The Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church

Denomination·Founded 1912 CE·est. ~2.5 million, mostly in Kerala and the Gulf; the church's own figure.

Judaism → Christianity → Oriental Orthodoxy → The Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church

The Malankara Orthodox Syrian ChurchDiocese of UK-Europe and Africa

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Rite of The Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church

Pesaha appam.

On Maundy Thursday every household makes unleavened appam marked with a cross and a sweet coconut milk to go with it, and the oldest man in the house breaks and distributes it after the family prayers. Any left over is burned rather than thrown away. Nothing about it is optional and nothing about it happens in church.

⏱ Annual, on Maundy Thursday night◌ The whole household, at home, before or after the church service
Add to My Beliefs →
What happensUnleavened appam is made at home with a cross marked on it, blessed, broken by the head of the household and eaten with a coconut-and-jaggery milk called pal
What it needsRice flour, coconut, jaggery, and everyone in the house present
What it aims atTo keep the Passover the family way, in the kitchen, on the night of the supper
Understanding it — context, not catechism: how this rite is held

Pesaha comes from the Aramaic for Passover. The appam is unleavened, made with rice flour, and the cross is marked on it before steaming; the pal is a thick sweet milk of coconut, jaggery and rice. In many households the head of the family breaks the bread rather than a priest, which is one of the clearest survivals of a domestic religion that predates any European contact. Leftovers are burned, never binned, on the same logic as consecrated bread. Muslim and Hindu neighbours in central Kerala often receive a share, which the church has never discouraged.

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