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St. Alphonsa Muttathupandathu was a nun from a remote village in Kerala (Southwestern India) who was known for her holiness during a lifetime of extreme physical suffering. She was born on August 19, 1910, and passed away 62 years ago.
At a young age, St. Alphonsa was determined to become a nun after reading the lives of the saints. At age 14, she deliberately burned her foot so that her disfigurement would prevent an arranged marriage. At age 17, St. Alphonsa joined the Franciscan Clarist Congregation.
According the the Catholic News Service, she taught for a time, but was soon confined to her convent because of a succession of illnesses, including typhoid fever, pneumonia, skin infections and a wasting disease. At the same time, her life was marked by periods of great spiritual joy.
Releasing the commemorative coin in Rs 5 denomination bearing the engraving of the saint and declaring the birth centenary celebrations on, Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee remarked that the thoughts on Saint Alphonsa’s noble spirit and spiritual strength transcended across religions, geographic borders and all people. Observing that the saint had, in her short life of 36 years, been a fountain of selfless service, compassion and love, the minister said that Bharananganam, where she had lived most part of her life as a nun in the Clarist Order of St Francis of Assisi, now embodies lessons on religious harmony not only for Kerala, but the whole country.“St Alphonsa embodies the noble spirit and her life symbolises spirituality.
