Alphonsa of the Immaculate Conception
Alphonsa of the Immaculate Conception, FCC (christened Anna Muttathupadathu); 19 August 1910 – 28 July 1946), was a nun in the Franciscan Clarist Congregation and an educator by profession. She was also known for being a victim soul, visionary and prophetess in the Kottayam pergunna of the erstwhile Travancore province of British India, in the present-day Kerala, India.
Saint Alphonsa Muttathupadathu F.C.C | |
|---|---|
Saint Alphonsa Art Painting | |
| Born | 19 August 1910 |
| Died | 28 July 1946 (aged 35) |
| Venerated in | Catholic Church |
| Beatified | 8 February 1986 |
| Canonized | 12 October 2008, Vatican City by Pope Benedict XVI |
| Major shrine | St. Mary's Syro-Malabar Church, Bharananganam, Kerala, India |
| Feast | 28 July |
| Attributes | A Rosary and Bible in hands. |
| Patronage | Against illness, diseases related to feet, Cherupusha Mission League, India |
She is the first woman of Indian origin to be canonised as a saint after decades of enquiry by the Sacred Congregation for the Causes of Saints, she is also the first saint of the Syro-Malabar Church, an Eastern Catholic community of Eastern Christianity.
In the 1990s, a postal stamp commemorating Alphonsa was published by Kerala state's former minister, K Karunakaran. She is the first woman keralite to appear in the Indian Stamp.