Postal stamp on Saint Alphonsa released
November 16th, 2008 - 3:58 pm ICT by IANS ( Leave a comment )New Delhi, Nov 16 (IANS) A postal stamp on Saint Alphonsa, India’s first woman saint, was released at a convention of the Syro Malabar Church here Sunday.Chief Post Master General (Delhi) P.K. Gopinath released the Rs.15 stamp and handed it over to Supreme Court Judge Cyriac Joseph, a church official said.
Bishops of different diocese in Kerala and Delhi, led by Thrissur Archbishop Andrews Thazhathu, attended the ceremony.
The central government has also decided to release a coin honouring Saint Alphonsa.
Saint Alphonsa was canonised Oct 12 by Pope Benedict XVI at a ceremony at St. Peter’s Square, Vatican.
Alphonsa was born in Kudamaloor, a village near Kottayam, to Joseph and Mary Aug 19, 1910.
Having lost her mother at a very young age, she was brought up by her maternal aunt and educated by an uncle who was a priest. She faced several health problems, which eventually claimed her life on July 28, 1946.
On Dec 2, 1953, Eugène-Gabriel-Gervais-Laurent Cardinal Tisserant inaugurated the diocesan process for her beatification and Alphonsa was declared a ‘Servant of God’. On July 9, 1985, she received the title Venerable Sister Alphonsa.
She was beatified Feb 8, 1986, by Pope John II.
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Tags: alphonsa, benedict xvi, maternal aunt, pope benedict, pope benedict xvi, pope john ii, postal stamp, servant of god, supreme court judge, syro malabar church
