Sr. Alfonsa, Indian saint, model of Christian charity

AsiaNews.it ^ | 11 October 2008 | Nirmala Carvalho

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Tomorrow in St. Peter's Square, Pope Benedict XVI will raise to the honors of the altar the Indian religious, who dedicated her life to the poor and the underprivileged, despite her sickness and physical suffering. She is an example for the country, marked by interconfessional violence and by widespread materialism.

New Delhi (AsiaNews) - "I always remember her smiling face, all of us students knew that she was suffering from different ailments and was sick, but she was always smiling." This is the personal recollection of Fr. Francis Vadakel, 72, about Blessed Alfonsa of the Immaculate Conception, who tomorrow, October 12, will be proclaimed a saint by Pope Benedict XVi in St. Peter's Square.

"She was a great consolation to students during examinations" Fr. Francis continues, "she understood the anxiety of children during the exams and was a counselor and adviser to the children." There was something about her that "made her different from the others," and "grace was visible on her face." The place where she is buried - the church of Blessed Alfonsa in the district of Kottayam - is still a pilgrimage destination for people who come to her tomb to pray and leave flowers." "And not just Catholics, but many Muslims and Hindus too, attracted by the purity of her young long-suffering life and by her healing powers."

The baptismal name of the blessed is Anna Muttathupadam; she was born on August 19, 1919, in Kudamaloor, in Kerala, and at the age of 17 she entered the Congregation of the Immaculate Conception. In 1936, she took perpetual vows at the monastery of the Claretians of Malabar in Bharananganam. Her work was teaching, but she soon had to leave it for health reasons. She bravely endured her illness until her death, on July 28, 1946, at the age of just 36. The bishop of Palai began the diocesan process of beatification in 1955, and on November 9, 1984, she was declared venerable. On February 8, 1986, Pope John Paul II beatified her in Kottayam, in India, together with another Indian blessed, Kuriakose Elias Chavara.

“This is a great moment for the Indian Church," says Cardinal Varkey Vithayathil, head of the Indian bishops' conference, "God has raised up to the highest honour a person who the world considered useless and sickly. Today Blessed Alfonsa will be a living catechesis that the Catholic Church produces children who are holy bearing fruit, and in a twist of irony curing the sick, the humble one who understands the intimacy of union with Christ through suffering.”

The cardinal compares the life of the blessed with the experience of St. Teresa of Lisieux, in which the brevity of life marked by "physical suffering" is exalted by the "salvific dimension" that is present in faith in Christ, at a particular moment of the Indian Church, marked by the martyrdom and violence against Christians in many areas of the country.

"We live in a time," continues the president of the Indian bishops, "where the world wants to deny suffering and the cross, even the tremendous scientific and technological progress unfortunately are used to get rid to the suffering through any means there are other sinister developments. Some cast doubt on the right to life of the newborn disabled baby, and of others who are incurably sick and old, and of those whose lives - they judge - are no longer useful to society or meaningful to themselves. Due to this we see termination of pregnancy when the foetus is abnormal, and even euthanasia are all the result of the inability to accept this suffering."

The life of Blessed Alfonsa is taking on an even greater value in India, a society where there is still a rigid separation among the castes, and the underprivileged are kept at the margins of society. "The canonization of Blessed Alfonsa," Cardinal Vithayathil concludes, "should force us to confront the grim reality upon which our success and world dominance depend - all money, power and other attractions end with death, but a live lived in holiness, in faith and lived communion with Christ, lives and continues to bear fruit even after the passing away of our mortal life."

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At our Lay Carmelite meeting today our Mass was celebrated by an Indian priest who mentioned Sr. Alfonsa in his homily.

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FYI...

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Born in a rural area to Joseph and Mary Muttathupadathu. Baptized on 27 August 1910. Her mother died when Anna was very young, and she was raised by her maternal aunt, and educated by her great-uncle Father Joseph Muttathupadathu. At age 3 she contracted an infected eczema from which she suffered for over a year. Made her first Communion on 27 November 1917. Badly burned on her feet when she accidentally fell into a pit of burning chaff, leaving her permanently somewhat disabled. Joined the Poor Clare convent at Bharananganam on 2 August 1928, taking the name Alphonsa, and took her vows on 12 August 1936.

Lost her aunt/foster-mother in 1930. Taught primary school, and the children loved her for her gentleness and cheery way, but health problems often kept her from the classroom. In December 1936 she was miraculously cured from her ailments through the intervention of Saint Therese of Lisieux and Blessed Kuriakose Elias Chavara. However, in June 1939 she was struck by a severe attack of pneumonia, weakening her overall. On 18 October 1940, a thief stumbled into her room in the middle of the night; the shock of the event caused a loss of memory, and further weakening. Her condition continued to deteriorate for months, and she was given last rites on 29 September 1941; the next day, she regained her memory, though not complete health. She enjoyed some improvement over the next few years, but in July 1945 she developed a stomach problem that eventually led to her death.

She was noted for her suffering, and suffering in silence. Incidents of her intervention began almost immediately upon her death, and often involved the children in the convent school. Hundreds of miraculous cures are claimed for her intervention, many of involving straightening of clubbed-feet, possibly because of her having lived with deformed feet herself; two of these 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. Thousands converge on the small town of Bharananganam when they celebrate the feast of Blessed Alphonsa from 19 to 28 July each year.

Born 19 August 1910 at Kudamalloor, Kerala, India
Died 28 July 1946 at Bharananganam, India, of natural causes; buried in the chapel connected with the cemetery of Saint Mary's church, Bharananganam, India, which has become an important place of pilgrimage
Venerated declared Servant of God, and her Cause began on 2 December 1953; declared Venerable on 9 July 1985 by Pope John Paul II
Beatified 8 February 1986 by Pope John Paul II
Canonized Sunday 12 October 2008 by Pope Benedict XVI

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Thanks for all this information.