Who is Saint Alphonsa?

Alphonsa of the Immaculate Conception FCC, also known as Saint Alphonsa, was an Indian Catholic nun and educator. She was the first woman of Indian origin to be canonised as a saint by the Catholic Church, and the first canonised saint of the Syro-Malabar Church, an Eastern Catholic Church based in Kerala.

Father Benny is from Kerala, India!

Saint Alphonsa of India Also known as • Alphonsa Muttathupadathu • Alphonsa of Bharananganam • Anna Muttathupadathu • Annakutty Profile Born in a rural area to Joseph and Mary Muttathupadathu. Baptized on 27 August 1910. Her mother died when Anna was very young, and she was raised by her maternal aunt, and educated by her great-uncle Father Joseph Muttathupadathu. At age 3 she contracted an infected eczema from which she suffered for over a year. Made her first Communion on 27 November 1917. Badly burned on her feet when she accidentally fell into a pit of burning chaff, leaving her permanently partially disabled. Joined the Poor Clare convent at Bharananganam on 2 August 1928, taking the name Alphonsa, and making her vows on 12 August 1936. She lost her aunt/foster-mother in 1930. Worked as a primary school taught, and the children loved her for her gentleness and cheery way, but health problems often kept her from the classroom. In December 1936 she was miraculously cured from her ailments through the intervention of Saint Therese of Lisieux and Blessed Kuriakose Elias Chavara. However, in June 1939 she was struck by a severe attack of pneumonia, weakening her overall. On 18 October 1940 a thief stumbled into her room in the middle of the night; the shock of the event caused Alphonsa to suffer a loss of memory, and further weakened her. Her condition continued deteriorated for months, and she was given last rites on 29 September 1941; the next day, she regained her memory, though not complete health. She enjoyed some improvement over the next few years, but in July 1945 she developed a stomach problem that eventually led to her death. Her feast day is July 28.

She was noted for her suffering, and suffering in silence. Incidents of her intervention began almost immediately upon her death, and often involved the children in the convent school. Hundreds of miraculous cures are claimed for her intervention, many of involving straightening of clubbed-feet, possibly because of her having lived with deformed feet herself; two of these were submitted to the Congregation for the Causes of Saints as proof of her miraculous intervention. The continuing cures are chronicled in the magazine PassionFlower. Thousands converge on the small town of Bharananganam when they celebrate the feast of Saint Alphonsa from 19 to 28 July each year. Born 19 August 1910 at Kudamalloor, Kerala, India Died • 28 July 1946 at Bharananganam, India, of natural causes • buried in the chapel connected with the cemetery of Saint Mary's church, Bharananganam, India, which has become an important place of pilgrimage Canonized Sunday 12 October 2008 by Pope Benedict XVI Name Meaning noble ready; battle ready Patronage • against bodily ills • against illness • against sickness • against the death of parents • sick people

Grains of wheat, when ground in the mill, turn in to flour. With this flour we make the wafer of the holy Eucharist. Grapes, when crushed in the wine press, yield their juice. This juice turns into wine. Similarly, suffering so crushes us that we turn into better human beings. - Saint Alphonsa to novices She did not want her sufferings to be reduced in the least by human attention and sympathy, nor did she want others of know of her suffering. This is a strange expression of humility, which seeks that others should never think of you. - Cardinal Gracias https://catholicsaints.info/saint-alphonsa-of-india/