Nun Anna to be first female saint from India

Sister Alphonsa, a saintly nun who lived in Kottayam five decades ago, is all set to become the first Indian saint of the Roman Catholic Church.

The Consistory of Cardinals will meet at the Vatican on March 1 to decide on the date of her canonisation.

Though Sister Alphonsa is the first Indian saint, Gonsalo Garcia, who was born in Vasai near Mumbai to an Indian mother and Portuguese father in 1556, was declared a saint by the church in the 17th century.

Sister Alphonsa was born in Kudamalloor of Kottayam in 1910 and was a devout child.

She was named Annakutty by her parents. She once fell into a pit of burning chaff and the resultant injuries disabled her for life. In fact, she was plagued by ill health throughout her short life.

She became a nun at the Poor Clares Convent at Bharananganam in 1927 and took the name Alphonsa when she got her veil a year later.

In June 2007, Pope Benedict VI had signed a decree approving a miracle in which a handicapped boy of Kottayam had been cured of his deformity after praying at Sister Alphonsa's tomb. This was a prelude to elevating her to sainthood. Her kindness to all people and love for the poor gained her renown in the area. She was not healthy and a severe attack of


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