Churches on the demolition line.

Photo: INTACH Post Card

Beautiful, isn’t it?

These are the historic twin churches at Ramapuram, one of the cradles of Christianity in Kerala. The smaller of these, in the name of St. Augustine, was built around 1450, and the other in 1864. These may be razed to the ground soon. What no invader, no government, no other community, have dared to try, is being done with abandon by the Church itself.

Aisanet TV reported last evening that a referendum is being conducted among the parishioners of Ramapuram on Sunday, April 29, 2007 about demolishing these famous shrines. The Church officials have taken a strong stand in favor of the destruction. Therefore the outcome of the vote is a foregone conclusion. The priests do not seem to be worried whether such actions and procedures conform to the laws of the country.

The move to demolish the twin churches and build a ‘modern’ one in their place has been on for some time. The Hindu carried a report about this on February 18, 2005. The reason given for this proposal by the Vicar was that more space is required to accommodate the increased number of pilgrims! Apparently he was not alert to the fact that the newer of the two churches was also built for the same reason, but people who were responsible then had ensured that the old one was preserved.

The vicar went on to give a piece of wisdom to the world: “God created the whole world for man. Archaeology is for the benefit of man and not vice-versa''. Shades of Benito Mussolini! Il Duce was reported to have said when his car knocked down and killed a boy, “What is the life of a child in the matters of state?”

The Syro-Malabar Church of Kerala, under which Ramapuram comes, is the second largest (after Roman /Latin) Rite in the Catholic Diaspora. It is headed by a Major Archbishop who is a Cardinal. Can the authorities of the Syro-Malabar wash off the responsibility for the demolition mania, like Pontius Pilate? There is something called acts of omission and commission.

What about the Pope?

In the recent Apostolic Exhortation, ‘Sacramentum Caritatis’, the Pontiff states, "A solid knowledge of the history of sacred art can be advantageous for those responsible for commissioning artists and architects to create works of art for the liturgy. Consequently, it is essential that the education of Seminarians and priests include the study of art history, with special reference to sacred buildings..."

[The response of some priests in Kerala to this might be, ‘Oh, it’s about some paintings in Europe’, like Stalin who once asked during WW II, ‘How many Divisions does the Pope have?’ In Kerala itself, invaluable frescos were lost by recent demolition of Thycattussarry Church. See my post ‘A historic church is no more’ by clicking on the title.]

Indiscriminate destruction of heritage structures should be a matter of concern not only for Christians, but also for all people. If you agree, please email this to as many people as you can. The procedure is very simple. Just click on the ‘envelope’ icon below and give the email IDs.

Let us preserve our heritage.

Ends.

(Cross-posted to Song of the waves.)

Amazing Grace.

Amazing Grace, written by John Newton (1725-1807) in 1772 is one of the most popular hymns of all time. This article takes a brief look at the song, the poet and the people who supported him.

Newton’s life story is amazing. Son of a ship master, he went out to the sea at the age of 11 with his father. He was forced to join the navy after that and was caught while trying to desert. Later he was exchanged to a slave ship where he faced many travails. But finally he had his own ship that he commanded, and engaged in slave running.

Newton had no religious convictions during his seafaring days though he was born to Anglican parents. There are two versions of how his ‘conversion to Christianity’ came about. One is that his ship ran into a violent storm and was saved because, due to some amazing grace, he suddenly turned to God and prayed. The other is that he fell seriously ill out at sea and eventually pleaded with God to cure him.

The first stanza of the hymn Amazing Grace seems to describe this turnaround in the man’s life:

Amazing grace! (how sweet the sound)
That sav’d a wretch like me!
I once was lost, but now am found,
Was blind, but now I see.

Newton gave up sailing and took a shore job. During that time he learned several languages. Then came the desire to be a minister. Initially the Bishop of York turned down his request. After a few years of frustration, he was ordained by the Bishop of Lincoln. Another stanza of the hymn is appropriate at this point:

Thro’ many dangers, toils and snares,
I have already come;
’Tis grace has brought me safe thus far,
And grace will lead me home.

John Thornton, a philanthropist and evangelical layman sponsored Newton as curator of Olney. In his later life, Newton was involved in a campaign to abolish slave trade along with William Wilberforce, MP and others.

It was at Olney that Newton wrote the lyrics of Amazing Grace and several other hymns. John Thornton helped to publish them, along with some poems by William Cowper (Cooper?), in a volume titled Olney Hymns.

Thornton continued to support Newton all along. After the death of the financier, Newton wrote this about him,

You know something of my peculiar obligations to him. . . To him,
under the Lord, I owe all my consideration and comfort as a
minister (Bull 300-301).

It is interesting to note that Milton Klein named his biography of John Thornton ‘An Amazing Grace’ after the famous hymn.

And the hymn began to gain popularity. Many church choirs in English speaking parts of the world took up the song. The 20^th century saw several recordings of the hymn. It featured in movies and the television. In the UK it attained top ten rating in the charts during the early 1970s, two centuries after it was written!

The concluding stanza of the hymn says:

The earth shall soon dissolve like snow,
The sun forbear to shine

Till then, Amazing Grace will live in the hearts of men and women who have heard it.

Ends.

Cited works:

Bull, Josiah. But Now I See, The Life of John Newton. The Banner of Truth Trust. Carlisle.1868, 1998.

Klein, Milton M. An Amazing Grace. U.P. South. New Orleans. 2004.

New­ton, John. Ol­ney Hymns. W. Ol­i­ver, London. 1779.

Lili Marlene

What makes a song immortal? Is it the lyrics? Or the tune? Or the way it is rendered? Perhaps it is a combination of all these and some more.

Take the rather baffling case of the song Lili Marlene (English version: Lilly Marlene). It has been hailed as the most popular war song of all time. But is Lili Marlene really a war song? It is a love song, a romantic, sentimental piece that was, rather strangely, set to a marching tune. Lili Marlene was written during a war and attained the pinnacle of popularity during another war.

A German soldier, Hans Liep wrote the lyrics on which Lili Mrlene is based, in 1915 during World War I. After gathering dust for twenty two years it was discovered in 1937, when Nobert Schultze set it to music. The original recording of Lili Marlene by Lale Andersen in 1939 did not create any waves. Joseph Gobbles, Propaganda Secretary of Nazi Socialist Party, is said to have hated the song. But Field Marshal Erwin Rommel intuitively identified the potential of Lili Marlene and it was broadcast daily over Radio Belgrade for his Afrika Korps.

The effect was stunning. From underneath the lantern Lili of the lamplight reached out to the soldiers on the desert. The song had pathos, romance, and intensity of feeling. It talked of love and longing and loneliness. It captured the hearts and the souls of the fighting men. Imagine the impact of the following words (by Tommie Connor in the English version of Lili Marlene) would have on lonesome soldiers far away from home:

Resting in our billets, just behind the lines
Even tho' we're parted, your lips are close to mine
You wait where that lantern softly gleams,
Your sweet face seems to haunt my dreams
My Lilly of the Lamplight, my own Lilly Marlene

In what could possibly be termed a faux pas, Rommel apparently had not considered that sentiments transcend national boundaries. Soon the Allied soldiers too picked up the song. According to one story, when a senior officer berated a British soldier for singing Lili Marlene in German, the victim answered with a counter question, “Sir, do we have an English version?” A translation was made quickly and BBC started broadcasting it. Thus came about a strange situation where both sides in the war were using the same song, Lili Marlene, for propaganda and to boost the morale of their troops.

The Marlene Dietrich rendering of Lili Marlene was perhaps the pick among the many recordings of the song. Even after World War II, Lili Marlene continued to be a favorite with versions by Vera Lynn and others. It is said to have been translated to nearly fifty languages. When asked about the reason for the popularity of the song, Lale Andersen, the German singer who first recorded it, is reported to have stated, "Can the wind explain why it became a storm?"
The storm might have abated but even 6o years after the World War II, the passion for Lili Marlene lives on. A Web search for the song would turn up over a million results. On several of these sites you can listen to Lili Marlene and download it.

Lili Marlene is still waiting where that lantern gleams softly.

Ends.