Verghese V Jospeh –
Vatican: Pope Francis will canonize Blessed Devasahayam Pillai, a non-ordained member and first lay martyr of Indian origin, together with six other Blesseds, during a Canonization Mass in St Peter’s Basilica in Vatican on May 15, 2022 at around 10.00-12.20 (India time 1.30 pm).
The other Blesseds to be canonized are Titus Brandsma, César de Bus, Luigi Maria Palazzolo, Giustino Maria Russolillo, Charles de Foucauld, Maria Rivier, Maria Francesca di Gesù Rubatto, Maria di Gesù Santocanale, and Maria Domenica Mantovani.
The announcement was made by the Congregation for the Causes of Saints in the Vatican last year on November 11. The sainthood cause of a candidate is a rigorous process that takes years and even decades. It starts at the level of the diocese to which the candidate belongs. In the case of Devasahayam, there have been sporadic efforts and calls for his sainthood and martyrdom since 1756.
The Diocese of Kottar, a locality of Nagercoil, in the state of Tamil Nadu state, in the southernmost part of peninsular India, received clearance from the Vatican on December 22, 2003, to open the cause of Devasahayam’s martyrdom at the local level. At the start of the diocesan inquiry which took place from 2006 to 2008, Devasahayam was conferred the title Servant of God.
Born on April 23, 1712, as Neelakanda Pillai, in the village of Nattalam, Devasahayam served in the palace of southern India’s Hindu King Marthanda Varma of Travancore, whose kingdom stretched from what is Kanyakumari District of Tamil Nadu state today, right up to Cochin in neighbouring Kerala state.
Captain Eustachius De Lannoy, a Dutch naval commander of the Dutch East India Company who was sent in 1741 to capture Travancore’s port of Colachel was defeated and taken prisoner. The Dutchman, who was later pardoned went on to become the king’s trusted commander, won several battles for Travancore. It was during their influential roles under the King of Travancore that Devasahayam Pillai and De Lannoy became close friends.
Devasahayam became interested in the faith of De Lannoy, who enlightened him, leading to his conversion in 1745. He was baptized at the Catholic church of Vadakkankulam village (in the present Tirunelveli District of Tamil Nadu), by Jesuit priest Father R. Bouttari Italus. He assumed the name ‘Lazarus’ or ‘Devasahayam’ in the local language, meaning ‘God is my help’. His wife, Bargavi Ammal of Travancore, also followed her husband and was baptized Gnanapoo, meaning Theresa.
However, Devasahayam’s conversion did not go well with the heads of his native religion, and was regarded as a betrayal and danger to the Hindu kingdom.
They could not tolerate his preaching on the equality of all peoples, the overcoming of castes and friendship with the untouchables of the lower classes, which is forbidden for a person of high caste.
While preaching, he particularly insisted on the equality of all good people, despite caste differences. This aroused the hatred of the higher classes, and he was arrested in 1749. After enduring increasing hardships, he received the crown of martyrdom when he was shot on 14 January 1752 near the border of Kanniyakumari.
False charges of treason and espionage were brought against him and he was divested of his post in the royal administration. He was imprisoned and subjected to harsh persecution. A Catholic for only seven years, he was shot dead in the Aralvaimozhy forest on January 14, 1752.
The canonization miracle involved the resumption of the heartbeat of a 24-week fetus that had stopped earlier in 2013.
“The mother, who was a Catholic and had a devotion to Blessed Lazurus, the Tamil equivalent of Devasahyam, began praying for his intercession for the baby; within hours she felt the baby kicking, tests showed that the heartbeat had resumed and the infant was later born with no complications,”
His tomb at St. Francis Xavier Cathedral in Nagercoil attracts large numbers of devotees. The other site linked with his life and martyrdom are in Kottar Diocese, in Kanyakumari District of Tamil Nadu state.