Saint Baselios Yaldo

Saint Baselios Yeldo (യൽദോ മാർ ബസ്സേലിയോസ് ബാവ) was the Maphrian of the East of the Syriac Orthodox Church from 1678 until his resignation in 1684. He is venerated as a saint in the Jacobite Syrian Orthodox Church and the Indian Orthodox Church and his feast day is 3 October. His tomb is situated in Marthoman Cheriyapally, Kothamangalam and feast is celebrated as Kanni 20th perunnal (കന്നി 20 പെരുന്നാൾ) which gather many pilgrims to the Tomb. Yeldo was proclaimed as a saint, canonised by Ignatius Zakka I Iwas, Syriac Orthodox Patriarch of Antioch, on 20 October 1987 and Baselios Geevarghese II, Catholicos of the East and Malankara Metropolitan of the Indian Orthodox Church on 2 November 1947. Yeldo was born in 1593 in the village of Bakhdida, near the city of Mosul, and became a monk at the Monastery of Saint Behnam at a young age. He was consecrated Maphrian of the East in 1678 by Mor Ignatius Abdul Messiah I, the then Syriac Orthodox Patriarch of Antioch. In 1683, Mor Ignatius Abdul Messiah I, the then Patriarch of Antioch, received a letter and later a delegation from Mar Thoma II, the then Archbishop of Malankara, requesting clergymen to help against Portuguese colonial attempts to subdue the Church of Malankara. The patriarch met with clergymen at the Monastery of Saint Ananias in the following year to discuss the state of the Church of Malankara and decide whom to send, and Mor Yeldo volunteered to travel to Malankara and thus resign as Maphrian. The patriarch and others expressed concern at the health and age of the saint, however, the patriarch granted Mor Yeldo permission to undertake the journey. He returned to the Monastery of Saint Matthew and made preparations for the journey to India. The monks Joea and Matthew, from the monasteries of Saint Matthew and Saint Behnam respectively, Bishop Mor Ivanios Hidyatullah, and Yeldo's brother Jamma joined him on the journey south to Basra.