By Verghese V Joseph –
The Holy Father on Monday morning, at 10, in the Consistory Hall of the Vatican Apostolic Palace, presided over the the Ordinary Public Consistory for the Canonization of the Blessed Devasahayam Pillai – an 18th-century Hindu convert to Catholicism and the first lay Indian martyr to sainthood.
Pope Francis also confirmed the vote of the Cardinals to proceed with the canonization of six other Blesseds, who will be raised to the altars in the coming weeks and months, according to a schedule to be set at a later time. Once canonized, the holy men and women will be recognised as Saints throughout the universal Church. The other saints-to-be are:
- Blessed César de Bus , priest, founder of the Congregation of the Fathers of Christian Doctrine;
- Blessed Luigi Maria Palazzolo , priest, founder of the Institute of the Poverelle Sisters – Istituto Palazzolo;
- Blessed Giustino Maria Russolillo , priest, founder of the Society of Divine Vocations and of the Congregation of the Sisters of Divine Vocations;
- Blessed Charles de Foucauld, diocesan priest;
- Blessed Maria Francesca di Gesù (in the world: Anna Maria Rubatto ), founder of the Capuchin Tertiary Sisters of Loano;
- Blessed Maria Domenica Mantovani , co-founder and first Superior General of the Institute of the Little Sisters of the Holy Family.
Pope Francis on February 22, 2020 authorized the Congregation for the Causes of Saints to promulgate 8 decrees regarding 10 candidates, clearing two of them for sainthood. Among them was Indian martyr, Blessed Lazarus, called Devasahayam. A decree acknowledged a miracle through his intercession that cleared him for sainthood.
Blessed Devasahayam was declared Blessed on December 2, 2012, in Kottar, 300 years after his birth.
January 14th is the feast day of Blessed Devasahayam Pillai, the first Indian lay martyr to be beatified. Popularly known as Devasahayam Pillai (God’s help), he was born Nilakandan Pillai (1712-1752) into a Hindu family in the then Kingdom of Travancore (in the present district of Kanyakumari, in Tamil Nadu) southern India.
Pillai, an upper-caste Hindu nair convert to Christianity, was a member of the royal service and was close to King Marthanda Varma, then-ruler of Travancore. He was very much loved by the king and was a good man who was faithful to his duty. However, after several bad harvests, he lost his goods. This devastated him and who wondered: “Who will respect me now that I’m poor?”
Nilakandan shared his worries with a devout Catholic, a Dutch official by the name of Benedictus Eustachio De Lannoy who explained to him the meaning of suffering in the light of the Book of Job. For Nilakandan, Job’s example and his trust in God was decisive. Convinced of the truth of the Christian mysteries, Nilakandan asked for Baptism which he received in 1745 from the hands of Father Giovanni Battista Buttari, a Jesuit missionary, after nine months of preparation. He took the name Devasahayam, the Tamil translation of the biblical name Lazarus, which means “God has helped.”
On the day of his Baptism, Devasahayam dedicated himself solemnly to Christ: “No one [forced] me to come; I came by my own free will. I know my heart: He is my God. I have decided to follow Him and will do so my whole life.” His life was no longer the same; Devasahayam dedicated himself to the proclamation of the Gospel for four years.