Abel asked the talented composer, Rafi Jose, to compose a different set of melodies for these songs and included a musical transcription Rafi’s melodies in staff notation in the book Gānādhyāpakan.Ĭardinal Joseph Parecattil (1912-1987) gave imprimatur, ad experimentum, to the booklet on 10 August 1968. Antony Master composed songs in the style of popular movie-songs in Malayalam and recorded them with instrumental accompaniment on a spool tape and made them available to the church choirs across Kerala. Antony (1924-1987), Music Director of Kalabhavan, to compose melodies for the five songs. Overall, the prayers and chants of the Malayalam version of the Benediction are Fr. 14-15), is a close translation of the final hymn, Laudes Divine (the Divine Praises), in the Latin version of the Benediction. In contrast, the final song, Daiwathe wāzhthiṭuwin (pp.
12), is a free translation of the prayer in Latin, Panem de caelo.
The fourth song, Parišuddha šarīrathālum (By the Holy Body, p. Abel uses the famous Latin chant, Tantum Ergo, as a source of inspiration. 11), Swargathil ninnāgathamām (That which came from Heaven), Fr. Abel's decision to incorporate this chant as part of the incensing the Monstrance. The Syriac version of the Benediction, however, did not include this chant. The second song, Akhila lōka nāyakā (Lord of all the world, p.3) is a faithful translation of the Resurrection Hymn ( Lāku mārā) from the Eucharistic liturgy in Syriac. Abel did not make a verbatim translation of the original Latin text or their Syriac translations (See Aramaic Project-126,) but used them only as a reference. Abel gave the title in Malayalam as Parišuddha qurbānyuṭe wāzhwu (Blessing of the Holy Qurbana).
What we see here is the digital version of the first edition of a 16-page booklet (10.5 cms x 7.2 cms) with the songs, prayers and the ritual for Benediction. Abel Periyapuram, CMI (1920-2001) prepared a Malayalam version of the text and ritual for Benediction in 1968. The Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament, however, continued to be celebrated in Syriac. The Syro Malabar Church introduced the Malayalam version of Qurbana in 1962. It comes from the transitional period in the history of the Syro Malabar liturgy in Kerala in the 1960s. This booklet is a precious relic from the past.