By Matters India Reporter
Nangathur, Jan 6, 2020: A remote village in Tamil Nadu recently witnessed a unique funeral service.
Children of Pockisha Mary on December 31 distributed saplings of fruit-bearing trees to 120 residents of Nangathur to keep their mother’s memory alive.
Mary died on December 29 following old age complications. She was 93.
“We wanted to distribute 93 saplings corresponding to her age. But we distributed a little more as some saplings could wither,” Jesuit Father Irudaya Jothi, one of her sons, told Matters India on January 5.
Although the deceased persons live in their loved ones’ hearts, they would be easily forgotten. “We want our mother’s visible presence among us. The saplings will become trees and continue to remind us about her,” the priest explained.
The idea came from Father Jothi’s elder brother Capuchin Father Nithiya Sagayam, who had in last September used a village WhatsApp group to plant saplings and green Nangathur. Father Jothi said he too supported the plan.
The family members distributed 120 saplings of guava, jack fruit, gooseberry, pomegranate, mango and other trees that grow in the region surrounded by rocky mountains. The villagers decided to name their sapling “Pockisham Tree” (treasure tree) after Mary’s name.
According to Father Jothi, his mother’s death and funeral proved a “life-giving experience” for the villagers. The sapling distribution was their way of responding to “Laudato Si” (Praise be to You), the second encyclical of Pope Francis that speaks for protecting environment, he added.
Fathers Jothi and Nithya led the pallbearers. Her two other sons are army officers.
Mary was born in Melakonda, a tiny 100 percent Catholic village in the Archdiocese of Pondicherry. Until her marriage, she used to attend daily Mass at their parish church, about 3 km away. She continued the practice in Naganthur, her husband Subedar B. Anthony’s village, until her death.
She was involved in church activities through Vincent De Paul and Legion of Mary where she proved her commitment to the poor and the sick.
She inspired 20 young people from her close family circle to become priests and nuns. She and Anthony, organized and funded around 20 marriages. A good counselor, she also mediated among warring couples and families.