Aramaic primacy in India

[berekaloho]

Dear beloved family in our Mari.Alaha and Makydoneh Yashua Msheekha,Berek Alaha! I think the wonderful presence of the very large community of ancient Syrian Christians in Keyrala and Malabar India known as the Nasranis is very fascinating. They are to a large degree the descendents of a large Syrian community who arrived in southern India shortly after Mar Thomas brought the Holy Gospels and New and Old Testament to the Indian sub continent.They spoke Aramaic and were for a very long time a part of the Church of the East untill they went under the Patriarchate of Antioch and adopted the west Syrian rite but still maintained their ancient customs which most of which were shared by their Syrian Orthodox brothers who they went under.A great tragedy happened with the coming of the Portuguese who tried to convert them to the Roman church and they persecuted the blessed Syrian Indian Christians to a tremendous degree.The Portuguese were able to bribe a certain number of people wo later became the Syrian Malabar rite Catholic church and their beautiful liturgy was tainted and injected with a horrendous amount of latinisation which is nothing short of a crime.The great majority maintained their true allegiance to the true Syrian church however many became known as the Syrian Malankara Catholic church but at least they were able to continue their true Syrian Christian liturgy and customs. It is a very fascinating situation.They have carried on a tremendous degree of ancient Judao-Christian traditions which are upheld to a great degree by the Syrian Malankara Orthodox church under Antioch and the indigenous Church of the East and their Eastern rite Catholic counterparts although the church of Malabar has been tragically latinised as I was saying.I would love to visit there someday.They all revere the Peshitta and many learn Aramaic and the liturgy is still celebrated both in Aramaic and Malayam their vernacular.In Yashua,Deacon Michael Poe.