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A Loving Mother Is Remembered On This Day Called Women’s Day

Posted in Personal, and Religion

Last updated on March 8, 2023

 

 

 

 

 

 

My mother Saramma Verghese (85 years) Promoted to Glory on July 8th, 2008.  I am so glad to present a brief memoir of my mother on this women’s day. 


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July 8th, 2011. Years Passed by…  Pleasant Memories of My Mother is Still Lingering In Our Minds………..

My Beloved Mother Saramma Varughese:

Women’s Day

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is a brief memoir of my mother ‘Saramma Verghese’ (85 years)  who passed away on 8th July 2008. 

 

She was the first daughter of Mr. Thomman Chummar and Sara. Her parents were from an aristocratic family named Pappalil. They lived in a village called Maaraady, near Moovattupuzha town. 
She was brought up with strict discipline of the Syrian Christian tradition. Her mother Mrs. Sara was the first person (who came to know the Lord in their family) in her family to know the Lord.
Along with her conversion, some wonderful things happened in their home.
Her mother Sara’s father Mr. Ulahannan Kakkatuputhenpurayil was staying at Palakkuzha village. At that time there was no gospel preached or heard in that village.
One day two evangelists visited the village and decided to do some open-air preaching, and they started singing some songs and was about to start preaching, all of a sudden an angry mob reached the spot and caught them and started beating. 
Their plan was to kill them and throw their bodies into the nearby river. One of the evangelists was Br. P H Peter lovingly called as “Peter Upadesi” (Now with the Lord), father of Evangelist George Peter of Chittoor.
Hearing the news Mr. Ulahannan, my mother’s grandfather ran to the place, he being the village leader, no one was brave enough to protest against him. By the time it was dark, fearing that the angry mob might attack them again he gave shelter to them at his home.
That night the servants of God shared their testimony and spoke to the family about Christ and the salvation they could gain by believing in Christ.
That was a turning point in their family and my mother’s mother accepted Christ as her personal savior. 
Her faith was so strong and she started witnessing the truth to other members of her family.
Her husband Thomman expressed his displeasure and was dead against to her new faith.
But among the five children, Saramma and her younger sister Mariamma accepted Christ as their personal savior. Later they decided to take baptism according to the Word of God.
The news spread throughout the village and it was a shocking news to the relatives and the nominal orthodox Christian society.
The Orthodox Syrian Jacobite Church ex-communicated them and they were considered outcasts and were not allowed participating even in the funeral services of their relatives.
They faced severe persecution from inside the family as well as from outside.

A Photograph with her sister, sister-in-law, children & Grand Children

 

Women’s Day
Another Photograph was taken at the time of my younger brother Shaji’s marriage day.  PV and his wife standing on the right side.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Some of the prominent evangelists at that time in the brethren movement M/s. K V Simon, Lonappen Upadesi, Peter Upadesi, K. G. Kurian, E P Varghese, C T Mathai, A P Paily, Vattakattu Varkey Upadesi and a few other’s through their inspirational messages and classes strengthened them to be firm in their faith.

 

Though they faced many problems from their family members, whenever these brethren conduct gospel meetings and Bible classes in nearby places, they made it a point to attend those gatherings.

 

A few more Christians joined the faith and started a small gathering at Pothanicade near Parambencherry.

My mother’s brothers were dead against her faith (later years they all accepted Christ as their personal Savior) and they were not willing to take care of their parents so she decided to stay unmarried to look after the parents.
Meanwhile, her younger sister got married. The years went by and the parents were getting old. After their death, Saramma’s life and safety became a question, so they convinced her to get married.
A few years passed by and their firm faith in the Lord and the exemplary life they led in the Lord enabled her other family members too to come into the faith. Some of their children are in the service of the Lord.

The Lord was faithful to His daughter and gave her a partner who was a believer. Mr. P T Varghese from Kota, Chengannur, who was a God-fearing, humble, loving and well-disciplined person. Evangelist K P Stephen of Thiruvankulam and his wife (she can be seen in the above picture in white dress holding a bag) took initiative in this matter and they were united in holy matrimony.

 

At that time my father was working as a pattern maker in the carpentry section of the erstwhile Pampa River Sugar Factory – Now Travancore Sugars and Chemicals Ltd-. My mother was an ideal wife to my father and a loving mother to all of us and an excellent homemaker like the woman in Proverb 31.

 

She was a mature woman, devoted wife, mother, honorable, humble, unselfish and kind. She was a caring and loving mother not only to us but also to the neighbors, especially to the fellow believers.

 

She was so keen to share whatever we had with others especially with those in the Lord’s service. In spite of our tight financial budget, she always set apart her mite for this purpose and she made this as a practice until her death. 

 

Women’s Day
PV with his parents and younger brothers Sunny & Shaji at his right and left. A photograph taken at our company Quarters.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Those days running a family of nine members was a great task. With my father’s meager salary it was difficult to make both ends meet. On my mother’s initiative, father bought a cow and started selling milk and manure to the neighbouring people and earned a small income from that. 

 

At that time we were staying in the company’s staff quarters. There was a high demand for our milk as it was not diluted.

 

My mother was so strict that she never diluted the milk with water for sale.

 

Apart from this, my father used to work in the evening hours after his eight hours of duty at the factory.

 

He made different types of wooden furniture with good quality wood. This too was in high demand because of the carpentry skill and the reasonable prices. 

Through their dedicated life, all the children got educated and are settled in different parts of the world. By the grace of God, all are in the Christian faith.
She was an instrument in bringing them up in the fear of the Lord. She continued steadfastly in the faith till her departure from this earth.
Women’s Day
My mother set a good example for us to follow. We, her children are very happy to follow in her footprints.
Though, she was a silent doer of the Word of God we are sure that her reward in heaven will be much greater.
We thank God for being the children of this loving mother. 
We are seven children, five brothers and two sisters – Rosamma John Secunderabad, P V Thomas Bangalore, Late. Ammini Daniel U S A, Late. P. T. John  Chennai, Philip Verghese Secunderabad, Paul Varghese Pulikeezhu, Shaji Varghese Palghat. 
Sons and Daughters-in-law: Late John Philip Secunderabad, Glory Thomas Bangalore, M. V. Daniel U S A, Sally John Chennai, Late Annamma Philip Secunderabad, Nessy Paul Pulikeezhu, Annie Shaji Palghat.  
(Note:  For the early history of my mother I am indebted to her sister Mariamma’s elder son Joykutty Chacko, an evangelist and Ex.OM in Kothamangalam, Kerala)
This post first appeared on the pages of Philipscom’s ‘Google Knol and Blogger pages.

Comments Received from Google’s Knol Pages:

Comments are moderated, and will not be visible until one of the authors of this knol approves.
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Touched

Philip —

I was touched by your Knol, a very nice tribute. Do you suppose that tolerance
of humans regardless of their beliefs should be taught at a very early age? Your story recounts essentially hysterical fear and hate-based behavior. If only tolerance, acceptance, and love were taught and reinforced during childhood, such events would dissipate.


My sister-in-law, an otherwise wonderful woman, would sit in my home and lecture that unless I accepted her specific brand of born-again Christianity, I was condemned to hell. I questioned her to point out the problem of sparsely-populated heaven since her specific brand embraced far less than 10,000 souls. It did not matter. She was incapable of intellectually accepting logic. She chose to remain mentally lazy, believing the dogma from the pulpit of her church without challenge.


Tolerance takes intellectual bravery and energy.  Blind faith is in my opinion at the root of hatred and war. As humans, we need to question and test endlessly. What do you think?
Apr 27, 2010 8:04 AM
 

Thanks,

~ Murry Shohat

Hi Murry— Thanks for the comment, good to know that you are touched by mother’s exemplary short history. Yes, tolerance of humans no doubt should be taught at the early stage. For that matter, not only this but many other good moral fibers should be taught at the tender age that will definitely have an impacting effect till a person’s death. As far as I know, it will not dissipate.


About your Sis-in-law’s faith, I really appreciate her guts to lecture to a person like you about her unchallenging faith. LOL. and I fully agree with her, though a bit religious oriented subject, since you raised this let me put my view, Yes, her stand is a wonderful and an acceptable one, and as you said very few in this world opt for that, yes the Bible too says it, only a meager number follow this truth. The people who opt and go towards that way is very very less comparing to the other groups towards hell… That road to heaven is very short but towards the other side that road is wide open and many I mean the majority blindly rush towards it to their peril.


Yes, as humans we need to question and search the truth, but I am sure that will not be an endless search. If one genuinely searches for the real truth he will find it. Many scholars and researchers found out that real truth where your Sis-in-law put her firm faith. Murry, I don’t want to elaborate this further but would like to put a long full stop here.

Thanks again for your genuine concern towards this subject.
Yours lovingly
~ phil
Benjamin R

Philip Ariel, My Deepest condolence.

PV,
your mother is a great personality. You are a blessed person to have
such a loving mother. My belated deepest condolence to you and your dear
ones. No doubt, this is a fitting tribute to your loving mother. Ben.
Last edited Nov 3, 2008 9:04 AM
Thank you, Br. Ben for the encouraging words. God bless. Love. Philip

Published on: November 3, 2008 @ 9;04 AM

Updated on: Mar 8, 2018 @ 13:23

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11 Comments

  1. shikha
    shikha

    Hi Philip,
    You shared an amazing story of a mother who loved all.
    The timing is very well connected to the day called International Women’s Day.
    It’s surely a touching and wonderful testimony of a woman who stood for her faith.
    Very inspiring testimony.
    Thanks for sharing such an article on this day called Women’s Day.

    March 9, 2018
    |Reply
    • Hi Shikha,
      Thanks for your maiden visit over here.
      And I thank you for the loving words you shared thru this feedback.
      Yes, she stood for her faith even in spite of many oppositions.
      Keep visiting
      Have a blessed and profitable weekend.
      Best
      ~Philip

      March 10, 2018
      |Reply
  2. Luis S
    Luis S

    This is really an inspiring story.
    I am sure the readers will get inspired by the reading of this content.
    Good to read about a loving mother and her exemplary deeds towards her fellow being.
    Thanks for sharing the wonderful story of your mother to the readers of Philipscom.
    I appreciate. May her tribe increase. God bless.
    Luis Brown

    March 9, 2018
    |Reply
  3. Binod Jha
    Binod Jha

    Nice story that you have been shared with us!
    It’s very inspiring and her soul always blessed you.
    Thanks!Philip

    March 10, 2018
    |Reply
  4. Hi Binod,
    Thanks for your valuable visit and for the kind words.
    Keep visiting.
    Keep sharing.
    Have a blessed weekend.
    Regards
    ~ Philip

    March 10, 2018
    |Reply
  5. Hi Luis,
    Thanks for your precious time over here and for the insightful feedback about the story of my mother.
    Indeed she was an inspiring woman.
    Thanks for the kind words.
    Keep visiting.
    Best Regards
    ~ Philip

    March 10, 2018
    |Reply
    • CHRISTY ANTHONY
      CHRISTY ANTHONY

      Dear Bro Philip,
      Praise the Lord for such a Virtuous Lady to whom you are born and brought up.
      Today it’s the Lord who blessed you so that you became a blessing, not only to you but to your family and then to the Society.
      My personal thanks to God for such disciplined Mother’s be getting blessed Children who have the gratitude to remember the parents even after they are out of sight, you are blessed dear P V, to remember the memories of your Blessed Mother.
      My praises to God for such a wonderful testimony shared about your Mother, Father, and Family.
      Thanks for sharing dear Phillip, even for remembering them and the gratitude you have not only in your heart but sharing it with others for God’s glory.
      You will get your blessings, which God bestows to those who honor the Parents.
      May God bless you and your family.
      ~ A. Christy.

      March 9, 2019
      |Reply
  6. Jisha Issac
    Jisha Issac

    I really miss this great humble woman of God whom I was privileged to call Ammachi (My grandmother’s sister). She impacted my life in a great way. Her prayer life was exemplary.
    Thanks for sharing this touching information.
    May God reward you richly…

    March 9, 2019
    |Reply
  7. azure
    azure

    Hi Admin
    I am really impressed by the reading this post. It is really good to know more about a loving mother by a loving son on the eve of International Women’s Day. Indeed an apt post for the day called Women’s Day. Thanks for sharing hope so you will write more such posts in the coming days.

    April 5, 2019
    |Reply
  8. Tips Priya
    Tips Priya

    hello bro philip, I am very impressed with your writing.

    May 20, 2022
    |Reply

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