On Sunday, Devasahayam Pillai, a Hindu who converted to Christianity in the 18th century in the Kanyakumari region of Tamil Nadu, became the first Indian layman to be designated a saint by the Vatican.
Blessed Devasahayam was canonised by Pope Francis during a Canonization Mass in St Peter’s Basilica attended by nearly 50,000 believers from around the world, as well as government delegations honouring him and nine other new saints, according to PTI.
In addition to Devasahayam, the Pope made saints of Titus Brandsma, Cesar de Bus, Luigi Maria Palazzolo, Giustino Maria Russolillo, and Charles de Foucauld, as well as Maria Rivier, Maria Francesca of Jesus Rubatto, Maria of Jesus Santocanale, and Maria Domenica Mantovani.
Devasahayam was born on April 23, 1712, in Nattalam village, Kanyakumari district, and later served in the Travancore court of Marthanda Varma. Devasahayam was baptised in 1745 after meeting a Dutch naval officer at the court and given the name ‘Lazarus,’ which means ‘God is my assistance.’
“The authorities of his native faith were not pleased with his conversion. False allegations of treason and espionage were levelled against him, and he was stripped of his position in the royal administration, according to a message issued by the Vatican in February 2020. “While preaching, he especially stressed on the equality of all people, notwithstanding caste disparities,” according to the Vatican, which “aroused the animosity of the higher classes, and he was jailed in 1749.”
Devasahayam was killed in the Aralvaimozhy jungle on January 14, 1752. His lifeless bones were placed within what is now Saint Francis Xavier’s Cathedral in Kottar, Nagercoil, and he is generally regarded as a martyr.
Devasahayam was proposed for beatification by the Diocese of Kottar, the Tamil Nadu Bishops’ Council, and the Conference of Catholic Bishops of India in 2004. In 2012, the Kottar diocese pronounced him blessed, 300 years after his birth.
Pope Benedict XVI described Devasahayam as a “faithful layman” during the midday ‘Angelus’ prayer in the Vatican that day, and urged Christians to “join in the joy of the Church in India and pray that the new Blessed may sustain the faith of the Christians of that large and noble country,” according to the Vatican note.
Pope Francis acknowledged a miracle ascribed to Devasahayam in 2014, paving the way for his canonization. According to the Vatican, he was accepted for sainthood in February 2020 for “enduring greater adversities” after deciding to adopt Christianity, and the event will take place on May 15, 2022.
The Vatican omitted the ‘Pillai’ from Devasahayam’s name and referred to him as “Blessed Devasahayam” when he was cleared for sainthood in 2020.
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