Indian priest and nun from Kerala are declared Saints by the Vatican

A Catholic priest and a nun from the state - Father Kuriakose Chavara and Sister Euphrasia - were conferred sainthood by Pope Francis at Vatican on Sunday Nov 23,2014

Reformist Catholic priest Chavara and reclusive nun Euphrasia were declared saints during the mass in St Peter’s Square in the Vatican, along with four other beatified Italians.

The mass was attended by a large number of devotees, two Cardinals, bishops, clergy, and nuns from Kerala.

The Kerala government also deputed two ministers for the occasion. Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman P.J. Kurien led the Indian delegation. 

The four other saints from Italy are -

• Giovanni Antonio Farina
• Ludovico da Casoria
• Nicola da Longobardi, and
• Amato Ronconi. 

With Father Kuriakose Chavara and Sister Euphrasia's canonisation, as the finale of the long process is known in Catholic parlance, the centuries-old Syro Malabar Catholic Church in Kerala now has three saints. The first, Sister Alphonsa, was raised to the revered rank in 2008. 

Kuriakose Chavara, the founder of the congregation Carmalites of Mary Immaculate (CMI), was born in a family of modest means in Kuttanad in Alappuzha district in 1805, and died in 1871. But he was more than a spiritual leader of the Syro Malabar Catholic community.

Chavara entered the seminary for training as a priest at a young age. After his ordination in 1829, he formed the CMI in 1831, the first congregation for men in the Syro Malabar Church. 

The Canonisation procedures in his case began long back, and he was declared a Venerable in 1984 and beatified by Pope John Paul II, during his visit to Kerala in 1986. 

The CMI has - over the decades - set up a large number of educational and charity organisations within and outside Kerala, drawing inspiration from the work and vision of its founder Chavara

Historians and church chroniclers consider him a social reformer who gave thrust to the secular education of not only Catholics but also children of other communities, especially the depressed classes. 

Incidentally, one of the first institutions he founded was a Sanskrit school. As the Prior General of the congregation, Chavara also took the initiative to set up a printing press, and encouraged the community leaders to launch their own publications. 

Sister Euphrasia, who was born in 1877 in Arnattukara Thrissur and died in 1952, on the other hand, was more meditatively inclined. She chose to live in the confines of a convent in Thrissur helping people through prayers and wise counsel. 

Evuprasiamma, as she is known to the members of the local community around her convent in Ollur, brought spiritual solace to the people who approached her through prayers and wise counsel

Sister Euphrasia was significantly a member of the Congregation of Mother of Carmel (CMC), founded by Chavara for women. She was declared a Servant of God in 1987 and beatified in 2006 after the approval of a miracle attributed through her intercession by the Vatican panel set up to consider her case for sainthood.