Malankara Church Announces Year of Liturgy to Deepen Faith and Worship Experience

The Syro-Malankara Catholic Church launches a Year of Liturgy from September 2025 to September 2026 as part of its journey toward the 2030 centenary reunion, aiming to help the faithful encounter Christ more deeply through worship, sacraments, and community prayer.

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, Kerala (India Catholic News) — The Syro Malankara Catholic Church has announced a Year of Liturgy, inviting the faithful to deepen their understanding and experience of worship as part of preparations for the Church’s centenary reunion in 2030. The initiative aims to help Catholics “experience Jesus more through worship and to make Jesus a part of our lives.”

The Church’s reunion anniversary refers to the historic reunion of Archbishop Mar Ivanios and other leaders of the Malankara tradition with the Catholic Church on 20 September 1930, an event marking their entry into full communion with Rome after centuries of separation.

The Year of the Liturgy, running from 20 September 2025 to 19 September 2026, was declared by Cardinal Baselios Cleemis Thottunkal of Trivandrum, Major Archbishop of the Syro Malankara Catholic Church. The year-long observance, he said, seeks to help the faithful “know more about the various levels of worship” and strengthen their encounter with Christ through the sacraments and prayer.

“In the context of the Syro Malankara Catholic Church preparing to celebrate the centenary of its reunion on 20th September 2030, we are observing a Year of Liturgy from 20 September 2025 to 19 September 2026,” Cardinal Cleemis wrote in his pastoral letter released on 10 September 2025.

Building on the previous Year of the Word of God, the initiative continues the Church’s spiritual renewal process. “During the Year of the Word of God, we have tried to know and encounter Jesus more through the Holy Scriptures. This year, we are trying to know more about the various levels of worship, to experience Jesus more through worship and to make Jesus a part of our lives,” the letter stated.

Formation in Worship

The pastoral letter highlights the objectives of the Year of Liturgy as helping the faithful gain “a clear knowledge and experience in worship about the sacraments of the Spiritual Order (especially the Eucharist, Confession, Baptism, Anointing of the Sick)” as well as “the liturgy of the hours, the abstinence and fasting during Lent, and the Feasts of our Lord.”

“The liturgy is the fundamental reality that unveils the identity of the Malankara Catholic Church,” the Major Archbishop wrote, calling liturgical spirituality “the core of the spirituality of the Syro Malankara Catholic Church.” Through such spirituality, he added, “it is possible to experience Jesus more and grow in a deeper personal relationship with Jesus.”

The Year of Liturgy carries the motto “Worship the Father in Spirit and in Truth” (Jn 4:23) and includes a Lineamenta and Action Plan to guide parishes, clergy, and families in liturgical formation.

Parish and Family Celebrations

The Year of Liturgy was inaugurated on 20 September 2025 at Pathanamthitta, a district and town located in the state of Kerala, and the site of the Church’s reunion anniversary celebrations. Parishes and mission centres began their observance Sunday, 28 September 2025, with a symbolic ceremony involving the lighting of seven candles, the reading of John 4:19–26, and the celebration of the Holy Eucharist.

At the family level, the pastoral letter encourages each household to inaugurate the liturgical year by placing a cross and Bible at home and lighting seven candles “in the order of the male head and the female head of the family,” followed by the reading of the same Gospel passage and a special prayer.

Cardinal Cleemis further outlined several parish-level initiatives, including awareness classes on the Holy Eucharist and Confession, a public Baptism Sunday, and an annual public celebration of the Anointing of the Sick. Evening prayer on Saturdays will also be encouraged in all parishes to foster community worship.

Training and Formation

To deepen liturgical knowledge, the Church plans training programmes for priests, seminarians, and members of religious orders as well as lay associations. A 50-episode liturgical study series will also be broadcast on Malankara Catholic TV, with exams and parish-level certification. Dioceses are to appoint directors to coordinate the Year of Liturgy, while district-level training will be offered for altar servers and youth leaders.

Cardinal Cleemis urged all faithful to participate actively, writing, “We lovingly urge all parishioners to participate in all the activities of the Year of Liturgy along with the parish priests and make the liturgical year a blessed one.”

Calling the observance “part of self-sanctification and complete dedication,” he said it forms “the second in the series in our preparation for the celebration of the centenary of the reunion.”

“We pray that all parishioners will be able to worship more actively and grow in their God-experience through the Liturgy of our Church,” Cardinal Cleemis concluded.

Source: Pastoral Letter on the Year of the Liturgy, Syro Malankara Catholic Church, 10 September 2025.