Alphonsa was a Franciscan Clarist sister from Kerala, India, who endured many illnesses throughout her life. Offering her suffering with Christ and living with joy, she became the first woman from India to be canonized.
Life
Saint Alphonsa was born in 1910 into a Syro-Malabar Catholic family in Kerala, in southern India; her given name was Anna Muttathupadathu. She lost her mother as a baby and was raised by relatives, and though pressed to marry, she wished to give herself to God.
She entered the Franciscan Clarist Congregation at Bharananganam and took the name Alphonsa of the Immaculate Conception. Most of her religious life was spent in frequent illness, and she offered that suffering joyfully with Christ. She died on July 28, 1946, and in 2008 Pope Benedict XVI canonized her, the first woman of India to be declared a saint.
Spirituality
Saint Alphonsa's spirituality is an offering that turns suffering into love. Too frail to do great works, she did not resent her pain but united it to Christ's cross and offered it for others. Her tomb remains a place of pilgrimage where many find comfort.
Reflection
Saint Alphonsa gave great love to God even in a sick body. Why not offer some small pain or discomfort you are carrying now as a prayer for someone else?