Sister Alphonsa from Kerala will become the first nun from India to be canonised by the Vatican ahead of Mother Teresa. She will become Saint Alphonsa on October 12 this year.
The date was announced after a formal meeting of the Pope and other cardinals in the Vatican on Saturday.After a 55-year-long process, Kerala nun Sister Alphonsa will be canonised at the Vatican Oct 12.
Sister Alphonsa's journey to sainthood reached its final stages last year when Pope Benedict cleared her sainthood after he approved a miracle attributed to her.
Her beatification — that is a recognition by the Church of a dead person's accession to heaven — was ordered by the then Pope, Pope John Paul II, during his visit to Kerala in 1986.
She is the first person to be conferred sainthood from the Kerala Church which traces its origins to the visit of St Thomas around 2,000 years ago to preach the gospel in India.
Born Anna Muttathupanadathu, she came to be known as the Blessed Alphonsa of the Immaculate Conception. After her death, local people attributed some miracles to her.
Blessed Alphonsa's name for canonisation was cleared by Pope Benedict XVI on June 1, 2007 and the date for the event was announced last week.On Dec 2, 1953, Eugene-Gabriel-Gervais-Laurent Cardinal Tisserant inaugurated the diocesan process for her beatification and Alphonsa was declared a Servant of God. On 9 July 1985, she received the title Venerable Sister Alphonsa.
Her tomb at Palai in Southern Kerala is a famous Christian pilgrimage spot.
Monday, March 3, 2008
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1 comment:
She's the second from India.
First is Gonzalo Garcia, who was martyred in Japan http://saints.sqpn.com/saintg95.htm
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