Indian Catholic nun to be declared 'Blessed'

(Dec. 2, 2006) An Indian Catholic nun will be declared 'Blessed' by the Catholic Church on December 3 in the southern Indian state of Kerala at a solemn Mass expected to be attended by some 25,000 faithful. Indian Cardinal Varkey Vithayathil, the Major Archbishop of the Syro-Malabar Church, will beatify Sister Euphrasia Eluvathingal of the Congregation of Mother of Carmel 'Blessed' at a solemn high mass at Ollur in the archdiocese of Trissur, where the saintly nun lived, died and was buried. Holy See’s Apostolic Nuncio, or ambassador, Archbishop Pedro Lopez Quintana will deliver the homily. India’s Union Minister of State for Labour, Oscar Fernandes is expected to be present at the Mass.
Before Sr. Euphrasia, four other Indians from Kerala state have been declared 'Blessed' by the Catholic Church. They include Fr. Kuriakose Elias Chavara, Sister Alphonsa, Sr. Mariam Thresia Chiramel Mankidyan and Father Augustine Thevarparambil.
Sr. Euphrasia, popularly known a 'praying mother' was born in 1877 at Edathuruthy in Thrissur district. She received her veil as nun in 1900 at the age of 23 at the St Mary's convent at Ollur and died in 1952. Beatification is the penultimate step before being declared a saint. A miracle is required before a person can be qualified for beatification, and in the case of Sr. Euphrasia, a 55-year-old man, Tharakan Thomas, was said to have been miraculously cured of a cancerous tumour on the pelvic bone. A medical check-up prior to the date of his surgery for the removal of the tumour, surprisingly revealed no trace of the tumour whatsoever. Jesuit priest, Fr. George Nedungatt, the postulator or promoter of the cause of Sr. Euphrasia in the Vatican, had this to say about the nun’s holiness: