First female saint for India
<http://www.cathnews.com/article.aspx?aeid=9391>http://www.cathnews.com/article.aspx?aeid=9391 Published: October 10, 2008 Emacs! [] Pope Benedict yesterday canonised India's first woman saint, Sr Alphonsa of the Immaculate Conception, who died aged 35 in 1946. The Pope also denounced anti-Christian violence in India and in Iraq, The Hindu reports. The paper says the canonisation of Sr Alphonsa is seen as a morale boost to minority Christians who have been attacked by Hindu mobs in eastern and southern India. Catholic bishops in India have said at least 40 Christians have been killed. Recalling in his homily the life of the new saint, who threw herself on a bonfire to escape a forced marriage so she could enter a convent, the pope said she had been "an exceptional woman, who is offered to the people of India as their first canonised saint," news.com.au says. Her feet were badly burned and she was ill for the rest of her life but praised for her compassion and stoicism. She had lived in "extreme physical and spiritual suffering," the Pope said. She "was convinced that her cross was the very means of reaching the heavenly banquet prepared for her by the Father. "May we imitate her in shouldering our own crosses so as to join her one day in paradise," the Pope said. After the ceremony in St Peter's Square, Pope Benedict told Indian pilgrims among the crowd of tens of thousands that Alphonsa's "heroic virtues of patience, fortitude and perserverance in the midst of deep suffering remind us that God always provides the strength we need to overcome every trial." "As the Christian faithful of India give thanks to God for their first native daughter to be presented for public veneration, I wish to assure them of my prayers during this difficult time," he said in English. "I urge the perpetrators of violence to renounce these acts and join with their brothers and sisters to work together in building a civilisation of love," Benedict said. Christians have also been suffering violence in Iraq, with many fleeing the country in the past few years after attacks on priests, congregations and churches. "I invite prayers for reconciliation and peace in situations which provoke alarm and great suffering," Benedict said. Pope John Paul II, had beatified Alphonsa during a pilgrimage to India in 1986. Beatification is the last formal step before sainthood, the Church's highest honour for its faithful. Alphonsa, a nun from southern India, was 35 when she died in 1946. An Indian man, Gonsalo Garcia, became a saint in 1862. The others canonized Sunday by Benedict were Gaetano Errico, a Neapolitan priest who founded a missionary order in the 19th century; Sister Maria Bernarda, born Verena Buetler in Switzerland in 1848, who worked as a nun in Ecuador and Colombia; and Narcisa de Jesus Martillo Moran, a 19th century laywoman from Ecuador who helped the sick and the poor. SOURCE <http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/holnus/000200810121613.htm>Pope denounces anti-Christian violence (The Hindu, 12/10/08) <http://news.theage.com.au/world/pope-canonises-first-indian-saint-20081012-4z6l.html>Pope canonises first Indian saint (News.com.au, 12/10/08) <http://www.theage.com.au/world/india-to-get-first-female-saint-20081009-4xke.html>India to get first female saint (The Age, 11/10/08) LINKS <http://www.vatican.va/news_services/liturgy/saints/2008/ns_lit_doc_20081012_alfonsa_en.html>Sr Alphonsa of the Immaculate Conception (Vatican) <*}}}>< <http://halfthekingdom.mofuse.mobi/>Half the Kingdom! on your Mobile <*}}}>< <*}}}>< <http://www.halfthekingdom.org/wordpress/>Half the Kingdom! Blog <*}}}>< <*}}}>< <http://www.halfthekingdom.org/>Half the Kingdom! Main Site <*}}}>< <*}}}>< <http://www.halfthekingdom.org/by-the-by/>Half the Kingdom! By the by <*}}}>< Lord, may everything we do begin with Your inspiration and continue with Your help, so that all our prayers and works may begin in You and by You be happily ended. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen. --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ Please note that I do not send or open attachments sent to this list. You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Catholics on Fire" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/Catholics-on-Fire May the blessing of Jesus and our Blessed Mother be with you -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
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<*}}}>< <http://halfthekingdom.mofuse.mobi/>Half the Kingdom!
on your Mobile <*}}}><
<*}}}>< <http://www.halfthekingdom.org/wordpress/>Half the Kingdom!
Blog <*}}}><
<*}}}>< <http://www.halfthekingdom.org/>Half the Kingdom! Main Site
<*}}}>< <*}}}>< <http://www.halfthekingdom.org/by-the-by/>Half the
Kingdom! By the by <*}}}><
Lord, may everything we do begin with Your inspiration and continue
with Your help,
so that all our prayers and works may begin in You and by You be happily ended.
We ask this through Christ our Lord.
Amen.
