With the Vatican deciding to announce full sainthood to Sister Alphonsa of Bharananganam, Kerala, on October 12 this year, the cradle of Christianity in the country has earned the distinction of producing the first completely "Indian" saint who also happens to be a woman.The date of Sister's canonization was announced after a "consistory" or a formal meeting of Pope Benedict XVI and other cardinals at St Peter's Basilica on Saturday.
Sister Alphonsa's beatification — recognition by Church of a dead person's accession to heaven — was ordained by Pope John Paul II during his visit to Kerala in February 1986.
Her journey to sainthood reached its final stages more than two decades later when, in June 2007, Pope Benedict XVI authorized her canonization after he approved a miracle attributed to her on May 11, 1999.
The miracle was the healing of a one-year-old boy, Jinil, who could not walk because of a disability. Jinil began walking the very day his parents took him to the Sister's tomb for prayers.
Sister Alphonsa will be the second Christian saint from India after Gonsalo Garcia and the first woman. Garcia, who was canonized in 1862, was partly Indian. He was from Vasai, near Mumbai, and is believed to have been crucified in Nagasaki in 1597.
In joining the ranks of other Catholic saints, Sister Alphonsa's canonization comes ahead of Mother Teresa's, who too has been beatified and declared "blessed" by the Vatican.
Sister Alphonsa's tomb at Palai in Kottayam is a famous Christian pilgrimage and draws thousands of faithful.
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