The Indian saint who blazed her own path

St Alphonsa is known as 'India's St Thérèse', says Jacob Ignatius, but despite the similarities she offers distinctive spiritual insights.

LONDON (The Catholic Herald UK) - On the southwestern tip of India lies the state of Kerala, a beautiful, tropical land that is abundant with coconut trees, paddy fields, picturesque beaches and a network of canals, lakes and estuaries. There, Christianity first took roots soon after its birth in the first century, even before its arrival in Europe.

Today, Kerala is a popular tourist destination, but it has always attracted visitors to its shores long before modern times. St Thomas, the apostle of Jesus who famously doubted his resurrection, is believed to have come to Kerala in 52 AD by boat. Christians now comprise 19 per cent of Kerala's population of 31.8 million people, the remainder being a mix of Hindus and Muslims.

The year 2008 was a troubling time for India's Christian minority due to anti-Christian violence, particularly in the states of Orissa and Karanataka, which are both ruled by Hindu nationalist state governments. Against the backdrop of such violence, on October 12, Pope Benedict XVI announced the canonisation of Sister Alphonsa at a ceremony in St Peter's Square, saying: "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."

Alphonsa thus became the first Indian woman saint in the Catholic Church, providing Indian Christians some cheer at a difficult time in the history of the Church in India.

Born on August 10 1910 in the small village of Kudumalur, Kerala, Alphonsa was christened Anna. She was called Annakutty (literally "Anna child" in Malayalam) by friends and family. She lost her mother when she was barely a month old, and her early years were spent rotating between the homes of her father, her paternal grandmother and her maternal aunt.

Under the influence of her pious and benevolent grandmother, Annakutty developed the practice of praying and a deep compassion for the poor. These early years were relatively happy times, although things were rather different when she moved to the home of her very strict maternal aunt.

Annakutty believed, even from the early age of seven, that Christ was calling her to spend a life devoted to Him. In those days in Kerala it was not uncommon for girls to be married off early, but she resisted repeated attempts by her aunt eventually reaching the point of causing self-harm. She put her foot in a heap of burning embers, causing severe burns. This was a great shock to her family and a clear sign of her sincerity about her religious vocation, and they decided to allow her to follow her desire to become a nun.

Annakutty joined the Congregation of Franciscan Clarists in Bharananganam, Kerala, beginning her postulancy on August 2 1928, taking the name of Alphonsa of the Immaculate Conception in honour of St Alphonsus Liguori. Later, when she went to Changanacherry, Kerala, for her higher studies, the Sister in charge of the postulants thought Alphonsa was prone to ill health, she tried to talk her out of becoming a nun.

Alphonsa prayed hard, resisted new attempts by her aunt to marry her off, and with the support of some priests she was able to continue with her postulancy. The day she finally became a nun, on August 12 1936, was one of immense joy for Alphonsa, for she had managed to achieve her ambition despite all the obstacles along her way.

Alphonsa taught at the boarding school attached to the convent, but she was plagued by frequent illnesses including haemorrhages, purulent wounds, typhoid fever and pneumonia. Hardly a day went by that she wasn't sick. Some of her more cynical Sisters thought she may have been feigning illness, and that her humility in accepting suffering was nothing more than a charade to win the hearts of the superiors. Eventually, after suffering from an agonising tumour, she died at the age of 36 on July 28 1946.

People who knew Sister Alphonsa described her as a very devout, loving and forgiving individual who, despite constant ill health, maintained a charming disposition. She believed that her sufferings were meant to bring her closer to Christ; this is evident in a letter she wrote to her spiritual director. "Dear Father," it said, "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."

Nuns also attest that Sister Alphonsa possessed the gift of prophecy, being able to predict to the day and hour when different people would die.

After Sister Alphonsa's death, her school children, with whom she had formed a close bond, began visiting her tomb and offering prayers. Many of them discovered their prayers were answered, and soon stories of people healed of illnesses after praying to Sister Alphonsa began to spread, leading to her tomb quickly becoming a pilgrimage site. With pressure from people, the local diocese appointed a committee to look into the cause of recommending her for sainthood. After conducting an extensive study of Sister Alphonsa's life, the local diocese took up the case for her sainthood with the Vatican.

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On July 9 1985, Pope John Paul II formally approved a miracle attributed to Sister Alphonsa's intercession, the healing of a boy called Thomas who was born club-footed. The boy's feet were badly deformed and twisted inwards, which forced him to walk with a limp. His parents had tried various medical treatments, but all to no avail. Eventually, in January 1947, they went to Sister Alphonsa's tomb and prayed ardently, seeking her intercession. Two days later, Thomas began to walk normally. Medical examination could offer no explanation for the cure.

In 1999 another young boy, Jinil, who was born club-footed, was miraculously cured of his deformity after the boy's parents took him to Sister Alphonsa's tomb and prayed for his healing. Perhaps it is surprising to some, given that Christianity has been present on the Kerala soil for nearly two millennia, that St Alphonsa is only the second Indian to be canonised by the Vatican.

St Alphonsa was deeply influenced by St Thérèse of Lisieux, keeping her autobiography on her window sill and reading it often. There are some interesting similarities between the lives of the two: both were pious from an early age; both overcame seemingly insurmountable obstacles to join the religious life; both suffered much physical and emotional turmoil; and both were relatively unknown until after their deaths.

The Christians of Kerala are fond of emphasising these cross-cultural similarities between the two saints, but St Alphonsa had her own nuanced ideas of sanctity and therefore scripted her own path.