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In the ceremony of Most Solemn Blessing, the mother, while giving
the blessing to her daughter and her husband, reminds the daughter and the
assembly of the care and sacrifice that she has to undertake. This ceremony
also witnesses to the emotional moment when the mother tells her daughter
how cautiously and lovingly she raised her “like the butter in the milk I
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cared for you in my heart”.
4.2 The Missions Implied in the Southist Customs are in
Conformity with the Magisterium of Pope John Paul II

Persons learn basic moral values and responsibilities from within the
family. For Catholics, such learning of moral values and responsibilities is
further developed through the teachings of the larger family of God, the
Church, which is constantly inspired by the Holy Spirit and illuminated by
Sacred Scripture, because “becoming a disciple of Jesus means accepting
the invitation to belong to ‘God’s family’, to live in conformity with His
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way of life”.

“(T)he Church receives from the various cultures everything that is
able to express better the unsearchable riches of Christ. Only with the help
of all the cultures will it be possible for these riches to be manifested ever
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more clearly…” Christian communities in different times and in different
places acquire and express their moral values and responsibilities in their
own particular manner with conformity to the teachings of the Catholic
Church. The Southist community receives and expresses its moral values
and responsibilities through its special family customs. From the above
analysis of the specific missions, a concurrence is found between the
Southist customs and the teachings of Pope John Paul II on the Domestic
Church as the Sanctuary of Life.

4.3 The Pastoral and Moral Context of the Families in the
Archdiocese of Kottayam Today

This study has analysed in detail the family traditions and customs of
the Archdiocese of Kottayam. The missions that are conveyed by these
Southist customs conform to the teachings of the Church, especially to the
magisterium of Pope John Paul II. This study would not be complete

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Cf. LUKAS, P. U., Malayālatte Suriyāni Kristyānikalute Purātanappāttukal (Ancient
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songs of the Syrian Christians of Malayalam, 1910), 7 Edition, Jyothi Book House,
Kottayam, 1992, p. 13, Lines 27-28 of Hymn of Blessing (Malayalam).
65 Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2002, no. 2233.
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Familiaris Consortio, no.10.

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