An Indian Catholic nun is close to becoming blessed.
On April 14, Pope Francis published a decree for Eliswa Vakayil (1831–1913), authorizing her, among others, to be declared blessed.
Vakayil, a religious nun later known as Mother Eliswa of the Blessed Virgin Mary, founded the Third Order of Discalced Carmelites (TODC), which later became the Teresian Carmelite Sisters. It was the first Indigenous Carmelite congregation for women in the southern Indian state of Kerala in 1866.
Pope Francis recognized a miracle attributed to Vakayil.
She married and had a daughter named Anna before she entered religious life. After her husband suddenly fell ill and died when her daughter was 18 months old, Vakayil committed herself to a life of silent prayer and service, reports the National Catholic Register.
Praying before the Blessed Sacrament more than a decade later, Vakayil felt called to consecrate her life to God. Her daughter Anna and her sister felt inspired to join her, and the three family members were officially received together in the Carmelite order four years later.
The recognized miracle paves the way for Vakayil’s beatification.
Vakayil worked for women’s social emancipation in India and the empowerment of their status.
In an Indian society plagued by the caste system, untouchability, and many forms of feudal traditions, she worked for the education of illiterate and unemployed women who were subjected to male domination and exploitation.
On November 8, 2023, the Vatican declared her as venerable.
Today, the members of the Teresian Carmelite Sisters continue the legacy and work of their founder by caring for the education and training of poor and orphaned girls and the care of the abandoned and the needy.
The congregation has more than 1,500 members, with 209 houses in America, Africa, Germany, Italy, and England.
Vakayil was born on October 15, 1831. She was the first of eight children of Thomman and Thanda of Ochanthuruth, in the vicariate of Verapoly, reported the Rome-based Fides news agency.
Pope Francis also declared Spain’s Sagrada Familia Basilica architect Antoni Gaudí ‘Venerable.’
With its distinctive spires and blend of Gothic and modernist styles, the basilica has become one of the most visited churches in the world.
The pope recognized the martyrdom of Italian missionary priest Father Nazareno Lanciotti, who was killed in Brazil in 2001.
The Vatican also recognized the heroic virtue of three more priests: Canon Petrus Joseph Triest (1760–1836) of Belgium and Italians Father Agostino Cozzolino (1928–1988) and Father Angelo Bughetti (1877–1935).
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