among them Sister Alphonsa, an Indian nun who became the country‚s first
woman saint. About 40,000 people attended the ceremony here.
Others to be canonised on the occasion included the Ecuadorian Narcisa de
Jesus Martillo Moran (1832-1869), Swiss nun Maria Bernarda Buetler
(1848-1924), a missionary in Colombia, and Italian Gaetano Errico
(1791-1860) from Secondigliano, in the Naples region.
Many of those in St Peter‚s Square in Rome had come from India. Among them
were large numbers of priests and nuns from Kerala.
Recalling in his homily the life of the new woman saint, who belonged to the
Franciscan Clarist order, the Pope said she had been „an exceptional woman,
who today is offered to the people of India as their first canonised woman
saint.‰
She had lived in „extreme physical and spiritual suffering,‰ the Pope said.
She „was convinced that her cross was the very means of reaching the
heavenly banquet prepared for her by the Father.‰
The Pope added: „May we imitate her in shouldering our own crosses so as to
join her one day in paradise.‰
Determination
Born in 1910 as Anna Muttathupandathu, and known as Alphonsa dell‚Immacolata
Concezione, Sister Alphonsa was so determined to enter a convent that she
deliberately stepped into a burning fire to disfigure her feet so that her
strict aunt would stop pressuring her to marry.
She was plagued by serious illness for much of her relatively short life,
but was known for her stoicism and compassion. After her death at 36 years
of age in 1946, miracles were attributed to her. Her burial place became a
pilgrimage site, especially for those seeking relief from ill health.
Hundreds of visitors to the sleepy town of Bharananganam in Kerala‚s
Christian heartland offered special prayers ahead of the canonisation of
Sister Alphonsa.
„I have been coming here for the past 20 years to seek blessings from her
for my family, especially for my children‚s studies,‰ said government
official V.J. Joseph. „Today is an important day as the holy Church is
declaring her a saint,‰ said Mr. Joseph, who came with his wife and two
children.
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.
According to Church historians, Kerala is the cradle of Indian Christianity
with St. Thomas, the apostle, preaching the faith after landing at
Crangannore (Kodungallur) in A.D. 52. ˜ Agencies
Source: http://www.hindu.com/2008/10/13/stories/2008101356581300.htm
2 comments:
I felt really hurt on hearing on tv and other media that Sr Alphonsa is the first saint of the Christian community in India since 2000 years..
but the truth is...
Mor Gregorios Thirumeni of Parumala is the first Indian saint.(1947)
Then comes:
St.Dionysios elevated in 2002
St.Athanasios elevated in 2004
St.Habel elevated in 2005
Alphonsamma is the 5th indigenous Indian saint among christian churches. But she might be the first roman catholic saint in India.
Really felt hurt when seeing the big coverage given for this by the whole Indian media. The canonization of St.Dionysious may not had known even by every Keralites.
Sr. Alphonsa was not considered as a saint in her lifetime. The proceedings started only upon the claim of miracles on the name of her. We know how much our saints were known among their folks for their holy life at their lifetime. But our church do not have the money power what Vatican has. So our saints are not known to the world.
You can see how professionally catholic church is building up Bharananganam as a global pilgrim centre. They do these canonization processes inorder to build up such money sources.
You can note the continuous try by the Catholic Church to attract the orthodox during yesterday's function also. There were 2 priests reading the Holy Gospel; one in Latin and the other in Greek. The Greek priest is from some rite like Serbian or Greece. There was no one from the proclaimed saints from any Byzantine background.
So it's a clear attempt by the Pope to continue his efforts to swallow the Orthodox Churches.
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