Just after this Easter, I visited my family for a couple of days. There were few reasons behind that. It was the school vacation time, a time of electing political leaders and our religious superiors, a good time for variety of fruits, the weather was fine and above all my parents wished to see me. While spending the days with my family, we planned to visit the tomb of St. Alphonsa which is only seven miles away from my home. St. Alphonsa is the first native woman saint of India in the state of Kerala. She is now known all over the world. Thousands of people from all walks of life irrespective of caste, creed, religion or country flow to the tomb of the saint to pray for their various needs and to pay homage and gratitude for the innumerable favours they received.

As all spiritual roads are heading towards Bharananganam where St. Alphonsa’s tomb is today, it is worth recalling the words of St. Alphonsa’s spiritual father Romulus of happy memory at her funeral ceremony, “With the most profound conviction in my heart and as one who has known this Religious person very intimately, I affirm that we are now participating in the last rites of a saintly person. If the world had realized her intrinsic worth, unprecedented crowds including hundreds of priests and bishops from all over India would have assembled here…”. I assure you that as far as human judgment can be relied upon, this young nun was not much less saintly than the Little Flower of Lisieux……

Bharananganam where her mortal remains will be interred is hallowed. If it is God’s Holy Will, this place will become the Lisieux of India. “Yes, the words of that great visionary were true.

St. Alphonsa died at the age of 36, after a prolonged illness on July 28, 1946. Pope Benedict XVI declared her saint on 12 October 2008. In the homily, he recalled Saint Alphonsa’s life as one of “extreme physical and spiritual suffering.”

Let us invoke the blessing and intersession of the saint of this century, St. Alphonsa, to be faithful to the values of Christ as St. Alphonsa lived.

Fr Tomy