The Blessed Alphonsa makes God's own country proud


October 12 will be a golden day in the 2,000-year history of India's Christian community. Sister Alphonsa Muttathupadath (1910-1946) of Kerala will become the first Indian woman—and second Indian—to be canonised and declared a saint by Pope Bendict XVI at the Vatican.Sister Alphonsa, who belonged to a poor family in Kottayam district, was beatified by Pope John Paul II in 1986 during his visit to Kerala. The nun belonged to the Congregation of the Poor Clares of the Third Order of St Francis.

In March this year, the Pope decided to elevate her to sainthood after a decades-long procedure which included the Vatican's confirmation of the miracles ascribed to her.

Over 3,000 delegates from Kerala's Syro-Malabar church-India's largest Catholic denomination tracing its origins to St. Thomas-will attend the canonisation.

The only Indian canonised before was Saint Gonzalo Garcia, a Jesuit priest born in Vasai near Mumbai to an Indian mother and Portuguese father in 1556.

(Source IndiaToday)

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