Pope raises to the honours of the altar India's first woman saint - Sr. Alphonsa
(October 12, 2008) Pope Benedict XVI on Sunday raised to the honours of the altar
India's first woman saint, Sr. Alphonsa, and appealed for an end to anti-Christian
violence there that has claimed dozens of lives since August. At a solemn Mass in
St. Peter’s Square in Rome he created four new saints for the Catholic Church, including
St. Alphonsa of the Immaculate Conception, a Franciscan Clarist nun. Church bells
rang and firecrackers went off as India's faithful followed the Vatican ceremony on
television from southern Kerala state, where Sister Alphonsa had lived as a nun until
her death more than six decades ago. St. Alphonsa, whose maiden name was Anna
Muttathupadathu, was born on August 19, 1910 at Kudamaloor, in southern India's Kerala
state. Born premature she lost her mother when she was only three months old. Her
life was anything but extraordinary or remarkable. She was stricken with suffering
and sickness falling ill with double pneumonia in June 1939 and was again seriously
ill in 1940. She died on July 28, 1946, just before her 36th birthday. She was declared
Blessed by Pope John Paul II on February 8, 1986 at Kottayam, Kerala, during his first
visit to India. According to the Vatican some 40,000 faithful, including some
10,000 from India and around the world were there in St. Peter’s square on Oct. 12
to attend the canonization Mass, many of them waving Indian flags. Among the numerous
concelebrants with the Pope were bishops from the Syro-Malabar rite Catholic Church
to which Sr. Alphonsa belonged. Prior to the start of the Mass of Canonization a
45-minute spiritual preparation was held in the square during which spiritual thoughts
and prayers of the new saints were read and reflected upon. Four tapestries bearing
huge images of the new saints hung from four balconies of the facade of St. Peter’s
Basilica above the papal altar. At the start of the Mass, Archbishop Amato requested
the Pope to canonize the new saints. He then read brief biographies of the four candidates.
Following the solemn singing of the Litany of Saints Pope Benedict pronounced
the solemn canonization formula in Latin conferring sainthood on the four new saints.
Listen: (Translation
of canonization formula) "For the honour of the Blessed Trinity, the exaltation
of the Catholic faith and the fostering of the Christian life, by the authority of
our Lord Jesus Christ, of the holy Apostles Peter and Paul, and our own, after due
deliberation and frequent prayers for divine assistance, and having sought the counsel
of our Brother Bishops, we declare and define as saints Bl. Gaetano Errico, Maria
Bernardo Butler, Alfonsa of the Immaculate Conception and Narcissa de Jesus Martillo
Moran, and enrol them among the saints, decreeing that they be venerated in the whole
Church as saints. In the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit". Soon
the relics of the new saints were brought in procession and placed next to the Pope’s
altar for public viewing. The relics of St. Alphonsa were carried by Sr. Ceelia,
the superior general of the Franciscan Clarist congregation. Sr. Alphonsa’s vice-postulator,
Fr. Francis Vadakkel and layman and MLA from India’s Kerala state, Mr. KM Mani, held
candles and accompanied Sr. Ceelia. In his homily at Mass, Pope Benedict used
the imagery of the wedding banquet as narrated in Matthew’s Gospel and applied it
to the 4 new saints just raised to the honours of the altar. Speaking in Italian,
German, English, and Spanish, the Pope said the banquet imagery with guests in their
wedding gown is one of joy because it accompanies the wedding feast – which is God’s
alliance of love with his people. In an age marked by trials when difficulties of
every kind tended to discourage the chosen people, prophet Isaiah assured the people
saying the Lord was preparing a grand feast for them. God will put an end to the
sadness and shame of his people, who can finally live in happy communion with him.
God never abandons his people, the Pope said. Pope Benedict said that while in
the first reading Prophet Isaiah exalts God's faithfulness to his promise, Mathew’s
Gospel parable of the wedding banquet, on the other hand, makes us reflect on man’s
response. Thus, the refusal of the invited first, became an invitation to all, with
a special predilection for the poor and dispossessed. And that’s what happened in
the Paschal Mystery: the extraordinary of power of evil is defeated by the God’s almighty
love. The Risen Lord can now invite all to the feast of Easter joy, himself providing
to guests wedding garment, the symbol of the free gift of sanctifying grace. However,
the Pope pointed out that to this generosity of God man must freely adhere. In baptism,
the four new saints receive the wedding garment of divine grace, they held it pure
and purified it and rendered it splendid in the course of the life through the sacraments.
Now they are partaking in the wedding banquet of heaven. It is to this Eucharistic
banquet, which is the anticipation of the final fest of heaven, that the Lord invites
us every day and in which we must participate with the wedding gown of grace. Should
this dress be soiled or even torn by sin, God offers us the possibility to re-establish
the integrity of the wedding dress through the sacrament of reconciliation. The
Pope then dwelt briefly upon the lives of the four new saints explaining how in their
holiness and pastoral commitments they adhered to the invitation of the Lord to his
banquet. Pope Benedict spoke in English about India’s first woman Saint, Sr.
Alphonsa of the Immaculate Conception. Listen! “He will swallow
up death for ever, and the Lord God will wipe away tears from all faces” (Is 25:8).
These words of the prophet Isaiah contain the promise which sustained Alphonsa of
the Immaculate Conception through a life of extreme physical and spiritual suffering.
This exceptional woman, who today is offered to the people of India as their first
canonized saint, was convinced that her cross was the very means of reaching the heavenly
banquet prepared for her by the Father. 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 (cf. Is 25:6). She wrote, “I consider a day
without suffering as a day lost”. May we imitate her in shouldering our own crosses
so as to join her one day in paradise.
At the end of the Mass, before reciting
the midday ‘angelus’ prayer, Pope Benedict greeted the pilgrims present there in various
languages. He began by greeting those who came on behalf of St. Alphonsa of India.
Listen: I cordially
greet the English-speaking pilgrims, in particular the Official Delegation from India
and all those who have come to celebrate the canonization of Saint Alphonsa of the
Immaculate Conception. 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. 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. Commending to the providential care
of Almighty God those who strive for peace and reconciliation, I urge the perpetrators
of violence to renounce these acts and join with their brothers and sisters to work
together in building a civilization of love. God bless you all!
Pope Benedict
also addressed Italian-speaking pilgrims who came for the canonization of St. Gaetano
Errico. He urged for prayers during this month of the Holy Rosary, particularly for
peace and reconciliation in situations danger and great suffering around the world.
He said he was specially thinking of people in North Kivu, in the Democratic Republic
of Congo and the violence against Christians in Iraq and India, whom, he said, he
remembered daily in his prayers.