Indian Church gets a new saint of Kerala origin

Mangalore Today News Network

New Delhi, March 3, 2019: Pope Francis announced the canonization of Blessed Maria Thresia Chiramel Mankidiyan of India. Blessed Thresia, (also known as Mariam Thresia) was the founder of the Congregation of the Holy Family under the Syro-Malabar Church. She was born on April 26, 1876, and died on June 8, 1926. 

Mariam Thresia became known for receiving frequent visions and ecstasies as well as even receiving the stigmata which she kept well-guarded. She had been involved in apostolic work her entire life and pushed for strict adherence to the rule of her order among her fellow religious.

Pope John Paul II beatified her on April 9, 2000. Pope Francis approved a second miracle attributed to her at the beginning of 2019.

Blessed Mariam Thresia will be the fourth saint of the church from Kerala to be elevated to the status of sainthood after Alphonsa, Euphrasia and Kuriakose Elias Chavara.

She was known for her extraordinary charity, especially a preferential love for the poorest of the poor.

The Pope Francis also cleared the way for the sainthood of renowned English Cardinal John Henry Newman and brought 6 others a step closer to canonization.

“It is huge global recognition for the Indian Church and its spirituality,” said Bishop Theodore Mascarenhas, secretary-general of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India.  He said that “it was also huge consolation at a difficult time of hostility and bad press” for the Indian Church in recent months.

As Blessed Mariam Thresia is also known “as the other Mother Teresa because of her love for the poor, we see her as a great gift” to the Indian Church and “an inspiration to hundreds of people, Catholic nuns and priests working in the villages of India,” Bishop Mascarenhas said.

He said the saintly nun “is truly the compassionate face of the Indian Church” and honoring her helps people see the merits of the Catholic mission amid an anti-Christian atmosphere prevailing in India since the pro-Hindu Bharatiya Janata Party came to power in 2014.

The date of her canonization and its details are still to be decided but the congregation’s nuns hope it will be held in the second half of this year.