Fr. Placid Podipara, T.O.C.D.: The Syro-Malabarians and their Rite1Translated by Fr. Robert Matheus, published in The Harp, Seeri, Kottayam, 2012The Syro-Malabarians are the oldest Christians, not only of Malabar2, but of the whole of India. Theypresently use a deformed and strongly latinised (romanised) form of the East Syrian3 rite. Thesemutilations and latinisations were never approved by the Holy See. Without a doubt, the Holy Seewished the restoration, the conservation and development of all Oriental rites, notwithstanding the SyroMalabar rite.To those who sincerely desire the restoration of the Syro-Malabar rite, the attitude of many Syro-Malabarians may seem to be indifferent, or even hostile. In the beginning of the twentieth century,however, the attitude of the Syro-Malabarians was quite different. Only the history of their rite can givethe understanding of this change. Our short overview of this history will naturally put forward opinionswhich one must understand as arguments in favour of the restoration of the Syro-Malabar rite.Prior to the Sixteenth Century.The Syro-Malabarians consider the Apostle Thomas as the founder of their Church.4 Before thesixteenth century, they used the ancient East Syrian rite, which dates back directly to St. Thomas, or isattributed to him. They received this rite in its original form through their relations with the Church ofSeleucia-Ctesiphon in Persia. We do not know exactly when these relations began, but it seems likelythat the first liturgical language of the Syro-Malabarians was Syriac or Aramaic. They could, therefore,4The research on the real or alleged preaching of St. Thomas in India has lead to the following point of view:"Around 1900 the critic had to conclude to the improbability of St. Thomas' apostolate in India. In 1925 couldthe critic allow himself to accept this apostolate as a very probable historical fact" (J. N. Farquar, The ApostleThomas in South India, Bulletin of the John Rylands Library 11 (1927) 20-...