Saint Alphonsa
| Saint Alphonsa | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Born | 19 September 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 (Syro-Malabar) |
| Attributes | Catholic saint |
| Patronage | Against illness, diseases related to feet, Cherupusha Mission League, India |
Saint Alphonsa (19 August 1910 – 28 July 1946) was a Syro-Malabar Catholic Franciscan nun who is now honoured as a saint. Sister Alphonsa became the first native Indian saint, canonised in 2008. She was the first woman of Indian origin to be canonised as a saint by the Catholic Church, and the first canonised saint of the Syro-Malabar Catholic Church, an Eastern Catholic Church of the Saint Thomas Christian community.
St Alphonsa was born as Anna Muttathupadathu in a Syro-Malabar Nasrani family to Cherian Ousep and Mary Muttathupadathu in Kudamalloor, near Kottayam, on 19 August 1910. She was baptised on 26 August. Alphonsamma, as she was locally known, was born in Arpookara, a village in the princely state of Travancore within Kerala, India. This lies within the Archdiocese of Changanassery.
Her parents nicknamed her Annakkutty (little Anna). She had a difficult childhood and experienced loss and suffering early on in life. Anna's mother died when she was young, so her maternal aunt raised her. Hagiographies describe her early life as one of suffering at the hands of her stern foster mother and the teasing of schoolchildren. Anna was educated by her great-uncle, Father Joseph Muttathupadathu. When Anna was three-years-old, she contracted eczema and suffered for over a year.
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