Servant of God

Import of Bonfire  as Part of the Christmas Service  ( തീജ്വാല ശുശ്രൂഷ ) As part of the Syriac Orthodox liturgical rites on Christmas, preceding the Holy Eucharist, a unique service is conducted outside the church in an open space. This service - deeply entrenched in Biblical and theological symbolism - is performed at a burning fire or Bonfire within a cross-shaped pit. In the Orthodox tradition, there are many symbols to show the presence of God. ‘fire’ is one sign of the visible presence of God. In the Holy Bible, we find the word 'fire' used more than 550 times. While studying the scriptures, one may observe that God appeared before Moses in the form of Fire in the bush and as a flash of light on Mount Sinai (Exo. 3:3). At the liturgy of the Nativity, fire represents what Moses witnessed, which symbolically communicates to us the glory and magnificence of God. Light is that which removes darkness. Light signifies the Divine, while darkness implies evil. According to the Bi...

A short note on the tradition of Circumambulation Circumambulation is a practice in all known religions. It is ritualised in Buddhism, Hinduism, Christianity, and Islam.  Religious people circumambulate the idol or temple/Church as part of the ritual. circumambulation can be performed in different ways. Clockwise and anti/counter-clockwise. According to the Mishnah, the written tradition of the Jews, when one goes to the temple in Jerusalem if he is happy he should go around the temple counterclockwise and clockwise if he is sad due to death or illness of the near ones. (Mishnah, Middot 2:2). So clockwise is a sign of mourning and counter-clockwise is a sign of positivity in Jewish tradition. Perhaps due to its influence, going around counter-clockwise is auspicious in Christianity and Islam. Tawaf is a ritual performed by Muslims around the Kaaba in a counter-clockwise direction. In our Syriac Church also, counter-clockwise is the auspicious sign, and clockwise is the Ominous sign...