Kuriakose Elias Chavara – God’s Work of Art

Authors

  • Sebastian Elavathingal St Paul Bhavan, Bhopal

Keywords:

Discipleship, Transformation, Work of art, Art of Prayer, Inspiration, Imagination, Holiness, Alter Christus, Visualization

Abstract

“Conformity” to Jesus Christ is the goal of Christian discipleship. Every disciple has to undergo a process of conversion and transformation at all levels of his/her experience - physical, mental, and emotional until he/she becomes a spiritual image of Christ. Everyone who successfully imitates Christ and reaches spiritual perfection is a “work of art”. The human person becomes ultimately an “artwork” by transforming his/her physical materials into a spiritual or a transfigured body. It is against the background of this Biblical view of creative imitation of Jesus Christ we try to understand the teaching of prayer that Kuriakose Elias Chavara has laid out in his works. The four steps of prayer - reading, solitude, meditation, and contemplation taught by Chavara are aimed at the transformation of a praying person which can be compared to the formation of an artwork by the hands of the divine Artist. Chavara is an “artwork” that has attained spiritual perfection. St Chavara bears witness to the transfigured glory of Jesus who entered his glory through his suffering, death, and resurrection. Originally, this paper was presented in the Workshop on ‘St Chavara, the Doctor of the Church’ held on Nov 2-4, 2023 at Chavara Hills Kakkanad.

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Published

2025-02-11