Saint Alphonsa
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Alphonsa)
| St. Alphonsa of the Immaculate Conception, F.C.C. |
 |
| First canonized Indian Catholic saint |
| Born |
19 August 1910
Kudamaloor, Arpookara, Travancore State, British Raj (present-day Kerala, India) |
| Died |
28 July 1946 (aged 35)
Bharananganam, Palai, Travancore State, British Raj (present-day Kerala, India) |
| Honored in |
Syro-Malabar Church |
| Beatified |
8 February 1986, Kottayam, Kerala, India by Pope John Paul II |
| Canonized |
12 October 2008, Vatican City by Pope Benedict XVI |
| Major shrine |
Saint Alphonsama Church, Bharananganam, Kerala, India. |
| Feast |
28 July |
| Patronage |
against illness |
Saint Alphonsa Muttathupadathu, F.C.C., or
Saint Alphonsa of the Immaculate Conception (
Malayalam:
അൽഫോൻസാ മുട്ടത്തുപാടം) (19 August 1910 – 28 July 1946) was a
Syro-Malabar Catholic Franciscan Religious Sister who is now honored as a
saint. She is the first person of
Indian origin to be
canonized as a saint by the
Catholic Church and the first canonized saint of the
Syro-Malabar Catholic Church, an
Eastern Catholic Church of the
Saint Thomas Christian community.
Life
Early life
She was born
Anna Muttathupadathu, the fourth child of Cherian Ouseph and Mary Muttathupadathu, in Kudamalloor, near Kottayam, on 19 August 1910. She was
baptized on the following 26 August.
Alphonsamma, as she was locally known, was born in
Arpookara, a village in the
princely state of
Travancore, which was under the
British Raj at the time. Today the place is called
Kottayam District, within the state of
Kerala,
India. This lies within the
Archdiocese of Changanassery.
Her parents nicknamed her
Annakkutty (little Anna) She had a
poor, difficult childhood and experienced loss and suffering early on in
life. Anna's mother died when she was young, so her maternal aunt
raised her. Hagiographies describe her early life as one of suffering at
the hands of her stern
foster mother and the teasing of schoolchildren.
[1] Anna was educated by her great-uncle, Father Joseph Muttathupadathu. When Anna was three years old, she contracted
eczema and suffered for over a year.
[2]
In 1916 Anna started school in
Arpookara. She received her
First Communion
on 27 November 1917. In 1918, she was transferred to a school in
Muttuchira. In 1923, Anna's feet were burnt when she fell into a pit of
burning
chaff;
local hagiographies describe this as a self-inflicted injury in order
to avoid her foster mother's attempt to arrange a marriage for, and
thereby to fulfill her desire for becoming a Religious Sister instead.
[1] This accident left her permanently disabled.
Sister Alphonsa
When it became possible, Anna joined the
Franciscan Clarist Congregation, a
religious congregation of the
Third Order of St. Francis,
[3] and through them, completed her schooling.
Anna arrived at the Clarist convent at
Bharananganam, Kottayam district, on
Pentecost Sunday 1927. She received the
postulant's
veil on 2 August 1928, and in May 1929 was assigned to teach at
Malayalam High School at Vazhappally. Her foster mother died in 1930.
Three days later she resumed her studies at
Changanacherry, while working as a temporary teacher at a school at
Vakakkad.
On 19 May 1930 Anna entered the
novitiate of the congregation at Bharananganam and received the
religious habit, taking the religious name of
Alphonsa of the Immaculate Conception
at that time. On 11 August 1931, she completed the novitiate and took
her first vows. Sister Alphonsa took her permanent vows on 12 August
1936. Two days later she returned to Bharananganam from Changanacherry.
Sister Alphonsa then taught high school at St. Alphonsa Girl's High School, but was often sick and unable to teach.
[2] For most of her years as a Clarist Sister she endured serious illness.
[1]
Health declines
In December 1936, it is claimed that she was cured from her ailments through the intervention of the Blessed
Kuriakose Elias Chavara (who was beatified at the same ceremony as she), but on 14 June 1939 she was struck by a severe attack of
pneumonia,
which left her weakened. On 18 October 1940, a thief entered her room
in the middle of the night. This traumatic event caused her to suffer
amnesia and weakened her again.
Her health continued to deteriorate over a period of months. She received
extreme unction
on 29 September 1941. The next day it is believed that she regained her
memory, though not complete health. Her health improved over the next
few years, until in July 1945 she developed a stomach problem that
caused vomiting.
[4]
Death
She died on 28 July 1946, aged 35. She is buried at
Bharananganam,
Travancore (present day
Kerala) in the Diocese of
Palai.
During the last year of her life she came to know the later-Bishop of
Kerala Sebastian Valopilly, a priest at the time, who frequently
brought her communion. This bishop became famous in Kerala for
championing the cause of poor people from all religious backgrounds who
had come to live Thalassery as a result of shortages elsewhere. He was
also the person who reported the miracle attributed to St. Alphonsa's
intercession.
Veneration
Claims of her miraculous intervention began almost immediately upon
her death, and often involved the children of the convent school where
she used to teach. The cause for the canonization of Sister Alphonsa
began on 2 December 1953 in the
Syro-Malabar Catholic Diocese of Palai and she was declared a
Servant of God. She was declared
Venerable on 9 July 1985 by
Pope John Paul II. Her
beatification was declared 8 February 1986 by Pope John Paul II at Kottayam.
Hundreds of miraculous cures are claimed for her intervention, many
of them involving straightening of clubbed feet, possibly because of her
having lived with deformed feet herself. Two of these cases were
submitted to the
Congregation for the Causes of Saints as proof of her miraculous intervention. The continuing cures are chronicled in the magazine
PassionFlower.
[2]
On Sunday, 12 October 2008,
Pope Benedict XVI announced her
canonization at a ceremony at
Saint Peter's Square.
[2][5]
Miracles
The miracle attributed to her intercession and approved by the
Vatican for proceeding with her canonization was the healing of the
club foot of an infant in 1985.
[6][7]
Bishop Sebastian reported:
About ten years ago, when I was in a small village in Wayanad outside
Manatavady, I saw a boy walking with some difficulty, using a stick. As
he approached me I noted that both of his feet were turned upside down.
I had a stack of holy cards in my pocket with Alphonsa's picture on
them, so I pulled one of them out and gave it to the boy. When I told
the boy that he should pray to this woman for the cure of his feet, the
boy-he was quite smart for a ten-year-old boy-replied, "But I'm a
Muslim, and, besides, I was born this way." I replied that God is very
powerful, so let's pray.A few months later,a boy and a gentleman
appeared at the house here.I didn't recognize them at first but soon
learned that it was the Muslim boy with his father, here to tell me that
his feet had been cured through their prayers to Sister Alphonsa. They
showed me the calluses on the tops of his feet, and you could see the
marks which had been made from the years of his walking with his feet
turned under. Before they left, the three of us had our pictures taken.[1]
The boy had reportedly taken Alphonsa's picture card and asked
Alphonsa to help fix his feet. Several days afterwards one of his feet
supposedly turned around. He and the other members of his family then
prayed for the cure of the second foot, which also supposedly turned
around later.
[1] The boy did not convert to Christianity.
[1]
Shrine
Her tomb in Bharananganam has become a pilgrimage site as miracles have been reported by some faithful.
[8]
Beatification
On 2 December 1953,
Eugène-Gabriel-Gervais-Laurent Cardinal Tisserant inaugurated the diocesan process for her beatification.
Pope John Paul II formally approved a miracle attributed to her intercession and Alphonsa was declared
Servant of God on 9 July 1985. She was then known as Venerable Sister Alphonsa. She was beatified along with Father
Kuriakose Elias Chavara,
T.O.C.D., at Kottayam.
During the Apostolic Pilgrimage to India of
Pope John Paul II, the Pope said as part of his speech at
Nehru Stadium,
Kottayam, on 8 February 1986, that:
"From early in her life, Sister Alphonsa experienced great suffering.
With the passing of the years, the heavenly Father gave her an ever
fuller share in the Passion of his beloved Son. We recall how she
experienced not only physical pain of great intensity, but also the
spiritual suffering of being misunderstood and misjudged by others. But
she constantly accepted all her sufferings with serenity and trust in
God, being firmly convinced that they would purify her motives, help her
to overcome all selfishness, and unite her more closely with her
beloved divine Spouse. She wrote to her spiritual director: "Dear
Father, as my good Lord Jesus loves me so very much, I sincerely desire
to remain on this sick bed and suffer not only this, but anything else
besides, even to the end of the world. I feel now that God has intended
my life to be an oblation, a sacrifice of suffering" (20 November 1944).
She came to love suffering because she loved the suffering Christ. She
learned to love the Cross through her love of the crucified Lord."[9]
Canonization
Pope Benedict XVI authorized Sister Alphonsa's name for canonization
on 1 June 2007, a process that was started 55 years earlier. She had
been beatified by Pope John Paul II in 1986 in Kottayam, 40 years after
her death, in recognition of the numerous miracles through intercessory
prayers to her.
The miracle that was attributed to her intercession and approved by the Vatican for canonization was the healing of the
club foot of a Muslim infant in 1985 in the district of Thalassery of Kerala State.
[6][7] She was elevated to sainthood on 12 October 2008 by Pope Benedict XVI.
[6][7][10]
The final ceremony for the canonization began on 12 October 2008 with
the holy relics of Alphonsa being presented to the Pope by Sister Celia,
Mother General of the
Franciscan Clarist Congregation,
the congregation to which Sister Alphonsa belonged. Sister Celia was
accompanied by Vice Postulator Father Francis Vadakkel and former Kerala
minister K. M. Mani, all holding lit candles. Speaking in English, the
Pope declared Sister Alphonsa a saint, after reading excerpts from the
Holy Bible. The Pope himself read out the biography of Alphonsa after
the ceremony.
[11]
In the homily, Pope Benedict XVI recalled Saint Alphonsa's life as one of "extreme physical and spiritual suffering."
"This exceptional woman ... was convinced that her cross was the very
means of reaching the heavenly banquet prepared for her by the Father",
the pope stated. "By accepting the invitation to the wedding feast, and
by adorning herself with the garment of God's grace through prayer and
penance, she conformed her life to Christ's and now delights in the
'rich fare and choice wines' of the heavenly kingdom."
"(Her) heroic virtues of patience, fortitude and perseverance in the midst of deep suffering remind us that
God always provides the strength we need to overcome every trial", the pope stated before the ceremony ended.
[3]
Pope Benedict XVI
also invited people "to pray for reconciliation and peace for some
situations that that are causing alarm and great suffering,"
specifically citing the civil war situation in North Kivu, Democratic
Republic of the Congo, and "the violence against Christians in Iraq and
India." .
[12]
The ceremony was attended by around 25,000 people of Indian origin -
many waving Indian flags - as well as a large delegation from India.
[citation needed] A 15-member official Indian delegation, led by Labour Minister Oscar Fernandes, attended the ceremony.
With Sister Alphonsa being raised to the list of saints by the
Vatican on Sunday, the Catholic Church in Kerala celebrated the
canonization of the first Indian saint from an Indian Rite. Across the
State, church bells tolled as
Pope Benedict XVI named her St. Alphonsa of the Immaculate Conception.
The cemetery where the Franciscan Clarist Sister was buried 62 years ago at St Mary’s Forane Church at
Bharananganam
has now been turned into the chapel which houses her mortal remains.
The canonization was greeted with the bursting of firecrackers and the
toll of church bells. St Mary’s Forane church at
Kudmaloor, the home parish of the saint, also celebrated a special Mass.
[13]
Feast
Thousands converge on the small town of
Bharananganam
when they celebrate the feast of Saint Alphonsa from 19 to 28 July each
year; her tomb is becoming a pilgrimage site these days as miracles are
reported by some devotees.
[8]
