Difference between revisions of "Saint Alphonsa Muttathupadathu" - New World Encyclopedia
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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: | 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: | ||
<blockquote>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. | <blockquote>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. | ||
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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.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.alphonsa.com/Content-13/BEATIFICATION.html| title=Beatification speech of Pope John Paul II |publisher= Alphonsa site}}</ref></blockquote> | 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.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.alphonsa.com/Content-13/BEATIFICATION.html| title=Beatification speech of Pope John Paul II |publisher= Alphonsa site}}</ref></blockquote> | ||
Revision as of 19:52, 17 November 2008
Saint Alphonsa Muttathupadathu | |
---|---|
First Indian woman Christian Saint | |
Born | 19 August 1910Kerala, India | in Kottayam district,
Died | 28 July 1946 (aged 35) in Bharananganam |
Venerated in | Catholic Church |
Beatified | 8 February 1986, Kottayam |
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 (Malayalam: അല്ഫോന്സാ മുട്ടത്തുപാടത്ത്; Alphonsa dell’Immacolata Concezione; 19 August 1910–28 July 1946) is a Catholic Saint, the second person of Indian origin to be canonized as a saint by the Roman Church and the first canonized saint of the Syro-Malabar Catholic Church, an Eastern Catholic Church. Alphonsamma, as she was locally known, had a poor and difficult childhood, experiencing early loss and suffering. She joined the Franciscan Clarist Congregation and, after completing her schooling, took her vows to the order in 1936. She taught school for years, plagued by illness throughout most her teaching career.
Claims of her intervention began almost immediately upon her death, and often involved the children in the convent school where she had taught. The case for Sister Alphonsa's canonization began on 2 December 1953 in the Syro-Malabar Catholic Diocese of Palai where she was declared a Servant of God. Pope John Paul II declared her Venerable on 9 July 1985, and her beatification at Kottayam on 8 February 1986. On Sunday, 12 October 2008, Pope Benedict XVI announced her canonization at a ceremony at St Peter's Square. Hundreds of miraculous cures are claimed by her intervention, many of them involving straightening of clubbed feet, possibly because of her having lived with deformed feet herself. Two of those cases were submitted to the Congregation for the Causes of Saints as proof of her miraculous intervention.
Early life
Born as Annakkutty (i.e., "little Anna") in Kudamaloor, a village in Kottayam district, Kerala, India, to Joseph and Mary Muttathupadathu, she was baptized on 27 August 1910 at Saint Mary's Church in Kudamaloor under the patronage of Saint Anna.[1] Anna's mother died when she was young, her maternal aunt raising her. Anna's great-uncle, Father Joseph Muttathupadathu, educated by her. When three years old, Anna contracted eczema and suffered for over a year.[2]
In 1916, Anna started her schooling in Arpookara. She received First Communion on 27 November 1917. In 1918 she transferred to the school in Muttuchira. In 1923 Anna badly burned her feet when she fell into a pit of burning chaff. That accident left her permanently disabled. When it became possible, Anna joined the Franciscan Clarist Congregation.[3] She entered Poor Clares convent in Bharananganam on Pentecost 1927. She received the postulant's veil on 2 August 1928 and took the name Alphonsa. In May 1929 she entered the Malayalam High School at Vazhappally. Her foster mother died in 1930.
On 19 May 1930 she received her religious habit at Bharananganam. Three days later she resumed her studies at Changanacherry, while working as a temporary teacher at the school at Vakakkad. On 11 August 1931 she joined the novitiate. Anna took her permanent vows on 12 August 1936. Two days later she returned to Bharananganam from Changanacherry. She taught elementary school, but was often sick and unable to teach.[2]
Declining Health
In December 1936 she was reportedly cured from her ailments through the intervention of Blessed Kuriakose Elias Chavara, but on 14 June 1939 a severe attack of pneumonia she struck, leaving 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 further.
Her health continued to deteriorate over a period of months. She received extreme unction on 29 September 1941. The next day she regained her mental clarity, though still weakened. Her health improved over the next few years until in July 1945 she developed a stomach problem that caused vomiting.[4]
Death and Burial
She died on 28 July 1946, aged 35. She is buried at Bharananganam, South India, in the Diocese of Palai. Her tomb in Bharananganam has become a pilgrimage site as miracles have been reported by some faithful.[5] The miracle attributed to her intercession and approved by the Vatican for the canonization was the healing of the club foot of an infant in 1999.[6][7]
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 Kuriakose Elias Chavara at Kottayam.
During the Apostolic Pilgrimage to India of Pope John Paul II, the pope said as part of his speech at Nehru Stadium, Kottayamon 8 February 1986:
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.[8]
Canonization
Pope Benedict cleared Sister Alphonsa's name for canonisation on 1 June 2007, a process that was started 55 years ago. She was beatified by Pope John Paul II in 1986 in Kottayam, 40 years after her death, in recognition of the numerous miracles associated with her. The continuing cures are chronicled in the magazine PassionFlower.[2]
The miracle attributed to her intercession and approved by the Vatican for the canonization was the healing of the club foot of an infant in 1999.[6][7] She was elevated to sainthood on 12 October 2008 by Pope Benedict XVI.[9][6][7] The final ceremony for the canonization began on 12th 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.[2][10] 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 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 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. A 15-member official Indian delegation, led by Labour Minister Oscar Fernandes, attended the ceremony.
Even as Sr. Alphonsa was raised to the realm of saints by the Vatican on Sunday, the Catholic Church in Kerala celebrated the canonisation 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 nun 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 canonisation was greeted with the bursting of firecrackers and the toll of church bells. St Mary’s Forane church at Kudmaloor, the parent 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.[5]
See also
- Christianity in India
- Syro Malabar Church
- Carmelites of Mary Immaculate
- Saint Thomas Christians
- Roman Catholicism in India
Notes
All external links in footnotes retrieved November 17, 2008.
- ↑ Patron Saints Index. SQPN.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Patron Saints Index. SQPN.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Beatification of Father Kuriakose Elias Chavara and Sister Alfonsa Muttathupandathu. Vatican.
- ↑ Malayala Manorama News articles about Sister Alphonsa, Kottayam, March 2, 2008
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Sister Alphonsa's canonisation date to be decided on March 1. The Hindu.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 Malayala Manorama News Story, March 7, 2008. Malayala Manorama.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 A life of suffering, Sep 02, 2007. The Hindu.
- ↑ Beatification speech of Pope John Paul II. Alphonsa site.
- ↑ Kerala nun Sister Alphonsa is now Saint Alphonsa, Oct 12, 2008. ndtv.com.
- ↑ Indian Catholics cheer their first woman saint
- ↑ Sister Alphonsa becomes India's first woman saint. The Times of India.
- ↑ Pope Canonizes India's First Woman Saint, Calls For End To Violence. UCAN.
- ↑ Catholic Church celebrates Alphonsa’s canonisation. The Hindu.
ReferencesISBN links support NWE through referral fees
- Cākkō, Ke. Si. 1949. Sister Alphonsa. Trivandrum, India: Alphonsa Publishers. OCLC 9444764.
- Cākkō, Ke. Si. 1986. The spirituality of Blessed Alphonsa. [Ernakulam?]: Franciscan Clarist Congregation. OCLC 26549652.
- Dempsey, Corinne G. 2001. Kerala Christian sainthood: collisions of culture and worldview in South India. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780195130287.
- Minattur, Joseph. 1963. Flame and Flower. Bharananganam, India: The Vice Postulator. OCLC 18897910.
- Muṇṭaykkal, Ṭi. Ṭi. 1992. Alphōnsāmma katha par̲aññāl: jīvacaritr̲aṃ. Kochi: Janatha Services. OCLC 34113647.
- Zachariah, K. C. 2006. The Syrian Christians of Kerala: demographic and socio-economic transition in the twentieth century. New Delhi: Orient Longman. ISBN 9788125030096.
External links
All links Retrieved November 17, 2008.
- Official website
- Photographs associated with Blessed Alphonsa
- Alphonsa of India at Patron Saint Index
- Shrine of Saint Alphonsa
- Pope John Paul II On Blessed Alphonsa of India
- Exegesis on her life and good links
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