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- L. D. S W A M I K A N N U P IL L AY .
- L . D . SW A M IK A N N U P l L L A Y .
- SW A M IK A N N U P l L L A Y . 547
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542 D r . T h o m a s K u r i a l a c h e r r $-. at the ripe old ag e o f 99, and the ce le bratio n of the B i s h o p ’ s S acerdotal S ilv e r Ju bilee, were o c c a s io n s on which the spontan eo us feelings o f loyalty and personal ad m ir atio n o f his people were sufficiently dem onstr ated. The fourth European tour o f H. L o rdsh ip Was also the last W hen H Lordship set o u t for Europe in March last-, his health was d e c id e d ly on the decline. H ow ever the prelate w an t ed to c o n s u m m a te his plans fo r the Welfare o f his diocese, and set out for the Eternal City* where H. Lordsh ip had au die nce o f H. H. the P op e on two oc c a s io n s , pu b licly thanked the H oly See for the recen t erectio n o f the S y ro-M a la b ar H ie rarch y and subm itted his a d m in is tra tiv e report s to the authorities c o n c e rn e d . 27th May 1925 was the 26th a n n iv ersa ry o f H. Lordfihip’ s or d in ation and so, at the request o f the R e c t o r of the Prop . College, H. L ordsh ip celebrat ed H o ly Mass is the College cha pel. Shortly after the Bishop fell ill, and quietly passed away on the 2nd June. H. Lordsh ip ’ s veuerab le bo dy was interred in the Prop. Cemetery, assisted by a large number o f prelates, priests and students from the different parts o f the world. The Clerg y and Laity o f Sy ro -M a la b ar are sp ecially thankful to the Mother Church in Rome fo r the honour that she has don e to their Senior Bishop, who, as the O bserv ato re R om a n o has so signific antl y remarked , has died a hostage in Rom e.
The a c c o m p a n y i n g table shows the progress o f the d io cese d u r i n g the regim e o f the late Bishop : — Item. In 1911. In 1925. Increase. Cath. popu la tion 123,000
175,650 52,650
Parishes 85 126 41 Chapels
53 75 22 Pr iests ( s e c u l a i ) 215
269 54 Eng. Hi Sch ool for bo y s 3 5 2 E n g . Mid. School, fo r boys... 1 10 9 En g . H. School for girls .. . 2 2 Eng. Mid. Sch ool for girls ... • •• 3 3 B o a r d i n g House3 4 25 21 College
. . . 1 1 Co nverts 129
21,432 21,303
Monasteries and monks 4/37
5/81 1/44
Nunneries and nuns 8/86
25/402 17/316
Press and Catholic journals. 2/2
5/5 3/3
R t . R e v . C a r d o t , V ic a r A p o sto lic of Southern B u rm a. DR. A L E X A N D E R CARDOT. “ Bish op Ca rdot is d y in g ,” “ Bishop Cardot is dead ” , su ch were the two wires failin g like th under bolts am idst a serene sky in less than the sp a c e o f one hour, strik in g un e x pe cte dly and with co n s te r n a tio n the Clergy and Catholics o f R a n g o on on the m o r n in g o f 18th O cto b e r last. Flis L o rdsh ip , whose strength was v is ib ly d e c lin in g , had g one to Moultnein for a c h a n g e at the end o f September. His stay there saemed to have benefltted him and he was expect ed ba ck in R a n g oo n w ithin a few days, But G od had d ecreed otherwise. On the e v e n in g o f the 15th the dear B ishop took ill, on the 17th he r e ceiv e d, fu lly c on s ciou s , the last rites o f the Church, and on the 18th m o rn in g , he p e a c e fu lly br eathed his soul to God. He was 68 year s o f age and had been 46 year s a m is s io n ary priest in Burra», 32 year s as Bishop. A c c o r d i n g to his desire, bis remains were in terred at Moultnein, in St. P a t r i c k ’ s Church, where he had been in cha rg e fo r many years.
By a fo rmal wish the lamen ted Prelate prohibit ed a pa neg yric b e in g p r on o u n ce d at his funeral, but I d o n ’ t think it will be w anting in respect tow ards his humility aud last will, if I now briefly dr aw y o u r attention to the great w ork he has done in this Mission d u r i n g his long E p i s c o p a t e . To him, aft er God, we are in debt ed for the present flour is hing state of our holy religion in this V ica ria te . Gifted in o r g a n iz a tio n , he has put ev ery parish on a p ro per w ork in g basis and has estab lished new posts ev^n in the most remote parts o f our Mission field. By in tr o d u c in g and sp re a d in g e v ery w h ere iu this Mission the de v otio n to the Sacred Heart, he has awakened the piety o f our Catholics and made their faith a lively and acti ve one. W o n d e r f u l was the p r o gr e ss m ade under him in the secular and religious e du ca tio n o f the chil dren , due to the estab lishm ent o f norm al sc hoo ls fo r the tr a in in g o f teachers and the c re a tio n o f an or der o f Native N u n s to take cha rg e o f girls. But ab o ve all his other works the mos t o u tsta n d in g one, w hich shines forth like a p recio us g em , is the form atio n o f a n ati ve Clergy.
544 D r . A l e x a n d e r C a r d o t . When his Lordsh ip su cce ede d Bish op Bi ga ndet on ly five n ati ve priests were at w ork on the Mission ; on the da y oE his funeral they were 25 f o r m in g a crow n around his coffin, ane anoth er 20 y o u n g men now c o m p le t in g their studies in th eolo gy will be or d a in e d within a few years. T u r n in g to the material side, I will only recall to your minds the untir ing en deavours o f Bishop Cardot to g iv e the Mission its beautiful Cathedra], and its e c cle sia stica l S e m in ary. You see, then, de arly beloved brethern, the life o f y ou r lam en ted c h ie f P a s to r was full o f works b ecau se full o f the g reatest zeal for the g lo ry o f Qod and the a d v a n c e m e n t o f the Mission , as well us fo r the salvation and sancti fica tion o f y ou r souls. Truly could he say on his death-bed “ I have f o u g h t a g oo d fight, I have finished my cou rse, I have kept the faith. A s to the rest, there is laid up f o r me a c ro w n o f ju s t ic e , w hich the L o r d , the ju st Ju dge, will render to men that d a y . " — ( I I Tim., Chap, I V . ) I have ju s t placed b e fo r e you, dearly beloved brethern, a few of the g rea t deeds o f y o u r late B i s h o p ; i n . o r d e r to giv e prais e to whom praise is due, but especially to ex cit e in your hearts fe elings o f p r o fo u n d g ra tit ude tow ards him and urge y ou on to pray for him. Y o u all kn ow the dear Bishop had to g o th rou gh the great trial o f bl in dness for the pa st tw o y e a r s , and We may say that he had his p u r g a t o r y on earth. .We can then hope that Q od has already re ceiv ed him into P a r a d ise and g ra n t e d him the reward prom is ed to his faith* i u l se r v a n ts. H ow ever, the D ivin e Just ic e, b e in g infinite, is b e y o n d our lim ited k n o w le d g e and ju d g m en t; so much that we c a n n o t be ab solutely c ertain o f his D iv ine Decrees. For
this reason I earnestly invite you to continu e y our ferven t pray ers for the repose o f the soul o f o u r dea r depa rted. ' *
F E L I X P E R R O Y , B is h o p o p
M e d e a
, Vicar A postolic o f Southern Burma. L. D. S W A M I K A N N U P IL L AY . Louis D o m in ic Sw am ik ann u Pillay was born at S o m an o o r, a w e a v in g centre in the Coimba tore, District on the 1st o f A pril 1865 His father, Lo u is Pillay, was a pupil o f the Christian Brothers who were in c h a r g e o f some e duca tional institutions in Southern In dia . To this fact and to the c i r c u m sta n c e that like his brother, Father A loysiu s, Louis P illay had rece iv e d a sem in ar y trainin g, he owed it that he had h
qualified to lay the fo u n d a tio n s o f a good classical k n ow le d ge which brou gh t bis son into p r o m in e n ce in his acad em ic career. Swamikannu P il la y ’ s regu lar sc h o o lin g beg an with bis admission along with his elder br oth er, Mr. Mut hukannu Pilla y, into St. J o s e p h ’ s College, Neg apata m, the only first g ra de co lle g e in those days w hich cou ld boast o f a well- c o n d u c te d b o a r d in g establis hm ent fo r Catholics o f Southern In dia and Ceylon. T w o influences were at w o rk in m ou ld in g his intellect and chara ct er. He soon felt the strength o f the c la ssic al trad ition built up b y such humanists as Father Bruni, S.J., D o cto r Barrow , S.J., M.A., som etim e Don o f St. E d m u n d ’ s Hall, O xford, Father Gallo, s.J., an eminen t theo logia n , Fathers A b re n and Bangar, to which list was soon to be ad ded the name o f Father Jean who was destined to e x ercis e p r o fo u n d influence on the intellectual develo pm en t of his fav ou rit e pupil. The other influence, al togeth er sp iri tual, was associa ted with the Sod ali ty o f the Blessed V irg in and its new dir e c tor, Father Ey ra u d, S.J. Father Gallo, as was c h a ra cte ris tic o f him as well as o f other fathers o f the T u rin p r o v i n c e who were also la b o u rin g in the Madura Mis sion, had implanted in the heart o f his spiritual chil dren a tender devotion to the Blessed Mother. It was the w o rk o f Father Eyraud to awaken enthusiasm in the study o f Catholic D o ct rin e and Bible H is to ry and to make o f the Sodality a real trainin g g rou nd oE Christian piety and Christian c h a r a c ter.
The rules which were e n forc e d with sc rupu lo u s rigo u r had first to be stud ied by all postu la nts w h o were frequently exam ined on them before their ad m is sio n to the Sodality. Adm is sion was regarded as a pr iv ile g e and pe rseverance as well as prom otion in the Sodali ty were dependent on c o n tinued g ood beh avio u r and ap p lic a tio n in stud ies, The 69
5 1 6 L . D . SW A M IK A N N U P l L L A Y . con fe r e n c e s were as a rule learned discou rses. It speaks well o f the classical attainments o f Mr. Sw am ik annu and som e o f his schoolm ate s who were mem bers o f the Sod ality that they were able, with ease, to follow the c o nfe rence s preac hed in Latin by Father Lessman, S.J., o f the Bom bay Mission who was then staying: in the college as visitor. He was * pupil at that time o f the Vth class. Not on ly did he make great p r o gr e ss in his studies, but he also a d v a n c e d in virtue under the able dir e c tio n of Father Byra ud, s J.) for whom he ever after cher ished great affection as was e v in ce d by his ■awarding annually a prize in St. J o s e p h ’ s College, Triehino- poly, in his lion urad mem ory . There were two other features o f his school life which were destined to have great effect on his after life. One was the spirit o f emulation fostered by the Camp system. This showed itself in a friendly riva lry between him and Mr. A r o k ia s a m y Pillay, now P u b li c P r o s e cu tor, Ramnad, who stood secon d to him in all subject s e x c e p t Mathematics where he in v a ria b ly c arrie d off the prize. T h is led to Sw amik annu Pillay ta k in g Mathematics fo r his B .A . while his rival took Ph ilosophy, to show thereby that he was not in ca pab le o f a c h ie v i n g dis tin ctio n in Mathematics. T h e other feature was the f a c i l i t y w ith which he wrote Latin verses. His su c ces s in the M atr ic ulati on E x am in ation (he took a first cla ss) was a grea t ev en t in those days. The writer rem embers Father Santiago telling him that when he went to the S. P. G. College, T an jo re, w hich was the exam ination centre for the D istri ct, the pr ofe ssors o f that co lle g e , p o in t in g to him w hispered to those near them, “ He took a first class in M atr ic u latio n .” A great deal o f this admirat ion f o r brilliant y o u n g men surviv ed in Mr. Sw amikannu P illay ’ s time and he was looked upon as an intellectual pro dig y. He stood first in the P r e sid en c y in F .A . A m o n g his p rofessors were the late Father Jean, s.J,, Father Morel, s.J., Father Centres, s . J . , Father G n a n a pra ga sa m and his brother the late Mr. M. B. Susai Pillay, m .
. As has alrea dy been said, he had an am bit io n to ac hie ve dis tin ction in Mathematics. T h ere fore , despite the fa c t that Fat her Centres had to devote his time ex clu sively to scie n ce and there was none to teach him Mathematics, he took that su b je ct , a v a i lin g himself o f the p resen ce o f Father du Ran- quet, a new ar rival fr om France. Bq t here a fresh difficulty
L. D. SW A M IK A N N U P l L L A Y . 547 pr esented itself. Father du R a n q u e t was ju st be g in n in g to stud y English and he was ig n or a n t o f French. This diffi c ult y he got over by w rit in g all difficult problems, which he could not solve with the help o f keys, at the top pages o f a note -book and sen d in g them to the Father. The latter would w ork them in five or six steps. So w onderfu lly brieE and lu cid were these solution s as c o m p a re d with those fou nd in the keys that when the Father was som ewhat able to express himself in halting English supplemented by gestures, he asked him to a c c o u n t Eor the cont ra st. Father du Ra nquet illus trated his inethod by reEerring to the fable o f the hare and the cat, how when these animals were suddently apprised o f da n g er to their lives by the h unte r’ s horn, the Eormer began to run pursued by the hounds while the latter q u ic k ly got up a tree and was safe fr om pursuit. The moral o f the tale was that su ccess in mathematical studies depended on the right and prom pt applicatio n of fo rm u la and prin ciples as opposed to the mechanical lengthenin g out o f the solut ion. The note books c o n t a in in g the problems w ork ed out were am o n g his valued manusc ripts . He never gave up his mathem atical studies. Even in the midst of his official car ee r, he was fo u nd r evis in g from time to time bis Differential and In tegra l Calculus. His ap precia tio n of the talents o f Father du Ranquet was only secon d to his u n b o u n de d ad mir ation o f the cla ssic al attainments of Father Jean. He was o f opin io n that the c o m m a n d o f elegant, idiom atic Lat in prose was a surer mark of Latin sch olarsh ip than facility to c o m pose verses, As a student, he had r e cou rse to certain in genio us tr ic ks, to catch Father Jean trip ping. W hen asked, to read a few sentences f r om Cicero, L iv y or Catiline, he pu rp osely altered a word or phrase, to see whether the Father pe r ceiv e d the change. But the trained ear o f Father Jean would at o n ce detect the mistake and su ggest the right w o rd or phrase. Sw am ik annu Pillay o n ce told the writer that if was a great mortification to the Father, a so u rce o f d is trac tion to him, to hear Latin read by som e priests in utter dis regard o f qu an tity . His success in the m a tric ula tio n exam ination , which had draw n p u bli c attention to St, J o s e p h ’ s College, had also the effect o f b r in g in g Sw amik annu Pillay pr omin ently beEore the ed u ca ted portion of the Cath olic Com munity . The Fathers 548 L. D. SwAMlkANifU P lL iiA i. o f the Mission in p a rt icu la r began to bestow sp ecial care and attention on him and afford him ev ery f a c ility for intellectual progress. N ev er was watc hfuln ess and zeal more fr uit fu l than in this case. His su ccesses in f .
., and
b . a ., in both o f which he took a first cla ss and stood first in the P r e sid e n c y, bro u gh t great c re dit to the College and its Rector^ Father Jean} who was appoin te d in 1882 a mem ber o f the E du c a tio n a l Commission; The same year Sir W . W . H unt er, President o f the Com mission) paid a visit to the College a c c o m p a n ie d b y D r. Miller o f the Christian College, Madras. Sw am ik annu Pil la y distinguished himself on that o c c a s io n by re adin g a Latin poem o f w elc om e the e leg a n ce and m e lo dy o f which was mu ch ap pre cia te d by Dr. Hunter who replied in a fe w Latin verses co m po sed there and then, verses in which he com pa red St. J o s e p h ’ s College to c lassic g ro u nd and its R e c to r to a g ardener transplated from a far-f am ed ac a d em ic g ro v e in the west. When the College was tr ansferred to T r ic h in o p o ly , Swamik annu Pil la y fo llowed it thither. He took a first class in M .A ., in L a n g u a g e and Literature. H ow tho rough and c o n s cie ntio us was his preparation fo r it appears fr om the fa c t that he was not satisfied with a crit ic a l re adin g o f the t e x t b o o k s p re scribe d but read the c om ple te works o f the different authors. H e was now a pro fesso r o f English, c o n t r ib u t in g n ot a little to the popu la rit y o f the College in its new home where it had to stru g gle hard f o r its v ery existence on a c ou n t o f the o pposit ion o f the S .P .G ., authorities who bad been first in the field and who resented the invasion o f what they had lo n g rega rd ed as their own private preserve by the Jesuits who, to add insult to in ju ry , open ed , their new C ollege in clo se pro xim it y to theirs. H e did not rest fro m his intellectual pursuits but form ed plans for a c h ie v in g new a c a d e m ic dis tinctions. He brou gh t a m ic r o s c o p e and entered on a co u r se o f scientific studies with a view to take the L o n d o n B. Sc degre e in natural sciences. A m id bis literary and sc ientific la bou rs be felt the time had c o m e f o r him to choose his future state o f life. His
mother, bis broth er and married sister were liv in g witn him and his father was u rg in g him to marry. T h e earnestness with which be prepared himself to k now the will o f G od in rega rd to his own futu re points to deep, solid piety. Mention has been alrea dy made o f his ad m is sio n in to the Sodali ty o f |
