St Antony's Forane Church Kannamaly
Kannamaly Vow Meals “Nercha sadhya”
on 19th March
Kannamaly is a well known pilgrim centre which is a part of our Kochi .Though the Church at Kannamaly is dedicated to St. Antony, the people appeal to the patronage St. Joseph. The fame it holds comes from the century old “Oottunercha” (Vow Meals) held in honour of St. Joseph.More than One lakh devotees had par taken the Vow Meals distributed on the 19th of March. The Vow Meals starts after the Pontifical Holy Mass at 7 am and continues till midnight. This practice is being continued for the last 110 years.It started in the year 1905 March 19th.[1]
History
In 1905, the end of January witnessed a great natural calamity in Kannamaly and other parts of the coastal belt in Kerala. It was the worst sea erosion that had ever happened in Kannamaly. The destruction was limitless, their lifetime earnings disappeared, and countless lives were lost.. But after a few days because of the sea erosion, all the drinking water facilities were destroyed. The ponds and water wells started decaying. And together with that, the dreadful disease of cholera started to spread.
Cholera was synonymous with death. Every family started losing their loved ones. Within days, Kannamaly became a grave yard. The cemetery was filled to overflowing and the people started burying their dead ones even outside the cemetery compound. The parish priest Fr. Joseph Suarez also found burial a difficult task because of the lack of people to help him in the funeral rites. He had to do the funerals from morning to night, and on some days even past midnight. So he managed to collect a group of people to help him to bury the dead. When there was no space left in the cemetery and in the surroundings, the sea shore was used to bury the dead. Since it was difficult to dig up the pits in the seashore, they placed the bodies together and put sand above them.
The news that ‘Kannamaly was being annihilated by cholera’ spread everywhere. The people from neighboring places started to panic because of the rumour that cholera spreads through even air. No one dared to come to Kannamaly and no one was allowed to leave the place. The people of Kannamaly were literally under house arrest as the boundaries of the village were practically closed. The situation worsened the life of the people. There was no medicine, and no food. The only duty left for them to do was to bury their dead. People lost all their hopes of surviving, and waited for death to befall them. Very late into the night on 11th March 1905, when Fr. Joseph Suarez returned home after a funeral, he could not control himself. Clinging on to the crucifix he had in his room, the heartbroken priest started crying. While crying he slipped into sleep.
He woke up early in the morning, while having a dream. People were already in the church for Sunday Mass. He got ready and went into the church for Mass. As he started saying the Mass he lost control and started weeping bitterly. Already a good percentage of the parishioners were dead and only a few people were present in the church. They were not able to stand properly because of starvation and the fear of death. Their eyes reflected only one reality, death. All had lost their near and dear ones. Even the little food they had could not be eaten because of the fear of death in the form of cholera. Fr. Joseph Suarez understood that they all had succumbed to the fear of death that may befall them at any moment. Then Fr. Joseph Suarez started to speak, “Dear ones, we don’t know what to do. Death is certain by cholera or starvation. We don’t know how long we can prolong like this. Coming Sunday is March 19, the death day of St. Joseph. Let us prepare ourselves for a happy death. We know cholera spreads through food and drink.
Next Sunday when you come for Mass bring some food from home and we will prepare some here also. After the Mass, we will eat the food in honour of St. Joseph. He is the last resort we can turn to.”
On 19-3-1905, Sunday morning people came to the church with the food and offered it at the altar. After the Mass some more food was cooked in the church compound. Then a procession was held around the church with a picture of St. Joseph. Fr. Joseph blessed the food beseeching the intervention of St. Joseph and asked the people to eat. They were reluctant. Though they were prepared to die, they did not know what to do. They were afraid to eat because of cholera which they knew spread through food and drink.
Then Fr. Joseph Suarez took a plate and started eating. When they saw him eating, they too joined him. And rather than eating, they swallowed the food because for days they had not eaten properly. After they were finished, they took some food home for those who were already sickened by cholera. Everyone was fed with the food blessed at the church, even those who were dying. Again they all came to the church and gathered around it. Many fell asleep. After a couple of hours when they got up and went home they were surprised to see the sickened who were nearly at death’s door, were sitting and moving around at home, having recovered from the symptoms of cholera. The whole of Kannamaly reached the church to thank St. Joseph for his intercession and patronage. And that was the end of cholera in Kannamaly.
All those who ate the meals of St. Joseph were saved. From that year onward every March 19th is celebrated with Vow Meal in honour of St. Joseph.