Catholic churches across Kerala reverberated with prayers on Sunday afternoon when two Indians, Father Kuriakose Elias Chavara and Sister Euphrasia, were conferred Sainthood by Pope Francis at a special canonization mass held at St Peter’s Square in Vatican.
The moment of canonization of Fr Chavara and Sr Euphrasia, both Keralites, was one of indescribable bliss for the entire Catholics of India but how special the occasion was for the members of the Church in Kerala was evident from the fervor seen at the prayers and Mass held at the various churches in the State.
Prayers rising from the throats of the faithful began to reverberate in the interiors and courtyards of Kerala churches as the icons of the beatified priest and nun were kept in the St Peter’s Basilica along with those of the four others who were canonized on Sunday.
With the canonization of Fr Chavara, or Chavara Achan as Kerala’s faithful referred to him with reverence, and Sr Euphrasia, fondly known locally as Evuprasiamma, the centuries old Syro-Malabar Catholic Church has three saints, the first being Sr Alphonsa of Bharananganam who was elevated to the rank of the revered in 2008.
Thousands of faithful thronged the seminary at Mannanam in Kottayam district and the St Mary’s Convent at Ollur in Thrissur district, the two places closely associated with the lives of Fr Chavara and Sr Euphrasia respectively. The two places were in a jubilant mood for the past several days with the expectation of Sunday’s declaration.
Syro-Malabar Church’s Major Archbishop Mar George Cardinal Alanchery, Cardinal Cleemis Catholicos, president of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India, several bishops and nuns from various congregations, an official delegation from the State, and thousands of faithful from Kerala attended the canonization mass at St Peter’s Square.
Among those who attended the ceremony were Maria Rose, the ten-year-old girl from Pala, Kottayam, and Jewel Jenson, a youth from Thrissur, who, according to the Church, were cured by the intercession of Fr Chavara and Sr Euphrasia respectively. This intercession is one of the most essential aspects behind the decision for canonization.
Founder of the congregation of the Carmalites of the Mary Immaculate (CMI), the first congregation for men in the Syro-Malabar Church, and the Congregation of Mother of Carmel (CMC) for women, Fr Chavara, who was born in Kuttanad, Alappuzha in 1805 and died in 1871, was more than a Syro-Malabar Church priest in the social history of Kerala.
Historians tend to consider him as a social reformer who gave a thrust to secular education of not just Christians but also children of other communities. One of the first institutions he founded was a Sanskrit school. He gave special emphasis for education in spiritual life and was known for his principle that schools should be built along with churches.
If Fr Chavara was an active social reformer-priest, Evuprasiamma was more meditatively inclined. Born in 1877 at Aranattukara near Thrissur, she chose to spend most of her life in the confines of the St Mary’s convent at Ollur trying to help people through her prayers and wise counsel. She died in 1952.
The canonization procedures for Chavara Achan had started long back. He was declared a Venerable in 1984 and was beatified in 1986 by then Pope John Paul II during his Kerala visit. Evuprasiamma was declared a servant of God in 1987 and was beatified in 2006 after the approval by a Vatican panel of a miracle through her intercession.