12 OCTOBER : Pope Benedict XVI on Sunday gave the Roman Catholic Church four new saints; including Sister Alphonsa, the first Indian woman became a saint.
Pope said "May their examples give us encouragement, their teachings give us direction and comfort". She had lived in "extreme physical and spiritual suffering," the pope said.
"May we imitate her in shouldering our own crosses so as to join her one day in paradise".
We can read the following in the biography of Sister Alphonsa prepared by the Vatican :
With an attitude of a victim for the love of the Lord, happy until the final moment and with a smile of innocence always on her lips, Sister Alphonsa quietly and joyfully brought her earthly journey to a close in the convent of the Franciscan Clarists at Bharananganam at 12.30 on July 28, 1946, leaving behind the memory of a Sister full of love and a saint.
