ORU NALLA APPANTE CHAVARUL
(The Testament of a Loving Father)
Important sayings of Saint Kuriakose Elias Chavara
o Children, you are God’s gift in the hands of your parents
o The children who have a love of God and fear of God will love and respect their parents
o Trust your Mother, God will hear the prayers of the mother as yours
o Food is for the body, so is wisdom for the intellect
o Go to school regularly and recall to mind what is taught during the week
o Laziness fosters evil habits
o Let your friends be those who love God
o The day in which you have not done any good to your fellowman will not be recorded in your book of life
o Keeping bad books is like hiding fire in hay
o Regular reading of good books and meditating on them will illumine the mind
o Attain punctuality by means of a regular time table
o You angels will be turned to devils, if you fall into evil situation
o You ought to reach home before evening and take part in the evening prayers
o Desire that others love you, and not that they fear you
o Take special care to keep modesty while you sit, walk or lie down
o You are to forgive and forget the wrong doings of others
o Tell me who your friends are, and I will tell you who you are
o What you earn by deceit and theft will melt like snow
o Idleness is the mother of all vices and would induce want to the habit of drinking
o Both stinginess and extravagance are equally sinful
o Let there be no day in your life in which you did no good to others
o Do not insult or trouble the poor
o God decides your vocation and it is you to choose it
o If your parents have left any obligation of restitution, fulfill it with diligence and devotion
o Even if you are grown in age and maturity, you have to respect your parents and submit to them
o Do not hate your own brethren
o It is the duty of children to look after their parents
o Do not be the cause of your parents to shed tears on account of you
o The humble man is the greatest among men
o Since you belong to God, you have to give yourself back to God
