Saint Alphonsa of the Immaculate Conception (1910–1946)
Feast Day: July 28 Canonized: October 12, 2008, by Pope Benedict XVI
Patroness: Illness, suffering, and Indian Catholics
Early Life
Saint Alphonsa was born as Anna Muttathupadathu on August 19, 1910, in Kudamaloor, Kerala, India. She lost her mother at a very young age and was raised by her maternal aunt in a deeply Catholic household. Anna was gentle, devout, and showed signs of holiness from an early age.
From childhood, she desired to become a nun and to dedicate her entire life to Jesus. Her dream was threatened when her family arranged a marriage for her. To preserve her vocation, she burned her foot in a pit of burning embers, causing permanent injury, but freeing her from the marriage arrangement.
Religious Life
She joined the Franciscan Clarist Congregation (FCC) and took the name Sister Alphonsa of the Immaculate Conception. Despite her joy in entering religious life, she endured continuous illness, pain, and humiliation for much of her short life. She suffered from high fevers, skin diseases, and internal bleeding, often bedridden and barely able to walk.
Yet she never complained. Instead, she offered all her suffering to Jesus, saying:
“I made a great sacrifice for God. I want to suffer as much as He wills.”
She believed suffering was a way to be united with the Crucified Christ and to intercede for others.
Death and Sainthood
Sister Alphonsa died on July 28, 1946, at just 35 years old. Many people who visited her grave reported miraculous healings and favors received through her intercession.
In 1985, she was beatified by Pope John Paul II during his visit to India. On October 12, 2008, she became the first woman of Indian origin to be canonized a saint by Pope Benedict XVI in Rome.
Legacy
Saint Alphonsa is honored across India, especially in Kerala, where thousands visit her tomb at St. Mary’s Forane Church in Bharananganam. Her life is a powerful testimony of how suffering can become a path to holiness when united with Christ.
A Famous Quote from St. Alphonsa:
“I am not my own. I am for my Jesus. He can do with me whatever He wants.”
Prayer to Saint Alphonsa (Official Novena Prayer)
O Saint Alphonsa,
you lived as a true follower of Christ,
marked by humility, suffering, and hidden holiness.
Your life of quiet sanctity and joyful suffering
was offered as a fragrant sacrifice to God.
Teach us to love the Cross, and to bear our daily sufferings
with faith, patience, and trust in God’s will.
Through your powerful intercession,
obtain for us the grace we now ask for:
(mention your intention).
Saint Alphonsa, flower of the Syro-Malabar Church,
pray for us.
Amen.
Prayer for Healing through the Intercession of St. Alphonsa
O loving Jesus,
we come to You with the intercession of
Saint Alphonsa,
whom You have raised to sainthood.
She bore intense pain and suffering
in union with Your Passion.
Now, she is with You in heaven,
interceding for those who call on her with faith.
Grant us healing of body, mind, and spirit
through her prayers,
and help us to embrace suffering
with peace and surrender,
as she did.
Through Christ our Lord.
Amen.
Litany of Saint Alphonsa (for personal or group prayer)
Lord, have mercy on us.
Christ, have mercy on us.
Lord, have mercy on us.
Christ, hear us.
Christ, graciously hear us.
God the Father of Heaven, have mercy on us.
God the Son, Redeemer of the world, have mercy on us.
God the Holy Spirit, have mercy on us.
Holy Trinity, One God, have mercy on us.
Saint Alphonsa of the Immaculate Conception, pray for us.
Suffering servant of Christ, pray for us.
Lover of the Holy Eucharist, pray for us.
Lily among thorns, pray for us.
Model of patience and humility, pray for us.
Intercessor for the sick and suffering, pray for us.
Inspiration for religious vocations, pray for us.
Faithful daughter of the Syro-Malabar Church, pray for us.
Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world, spare us, O Lord.
Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world, graciously hear us, O Lord.
Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world, have mercy on us.
Pray for us, Saint Alphonsa,
That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.
Short Aspiration Prayer
“St. Alphonsa, help me embrace suffering with joy, as you did, and offer it to Jesus with love.”
July 28 – St.Alphonsa(1910-1946),Mystic,India
Born in a rural area to Joseph and Mary Muttathupadathu. Baptized on 27 August 1910. Her mother died when Anna was very young, and she was raised by her maternal aunt, and educated by her great-uncle Father Joseph Muttathupadathu. At age 3 she contracted an infected eczema from which she suffered for over a year. Made her first Communion on 27 November 1917. Badly burned on her feet when she accidentally fell into a pit of burning chaff, leaving her permanently partially disabled. Joined the Poor Clare convent at Bharananganam on 2 August 1928, taking the name Alphonsa, and making her vows on 12 August 1936.
She lost her aunt/foster-mother in 1930. Worked as a primary school taught, and the children loved her for her gentleness and cheery way, but health problems often kept her from the classroom. In December 1936 she was miraculously cured from her ailments through the intervention of Saint Therese of Lisieux and Blessed Kuriakose Elias Chavara. However, in June 1939 she was struck by a severe attack of pneumonia, weakening her overall. On 18 October 1940 a thief stumbled into her room in the middle of the night; the shock of the event caused Alphonsa to suffer a loss of memory and further weakened her. Her condition continued deteriorated for months, and she was given last rites on 29 September 1941; the next day, she regained her memory, though not complete health. She enjoyed some improvement over the next few years, but in July 1945 she developed a stomach problem that eventually led to her death.
She was noted for her suffering and suffering in silence. Incidents of her intervention began almost immediately upon her death and often involved the children in the convent school. Hundreds of miraculous cures are claimed for her intervention, many of involving straightening of clubbed feet, possibly because of her having lived with deformed feet herself; two of these were submitted to the Congregation for the Causes of Saints as proof of her miraculous intervention. The continuing cures are chronicled in the magazine Passionflower. Thousands converge on the small town of Bharananganam when they celebrate the feast of Saint Alphonsa from 19 to 28 July each year.
Born – 19 August 1910 at Kudamalloor, Kerala, India
Died – * 28 July 1946 at Bharananganam, India, of natural causes
* buried in the chapel connected with the cemetery of Saint Mary’s church, Bharananganam, India, which has become an important place of pilgrimage.
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