Pope Benedict XVI gave India her first woman saint yesterday at St. Peters Square, Rome and appealed for an end to the anti-Christian violence in some parts of the country. (See the St. Alphonsa Canonization Pics given above)

The canonisation of Sister Alphonsa, a Franciscan Clarist nun from Kerala who died 62 years ago aged 36, is seen as a morale boost for India’s 2 per cent minority Christians, under attack in Orissa and Karnataka.

Violence continued in Orissa’s Kandhamal even on the day of canonisation, but Indian Christians drew strength from Alphonsa’s sainthood, even speaking of forgiving their attackers. “At a time evil is so widespread, it is good to have something like this to keep our spirits up,” said Sister Grace Kalariparampil, 77, who knew Alphonsa, in Bharananganam town where the saint lived and worked.

After the ceremony in St Peter’s Square, Rome, Benedict had a message in English for the 5,000 Indians in the crowd of tens of thousands: “As the Christian faithful of India give thanks to God for their first native daughter to be presented for public veneration, I wish to assure them of my prayers during this difficult time.” He added: “I urge the perpetrators of violence to renounce these acts and join with their brothers and sisters to work together in building a civilisation of love.”

Benedict later met the Indian delegates, who included Union and state ministers from Kerala. India has the largest population of Catholics in Asia after the Philippines. During Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s visit to France, numerous Western politicians had sharply denounced the violence in Orissa and called upon New Delhi to prevent further attacks. Prime Minister responded to these by insisting that religious freedom was guaranteed in the country’s Constitution and would be defended by his government.

Reacting to the Pope’s message, Arup Jena, a Christian from Kandhamal, said: “Of course, this is the right time for the believers to show love towards the enemy during the difficult time…. Jesus had forgiven his persecutors.”

Church bells rang and firecrackers went off in Kerala, where thousands packed into a small church and school auditorium in Bharananganam to watch the canonisation ceremony on TV. Former athlete Shiny Wilson, who came with her husband and two children to pray at Alphonsa’s ancestral home in Kudamalur, attributed her career success to the nun.

“I prayed to Alphonsa to help me do well at the Asian championships in 1985. I set a record in 800m and it’s because of her. In gratitude, I donated the gold medal to her memory at the box,” Shiny said. An Indian man of Portuguese parentage, Gonsalo Garcia, was canonised in 1862 but most Indian Christians will consider Alphonsa the country’s first saint since Garcia had lived and worked in Japan.

Alphonsa’s name can now be invoked during prayers by Christians across the world and churches can be dedicated in her honour. A Delhi church has already been dedicated to her and the Centre has promised to issue a stamp in her honour. Her images can now be drawn and printed, her relics publicly honoured, Mass offered in her name and feast days celebrated in her memory.

Benedict’s predecessor, John Paul II, had beatified Alphonsa in 1986. (CLICK HERE to see the detailed PDF on Her beatification). The country’s best-known Catholic nun, Mother Teresa of Calcutta, has been beatified after the Vatican attested to one miracle by her, but she can be declared a saint only after a second miracle is confirmed.

Indians from across the world gathered at the ceremony in Rome. Among them was 10-year-old Kerala boy Jinil Joseph whose clubfoot – a birth defect – was, in the judgement of Vatican officials, miraculously healed after prayers to Alphonsa in 1999.

More St. Alphonsa Canonization Pics

Pope Benedict XVI has given the Roman Catholic church four new saints, including an Indian woman, Sister Alphonsa whose canonization is seen as a morale boost to Christians in India. Catholics are a tiny minority in India and thousands of faithful, including an Indian delegation, turned out for Sunday’s ceremony in St. Peter’s Square. (Watch these canonization video clips for more details on the canonization).

The honour for Sister Alphonsa of the Immaculate Conception, the first Indian woman to become a saint, comes as Christians increasingly have been the object of attacks from Hindus in eastern and southern India. Pope Benedict XVI raised concern over the attacks on Christians in some states of India. “My prayers are with Christians there (in India) in these difficult times,” said Pope. (Watch the Video below to see Pope Benedict XVI addressing all Indians, in English)

Recently, there have been attacks on the Christian community in Orissa, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka. The attacks began after the death of Vishwa Hindu Parishad leader Swami Laxmanand Saraswati at Kandhmal in Orissa, India.

Benedict’s predecessor, John Paul II, had beatified Alphonsa during a pilgrimage to India in 1986. Beatification is the last formal step before sainthood, the Church’s highest honour for its faithful. Alphonsa, a nun from southern India, was 35 when she died in 1946.

Many Indians, mostly Malayalees came to Rome to see their beloved Si.Alphosa become St. Alphonsa. Because St. Alphonsa lived in Kerala, (God’s Own Country) in India and the people there are called Malayalees as they speak the language Malayalam. There was even a malayalam song sung by Keralites on the occassion of Canonization in Rome.

The other three new saints are:–  Gaetano Errico, a Neapolitan priest who founded a missionary order in the 19th century; Sister Maria Bernarda, born Verena Buetler in Switzerland in 1848, who worked as a nun in Ecuador and Colombia; and Narcisa de Jesus Martillo Moran, a 19th century laywoman from Ecuador who helped the sick and the poor.

“May their examples give us encouragement, their teachings give us direction and comfort,” Benedict said in his homily.

We all know Mother Teresa, a Nobel Peace Prize-winning nun from India. The ethnic Albanian came to India as a young woman to work with India’s most desperately poor, mostly in Calcutta, India. She died in 1997 and John Paul beatified her in 2003. So now, all Indians are expecting their next saint in Mother Teresa, even though they realize that there are lots of procedures for sainthood even after beatification.

St. Alphonsa Canonization Videos given above, all the 4 videos, will give you a clear picture of the canonization. And if you want to see the pictures, then here are they – - –  St Alphonsa Canonization Pictures

St. Alphonsa Muttathupadathu (The Passion Flower) is the first Indian woman to be elevated to sainthood. She was beatified by Pope John Paul II in 1986 and decided as a saint by the pope Benedict XVI onMarch 1, 2008. The official declaration will be done today October 12, 2008. On February 8, 1986, almost 40 years after her death, Pope John Paul II beatified her at Kottayam. On June 1, 2007 Pope Benedict XVI authorised her canonization. She will be the first female saint from India and the second saint from India.

Pictures of St Alphonsa

Born as Annakkutty (little Anna) in Kudamaloor, a rural village in Kottayam district,Kerala, India, to Joseph and Mary Muttathupadathu. She was baptized on August 27, 1910. Anna’s mother died when she was very young, so her maternal aunt raised her. Anna was educated by her great-uncle Father Joseph Muttathupadathu. When Anna was 3 years old, she contracted eczema and suffered from it for over a year.

She died on July 28, 1946, aged 35. She is buried at Bharananganam, South India in the Diocese of Pala.

Pope Benedict XVI will declare Sister Alphonsa a saint of the Roman Catholic Church at the sprawling St Peter’s Square today.

“This is the first time that India has a saint who was born, lived and died in this country,” said Mani. “It is an emotional and proud moment.” About 10,000 Indians will attend the canonization of Sister Alphonsa.

Pictures of St Alphonsa Museum

The Alphonsa Museum, which houses hundreds of exhibits associated with the life of blessed Alphonsa, is situated in the Chapel compound. The two storey structure in front of the chapel was originally the Papal podium at Kottayam during the beatification ceremony on 8th Feb.1986. A flight of steps leads to the stadium below and on either side of these steps one can see a beautifully laid out terraced garden, one of the very best of its kind in Kerala. See the video clip below for more details showing her physical remains.

St. Alphonsa Video :-

Churches named after St. Alphonsa even before Canonization:-

Three churches in the United States were named after St. Alphonsa even before her canonization by Pope Benedict XVI on October 12 in Vatican.

1) Parishioners at the Saint Alphonsa Church in San Fernando in Los Angles, claims that it is the first church in the whole world to be named after her. The church was started as a mission of the St Thomas Syro-Malabar Diocese of Chicago in 2001. Sr Alphonsa was still in the Blessed or beatified status and there was no indication when she would become a saint. Beatification is the last step before canonization.

“But we knew that now or later, she would be canonized. So we decided to name the mission after her,” Vicar Fr. Paul Kottackal said. The church allows to use the name of the beatified for new missions or churches. The mission bought a building used by the Jehova’s Witness members this year and a formal parish was inaugurated this July by Major Archbishop, Cardinal Varkey Vithyathil, head of the Kerala-based Syro-Malabar Catholic Church. Syro-Malabar Church is an independent church within the Catholic Church.

He and Bishop Jacob Angadiath of the Chicago diocese allowed them to use the name as Saint Alphonsa. The cardinal assured them that the canonization was an officially decided matter and only a formal ceremony by the pope was left. So the church was registered as Saint Alphonsa Church. The church conducted a two-day feast and special prayers on October 11 and 12 to coincide with the canonization ceremonies held in Vatican.

2) The Blessed Alphonsa Church in Atlanta, Georgia, will soon change its name to Saint Alphonsa Church. To celebrate the canonization, the church has scheduled a 21-day programme starting October 12, Abraham Augusty, chairman of the parish council, said.

The main celebrations are on November 1 and 2, when Bishop Agadiath will also come to participate. A committee under Vicar Fr Kurian Karickal and Augusty is also working to make the celebrations a success. They bought six-acre land to built the church. It was inaugurated in 2006, ahead of the Los Angeles church. But Alphonsa’s name was taken for the mission only in 2004. A mission is a congregation which will become a parish when it gets its own church.

3) The third church is in Dallas, Texas, still only a mission, as it has no church of its own. It is the second church for the Syro-Malabar Catholic Church in Dallas. Fr. Saji Chakkittamuri, who just arrived from Kerala, has taken over as the vicar of the church.

Several people from the US have already gone to Vatican to witness the ceremony. Florida-based Joy Kuttiani, along with his family, is one among them. He is a native of Bharanganam in Kottayam district, where Alphonsa lived and the mortal remains were buried. It is the major pilgrimage centre of the Catholic community. Kuttiani is a devotee of Alphonsa. He was instrumental in releasing a postal stamp in the name of Alphonsa in the 90s. “It was K Karunakaran, former kerala chief minister, who made it possible. He forced the central ministers to bring out the stamp,’ he said. More than 900,000 stamps with her pictures were sold, which was a rare thing in the postal history in India, he said.

Prayers:-

Prayer of Saint Alphonsa:-

O Lord Jesus,

Hide me in the wound of your sacred heart.
Free me from my desire to be loved and esteemed.
Guard me from my evil attempts to win fame and honor.
Make me humble till I become a small spark in the flame of love in your Sacred Heart.
Grant me the grace to forget myself and all worldly things.
Jesus, sweet beyond words, convert all worldly consolations into bitterness for me.
O my Jesus, Sun of Justice, enlighten my intellect and mind with your sacred rays. Purify my heart, consume me with burning love for you, and make me one with you.
Amen

Novena of the Saint Alphonsa:

Prayer to Saint Alphonsa:-

Oh, Saint Alphonsa, you have been graciously chosen from our midst to be united with Jesus Christ, our savior, in the misery of his passion, death and resurrection. You have grown to the heights of holiness and have been crowned with heavenly glory.

Help us in our trials and tribulations. Oh! Daughter of sufferings, obtain for us the grace to lead a holy life, following your example, in total submission to the will of God. Be with us, transforming all our sorrows into a holy sacrifice in union with Christ Crucified, in reparation to our sins, for the sanctification and salvation of the whole world. Amen.

St. Alphonsa Canonization Pictures*Canonization Videos*St Alphonsa Songs