Video Notes:

Prayerful Homage to Saintly Palackal Thoma Malpan on his 183 death anniversary on 16 January, 2024 by Rev. Fr. Vincent Paniyaparambil. Mr. Sunil Pallippuram has scored music and sung with Chorus!
PALACKAL THOMA MALPAN:
Brief History - Palackal Thoma Malpan (പാലയ്ക്കല്‍ തോമ്മാ മല്‍പാന്‍ / பாலய்க்கல் தோமா மல்பான் / पालय्क्कल् तोमा मल्पान्) (b. circa * 1780 at (South) Pallippuram (തെക്കന്) പള്ളിപ്പുറം / ചേന്നംപള്ളിപ്പുറം / ഐരാണിക്കുളം), near Shertallay (ചേര്‍ത്തല / കരപ്പുറം), in Alleppey (ആലപ്പുഴ), Kingdom of Travancore (തിരുവിതാംകൂര്‍ രാജ്യം); d. there, † 16th January 1841) was an illustrious secular priest (ഇടവകപ്പട്ടക്കാരന്‍) from the Catholic Church of St. Thomas (Syro-Malabar Church) then under the Vicariate-Apostolic of Verapoly (വരാപ്പുഴ) and later under the Archdiocese of Ernakulam (എറണാകുളം) ; the senior founder of the first Cœnobite order of the St. Thomas Christians, the Third Order of Carmelites Discalced (കര്‍മ്മലീത്ത നിഷ്പാദുക മൂന്നാം സഭ / Carmelites of Mary Immaculate); and the founder and Rector of the first Seminary run by the St. Thomas Christians, first at Pallippuram and later at Mannanam (മാന്നാനം) near Kottayam (കോട്ടയം). (The title Malpan, from the Syriac word malpānā, denotes his status as a preceptor of priests.)
After his ordination in 1807 consequent to studies under Thachil Abraham Malpan (തച്ചില്‍ അവുറാഹാം മല്‍പാന്‍) (the younger brother of Thachil Thariyath Matthoo Tharakan, Esq. (തച്ചില്‍ തരിയതു് മാത്തു തരകന്‍ അവര്‍കള്‍)), he was appointed the Secretary for the St. Thomas Christians and Counsellor to the Bishop Mgr. Raymond Roviglia of St. Joseph, O. C. D., Vicar-Apostolic during 1803-1815; he continued to be a counsellor to the Vicars-Apostolic for the rest of his life, even after he resigned the position of Secretary in 1815.
As secretary and counsellor, he was instrumental to several reforms in the Catholic Church of Kerala: the practice of St. Thomas Christian priests and seminarians wearing cassocks (ളോവ) was introduced (previously, they had dressed in a way resembling the Jacobite clerics); the custom of episcopal visits (വിസീത്ത) to parishes was begun; the confessional (കുമ്പസാരക്കൂടു്) was made obligatory in all churches; walled cemeteries (സെമിത്തേരി) were built for all churches (earlier, the dead had been buried in the open compound); and confraternities (കൊമ്പിരിയാ, ദര്‍ശനസമൂഹം) were started in the St. Thomas Christian churches borrowing the custom from the Latin churches in Kerala; the confreres (ദര്‍ശനക്കാര്‍) assisted the orderly conduct of solemn feasts (കൊമ്പിരിയാപ്പെരുന്നാള്‍, ദര്‍ശനപ്പെരുന്നാള്‍), funerals, and other ceremonies.
After leaving the position of secretary, he returned to Pallippuram in 1818. Since there were several acolytes desirous of studying for priesthood under him, the Malpan was compelled to start a seminary at Pallippuram, Among the first to join his seminary was Chavara Kuriakose of Kainakary , then aged 13; the Malpan brought him up as if he were a son and considered him the spiritual heir. Seeking to bring order to the seminary, he wrote a regula for the seminarians, following it himself more stringently than all else. Even otherwise, he had kept an austere routine and diet from his early years.
Considering teaching and scholarship as his vocation, the Malpan devoted his life to that aim. He took particular care that his seminary had an exemplary collection of books, especially modern books in Tamil and the few in Malayalam, printed chiefly by members of the Society of Jesus. He had a special interest in languages. Learning Tamil on his own, he translated the spiritual books in Tamil into Malayalam; as a consequence he began to be called in jest the `Tamil Malpan' . He asked his students to scribe all the books they considered valuable, including liturgical books in Syriac.
Since his early years the Malpan seems to have cherished the notion of a Cœnobite order of the Dominican kind; his experiences in running the seminary might have strengthened the resolve. In this endeavour he found an eager and able collaborator in Porukara Thoma Kathanar (1799-1846) of Champakulam . With the blessing of the Bishop Mgr. Maurelio Stabellini, O. Carm., Vicar-Apostolic during 1828-1831, the Monastery was founded at Mannanam on 11th May 1831.
Two years later, the Malpan started a seminary at Mannanam to teach priests both secular and religious; a new movement in the spiritual formation of St. Thomas Christian clergy, this became the cradle for several priests and bishops such as Mar Louis Pareparambil, Mar Augustine Kandathil etc.
He passed away in 1841 and was buried at the main altar in the Forane Church of St. Mary, Pallippuram (connected by tradition with the apostolate of St. Thomas in South India); judging from the account of Fr. Chavara, the funeral was worthy of a bishop.