PATHANAMTHITTA: The money that would normally have gone up in fireworks during Chandanappally St George Orthodox Church’s annual feast this year has instead been turned into a home for an underprivileged elderly couple. The house, built with the savings from the cancelled fireworks display, was completed in just 60 days.
The initiative was undertaken by the church’s global diaspora forum in response to an appeal by Orthodox Church supreme head Catholicos Baselios Marthoma Mathews III, who had urged parishes to replace fireworks with charitable projects following the Mundathikode fireworks tragedy. The annual feast at the church was celebrated on May 7 and 8.
The house comprises two bedrooms, a hall, a kitchen and a bathroom with all basic amenities.
It was built with a traditional tiled roof at the beneficiaries’ request.
In addition to cancelling the customary fireworks display, the church also scaled down its annual expatriate gathering and diverted those funds towards the housing project.
The house will be blessed at 3.30 pm on July 5. The ceremony will be led by the parish vicar and the assistant vicar, parish office-bearers said.
‘Compassion shines brighter than fireworks’
Commending the initiative, the Catholicos said the Chandanappally parish had set an example by demonstrating that celebrations could be simplified to bring hope and dignity to those in need.
He noted that Chandanappally was the first parish to embrace his appeal to replace fireworks with “sneha bhavanams” (homes of compassion) following the Mundathikode tragedy.
“The language of love is more meaningful than the sound of fireworks. The light of compassion shines brighter than the temporary glitter of celebrations. Such acts reflect the true glory of the church,” he said.
The project was coordinated by the parish committee led by president Fr Sunil Abraham, vice-president Fr Jobin Yohannan, chairman Mathews P Jacob, general secretary Syriac Varghese and treasurer John Joel Baby.
