Prayers and thanksgiving masses were across Kerala on Sunday as the state's large Catholic population celebrated the canonisation in the Vatican of priest and a nun from their state. Father Kuriakose Elias Chavara, popularly known as Chavara Achen, and Sister Euphrasia, popularly known as Evuprasiamma, were declared saints by Pope Francis at a special mass at St Peter's Square.
"Fr. Chavara was instrumental in establishing modern secular education along with parish churches to provide education to all people irrespective of caste and religion," reported the Union of Catholic Asian News website. He established a Sanskrit school in 1846, "when Sanskrit was considered the language of affluent classes and learning it was reserved only for upper-caste people".
The website added that Sister Euphrasia, who was born in 1877, was a mystic, known for her intense prayer life. "People flocked to her for counsel and her inspiration..." it said.
However, Fr. Chavara and Sister Euphrasia are not the first Indians to attain sainthood. That honour went to Gonsalo Garcia, a man from the Mumbai suburb on Vasai 162 years ago. A Catholic priest who was crucified along with 25 companions in the Japanese town of Nagasaki in 1597, Garcia was born to a mother from Vasai and a Portuguese father in 1557.
The town, famed for its boat builders and lush agricultural fields, was a Portuguese possession at the time.
At the age of 15, he set out for Japan to work as a missionary. "He quickly acquired a knowledge of the language, and as he was of an amiable disposition he won the hearts of the people and did great service as a catechist," according to the Catholic Encyclopedia.
After a stint as a merchant, he joined the Franciscan order in 1592. Four years later, in Emperor Taiko-Sama ordered Garcia and his companions to be arrested, accusing them of plotting to overthrow him. They were tortured and eventually crucified.
Garcia is revered as the patron saint of Mumbai's Catholic community and there is a church dedicated to him in the five-century-old Vasai fort in which he grew up. Every year, the festival of St. Gonsalo is held there on the first Sunday nearest to the neap tide following Christmas.
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"Fr. Chavara was instrumental in establishing modern secular education along with parish churches to provide education to all people irrespective of caste and religion," reported the Union of Catholic Asian News website. He established a Sanskrit school in 1846, "when Sanskrit was considered the language of affluent classes and learning it was reserved only for upper-caste people".
The website added that Sister Euphrasia, who was born in 1877, was a mystic, known for her intense prayer life. "People flocked to her for counsel and her inspiration..." it said.
However, Fr. Chavara and Sister Euphrasia are not the first Indians to attain sainthood. That honour went to Gonsalo Garcia, a man from the Mumbai suburb on Vasai 162 years ago. A Catholic priest who was crucified along with 25 companions in the Japanese town of Nagasaki in 1597, Garcia was born to a mother from Vasai and a Portuguese father in 1557.
The town, famed for its boat builders and lush agricultural fields, was a Portuguese possession at the time.
At the age of 15, he set out for Japan to work as a missionary. "He quickly acquired a knowledge of the language, and as he was of an amiable disposition he won the hearts of the people and did great service as a catechist," according to the Catholic Encyclopedia.
After a stint as a merchant, he joined the Franciscan order in 1592. Four years later, in Emperor Taiko-Sama ordered Garcia and his companions to be arrested, accusing them of plotting to overthrow him. They were tortured and eventually crucified.
Garcia is revered as the patron saint of Mumbai's Catholic community and there is a church dedicated to him in the five-century-old Vasai fort in which he grew up. Every year, the festival of St. Gonsalo is held there on the first Sunday nearest to the neap tide following Christmas.
Courtesy: Wikimedia Commons.
