This conviction shaped his entire ministry. To those considering leaving the Orthodox Church, he would gently pose two thought-provoking questions:
(1)"Do you think being in the Orthodox Church will prove to be a barrier to the salvation of your soul?"
(2)"If you have a difference of opinion within your family, do you bid farewell to your home forever and move into a neighbouring house?"
Early Life
Cyril
Rambachan was born on November 10, 1919, to Shri Abraham Panickar and Smt.
Aleyamma Panickar of the Mukalel family in Kundara, Kerala. Before embracing
monastic life, he was known as M. A. Varghese Panickar.
Rambachan
once recounted an interesting tradition concerning the title
"Panickar." According to local history, when the Raja of Kottarakkara
visited the king of Kayamkulam, he was impressed by a dramatic performance
staged in his honor. Upon learning that the performers were also skilled
martial artists and loyal subjects, he requested that some of them be settled
in his kingdom. The request was granted, and these martial warriors were
established in Kundara with the title "Panickar." A church was later
built for the community, which is today known as St. Thomas Orthodox Church,
Kundara.
After
completing the ninth standard, Varghese Panickar worked briefly as a teacher at
St. Kuriakose L.P. School before completing his S.S.L.C. education at M.G.D.
School. During the years of the Second World War, he moved to Madras and served
the British Indian Army as a civilian Quartermaster Clerk, overseeing supplies
and the management of twenty-five military trucks.
Following
the war, he returned to Kerala and served as a teacher at Kundara M.G.D. High
School from 1947 to 1950. He later worked as a Library Inspector for the taluks
of Kollam, Karunagappally, and Karthikappally. Yet despite having a stable
career, he felt a deeper calling.
A Life
Offered to God
In 1953,
Varghese Panickar resigned from government service and joined St. George
Orthodox Monastery, Othera. The monastery was then under the leadership of Rev.
Fr. E. Mathews, who would later become His Holiness Baselios Mar Thoma Mathews
II Catholicos. The monastery was home to eighteen inmates, and in this
community the future Rambachan began his formal spiritual formation.
From 1953
to 1958, he studied at the Old Seminary in Kottayam. Among his classmates was
the future Mathews Mar Epiphanios Metropolitan. On March 25, 1958, Dn. Varghese
was ordained to the priesthood.
Over the
next five decades, Fr. Geevarghese Panickar faithfully served numerous parishes
in India and abroad, including Kudassanad, Kozhikode Cathedral, Mavelikara
Puthiyacavu, Kollam Cathedral, Vellore, Singapore, and Malaysia. Wherever he
served, he became known for his commitment to prayer, discipline, and Orthodox
teaching.
In 1987, His Holiness Baselios Mar Thoma Mathews I Catholicos ordained Geevarghese Achen to the rank of Rambachan, formally embracing the fullness of monastic life.
Rambachan’s
prayer book was a constant companion. Whether traveling or at home, he was
careful to maintain the discipline of prayer. If the appointed hour of prayer
arrived while he was walking, he would quietly seek a secluded place, often
beneath the shade of a tree, and continue his prayers.
Kundara
Seminary, established by His Holiness Baselios Geevarghese II Catholicos to
support the ministries of the southern dioceses, became closely associated with
Cyril Rambachan's life and ministry.
From 1982
until his repose in 2008, he served as its Manager for twenty-six years. During
this time, he worked tirelessly for the spiritual growth of the institution and
was instrumental in establishing within the seminary the holy relics of St.
George, Mar Kauma, St. Kuriakose, and St. Yulithi. Every Friday, he organized
special prayers for the students of M.G.D. School and personally counseled them
in matters of faith.
When
someone once asked whether he felt lonely living at the seminary, Rambachan
simply pointed to the portraits of departed holy fathers hanging in its hall
and replied that he enjoyed their company. With saints as companions, he saw no
reason to fear solitude.
One concern
that weighed heavily upon his heart was the declining number of young people
embracing monastic life. He viewed this not merely as an organizational
challenge but as a spiritual loss for the Church. Indeed, his own love for the
monastic vocation was so profound that when he learned his name had been
proposed for episcopal consideration, he personally approached His Holiness
Baselios Mar Thoma Mathews I Catholicos and requested that his name be
withdrawn, preferring the quiet path of monastic service.
Inspired by
the call of his spiritual father, His Holiness Baselios Mar Thoma Mathews II
Catholicos, to live as a pilgrim journeying toward heaven, Rambachan undertook
many pilgrimages beginning in 1978. These journeys took him to lands intimately
connected with biblical history, including Holy Land, Jordan, Greece, and
Egypt. His travels were not undertaken merely for personal devotion. He studied
ancient Christian sites deeply, particularly the monasteries of Egypt, and
shared his findings through books and writings.
After a
lifetime of service, prayer, teaching, and sacrifice, Very Rev. Cyril Rambachan
departed this earthly life on September 2, 2008. He was laid to rest at
Chengamanad Bethlehem Monastery, the community he loved and served.
His life
stands as a quiet reminder that the most enduring service to the Church is
often offered not through prominence, but through steadfast faithfulness.
In one of
his interviews, he left a simple message to the faithful-"Participate
without fail in the liturgical life and rituals of the Malankara Orthodox
Church. Love your Church. Respect the holy fathers. See to it that you always
maintain simplicity and purity in your life."
May those
words remain engraved upon our hearts.
May the
memory of Very Rev. Cyril Rambachan be eternal.
In Christ,
Rincy
Reference:
(Translated from Malayalam) Bethlehemile Theerthadakan, ed. Fr. K. Geevarghese,
Chengamanad: B.A. Publications, 2009.
