ID :
24128
Mon, 10/13/2008 - 13:33
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://oananews.org//node/24128
The shortlink copeid
Sister Alphonsa becomes first Indian woman saint
Vatican City (Rome), Oct 12 (PTI) Sister Alphonsa, a nun from a remote village in Kerala who passed away 62 years ago, Sunday became the first woman saint from India when Pope Benedict XVI conferred Sainthood on her at a time when attacks on Christians in the country have invited sharp international criticism.
Watched by over 5,000 Indian Christians who came here for the historic ceremony from India and other parts of the world as well as thousands of others, the Pope declared Sister Alphonsa from Bharanganam village in Kottayam district, who died at a young age of 36 in 1946, as a saint.
Many priests and guests who attended the ceremony at the St Peters Square said it was a great day for them particularly when Christians have been targeted in states like Orissa and Karnataka.
After her canonisation, sister Alphonsa of the Immaculate Conception has become the first woman from India to be conferred sainthood and the second Roman Catholic from country after Gonsalo Garcia, who was conferred the honour in 1862.
Union Labour Minister Oscar Fernandes and other dignitaries from Kerala attended the special mass during which Sister Alphonsa was conferred Sainthood as enthusiastic Indians waved the national tri-colour at the ceremony.
A number of Bishops and Cardinals from the country,
including many from Kerala, were also present on the occasion.
While conferring sainthood on Sister Alphonsa, the Pope
read out passages from the Bible and excerpts from her
biography.
Pope later met the Indian delegates and told them that
"my prayers are with Christians (in India) in these difficult
times," in an obvious reference to the violence against the
community in states like Orissa and Karnataka.
Sister Alphonsa, who lived a quiet religious life helping
people around her place in Kerala, was hailed for a number of
miracles, including two which were officially put up to the
Pope.
One of the miracles attributed to her related to the
healing of a young boy's twisted feet after his family prayed
at her tomb at the Alphonsa Chapel at Bharananganam near
Kottayam.
The beatification process, the last formal step before
sainthood, of Sister Alphonsa began in 1996 by Pope John Paul
II, who had declared her a 'Blessed Servant of God', when he
visited India.
Winding up the long-drawn process of the canonisation
which began half-a-century back, the Pope conferred sainthood
on Sister Alphonsa along with three others -- Maria Bernarda
Butler from Switzerland, Narcisa de Jesus Marlillo Moran from
Ecuador and Father Gaetano Errico from Italy -- at an
internationally televised event.
"May their examples give us encouragement, their
teachings give us direction and comfort," the Pope said in his
homily.
Indian delegation at the ceremony included Kerala public
works department minister Mons Joseph, P.C. Thomas M.P.,
former Kerala finance minister K.M. Mani, Members of the
Legislative Assembly (M.L.A.s) P.C. George and K.V. Thomas,
former Meghalaya governor M.M. Jacob and Mahatma Gandhi
University vice-chancellor Jancy James.
According to Indian church history, the first Indian
person to become a Catholic saint was Gonzalo Garcia, a Jesuit
born in Vasai near Mumbai. He died a martyr at Nagasaki in
Japan in 1597 and was raised to the status of a saint in 1862.
At the canonisation ceremony for Sister Alphonsa in the
Vatican, representatives of the Syro-Malabar, Latin and
Malankara churches of Kerala were also present.
Church sources say that elevation of Sister Alphonsa as a
saint is of special significance to Indian Christians as she
is a 'home-grown' person born and brought up in the 2000-year
old SSyrian Christian traditions of Kerala.
According to church historians, Kerala is the cradle of
Indian Christianity with St Thomas, the apostle, preaching the
faith by landing at Crangannore (Kodungallur) in A.D. 52.
Sister Alphonsa was born in a family of modest means as
the fourth child of Muttathupadath Ouseph and Marian on August
19, 1910 at Kudamaloor in Kottayam. She was christened
Annakutty by her relatives.
She lost her mother when she was three-months old and her
life was full of pain and suffering which she overcame by
seeking solace in deep spirituality.
From a very young age, she had shown an inclination for
spiritual life. According to biographers, during her
childhood she once deliberately burnt one of her legs so that
she could avoid being accosted by suitors when she grew up.
Her will prevailed when she joined the convent of Poor
Clares of Fransican Order at Bharananganam in 1927. She spent
the rest of her life there till her death in 1946.
When she was alive, people from her sleepy farming
village and the hamlets around used to call on the unassuming
nun who would pray for them to mitigate their sufferings. Some
of the miracles attributed to her were said to have happened
then.
The process of Alphonsa's canonisation, the step-by-step
procedure of raising a person to the high pedestal of a Saint
in the Catholic church, began in 1953 with the church setting
up a Diocesan tribunal.
Since then, Alphonsa's tomb near the convent she lived in
has been a hallowed place of veneration for Catholics.
Watched by over 5,000 Indian Christians who came here for the historic ceremony from India and other parts of the world as well as thousands of others, the Pope declared Sister Alphonsa from Bharanganam village in Kottayam district, who died at a young age of 36 in 1946, as a saint.
Many priests and guests who attended the ceremony at the St Peters Square said it was a great day for them particularly when Christians have been targeted in states like Orissa and Karnataka.
After her canonisation, sister Alphonsa of the Immaculate Conception has become the first woman from India to be conferred sainthood and the second Roman Catholic from country after Gonsalo Garcia, who was conferred the honour in 1862.
Union Labour Minister Oscar Fernandes and other dignitaries from Kerala attended the special mass during which Sister Alphonsa was conferred Sainthood as enthusiastic Indians waved the national tri-colour at the ceremony.
A number of Bishops and Cardinals from the country,
including many from Kerala, were also present on the occasion.
While conferring sainthood on Sister Alphonsa, the Pope
read out passages from the Bible and excerpts from her
biography.
Pope later met the Indian delegates and told them that
"my prayers are with Christians (in India) in these difficult
times," in an obvious reference to the violence against the
community in states like Orissa and Karnataka.
Sister Alphonsa, who lived a quiet religious life helping
people around her place in Kerala, was hailed for a number of
miracles, including two which were officially put up to the
Pope.
One of the miracles attributed to her related to the
healing of a young boy's twisted feet after his family prayed
at her tomb at the Alphonsa Chapel at Bharananganam near
Kottayam.
The beatification process, the last formal step before
sainthood, of Sister Alphonsa began in 1996 by Pope John Paul
II, who had declared her a 'Blessed Servant of God', when he
visited India.
Winding up the long-drawn process of the canonisation
which began half-a-century back, the Pope conferred sainthood
on Sister Alphonsa along with three others -- Maria Bernarda
Butler from Switzerland, Narcisa de Jesus Marlillo Moran from
Ecuador and Father Gaetano Errico from Italy -- at an
internationally televised event.
"May their examples give us encouragement, their
teachings give us direction and comfort," the Pope said in his
homily.
Indian delegation at the ceremony included Kerala public
works department minister Mons Joseph, P.C. Thomas M.P.,
former Kerala finance minister K.M. Mani, Members of the
Legislative Assembly (M.L.A.s) P.C. George and K.V. Thomas,
former Meghalaya governor M.M. Jacob and Mahatma Gandhi
University vice-chancellor Jancy James.
According to Indian church history, the first Indian
person to become a Catholic saint was Gonzalo Garcia, a Jesuit
born in Vasai near Mumbai. He died a martyr at Nagasaki in
Japan in 1597 and was raised to the status of a saint in 1862.
At the canonisation ceremony for Sister Alphonsa in the
Vatican, representatives of the Syro-Malabar, Latin and
Malankara churches of Kerala were also present.
Church sources say that elevation of Sister Alphonsa as a
saint is of special significance to Indian Christians as she
is a 'home-grown' person born and brought up in the 2000-year
old SSyrian Christian traditions of Kerala.
According to church historians, Kerala is the cradle of
Indian Christianity with St Thomas, the apostle, preaching the
faith by landing at Crangannore (Kodungallur) in A.D. 52.
Sister Alphonsa was born in a family of modest means as
the fourth child of Muttathupadath Ouseph and Marian on August
19, 1910 at Kudamaloor in Kottayam. She was christened
Annakutty by her relatives.
She lost her mother when she was three-months old and her
life was full of pain and suffering which she overcame by
seeking solace in deep spirituality.
From a very young age, she had shown an inclination for
spiritual life. According to biographers, during her
childhood she once deliberately burnt one of her legs so that
she could avoid being accosted by suitors when she grew up.
Her will prevailed when she joined the convent of Poor
Clares of Fransican Order at Bharananganam in 1927. She spent
the rest of her life there till her death in 1946.
When she was alive, people from her sleepy farming
village and the hamlets around used to call on the unassuming
nun who would pray for them to mitigate their sufferings. Some
of the miracles attributed to her were said to have happened
then.
The process of Alphonsa's canonisation, the step-by-step
procedure of raising a person to the high pedestal of a Saint
in the Catholic church, began in 1953 with the church setting
up a Diocesan tribunal.
Since then, Alphonsa's tomb near the convent she lived in
has been a hallowed place of veneration for Catholics.
