Profile
Anna was born in a rural area to Joseph and Mary Muttathupadathu. She was baptized on 27 August 1910. Anna’s mother died when she was very young, and she was raised by her maternal aunt, and educated by her great-uncle Father Joseph Muttathupadathu. At age 3, she contracted an infected eczema from which she suffered for over a year. She made her first communion on 27 November 1917. She was badly burned on her feet when she accidentally fell into a pit of burning chaff, leaving her permanently partially disabled. She joined the Poor Clare convent at Bharananganam on 2 August 1928, taking the name Alphonsa, and making her vows on 12 August 1936.
Anna lost her aunt/foster-mother in 1930. She worked as a primary school teacher, and the children loved her for her gentleness and cheery way, but health problems often kept her from the classroom. In December 1936, she was miraculously cured from her ailments through the intervention of Saint Therese of Lisieux and Blessed Kuriakose Elias Chavara. However, in June 1939, she was struck by a severe attack of pneumonia, weakening her overall. On 18 October 1940, a thief stumbled into her room in the middle of the night; the shock of the event caused Alphonsa to suffer a loss of memory, and further weakened her. Her condition continued deteriorating for months, and she was given last rites on 29 September 1941; the next day, she regained her memory, but not her complete health. She enjoyed some improvement over the next few years, but in July 1945, she developed a stomach problem that eventually led to her death.
She was noted for her suffering, and suffering in silence. Incidents of her intervention began almost immediately upon her death, and often involved the children in the convent school. Hundreds of miraculous cures are claimed for her intervention, many of which involved straightening of clubbed-feet, possibly because of her having lived with deformed feet herself; two of these were submitted to the Congregation for the Causes of Saints as proof of her miraculous intervention. The continuing cures are chronicled in the magazine Passion Flower. Thousands converge on the small town of Bharananganam when they celebrate the feast of Saint Alphonsa from 19 to 28 July each year.
Born
- 19 August 1910 at Kudamalloor, Kerala, India
Died
- 28 July 1946 at Bharananganam, India, of natural causes
- buried in the chapel connected with the cemetery of Saint Mary’s church, Bharananganam, India, which has become an important place of pilgrimage
Venerated
- declared Servant of God, and her Cause began on 2 December 1953
- declared Venerable on 9 July 1985 by Pope John Paul II
Beatified
- 8 February 1986 by Pope John Paul II
Canonized
- Sunday 12 October 2008 by Pope Benedict XVI
Name Meaning
- noble ready; battle ready
Patronage
- against bodily ills
- against illness
- against sickness
- against the death of parents
- sick people
– - Bhadravathi, India, diocese of
Source: https://catholicsaints.info/saint-alphonsa-of-india/
