that many Nairs had become Christians. According to Pero Mascarenhas (letter dated Dec. 20, 1514, sent to the king of Portugal) in the Church of Cochin itself were baptised six thousand souls who lived in places around Cochin. The same on Dec. 7 of the same year had written that more women had become Christians, and that of the rest the majority were sellers of small articles, a few Panicals and some Nairs. There was opposition on the part of Hindu kings, especially on the part of king of Cochin. The opposition was manifested by depriving the converts of their property and government offices. According to Silva Rego, these penalties did not affect the poor and the low caste people such as Mucuas and Pulays who had no property nor the government offices.[61]
The term Latin Catholics is generally identified with the powerful European and American Church that follows the Latin Liturgy. Its liturgical rite is of the Roman Church. In Kerala the Latin Catholic Community is considered as one of the backward classes (The backwardness of Latin Catholics is based on the economical point of view.) From the sociological point of view, Latin Catholics, in Kerala, have a social identity of backwardness. They are composed of St. Thomas Christians, who embraced the Latin Rite during the Portuguese regime, Anglo-Indians, the converts from Hinduism such as Mukkuvar, Nadars, Izhavas, and Dalits.[62]
At the time of the arrival of Francis Xavier in Goa on 6th May, 1542, Goa was the largest Diocese in Christendom though, it had only 13 parishes. The Bishop was Frey Juan de Albuquerque to whom Francis Xavier paid his first visit because he was sent by His Holiness, Pope Paul III, and His Highness, the King of Portugal, had sent him to India to help the Portuguese, to instruct the new converts, and to labour for the conversion of infidels. He stayed in Goa for a few months he sailed to Fishery Coast at the end of September crossing through Cochin and Travancore Coasts. He landed at Manapad (presently part of Tuticorin Diocese, Tamil Nadu State) in October 1542. On the Travancore coast thousands were baptised by St. Francis Xavier who arrived in India 1542. It is said in the letter of Francis Xavier that “In the space of one month” says the saint, (Nov-Dec.1544) “I made Christians of more than ten thousand in Travancore.”[63]
6. 2. 2. 1. The Christian Conversion among the Fisher folk

The presence of Christianity on the Coast of India particularly in Kerala is the contribution of St.Thomas, St. Francis Xavier and Foreign Missionaries. Early Roman Catholic missionaries, particularly the Portuguese, led by the Jesuit St Francis Xavier rigorously worked for the conversion. As a result of it they expanded their bases on the west coast making many converts especially the entire Hindu population of Goa. From Goa, he landed to Manapad. From there he walked by foot to Tuticorin, the main town of the Fishery Coast. As it was time for the people to go for the great Pearl Fishery near Mannar (Cylone), Francis Xavier began to visit the interior villages from Tuticorin to Manapad and from there to Cape Comerin until September 1543.

In October 1543 Francis Xavier returned to Goa after a short visit to Colombo and remained there till December 21, 1543. On December 21, 1543 Francis Xavier and his friends, set out from Goa to Cochin. From Cochin he and his friends started out to Fishery Coast. It was only in November-December 1544, visiting the coast from Punnakayal to Cape Comerin that he could come to Travancore Coast that extended from Cape Comerin to Quilon. After the rich mission experience of Fishery Coast Francis Xavier returned to the Kingdom of Travancore. Inhabitants of Travancore Coast were mainly Mukkuva Caste. He converted them into Christianity. He refered in his letter to Mansilhas on 18th December 1544, the names of the present parishes of Poovar, Kollencode, Vallavilaithurai, thoothoor (including Chinnathurai and Puthenthurai, therefore thoothoor is known as thoothoor thurai), Puthurai from the Archdiocese of Trivandrum Kerala and Mullurthurai (Thengaipattanam), Inayam, Midalam, Vanniakudi, Kolachel,Kadiapattanam, Muttam and Pallom from the Diocese of Kottar, Tamil Nadu.[64] C. M. Agur says that the progress of the Roman Catholic Mission from Quilon to Cape Comerinis a remarkable record. The first Churches built by Francis Xavier at Mampally in Trivandrum, Kerala and Kottar, Tamilnadu. Infact all the early Churches werebuilt of palm trees and leaves surmounted by a simple cross.[65]

Francis Xavier converted the people of Travancore en masse. He urged St. Ignatius in Rome and Fr. Simon Rodrigues in Lisbon to send more priests. His method of evangalization was very simple and profound. When he reached a village, he brought all men and boys togother. He then preached to them and explained the chief articles of the Christian faith in their native language. He made the sign of cross and asked his heares repeat three times their acknowledgement of one God in three divine persons. He then put on a sleeveless white surpliceand recited Confiteor, Creed, Commandments, Our Father, Hail Mary and Salve Regina. Then he asked the young and the old to repeat what he has taught. All those wished to become Christians publically asked pardon from God for their sins. He then read the creed in loud voice and asked them if they believed. Then He baptised them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.[66]

6. 2. 2. 2. The World View of the Fishermen
A world view is a term originated from the German word Weltanschauung meaning a “look onto the world.” It implies a meaning of a wide world perception. It also refers to the framework of ideas and beliefs through which an individual interprets the world and interacts in it. The world view of fisher folk* is in and around the sea and the sea shore. It is very hard for them to think of anything outside this phenomenon. Thus they remained static and immobilized community for centuries. Due to the sea related works they formed the viewpoint that tomorrow is uncertain. Once the fisher folk go to the deep sea for their livelihood, they are not sure whether they would be coming back to the shore or not. It involves risks. Therefore every fishing expedition is a risky adventure. Once they are on the deep sea, they are fully at the mercy of God to reach back safe. In the meantime their parents, wives and children remain prayerfully for their advent. One of the traditions says that kadalil poya kanavaneyorthu arayathipennu thapasirikum (the wife of fisherman prays watchfully till the husband comes back). It would have been the custom earlier, the women folk prayed till their beloved comes to the shore.
No one in the world lives in the eschatological hope of meeting their beloved like that of fisher folk. It gives in effect the concept of the prefiguration of the Lord’s second coming. It is very interesting to note that the coastal people, who are attuned to the eschatological hope, really live in the hope. Hence the future does not demand the coastal people to save something for tomorrow. They are still like the first Christian community waiting for the imminent Parusia. The world view of the fisher folk may be the best in the most secular modern world where the modern man has lost God- consciousness, whereas the coastal man has still enough spirituality and very strong faith in God (the faith of a coastal man is proverbial: Pathrosinte Parapolulla uracha vishwasam- the strongest faith like that of peter).
Apart from high risk of sea faring, the other causes which make them uncertain would be the high rate of mortality either by the fury of the sea (Tsunami, soil erosion etc and the tropical sea is turbulent especially during the months between May to July), or by lack of medical aids (mass deaths due to epidemics like cholera malaria etc), or by the constant threat of the guards of neighbouring countries (five fishermen from Chinnathurai village, Kannyakumari District were mercilessly short to death very recently (March 2007) on the sea as thy were fishing either by Srilankan Navy Forces or LTTE). Hence they do not have hope of tomorrow unless they place their total trust in God. So the general philosophy they follow is: Live today happily with whatever one may have and leave tomorrow in the hands of God. From the spiritual angle, their philosophy is supreme and model to modern man who trusts in himself. The coastal people are compelled to live constantly in the divine providence. It is therefore very hard to find atheists among the fisher folk. From the material angle, they do not save anything for tomorrow; instead they spend whatever they earn out of their hard work. Moreover they think that sea is the eternal provider when God wills.

Let us critically analyse the response of the Church to such a world view of coastal people? The Church legitimized their world view through the literal interpretation of the Scriptural quoting. This world view is transmitted to generation to generation. I cite a few Scriptural quoting that legitimizes the world view:
1) Luke 12: 22-31: Jesus said to his disciples, “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat, or about your body, what you will wear. For life is more than food, and the body more than clothing. Consider……………………………………………………………….......And do not keep striving for what you are to eat and what you are to drink, and do not keep worrying. For it is the nations of the world that strive after all these things, and your Father knows that you need them. Instead strive for his kingdom and these things will be given to you as well.

The literal interpretation of the above Bible passage by the Church justified the legitimization of their faith in God who takes care of everything; hence no worry about tomorrow (tomorrow is not the concern of a faithful). Since tomorrow is uncertain, the fisher folk place their total trust in God for brighter tomorrow. By reinforcing this spiritual interpretation in the minds and hearts of the people the hierarchical Church escaped not performing its role of social, cultural, educational and economical development for this people. Now the situation slowly changes as the local people become the ecclesial authority who knows the pain of the Coastal people work for their development.

2) Mt. 6: 34: So do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring worries of its own. Today’s trouble (suffering) is enough for today; Luke 12: 32: There is no need to be afraid, little flock, for it has pleased your Father to give you the kingdom. Mark 6:34: As he went ashore, he saw a great crowd; he had compassion for them, they were sheep like shepherd.

The spiritual interpretation of above passages makes the fisher folk to live for the next world. For which the Church introduced a theology of suffering positively. The theology that engulfed the Coastal people is the Kingdom of God is not here and now reality. It is other world reality. Hence one should aim at the eternal life. The life here is to be purified for the eternal rest in the heavenly Kingdom. Therefore the present sufferings are the ways and means to purify oneself in order to achieve the Kingdom of God in the future. Hence today’s poverty, hunger, misery, insecurity etc is for today, if one suffers is sure of obtaining the kingdom of God. Thus these people are kept like poor lazars who found a place in the lap of God. To ensure a place in the heaven and to have a life without suffering at least after death, they offer number of holy masses for the repose of the souls because their life here is always confronted with innumerable sufferings. The theology that is operative now among them is the theology of life after death than the theology of living. No wonder why the remembrance of dead, the rituals related to dead assume great importance among the Coastal people.

Such a world view of fisher folk for centuries disabled their growth as a community to achieve liberation and peace from the present suffering and to climb the social ladder of society. The foreign priests who served the coastal belt often neglected the educational and cultural development of these people. These people have seen the light of education when the native priests began to work for the community’s growth very recently. As mentioned earlier, the nature is also cause of framing such a world view. One more point related to their world view is of opposite directions- that of moon and sun. P. T. Mathew says, “Fishing and associated activities are determined mostly by the lunar calendar. The sun has only minimal role. On the other hand, most of the on-shore activities are controlled by solar calendar. Thus dominant culture and its time-consciousness are heavily weighed against the Mukkuvar (Fisher folk). Here comes the importance of grasping the elements of his own world view vis-à-vis that which is placed over against him in the complex world of today.”[67]

For the fisher folk the axis mundi is the sea and the sea shore. As humans they are to be in and out of this axis mundi. P. T. Mathew says that “The land and the sea are two inseparable realities for a Mukkuvan. However, he spends a major part of his life over the sea- that being the sole ground of his occupation- where he does his ‘sowing’ and ‘harvesting’ and ‘storing.’ This distinguishes him from most non-fishing people for whom the land is sole basis for sustenance. A Mukkuvan can hardly survive away from the ocean. In this sense the ocean becomes the primary reality for a Mukkuvan.” Since the sea is his world, the land doesn’t count as important one before him. The land has a very little significance. Again P. T. Mathew says that “The shore, not the land, is his point of reference, his axis mundi. The land is of little significance.” This world view of fisher folk makes the community static and stagnant. From static and stagnant nature of the fishing community the fisher folk must come out and grow into the occupational mobility.

This world view should not arrest him and his community’s growth from the sub-human condition to human condition. Along with God, my heart too aches seeing the sad plight of my people. The cries of hunger grows louder and louder from the huts of fishermen. It is unfortunate that poverty has become a daily reality of the fisher folk. Though they battle with the mighty sea, often they return with nothing. They need to be liberated from dehumanizing situations and look forward for the new dawn. Since the leadership of the coast is still ecclesial, the Church should provide a theology that humanizes the coastal people and should work for their social, economical, educational, political and cultural development.


6. 2. 2. 3. The Fisher folk and the Sacramental life

From the mother’s womb to tomb, the life of the fisher folk is strongly connected to the sacraments and sacramentals. Each stage of a person’s life is being celebrated in the community through the active participation in the sacraments. In concrete terms; as soon as a child is born, it is brought to the Church for Baptism usually after eight days. (A coastal man is convinced the fact that Baptism is necessary for salvation and is the door which gives access to other sacraments even though he may not know the theology of Baptism and other sacraments. He knows for sure that through baptism he becomes the member of the Church even though he may not know that Baptism gives a share in the common priesthood of all believers. When this child reaches the age of reason (7 years according to Code of Canon Law), It receives the sacrament of Reconciliation and the Holy Communion. (A coastal man believes without doubt that the consecrated bread and wine are the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ but he may not know that the Eucharist is the bread of angels, bread from heaven, medicine of immortality and it is the anticipation of the wedding feast of the Lamb in the heavenly Jerusalem. He also believes that in this sacrament, the Lord truly becomes food for souls and is the sacrament of redemption but he may be ignorant of the term of Eucharist, a nuptial sacrament and ignorant of Eucharist is the sacrament of the Bridegroom of the Bride.)

At an adolescent age, this person confirms his/her faith in Trinity by the reception of the sacrament of Confirmation. As an adult he/she makes the vow to live with the partner till the end of life through the sacrament of Matrimony. Finally, at the old age this person receives the sacrament of Anointing of the sick. Thus the whole life of each and every individual person is deeply rooted in the Sacrament of the Church. Besides these sacraments, fisher folk have got high regard and value for the Sacramentals. One of the explicit ways of expressing their faith in the Sacramentals is seen by the fact that most of people wear rosary, scapular or medals. They call priest for blessing of the fishing equipments with holy water based on the belief that this blessing bring God’s favour on them. If the priest is not available, the people sprinkle on fishing equipments the holy water which they bring from the parish Church. We can not see a people whose life is so centred on the Sacraments and Sacramentals, Liturgical feasts and blessings like coastal people. The never-ending Holy Masses for the living and dead with a church full of faithful is a usual scene though a rare in the world. The sacramental life that flows from the Christian Faith is very strong in them. The faith that the forefathers handed on them is a treasure in this earthly sojourn. They believe the words of the greatest fisherman St. Peter: We remain aliens and exiles in this world (1 Pet 2:11). The remark of my friend Dorothy Dillon from USA is worth mentioning here: The Catholic Church is really alive in Spirit and Truth in the periphery of Indian Sub-continent especially in Trivandrum Archdiocese, Kerala.


6. 3. The symbolism of water and Sacraments in the life of the People
&Their Faith- commitment

This section mainly reveals the symbolism of water (sea) that is sacred and sacramental among the fisher folk. The sea is a place where the fisherman deepens his faith. The fisher man is naturally attuned to pray when he is on the sea for fishing. His faith commitment is so great that it is very rare to find an atheist among the fisher folk. Their Christian faith is born and mixed with their blood and bones. No force on earth can take away this faith from them. Being in the midst of impending danger he trusts God. Therefore, from the womb to tomb his life is characterised by the sacraments and sacramentals.

Though the sea is material provider, she is also destructor when revealing her fury. We know that the fury of sea is due to the ecological imbalance. In spite of the ambivalent nature, the coastal man reveres the sea with highest esteem because the sea is not only bringer of materiality (material wealth), but also spirituality (spiritual wealth- the eternal life) because the Christianity has come by the sea. Thus he gains his material life and spiritual life from the sea.

6. 3. 1. The Sacramental Symbol of Water among the Fisher folk

Water has a great symbolism among the fisher folk. The Mother sea is nothing but an amniotic fluid in incipient stage, daily bread in adulthood, a priceless treasure in wisdom age to a Coastal man. My father being a fisherman who made the sea his bed often says: “The sea is mother to the child, wealth to an adult and amazing miracle to an old. She is the feeding mother and eternal provider worthy of all our reverence after God Almighty.” The fishermen affectionately call her as Kadalamma (Mother sea or ocean). It is very obvious and natural that the Coastal people have an unfailing faith and hope in the goodness and bounty of the Mother sea (water) which is the source of life. The second chapter clearly indicates that life wells up from water.

For the Coastal people water is sacred and sacramental. To narrate an example, “Whiling pushing the boat over the waterline every Mukkuvan is seen bending reverentially to touch the sea water with his fingers and then making the sign of the cross on his forehead.”[68] It is appropriate to give here one more example that “There is nothing unholy in the sea is a general belief among the fishermen. “Kannil chavarundundenkil kadlil chavarundu” (there is dirt in the sea if there is dirt in one’s eye), the sea is a symbol of purity, and no external dirt can pollute it. Hindu fisherman usually use sea water in the purificatory rites both at home and in the temple, and it is holier than the cow-dung milk, they believe. The sea is the symbol of purity and sacredness.”[69]

The respect and reverence to Kadalamma is in the very being of a coastal man. This can be seen from their daily life. None of them consume alcohol on the sea when they do the deep sea fishing for a long period of a month or a short-term operation of a day or two. Normally they drink heavily on the shore perhaps due to hard work. Another way of showing reverence to the Sea is, removing their turban (a towel) from the head and tying it around the waist while launching the Catamaran or Vallam into the sea. The turbans will be again tied around their head, once they cross the wave breakers. I have observed it with wonder and amazement. P. T. Mathew’s observation is right when he says: “Kadalamma does not like it,” they say, and if turban is not removed she will push the boat back to the shore in fury, they believe. Removing the turban is an act of paying homage to someone, according to the Kerala custom.”[70]

The sea is a sacramental symbol for the fisher folk because she is a feeding mother and their physical existence depends on the grace of the sea. In sense the sea is a channel of grace and benevolence. Kadalamma is a house of prayer. Once the fisherman casts the net, they pray to God and their patron saints, more particularly to St. Antony and St. Michael the Archangel. The rosary is their favourite prayer because of the devotion to Mother Mary. The external sign of their devotion to Mary is seen wearing the rosary or scapular around the neck. They are worthier than the gold chain. The sea is a place to experience the power of Cross. Numerous encounters with whale huge in size are joyous memory of the fisher folk because they experience the power of Cross. The fisherman man believes that if one draws a cross on the forehead of whale, it leaves you free. P. T. Mathew says that “If you give whale respect and draw a cross on its forehead, it would leave him in peace. A prayer to St. Antony would keep it away.”[71] In short we can say that a Coastal man lives in constant presence of God than any one in the world.

The sea becomes again a sacred symbol because Christianity has come by the sea. Christianity assures the eternal life to all, in particular to the fisher folk. The importance of sea is seen by a simple Coastal Catholic Christian in two ways materially and spiritually. Materially the sea is a nurturing mother, protector and eternal provider. Spiritually the sea is the bringer of the eternal life because Christianity has come by the sea. The two reverential pillars are St. Thomas the Apostle and St. Francis Xavier. Besides the bringer of eternal life, it is the house of prayer. A costal man lives more in the presence of God on the sea than the shore. Hence it is right to affirm that the sea is the sacramental symbol to a fisherman.


6. 3. 2. Water as Symbol of blessing or destruction in the light of Tsunami

The basic belief of any coastal man is that Kadalamma kai niraya tharum innallankil nallayenkilum (The Mother sea will provide handful* If not today, at least tomorrow). This belief comes out of his daily experience with the sea which is very rich and abundant provider. He can not think negatively of the sea in spite of her varying moods. The moon plays a vital part of her varying moods.[72] Innu Mulu nilavavanu meen kittathu (Today is full moon. Therefore you will not get fish).* In reality a Coastal man lives in the ambivalent world, a world of grace (providence) and a world of tension, turmoil*, a world of abundance and a world of scarcity, a world of moon and a world of sun. In short, he lives in the opposite directions. Since his world is the sea, she is ambivalent symbol for him because the sea becomes at once a symbol of blessing (when she gives the bread to sustain life) and at the same time a symbol of destruction (when she takes away his life too in whatever manner).

Water is an ambivalent symbol standing both for blessing and destruction. In the OT it stands for blessing with regard to fertility and prosperity as far as agriculture is concerned. Israelites can not think of it negatively unless it comes in the form of huge flood which destructs as we have an instance of great flood in Genesis. As far as a Coastal man is concerned water is source of life. Sea is a loving mother who natures them at her breast and in her womb. Though bounteous, the sea is at the same time full of danger too. No one can predict when sea becomes rough and she swallows the human life in the form of Tsunami. Therefore sea faring is a job of risk.

It is again ambivalent because a coastal man is fighting with the sea to eak out his daily bread. Since fishing is hunting activity, intrinsically he is rough and aggressive due to hunting instinct. Quoting Raymond Firth’s Malay Fishermen and their peasant Economy P. T. Mathew says that “The rough manners and aggressive dealings of a fisherman will not easily understood by an agrarian person. The patient waiting of the farmer nursing the seedling and caring for its growth through regular watering, manuring and weeding, looking for the yield in ripe season is totally alien to the life-rhythm of marine fishermen.”

The Coastal rhythm of life is more associated with the moon than the sun. When the whole world moves with the solar timing, only the coastal man moves more with the lunar timing. Thus his regularity becomes the irregularity to the main stream culture because as everyone knows the whole world is so dependent on mathematically regularized solar calendar and time. P. T. Mathew is very right in his observation as speaks of Mukkuva rhythm of life: “The Mukkuva rhythm of life is attuned more to the ever-changing features of the ocean, and the steady waxing and waning of the moon.”[73] He also throws light on the opposite directions of fisherman when he says that an average Mukkuvan feels an alien on land. It is because the sea is his world. It is very vivid when a Mukkuvan calls the deep sea ulkadal (the interior sea) and the interior land mass karapuram (the outer land), and the seashore kadalpuram (the outskirts of the sea). His two reference point- ullu and kara- stand in contrast to the common conception in the Kerala society where ullu is used designate ullnadu (the interior of the land), and puram refers to puramkadal (the outer sea) This shows the reverse of directionality in Mukkuva thinking is no linguistic slip but is intrinsic to its worldview. Living in constant tension of the opposite directions, a Coastal man has to depend on the supernatural power that gives him hope of a new dawn of tomorrow.

The recent Tsunami swallowed so many human lives of the Coast, their shelter and everything they had. Choru thanna kadalu, Annam thanna kadalu, Jivaneum kondupoyi (The sea has given the rice, the sea has given the food, has taken away the life) was the cry of the Coast. Tsunami must have occurred in the extreme south at least a century ago because there is a living tradition of a story very prevalent among Mukkuva community and other Coastal communities. Once a King of the Coast invited the sea for his daughter’s wedding. The sea said to the king if I come, there will be only mass destruction; nothing can be spared. The King said, even if, the consequence is very grave, I invite you for wedding. Due to the repeated request of the King the sea went for the wedding. All those who were present for the wedding died and all the prepared food was spoiled and the mandapam (wedding hall) and the palace were destroyed. It has a connection to Tsunami which must have taken place on the day of King’s daughter’s wedding.

Though the water (sea) is a blessing, it is a curse and danger to a Coastal man. Since the Coastal man lives in this ambivalent reality, he sees the positive side than the negative side of reality. This also increases his faith in God and reverence to the sea. For a Coastal man it is not possible to blame the sea because the sea is annam tharunna ammayanu (sea gives the food). Annam tharunna Ammaye thalli parayanavilla (it is unbecoming to blame the mother sea).

6. 3. 3. The Faith- commitment of the Fisher folk

The faith of fisher folk is very strong like that of St. Peter who himself was a great fisherman and that of Abraham who is the Father of faith. About the faith commitment of the people Fr. Jose Puthenveedu says the following: “The fisherman by nature is a religious man. This is very much true of the fishermen at the time of Jesus. The vastness of the sea, the mighty tempests and the roaring waves ever remained him of the infinite, eternal and mighty power of God and hence we do not often find an atheist in the community of fisherman.”[74] Their faith is very strong as the peak of Everest and as deep as the sea.

The depth of their faith and its authenticity and praxis is seen in their readiness to shed blood and die for their faith. It is worth quoting Fr. Maria Stephen, here with regard to the faith of the Coastal people: “They have been Catholics for almost four hundred years. Even now they are ready to shed their blood and die for their faith, but they do not know who Christ is. Their abysmal ignorance of the person of Jesus Christ could be shocking to many. They know little about the Gospel values proclaimed by Jesus Christ.” Since they constantly live in the presence of God due to the nature of work, they are more faithful to God than any other people. It is true that they feel out of place when one initiates philosophical and theological discourse but like Peter they would affirm that Jesus is the Messiah, son of living God. Their intellectual ignorance about theology in no way reduces their faith in God. He further adds that “Majority of the fisher folk might be intellectually ignorant of the person of Jesus Christ and might not be able to explain the nuance of high doctrines and mysteries of faith. Yet, the simple love and devotion they have for Jesus Christ and for the Church, the height of respect and reverence they still hold for the religious persons should surprise one. Their readiness to shed blood for their faith reveals the depth of their simple faith. Their Christian faith is born and mixed with their blood and bones. No force on earth can take away this faith from them because children to grannies every one will declare Jesus is Andavar that is the Lord, Messiah and Liberator.”[75]

According to John Kurian the sociological reason too advances their faith: “artisanal fishing in tropical sea is basically a hunting and gathering activity in which those who labour are directly confronted by the raw forces of nature. This fact and the strong element of chance are deciding the outcome of their labour play an important function in legitimizing the role of a supernatural element in their lives and give a strong sense of religiosity to the community.”[76] P. T. Mathew makes an observation what makes Coastal people religious is unwavering hope in God who reaches them safe on the shore by the powerful prayers of dear ones at home. One goes for fishing at the risk of his life. They know there is very little they can do in the sea in a situation of Kolaru i.e. when the sea roars due to the storm and tempest. They place all their trust in God Almighty and in the powerful prayers of their dear ones at home who call out God and the protector saints for safe reaching. Quoting Thakazhi Sivasankara Pilla’s Chemmeen P. T. Mathew says: “The safety of the fisherman out in the sea is in hands of the woman on shore, is the age-old maritime wisdom.”[77]

When the Christian world reflects the gospels, they live the Gospels because the fishermen go to the sea with deep faith in God for the harvest of the fish. They always bear in mind the words of Jesus Christ to his fishing disciples who lost their hopes: “Jesus said to them, Children, you have no fish, Have you? They answered him, ‘No’ He said to them; Cast the net to the right side of the boat, and you will find some” (Jn. 21: 5-6). Even when they come to the shore empty handed; they are hopeful of tomorrow that God would definitely provide the good catch. It shows that they are the pilgrims of faith who live always with the hope of tomorrow. The depth of their faith and reverence is revealed in their boundless generosity towards the Church. The massive Churches with huge towers built with the contribution of the people, amidst the shabby huts, is a witness to the highest regard they have for their religion.

A concrete expression of their faith is a scene of Sunday Mass. The Churches are crowded on Sundays because every one goes to Church for holy Mass. And Sunday is a day of rest (Sabbath). No one goes for any job. Normally no one violates the day of obligation. For the children and adults, a compulsory Catechism is being conducted. The numerous pious associations have their regular meetings on Sundays. Another concrete way of expressing their faith commitment can be experienced in the working place, that is, the Sea. “While working they recite certain poems which are dedicated to Mary and saints. They recite rosary when they are on the sea for fishing in the deep sea. Hence the faith commitment of fisher folk is vital component of their religiosity.”[78] He lives a life, so religious amidst the impending dangers connected to his occupation. Hence he is not too much worried about tomorrow as he places his future in the hands of God.

6. 3. 4. The Local coastal Church and the Fisher folk

CCC says that the Church, which Jesus Christ found, is one, holy, catholic, and Apostolic. The same Church is understood by various images such as “People of God,” “Tillage of God,” House of God,” “Body of Christ,” “Temple of Holy Spirit,” in the Bible. The Church fathers preferred the image of Church like the Moon because all its light is not its own and it has no other light than Jesus Christ’s*. He is the light of humanity. Pope Benedict XVI in his Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation: Sacramentum Caritatis says that “Indeed, in the sacrifice of Cross, Christ gave birth to Church as his Bride and Body. The Fathers of the Church often meditated on the relationship between Eve’s coming forth from the side of Adam as he slept (Cf. Gen 2: 21-23) and coming forth of the new Eve, the Church, from the open side of Christ’s sleeping in death: from Christ’s pierced side, John recounts, there came forth blood and water (cf. Jn. 19:34), the symbol of sacraments.[79] His Bride or Body- the church whose Soul is Holy Spirit. Holy Spirit animates His Body. St. Irenaeus (Adv. haeres 3, 24, 1.) says that “For where the Church is, there also is God’s Spirit; where God’s Spirit is, there is the Church and every grace.” We can understand St. Hippolytus (Trad. Ap. 35: SCh 11, 118.), saying that “The Church is the place where the Spirit flourishes.”

Having understood the plan of Church born in the Father’s Heart, the Christians of the first centuries said: The world was created for the sake of Church where we can share the divine life. Clement of Alexandria emphasises the understanding of Early Christians telling: “Just as God’s will is creation and is called “the world,” so his intention is the salvation of men and it is called “the Church.” For a Coastal man the image of Church as the ship and Jesus as the pilot (St. Hippolytus, De Antichristo, ch.l, ix), Church as the deep ark and Jesus as the central mast, assuring the communication of all those on board with the heavens above them (Hugh of St. Victor, De Arca Noe Moralia, bk. ii, ch. vii, [PL, 176, 640]), and Church as the star* and Jesus as the light (Origen, First Homily on Genesis, no.5) which illuminates night (life, the mind and heart) would appeal more. Since the world of the Coastal man is the sea and shore, the Church must preach and teach Jesus who is so concerned of the fisher folk. The fishing disciples always felt his presence more concretely in their despair of no catch and in the danger of strong wind. He walked over the sea (Mk. 6: 45-52) and concentrated his mission on the Coast before his death and after his death (Jn. 21: 1-14).

If the Church is the continuing presence of Jesus Christ, and exists solely to put us into relation with Him, she will definitely love and work for the Coastal people because He is a lover of fisher folk and worked for them and his first disciple are the fisher folk. At the time of Jesus the Coastal people were socially considered low even though God created the human beings without caste and race. What the human society has pushed a people into the periphery of the living world unknown, God makes known. It is the project of God’s plan that Peter the Great and Big Fisherman be the First Head of the Church. This project of God’s plan is revealed through Jesus who said: “Peter, You are the rock on which I will build my Church (Mt. 16: 18). An unknown Coastal man is made known to the whole world. “God raises the lowly” has fulfilled in Peter. The Coastal People are very dear to God’s heart. Since the Coastal people are very dear to God’s heart, they need to experience the Kingdom of God here and now.

The worldview given and reinforced by the Church in past to the fisher folk is that the Kingdom of God is not here and now reality; but totally celestial, that belongs to the other terrain because God is up in Heaven who commands the human beings to do things. This gives a very negative idea of God who is not involved in the struggles of the people and the permanent companion of poverty is the wrath of God. The present local Coastal Church should re-write the worldview of fisher folk that God is utterly human in Jesus and born in poverty, not in richness and as a Coastal child in a stable (hut) and therefore God is one among us. The God who heard the cry of his people and liberated them from the bondage of Egypt will definitely hear the cry of the Coastal people and will come to liberate from all the bondages. The local Church re-read the Sacred Scripture on the basis of the Coastal context. If the Coastal People are suffering; Jesus comes as Messiah to redeem them. Jesus is historical person but he transcends history, thus a-historical. He was in History and he is in history now. He is not limited by history but he is in the history, yet beyond the history.

Another aspect of re-reading the Scripture in the Coastal context is for the ecclesial authorities to be Christ of our time. St. Augustine says: “Let us rejoice then and give thanks that we become not only Christians, but Christ himself. Do you understand and grasp brethren, God’s Grace towards us? Marvel and rejoice: we have become Christ.”[80] To be Christ of our time means to bring the liberation to the people who walk in the darkness (darkness means no food, no food to their mind i.e., education and culture, no food to their body, meals and no food to their spirit, freedom) of life. To be Christ means to incarnate in the lives of people and to get contextualized, even to face violent death for the sake of kingdom of God on earth.

According the sign of time the awareness needs to be given to the Coastal people by the ecclesial authorities that the Coastal local Church is Field of God where God sends his prophets to till it. It is not only the work of priests and religious but also the work of every man. It is the vocation of every Coastal man to be a prophet to build God’s Kingdom. Then the Coastal Church really becomes the cultivated field and the tillage of God. Re-reading the Scripture does not mean just to change the meaning of the Saying and Deeds of Jesus but to make meaning out of what Jesus has already spoken in his sitz-in-leben. Scripture is Jesus Himself that is life-giving and life-saving. Huge of St. Victor is very right in stating that “All sacred scripture is but one book, and that one book is Christ, because all divine Scripture speaks of Christ, and all divine Scripture is fulfilled in Christ (Hugh of St. Victor, De Arca Noe, 2, 8, [PL, 176, 642]).

To continue the mission of Jesus among the fisher folk we need to have a local Church who understands the pain of her Coastal children with the compassionate heart of Jesus. The history shows that the local Church was not much concern of the people’s development rather its concern was sacraments. It was due to lack of native priests. Now the situation is changing the young and dynamic priests who really commit themselves for the integral development. To cite an example, my parish, St. Jude’s Church- Chinnathura in the Archdiocese of Trivandrum was educationally backward in 50’s. When the native priests of Trivandrum began the mission, they understood the backwardness and brought first a primary and then high school, higher secondary and so on. Now the situation has changed, every house we can find a graduate or an engineering student. All over the world now they branch out for highly professional jobs. It shows that the Coastal people are not less intelligent but they were deprived of basic human necessities. Having understood their pains spiritual and material, the local Church along with her children should work for their well being.

Our local Church has been a Sacramental Church which means the Priest was all in all. His main task was to administer the sacraments and maintain the status quo of the parish. People have no role to play. People were part of the Church but they were not of the Church. People’s faith was naïve and kept under the flowery cover of the sacraments. From there it has moved to Kaikaran (lay administrators under the priest) Church. A group of very influential people of the parish to help the priest to run the parish, it often resulted problems in the parish because a handful decide for the whole parish without the majority. From there it has moved to a Participatory Church with the emergence of Basic Christian Community. Perhaps the partnership model of Church would be best. In this model there is no pyramidal structure. No one dominates over the other; instead service is the symptom of the community. This enables the local Church to be like a Mother who understands her children and nourish them spiritually and materially how the Mother sea nourishes them both spiritually and materially.
[1] Cf. B. V. Behr, “Water,” in The Brill Dictionary of Religion, Brill, Boston 2006, 1963-68.

[2] Merriam-Webster’s Encyclopedia of World religion, Merriam-Webster incorporated, Springfield 1999, 1140.

[3] B. V. Behr, “Water,” 1963-68.

[4] Merriam-Webster’s Encyclopedia of World religion, 1140.

[5] J. P.Lang, “Holy Water,” in Dictionary of Liturgy, 254.

[6] A. Ball, “Water, Holy,” in Encyclopaedia of Catholic Devotions and Practices, 655- 657.

[7] Ibidem

[8] B. V. Behr, “Water,” 1963-68.

[9] Ibidem

[10] J. Rudhardt, “Water,” in The Encyclopaedia of Religions, vol. 15, Mircea Eliade (ed.), Macmillan Publishing Company, New York 1987, 350- 358.

[11] Ibidem., According to the Zuni Indians, a complex network of waterways circu­lates underground; the first Zuni were born there, at the lowest level. A pair of twins created by the Sun then made them climb to the surface. A pond marks the spot where they finally saw the light of day. A northern Aus­tralian myth tells the story of a denza (ancestral) deity. After one of his sons struck him with a lance, he threw himself into the sea; there, another of his children drew the lance out of his flesh where it had remained embed­ded. During the voyage the god then undertook, a spring appeared everywhere he rested. Finally, he plunged into the river Victoria, whose waters he pro­ceeded to stir up until they formed deep branches in the forest; he then disappeared under a rock. From time to time he rises to the surface and causes storms; accord­ing to some accounts, he also occupies the region of the rainbow, where rain is formed.

* Since Water is a primordial element, the creation myths and stories emerged around waters of the world. The Egyptian Heliopolitan creation story recounts that the sun-god Atum (Re) reposed in the primordial ocean (Nun).

[12] Ibidem., In a Greek system, the ancestral Earth gives birth to Heaven and to Pontos, the realm of the sea, composed of salt water. Earth then couples with each of these male principles. The first of the chil­dren she conceives from Heaven is Okeanos, a fresh­water river, with deep eddies, he becomes the father of all the springs and rivers. Thus the deity who goes be­yond the world remains immanent within it: in a way, he is present in the waters.


[13]Ibidem, The Bambara myth: out of the original void and motion a force, and then spirit, come forth. While the principles of things are being ordered, a mass falls and gives birth to the earth. However, a part of spirit arises; this is Faro, who builds the heaven. Faro then falls to earth in the form of water, thus bringing life to it. Dispenser of life, water is a manifestation of the divine spirit itself.

[14] Ibidem., In the beginning, water was everywhere. Doh, the first sha­man, flew over the primordial ocean in the company of some birds. Finding nowhere to rest, he asked the red-breasted loon to dive into the ocean and bring back some earth from the bottom. This the loon did, and on his third attempt, he managed to bring back a little mud in his beak. Doh made of this an island on the original ocean which became the earth.

[15] Ibidem., A Guinean myth tells how Ha made an immense sea of mud and, then, by solidifying the mud, created the earth.

[16] Sumerian cosmogony, Enki, the Su­merian water god, impregnates Nintur, a goddess close to the earth, by scattering his seed on a riverbank; he then becomes the father of the goddess Nimu. With Nimu he begets Ninkurra, and with Ninkurra, Ottu. Similarly in Greece, whether they be the primordial pair (as in Homer) or be born of Heaven and Earth (as in Hesiod), the river Okeanos and his spouse Tethys have many offspring in the form of springs and rivers; the latter also procreate. In this manner waters contrib­ute to the growth and enrichment of the universe. They also do so in another way: Enki fills ditches, canals, and fallow land with water, thus participating in the orga­nization of the world.

[17] B. V. Behr, “Water,” in The Brill Dictionary of Religion, 1963-68; In the Babylonian myth of creation Enuma Elish, water itself possesses generating forces: both divinities, Apsu, the male sweet water ocean, and Timat, the female salty sea, mingle and generate new gods, the sky (Ansar), the earth (Kisar).

[18] C. S. Song, Third Eye Theology, Orbis Book, New York 1979, 51.

[19] H. Zimmer, Myths and Symbols in Indian Arts and Civilization, Motilal Banarasidass Publishers PLt, Delhi 1990, 109-111.

[20] RSV Bible We can find the references to water and its derivatives in the Holy Scripture 722 times.

[21]. R. Menezes, “Water and Fire in the Old Testament,” 45.

[22] Ibidem., 46 & 67, The Hebrew word sara’at can mean both Hansen’s disease (black leprosy) as well as white leprosy, any skin disease as well as mildew on houses or leather articles etc.

[23] Ibidem.

[24] Ibidem.

[25] Ibidem.

[26] Ibidem., In pre-exilic times the year began in autumn (around October), while after the Exile the Jews accepted the Babylonian calendar according to which the year began in spring (around March). Israel adopted even the Babylonian names of the months.

[27] Benedict XVI, Message of Our Holy Father Benedict XVI for Lent 2007, Libreria Editrice Vaticana, Citta del Vaticano 2007, 6: Papa calls our attention to look with trust at the pierced side of Jesus from which flow “blood and water” (Jn. 19: 34)! The Fathers of the Church considered these elements as symbols of the sacraments of Baptism and Eucharist. Through the water of Baptism, thanks to the action of Holy Spirit, we are given access to the intimacy of Trinitarian Love.

* This miracle occurs immediately after Jesus has told Nathanael that “You shall see greater things than that” (Jn.1:50). To denote Jesus' miracles, John uses the Greek word semeion meaning sign, or ergon meaning work, whereas the synoptics use the word: dynamis - meaning act of power. John calls it ‘sign’ ... because a sign, like every miracle Jesus wrought, is not intended to call attention to itself, but point to the reality that Jesus is the Messiah who is the son of God.

* It does not mean that Jesus did not teach in the synagogue. He did teach in the synagogue (Lk. 4:16, 44; Mk. 1: 39).

* The great multitude that follows Jesus comes from many different places: Judea, Jerusalem, Idumea, Transjordan, the regions around Tyre and Sidon as well as Galilee (Mk. 3: 8).

[28] R. Menezes, “Water and Fire in the Old Testament,” 39- 72.

[29] Ibidem.
[30] J. Kavungal & F. Krangkhuma, Bible and Mission in India Today, St. Pauls, Bombay 1993, 174. See also CCC 1218: “Since the beginning of the world, water, so humble and wonderful a creature has been the source of life and fruitfulness. Sacred Scripture sees it as "overshadowed" by the Spirit of God: At the very dawn of creation your Spirit breathed on the waters, making them the wellspring of all holiness.”
[31] R. Menezes, “Water and Fire in the Old Testament,” 39- 72.

[32] Ibidem.

[33] Ibidem.

[34] Catechism of the Catholic Church, 694.

[35] A. Ball, “Water, Holy,” 655- 657. It is customary to have a Holy Water font at the entrance of a Church and for one to use the sacramental while making the sign of the cross. Holy water is ordinary water sanctified by the blessing of the Church. The blessing consists of exorcisms of water and salt; the salt is added to the water in the form of a cross to signify that this water is now preserved from corruption. The practice of putting salt into the water comes from the incident of the miraculous cure of the poisonous well where the prophet Eliseus used salt to purify the water of well (2 Kings 2: 19- 22).

[36] J. P.Lang, “Holy Water,” in Dictionary of Liturgy, 254.

* Roman Missal, Easter Vigil 42: Blessing of the Water: “Father, you give us grace through sacramental signs which tell us of the wonders of your unseen power. In Baptism we use your gift of water, which you have made a rich symbol of the grace you give us in this sacrament.”
* See Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1218-1222; We can see the prefigurations of Baptism in the OT. With Jesus it changes its meaning. From Jesus we have the baptism of water and Spirit. The prefigurations of Baptism in OT are: Since the beginning of the world, water, so humble and wonderful a creature has been the source of life and fruitfulness. Sacred Scripture sees it as “overshadowed” by the Spirit of God: At the very dawn of creation your Spirit breathed on the waters, making them the wellspring of all holiness. The Church has seen in Noah's ark a prefiguring of salvation by Baptism, for by it “a few, that is, eight persons, were saved through water”: The waters of the great flood you made a sign of the waters of Baptism, that make an end of sin and a new beginning of goodness. If water springing up from the earth symbolizes life, the water of the sea is a symbol of death and so can represent the mystery of the cross. By this symbolism Baptism signifies communion with Christ's death. But above all, the crossing of the Red Sea, literally the liberation of Israel from the slavery of Egypt, announces the liberation wrought by Baptism: You freed the children of Abraham from the slavery of Pharaoh, bringing them dry-shod through the waters of the Red Sea, to be an image of the people set free in Baptism. Finally, Baptism is prefigured in the crossing of the Jordan River by which the People of God received the gift of the land promised to Abraham's descendants, an image of eternal life. The promise of this blessed inheritance is fulfilled in the New Covenant.
[37] Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1218, 1223.

[38] A. Ball, “Water, Holy,” 655- 657.

[39] Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1299.

[40] Ibidem., 1573.

[41] St. Ambrose, Epistulae, 41, 12: PL 16, 1116.

[42] Census Sources: Census of 1991& 2001; Christianity is India's third-largest religion, following Hinduism and Islam.

[43] S. Ponnumuthan, The Spirituality of Basic Ecclesial Communities in the Socio- Religious Context of Trivandrum / Kerala, India, Editrice Pontificia Universita Gregoriana, Roma 1996, 98. See Roman Missal, July 3and August 24. See also G. M. Moraes, A History of Christianity in India, Bombay 1964, 13-79 and A. M. Mundadan, History of Christianity in India, vol 1, TPI, Bangalore 1984, 65-66.
[44] Cf. P. Pallath, The Catholic Church in India, 3. Cf. See S. Ponnumuthan, The Spirituality of Basic Ecclesial Communities in the Socio- Religious Context of Trivandrum / Kerala, India, 98. See also Cf. A. S. Menon, A Survey of Kerala History, 106.

*secularism in India is not denial of religion as often meant in the Western world (neither neutral nor against), but the acceptance of all the religions are equal before the Indian Constitution. The State gives the freedom to believe, practice and propagate one’s religion. Article 5 of the Indian Constitution guarantees to all persons, not only the right to freedom of conscience and the right to freely profess and practice religion, but also the right to propagate one’s religion. See K. Pathil, Trends in Indian Theology, 20. Indian secularism is not the negation of God, religion and faith, rather the equal treatment meted out to all religions on the parts of State. It is the acceptance of religious pluralism and freedom to believe, practice and propagate any religion.

[45] K. Pathil, Trends in Indian Theology, 20-21, 37. See J. Mattam & P. Arokiadoss (eds), Hindutva: An Indian Christian Response (the 23rd Annual Meeting of the Indian Theological Association, Bangalore, 26-30 April 2000), Dharmaram Publications, Bangalore 2000, 307. Hindutva claims legitimacy exclusively for the majority religion, the Hindu religion and to a monolithic culture, and calls for the creation of a Hindu Rashtra, where the minorities who belong to other religions and cultural traditions are caricatured as “foreigners” and they are to be either eliminated or reduced to the status of second class citizens.
[46] C. Dogninni, - I. Ramelli, Gli Apostoli in India nella patristica e nella letteratura sanscrita, Milano 2001, 13-43.

[47] M. Alphonse, Evolving an Ecclesiology for the Diocese of Kottar, Pune 1983, 23.

[48] B. Bevinson, Life and Liturgy of the People in the Indian Peninsula, Jnana –Deepa Vidyapeeth, Pune 2002, 17.

[49] Cf. P. Pallath, The Catholic Church in India, 4.

[50] S. Ponnumuthan, The Spirituality of Basic Ecclesial Communities in the Socio- Religious Context of Trivandrum / Kerala, India, 99.

[51] B. Bevinson, Life and Liturgy of the People in the Indian Peninsula, 18.

[52] S. Ponnumuthan, The Spirituality of Basic Ecclesial Communities in the Socio- Religious Context of Trivandrum / Kerala, India, 65.

[53] P. J. Podipara, The Latin Rite Christians of Malabar, Denha Services, Kottayam 1985, 3.

[54] Ibidem.

[55] S. Ponnumuthan, The Spirituality of Basic Ecclesial Communities in the Socio- Religious Context of Trivandrum / Kerala, India, 99.

* The immediate cause for it was: Due to the continuous appeal of Archdeacon Thomas, who was then giving leadership to St. Thomas Syrian Christians; from the Patriarchate of Antioch came Mar Ignatius Ahattula in 1653. It is said that the Portuguese arrested him, tied him up and cast him in the Ocean. Consequently, the Syrian Christians got agitated and as a result, a large gathering of about 25,000 assembled at Mattanchery and took Oath in 1653 that they and their future generations will ever be loyal to the throne of Antioch and also vowed to fight against the atrocities of the Roman/Latin Catholics.

[56] P. J. Podipara, The Latin Rite Christians of Malabar, 3.

[57] Cf. S. Ponnumuthan, The Spirituality of Basic Ecclesial Communities in the Socio- Religious Context of Trivandrum / Kerala, India, 100- 103.

[58] Ibidem 101.

[59] P. J. Podipara, The Latin Rite Christians of Malabar, 6.

[60] Mathias Mundadan, History of Christianity in India, vol. 1, TPI, Bangalore 1984, 265. Cf. P. T. Mathew, We Dare the Waters: The World and the World View of Mukkuvar, Department of Christian Studies-University of Madras, Chennai 2001, 40.
[61] P. J. Podipara, The Latin Rite Christians of Malabar, 7-8.

[62] Cf. S. Ponnumuthan, The Spirituality of Basic Ecclesial Communities in the Socio- Religious Context of Trivandrum / Kerala, India, 111-112.

[63] P. J. Podipara, The Latin Rite Christians of Malabar, 10.
[64] Cf. S. Ponnumuthan, The Spirituality of Basic Ecclesial Communities in the Socio- Religious Context of Trivandrum / Kerala, India, 127-128.

[65] Cf. C. M. Agur, Travancore Church History, Asian Educational Services, New Delhi 1990, 279.

[66] Cf. S. Ponnumuthan, The Spirituality of Basic Ecclesial Communities in the Socio- Religious Context of Trivandrum / Kerala, India, 127-128.

* The fisher folk, Coastal man, Mukkuva and Araya mean the same. Being a Coastal man of extreme south of India, I use languages and expressions which I am familiar with. Generally the worldview of fisher folk is same perhaps all over the world because they experience the same reality, may be with a little variation.

[67] P. T. Mathew, We Dare Waters- The World and the World View of Mukkuvar, University of Madras, Madras 2001, 78.
[68] P. T. Mathew, We Dare Waters- The World and the World View of Mukkuvar, 63.

[69] Ibidem.

[70] Ibidem.

[71] Ibidem.

* Here the significance of handful is hand full of money that comes out of a very good catch.

[72] The moon has very strong influence on the sea. Two factors that affect the change: the waxing and waning of the moon, and changing distance from the earth to the moon due to the helical orbit of the moon. Thus there is a double change daily occurring in the sea- according to the tidal movement and the brightness of the moon. Relatively the sun exerts only little influence over the sea; the lunar tidal force is 2.2 times stronger than the solar tidal force.

* The Coastal man is right in affirming that the mother sea does only good for him. From his practical knowledge he knows that her varying mood depends on the natural change. She becomes rough not by herself due to strong wind. Hence the reverence to sea will continue even if tsunami occurs frequently.

* To be a Coastal man is to be attuned to the rhythm of the ocean that is ever in turmoil due to lunar and solar influences. To live, for him is to live amidst change every moment. The wind and waves, the moon and the tides, the fish and the stars…all bring to him every moment the reality of change and of movement. His today is quite un like his yesterday, and he also knows from experience, that tomorrow will be different. See, P. T. Mathew, We Dare Waters- The World and the World View of Mukkuvar, 77-78.

[73] P. T. Mathew, We Dare Waters- The World and the World View of Mukkuvar, 78.

[74] J. Puthenveedu, Theology of Fisherman, Quilon Printers, Quilon 1985, 71.

[75] Maria Stephen, Creative and Affirmative Actions in Today’s India, Allwyn D’silva (ed.), NVSC, Pune 1980, 58.

[76] J. Kurien,

[77] P. T. Mathew, We Dare Waters- The World and the World View of Mukkuvar, 63- 64.

* Moon has no light of its own. It absorbs Sun’s light and reflects. If there is no Sun, there is no Moon. If Christ is not present in Church, she is dead.
[78] B. Bevinson, Life and Liturgy of the People in the Indian Peninsula, 30. The poems are dedicated to mother Mary express the life stories of Jesus Christ. They are locally known as elamidal. Elamidal is the rhythmic singing of folk songs or other rhymes.

[79] Benedict XVI, Apos. Exhort. Sacramentum Caritatis, 22 February 2007, no. 14, Libreria Editrice Vaticana , Città del Vaticano 2007,23.

* The Stars help the Coastal people to reach the shore safe. The Stars are the night companions of deserters and sea farers. In the Bible, the Magi were directed by the Star to visit and do the homage to Jesus (Mt. 2: 29). In Trivandrum and Kannyakumari, the fisher folk Kappalvelli (literally meaning Star-ship: It is a cluster of eight stars in the shape of a ship with anchor. This constellation is very valuable for fishermen to reach the shore safe at night).
[80] St. Augustine, In evangelium Johannis tractates, 21, 8: PL 35, 1568.