LIFE SKETCH OF FR. JOHN VARRICATT

“He must increase, but I must decrease” Jn.3,30

“The Province has just completed the first 10 years of its existence, and God has showered abundant blessings on us and revealed his presence among us in many ways. Today the Lord has visited our province in a different, though difficult way, yet symbolic of his love for us in taking one of us to himself, the first from this province, in the person of Rev. Fr. John Varricatt. Though he was 71 years old, no one expected him to leave us so suddenly and in the way he actually did. Every one loved him and misses him now.” (Fr. Medabalimi Balaswamy at the funeral, 22.08.2002)

Circumstances of His Death

Fr. John gave us the first shock on 18th August, Sunday, when he returned rather too soon from Ramnagar, a sub-station of Kazipet Parish. He had complained of pain on his upper arms and shoulders and had been sweating profusely. He had allowed the catechist to distribute communion and had come away soon after the Mass. The doctor who was called immediately prescribed some medicinesand also requested that an ECG as well as an X-ray of the neck be taken. The ECG and the X-ray were taken on 19th. Interestingly Fr. John did the dowsing for his illness and declared any heart trouble out of bounds and tried to convince the doctor also of the same. When Fr. James Kudiyirippil and I mentioned that he was overweight,he came to my office after lunch and took his weight. “I am only 80 kilograms”, he had joked and had gone back to his room to rest rather than join a game of dominoes as had become his practice in the afternoons.

On 20thevening Fr. John said his last Masswhich was attended by Bro. Castilino, the practical trainee, and DeaconThumma Vijaya Prathap, who was doing his diaconate ministryunder Fr. John’s guidance. After Mass, he had supper and was talking to the young confreres who went to meet him. Later at around 9.30 p.m.hearing the sound of the Radiofrom his room I had gone in to inquire about his health. TeasinglyI had asked whether he was listening to Radio Vaticanor BBC. He narrated to me the news about the travails of an Australianbishop who had cases filed against him in the context of accusations of abuses against priests in the diocese. At 10.00 p.m., whenI went to the chapel,Fr. John followed me. Later he closed the door of the chapel so as not to disturb me and put on the light outside, to verify from the notice board who was to say the community mass on the following day. It was his turn. When I came out, he asked me whether I would substitute him. I was edified to see how he was taking responsibility for tasks entrusted to him even in his condition of ill health.

On 21stmorning he got up late. He had his breakfast as usual, served by Br. Ery Balraj, his secretary. After breakfast he sent his secretary for breakfast and asked him to come back with some water. Br. Balraj closed the door as he went out. At 8.25 a.m. Fr. John called out to Br. Suman Toppo who was sweeping the varandha. Seeing Fr. John without his shirt, Suman started to tease him, ‘Thathagaru, you are showing off your muscles’. Fr. John asked him to bring a glass of water urgently.Realizing that Fr. John was serious, Suman ran down to bring water. When he returned he found that Fr. John had already slumped into his chair and was struggling to breathe. It was 8.30 a.m.

Suman immediately rushed down and informed us. Fr. Rayanna, Deacon Prathap and I were already on the way to see Fr. John. Immediately I asked Deac. Prathap to call Fr. James. Fr. Rayanna was asked to contact the doctor. As I rushed to Fr. John’s side, I calledBr. Naresh and some of the other brothers who were around and they immediately started praying for Fr. John. While I was holding him, Fr. John gasped for breath three times. The third time his head fell forward. It must have been 8.35 a.m. We shifted Fr. John to his bed and tried to revive him. Dr. Suresh arrived at 8.40 a.m.He examined him and he too tried to revive him. It was of no use. At 8.45 Dr. Suresh confirmed Fr. John’s death.

The event was a deep shock for all of us. All fell silent, trying to make meaning of what was happening. Fr. John, even in his death, looked calm and serene. All of us took turns to go near to pay our homage to Fr. John and pray at his side. The bishop, priests, sisters, children from the nearby institutions and the people from the neighbourhood came to pay their last respects to Fr. John. At 9.00 p.m. Fr. Provincial arrived with the mortuary on wheels. Dressed in a chasuble and holding a Rosary and the cross, Fr. John’s body was shifted to the chapel and placed in front of the altar. Throughout the day and night, the brothers and the student sisters took turns to pray for him. In the morning the community had a special Mass said for Fr. John. Fr. Provincial, celebrating the Mass of the Queenship of Mary said that ‘what was fulfilled in Mary has become a reality today for Fr. John.’

This was the first death in the province. Hence it was decided that the burial would be at Karunapuram and the cemetery here could be the cemetery of the province. A spot near the statue of Don Bosco was the chosen site for burial. The relations of Fr. John arrived on 22nd Thursday by 3.15 p.m. The funeral began with the farewell service at 3.45 p.m. At 4.00 p.m., due to rainy weather, probably due to the prayers of Fr. John himself who would not have liked an open air Mass, we began the funeral Mass,presided over by the Bishop Thumma Bala of Warangal, in the chapel itself. Because of the rain, we continued with the individual farewell programme in the church itself. Fr. Provincial spoke on behalf of the Salesians. Br. Aruldass Pichaimuthu sdb, Br. Polisetti Jojappa and Br. Suman Toppo sdb spoke on behalf of the students. Br. Gabriel Fernandez, Fr. John’s novitiate companion, also spoke. Following thisthere was the funeral procession and the burial which ended by 6.45 p.m. Salesians from practically all the houses of the province, relations of Fr. John, priests, religious and people from around joined us in our moment of sorrow. This was also a special moment when all of us at Vishwa Jyothi DonBoscoCollege, fathers, brothers and sisters spontaneously came together around Fr. John. This experience of solidarity will be cherished always. After supper, when all had dispersed, we sat together at the portico to share our sorrow and our experience of these two days which had gone by. Many of us shared our personal feelingsand recalled ourlast moments with Fr. John.

In Retrospect: Early Life

Fr. John was born to Thommen Ouseph Varricatt and Annamma Chemparathi in Idduki District, Kerala, on 31st May 1931 as the youngest in the family after seven elder brothers and two elder sisters. Sr. Mary (Gertrude) SABS,his eldest sister who is at Thodupuzha,and Paul, an advocate and just elder to him, are the only siblings alive today. He has several other close relatives who are priests and nuns. His priest brother, Msgr. Jacob Varricatt, the former Vicar General of Thalassery diocese, diedon 21st June 2001.

Mr. Paul recalls John as a quiet boy who minded his own business. When John came to Madras to study, he stayed in his house. Paul chose Hindi as the second language for John who found it very useful later when he was going to the oratories in Shillong. John was at LoyolaCollegefor four years, from 1948 to 1952,doing his intermediate and B.Sc. (Hons.). Archbishop Joseph Powathil of Chenganasserry was his college mate at that time. Though a quiet lad, John was fond of Hindi songs and used to call his brother to watch Hindi Movies.Paul found this strange and hecould not understand what attracted Johnto these songs and movies. At the same time, Paul recalls, it was difficult for any one to make John change his mind. He had his own mind and he would argue to defend his position. He wrote after Fr. John’s death, “Right from his childhood he was docile and maintained his cherubic calm, and smile, and he was the darling of our family. The unique feature in him was that he refused to be provoked and was always happy and sprightly.”

After his graduation in Physics John heard God’s call to become a missionary priest and joined the Salesian Aspirantate as a late vocation at Tirupattur on 14th June 1952. As he had completed his B.Sc. in the first class, he was immediately appointed as a demonstrator at SacredHeartCollege, Tirupattur, and had to teach his own companions and assistants. Fr. Yeddanapalli Selvaraj, one of his senior companions, recalls being taught Analytical Geometry and Calculus by him. Being their teacher, they used to call him Sir John. He was very conscientious in his work and quite strict with all,irrespective of whether his students were Salesians, his own companions in the aspirantate or anyone else. From here he went to the Novitiate at Yercaud. Fr. Egidio Sola, his novice master, saw in John a very promising vocation and had great confidence in him. John received the cassock on 14th August 1954 from the hands of Archbishop Louis Mathias and professed as a Salesian on 24th May 1955.He did his philosophical studies at Kotagiri,and on2nd May 1957came back to Tirupattur for his Practical training. He was appointed as a Lecturer in physics, as in those days the university allowed first class B.Sc. graduates to be lecturers. There are many stories about Fr. John’s practical training days. As usual he was simple in his ways and always straightforward. Fr. Chacko Thattil who was an aspirant at the time recalls how Fr. John, who used to teach in the college and looked after the hostel boys, also used to assist the Pre-University aspirants who had their study hall in the college. Fr. John was strict and fair and there never was any complaint of partiality. Though he may not have been popular like some others at the time, he was loved and appreciated by the boys. The hostel boys were very fond of him because of the attention he gave to them. Other assistants like Br. P.E. Abraham were cunning and used to cheat him or take advantage of his simple and straightforward ways. Thus when there were inter-group matches, P.E. Abraham, the assistant of the second group, rather than field two equal teams, would field a weak teamas well as a strong team. In this way his strong team would come out victorious in the end against the first group.

On 24th May 1960he made his Perpetual Profession in the hands of V. Rev. Fr. John Med, the Provincial,and went on 8th July 1960for his theological studies to Shillong,. He was always a diligentrather than afun loving student. He was taken up with the mission work in the hills and picked up Hindi and Khasi, and was regular to a Hindi speaking oratory. He received his tonsure and the four minor orders from Msgr. Ferrando in 1961 and 1962. On 24th November 1962, after two and half years of theological studies, under the emergency of the Chinese attack, he came down to the south along with his other theology companions.They reached Kotagiri on 1st December 1962 and resumedtheir theological studies. Here too the students went to the various oratories in the villages around Kotagiri. As John liked the mission work, now it was his turn to learn Tamil. At Kotagiri on 28th April he received Sub-Diaconate from Msgr. Anthony Padiyara and on 25th October 1963Deaconate from Msgr. P. Pereira.

The Priest

Fr. John was ordained by Msgr. David Marianayagam on 8th April 1964 at the Salesian House, Tirupattur. He celebrated his First Mass on 9th April 1964 at Christ the KingChurch, Chelave, his home parish. He did his confession examination and received the faculty for confessions on 29th Sept 1964.On 2nd May 1964he returned to Salesian House Tirupattur as the Warden of Rinaldi Hostel and as Science and Mathematics teacher for the aspirants. He was a good as well as a strictteacher. I can recall how he used to call one of my companions ‘Lucky dip’ because he would always provide a quick answer for any question without much thinking or logic. During his class I had the privilege, along with my friend K.J. Joseph, to stay close to his table, one on either side, as his guardian angels. This helped us to pay better attention and he could better concentrate on the teaching! Later on Fr. John would recall this to the students of philosophy when I was their Rector. We enjoyed his classes and his pleasant company. It was a pleasure to watch him play basket ball with the staff team. It is said that he made the first basket ball court in Tirupattur during his practical training days. He was constantly on the move, walking to and fro between the college and Rinaldi Hostel, or Hostel and the Aspirantate. Though he was strict, he was very much concerned about his wards, the college students, and wasvery much liked by them. He assiduously followed up their studies as well as their Christian education.

John was not satisfied with his work in the college as he wanted to be a missionary. On 5th June 1966 he was sentto Pannur as confessor and also the science and mathematics teacher. He was a much sought after doctor with his poison stone as a sure remedy for snake bites or scorpion stings, and the Eight De Chane Remediesfor any common disease. On 3rd June 1969 he went as Catechist to Varadarajanpet where he continued his work as mathematics and science teacher. Finally his missionary urge began to find expression on 12th September 1970when was made assistant parish priest of Jolarpet. When Fr. Francis Guezou moved up to Yellagiri Hills Fr. John became the parish priest. At Jolarpet, beyond the routine pastoral work, Fr. John involved himself in direct mission work. Since Fr. Abraham Panampara, then Vice-Principal of Sacred Heart College, Tirupattur had been in Guntur, and knew a little Telugu,Fr. John used to ask himto go to a sub-station on a hill near Kuppam, in Chittoor district, to say Mass occasionally. Since it was very far,Fr. Abraham and his Salesian companionused stay there over night. There were no conveniences whatsoever in the small sacristy where they had to stay. From there they would proceed ten kilometres more to say mass for three or four poor families in another village. There too sometimes they had to remain overnight in a cowshed where John was accustomed to sleep when he used to go there. Fr. Abraham noticed that John did not mind any of these inconveniences in his work in the villages. From Jolarpet Fr. John moved to Udiyandiram on 31st May 1973 as the assistant parish priest there. Finally on 31st May 1974 Fr. John came to Brahmanakodur of Guntur diocese to be the parish priest, marking the first phase of Fr. John’s missionary life in Andhra Pradesh.

The Brahmanakodur parish was handed over to the Salesians on 28th of June 1971. Fr. Thomas Chinnappa was the first Parish Priest. Fr. John succeeded Fr. Thomas Chinnappa who later went to Mangalagiri to begin Don Bosco Prem Nivas for the physically challenged orphans. Fr. John continuedin earnest his mission work in various villages around Brahmanakodur as well as in the town of Ponnur. Fr. John picked up Telugu very fast and started giving short sermons and teaching catechism. He was often on the motorcycle and visited various missionstations, preaching and baptising. Fr. John baptized many people. In the beginning Br. M.D. Jacob,then a student of theology, was his regular helper during the summer holidays. There was no place of worship anywhere other than a prayer hut at Mamillapalli and that too was destroyed in a storm. He built two good churches, one at Modukurand the other at Vallabiraipalem. Fr. John used to speak about the way that the Church in Modukur was built. The work was half done and no money was forthcoming. Fr. Tohill, the then mission councillor had written that nothing more would be given for this. Fr. John would not give up easily. When Fr. Tohill visited Brahmanakodur, Fr. John took him to the village and impressed on him the urgency of the situation. Walking on the slushy road and seeing the good-hearted and poor people, Fr. Tohill agreed immediately to send the required money. The community that he built up at Modukur is one of the greatest achievements of Fr. John. He took a lot of interest in the people and instructed them strictly. The people of Modukur fondly remember Fr. John as the one who gave them faith in Christ. He also found a place in Ponnur belonging to Mrs. Thulasireddy, a Catholic, running an EnglishMediumSchool. He bought the land, about 1 acre and 5 cents, on 28th Nov. 1975. This is where the present Bosco Ashram is situated.

Those who worked with Fr. John will fondly remember him for various reasons. Fr. Thattil Chacko, was his assistant for a few months in 1976-77. Both were missionary minded, yet their missionary methods differed. They had differences of views so much that everyday their discussions would go on late into the night and end with the same conclusion, “you keep your view and I keep mine”. The next day would begin as usual and the various activities would go on happily. Fr. John was very observant and did everything very meticulously. He was so correct that sometimes materials meant for the people remained undistributed. “It is better that things get spoilt rather than spoil the people or bring division among them,” he used to say. He was interested in the people and visited them often. Though Fr. John lived a very austere life, he was generous with others, and did not want force his austerities on others. One day Fr. Chacko noticed a new tiffin carrier on the shelf. When he asked the purpose of that to Fr. John, he was told that he had bought it to buy meat for him. The fact is that they never used that tiffin carrier, though the intention to use it was always there. Fr. Thomas Pallithanam, who was with Fr. Johnat Brahmanakodur in 1981, used to remark about their plan to buy water melons. Riding on the bike, theirintense discussion would go on; in the mean time they would cross Chebrole and reach the parish and wish that they would buy melons another time.