Sister Alphonsa to be conferred sainthood on Sunday
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Two millennia of Indian Christianity will have its greatest moment of joy and pride when Pope Benedict XVI elevates Kerala-born Sister Alphonsa to the status of saint on Sunday.
Sister Alphonsa will become the first Indian woman to achieve the high spiritual position in the hall of fame and veneration of the Catholic Church.
Winding up the long-drawn process of canonisation which began half-a-century back, the Pontiff would confer sainthood on her along with three others from other parts of the world at a special four-hour long mass and allied ceremonies starting from 12.30 pm IST.
Hundreds of Keralite Christians from different parts of the world are expected to attend the event at the Vatican and share the jubilation.
Live screening, special services and a memorial meeting have been planned in the small town of Bharanangnam in Kerala's Kottayam District, where the self-effacing Alphonsa led her short life of unflinching faith in the first half of the 20th century.
The three others to be made saints are Italian priest and founder of Missionaries of Sacred Hearts of Jesus Fr Geatano Eerrico, Swiss foundress of the Congregation of Fransiscan Sisters of Mary Help of Christians Maria Bernarda Butler and Narcisa de Jesus Martillo, an Ecuadorian lay person.
According to 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.
Sister Alphonsa will become the first Indian woman to achieve the high spiritual position in the hall of fame and veneration of the Catholic Church.
Winding up the long-drawn process of canonisation which began half-a-century back, the Pontiff would confer sainthood on her along with three others from other parts of the world at a special four-hour long mass and allied ceremonies starting from 12.30 pm IST.
Hundreds of Keralite Christians from different parts of the world are expected to attend the event at the Vatican and share the jubilation.
Live screening, special services and a memorial meeting have been planned in the small town of Bharanangnam in Kerala's Kottayam District, where the self-effacing Alphonsa led her short life of unflinching faith in the first half of the 20th century.
The three others to be made saints are Italian priest and founder of Missionaries of Sacred Hearts of Jesus Fr Geatano Eerrico, Swiss foundress of the Congregation of Fransiscan Sisters of Mary Help of Christians Maria Bernarda Butler and Narcisa de Jesus Martillo, an Ecuadorian lay person.
According to 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.
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