St. Yeldo Mar Baselios – Oct 3 I (Kothamangalam Bava), (Pazhanji Muthappan),

St Yeldo Mar Baselios was born in 1593, in the famous Hadhai family, in a village called kooded (Bakhdida), now known as Karakosh near Mosul in the present Iraq, the same place where Marth Smooni and her 7 children suffered martyrdom. At a very young age he joined the Mar Bahanan monastery in Mosul and become a monk. In 1678 he was consecrated Maphrian by the Patriarch of Antioch Moran Mar Ignatius Abded Masiha I. Mar Mattai (Matthew) monastery, on Mount Alfaf, in Mosul town was his headquarters.

The saint came to India via Basra to Surat, finally arriving at Thalassery (Tellicherry) in North Kerala, then by hill route to Kothamangalam in AD 1685. The saintly Maphrian was accompanied by Mar Ivanios Hidayathulla, his brother Jamma, and two monks from Mar Behnam monastery Jocko (Joea) and Mathai (Matthew) but only three of them is believed to have reached Malankara. Fearing persecution from the Portuguese they went to Pallivasal in disguise, probably accompanied other travelers in their journey towards Pallivasal. They reached Marthoma Cheriapally with Mar Ivanios, guided by a Hindu gentleman whose descendants guide the procession of the festival held in his memory every year. They faced many obstacles along the way but survived all these by the power of the prayers of Yeldo Mar Baselius. Many miracles were said to have been wrought during his journey.

As the saint reached the Church premises, the Church bells began to toll. People living in the neighborhood rushed to the church to find out what the commotion was about. And that was on ‘Kanni 11th’ in the Malayalam calendar (end of September), AD 1685. The Saint entered the Church and sat on the steps of the ‘Madbaha’. On his arrival, it is believed the Church door opened by itself and the bell began to toll. It was the culmination of ultimate sacrifice, endurance, and obedience and was as indefinable as the glorious entry through heavenly portals.

After the Koonen Cross Oath, our Church needed spiritual guidance. In 1685 at the age of 92, the holy father started the difficult mission to India at the request of Mar Thoma II of Malankara, who informed the Patriarchate about the unpleasant situation of the Church here. 92 years old Yeldo Mar Baselius, volunteered to travel to India to help the Church and hence resigned his post as Maphrian. The Patriarch and the Bishops expressed concerns about the health and age of the saint, but ultimately the Patriarch granted Yeldo permission to undertake the journey and take on this exhilarating mission of rescuing the Church in India. He was one of the illustrious Syrian fathers who came down to guide the Malankara Church in turbulent times.

Because of the tedious journey and the old age, Bava was totally exhausted by then. Three days after he became seriously ill. As he was sinking, the congregation assembled inside the Church and were offering prayers. The Saint told them that he was about to die and when his spirit leaves his body, there would be a sign on the Cross situated on the western side of the Church. The two weeks of sojourn of the Maphrian at Kothamangalam electrified the Marthoman Christians all over Malankara and the mission undertaken by the saint was fulfilled to a large extent by his faithful associate, Metropolitan Mar Ivanios Hidayathulla.

On Saturday, Kanni 19 (September 29) in the afternoon, the saintly father left his mortal self for his heavenly home at the ripe age of 92. The huge granite Cross on the west side of the Church miraculously lit up at the time of the Saint’s demise. The saint’s mortal remains were entombed on the next day (Kanni 20) in the western side of the Madbaha of the Kothamangalam Church. Though the Holy Father had lived in Malankara for only a few days, his name has spread far and wide leaving a lasting mark in the history of Malankara Church. Fulfilling the wishes of multitude of faithful, the Holy Church in 1987 included the name of the holy father in the 5th Thubden (Holy Diptych).

Our Church will forever be indebted to this saint who suffered for the sake of our Church at a ripe old age. He received the last sacraments of anointment with holy oil and extreme unction on 19 Kanni, thirteen days after his arrival at Kothamangalam. The saint passed away on Sept 29 and is entombed in the sanctuary of MarThoman Cheriapally, Kothamangalam, a known pilgrimage Centre in Kerala. Yeldo Mar Baselius was canonized as a saint of our Church on 2nd November 1947 along with Parumala Mar Gregorios by the Catholicos of the East His Holiness Moran Mar Baselios Geevarghese II. We remember this holy saint in the 5th Thubden. Yeldo Mar Baselius is also known as “Kothamangalam Bava“.

He is venerated as a saint in the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church. Our Churches commemorate the saints feast day on 2nd/3rd October. Many believers confess to the power of the intercessions of this holy saint.
May the prayers of St. Yeldo Mar Baselius be a fortress for us all.

Miracles of Yeldo Mar Baselios

There are several miracles that were wrought during the saint’s journey to Kothamangalam from Surat. It happened that, during the trip, the group encountered a tiger that Mar Yeldo drove away with a simple sign of the Cross in prayers in its direction and the beast fled.

Later, arriving at the village of Pallivas, enlightened by grace, he had the knowledge of a strong flood would afflict the village at night. He advised the villagers to go to sleep in the hills.  Those who followed the saint and his companions survived while, unfortunately, the animals and villagers who remained below were drowned. Thus he saved several villagers from heavy flood at Pallivasal near Munnar.

When he reached the banks of Kothamangalam river at Chakkalakudy. He saw a Hindu man, Chakala Nair, tending cattle there. He asked whether there was a Church close by. The man conveyed to Bava that there was a Church nearby. Bava asked him to show the way to the Church. The man said he cannot leave his cattle.

The Saint is said to have taken his walking stick and drew a big circle on the ground. Then he asked the man to take all the cattle into that circle and told him that they will save safe inside the circle. The Hindu man realized that Mar Baselios Yeldho was a man of God. The man’s sister was at that time in severe labor pains. He told the Bava about this. The Saint asked him for some water. The man thought that he was asking for water to drink. He tried to climb a coconut tree nearby. The coconut tree is said to bend so he could pick the coconuts easily without climbing!

The man is said to have taken two tender coconuts from the tree and gave them to the Saint. The Saint blessed one of the tender coconuts and asked him give it to his sister. The man returned with the good news that his sister had given birth to a boy. He also noticed that all this time, the cattle haven’t strayed out of the circle drawn by the saint. The Hindu man took Bava to the Kothamangalam Church. It is said that to this day, during the perunnal celebrations in Kothamangalam, the rasa (procession) is led by the descendants of the Hindu family.