Martyr Devasahayam Pillai to be Beatified on Sunday

December 01, 2012: An 18^th century Indian lay martyr, Devasahayam Pillai, will be beatified on Sunday in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu.

Cardinal Angelo Amato, prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, will preside over the ceremony. Four Indian cardinals, 40 bishops and 100,000 faithful are expected to attend.

Bishop Peter Remigius of Kottar in his ‘Message to all the peoples in the World’ said that
“Martyr Devasahayam Pillai, born in the 18th century in South India, a man of nobility, is shining out now in the 21st century as a great convert, married person and first heroic Lay Martyr of our Indian soil in the Latin Catholic Church - a great model of Christian Faith and of social equality!”

“It’s a great moment not only for Kottar diocese but also for the devotees, cutting across caste and religion,” said Fr Antony Gabriel, who has been heading the local committee working for the canonization of Pillai for the last 19 years.

Bishop Peter Remigius said that Pillai’s life teaches “how to witness our faith, "While undergoing severe persecution, he never complained or was deterred. The spirit of evangelism was strong in him.”

The king ordered Pillai’s arrest in 1749, charging him with treason and espionage. Pillai was imprisoned, tortured and finally banished to the Aralvaimozhy forest, a remote border area of Travancore. Pillai was a Catholic for only seven years.

“In that short period, he was in prison for three years under severe persecution for witnessing his faith. Finally, he was shot dead in the Aralvaimozhy forest on January 14, 1752,” Fr Gabriel said.