8th Sunday of Ordinary Time
Meet India’s newest recognized saint
Blessed Mariam Thresia Chiramel Mankidiyan
1876-1926
The foundation of the Congregation of the Holy Family
In 1903 Mariam Thresia requested her bishop’s permission to build a prayer house of solitude, but Mar John Menachery, the Vicar Apostolic of Trichur, first wanted to test her vocation. He suggested to her to consider joining the newly founded Congregation of the Francis-can Clarists, but she did not think that she was called to it. In 1912 he made arrangements for her to live in a con-vent of the Carmelite nuns at Ollur.
In 1903 Mariam Thresia requested her bishop’s permission to build a prayer house of solitude, but Mar John Menachery, the Vicar Apostolic of Trichur, first wanted to test her vocation. He suggested to her to consider joining the newly founded Congregation of the Francis-can Clarists, but she did not think that she was called to it. In 1912 he made arrangements for her to live in a con-vent of the Carmelite nuns at Ollur.
Though the Sisters would gladly have admitted her into their Congregation, she did not feel that it was her call. Finally, in 1913 Mar Menachery permitted her to build a prayer house and sent his secretary to bless it. Thresia moved in, and her three companions joined her soon. They led a life of prayer and austere penance like hermits but continued to visit the sick and help the poor and the needy irrespective of religion or caste. The bishop discerned that here was in gestation a new religious Congregation for the service of the family. On May 14, 1914 he erected it canonically and named it the Congregation of the Holy Family (C.H.F.), while receiving the perpetual profession of Mariam Thresia. Her three companions were enrolled as postulants in the new Congregation, while she was appointed its first Superior with Father Joseph Vithayathil as chaplain.
Nurturing the new Congregation
The newly founded Congregation had no written Constitutions. The bishop himself procured the Constitutions of the Holy Family Sisters of Bordeaux from their house in Ceylon (today, Sri Lanka), adapted it and gave it to the foundress. Mother Mariam Thresia
saw to its strict observance in the new Congregation, which she nurtured with great care. During and after the difficult years of the First World War, with indomitable energy and utter trust in divine providence, she built, in less than 12 years, three new convents, two schools, two hostels, a study house, and an orphanage.
The newly founded Congregation had no written Constitutions. The bishop himself procured the Constitutions of the Holy Family Sisters of Bordeaux from their house in Ceylon (today, Sri Lanka), adapted it and gave it to the foundress. Mother Mariam Thresia
saw to its strict observance in the new Congregation, which she nurtured with great care. During and after the difficult years of the First World War, with indomitable energy and utter trust in divine providence, she built, in less than 12 years, three new convents, two schools, two hostels, a study house, and an orphanage.
Education of girls was Mariam Thresia’s theology in action, without the slogan. Several young girls were attracted to her by her simplicity, humility and shining sanctity. At the time of her death at the age of 50 there were 55 Sisters in the Congregation, 30 boarders and 10 orphans under her care. The co-founder Father Joseph Vithayathil continued, till his death in 1964, to nurture the Congregation, which grew steadily. In the year 2000, this Congregation of the Holy Family had 1584 professed Sisters, serving in Kerala, in the mission areas of North India, in Germany, Italy, and Ghana, with a total of 176 houses in 7 provinces and 119 novices.
Death and reputation for sanctity
Mother Mariam Thresia died on June 8, 1926, from a wound on the leg caused by a falling object. The wound defied cure owing to her diabetes. After her death the fame of Mariam Thresia spread as she continued from heaven to succor the sick and the needy through miraculous favors. In 1971 a historical commission collected the necessary evidence regarding her life, virtues and writings and presented it in 1983 before an eparchial (diocesan) tribunal, which also collected the depositions of 15 of the surviving eyewitnesses. On June 28,1999, the Congregation for the Causes of Saints promulgated a decree stating that the Servant of God Mariam Thresia had practiced the Christian virtues heroically, and so she was entitled to be called Venerable.
Mother Mariam Thresia died on June 8, 1926, from a wound on the leg caused by a falling object. The wound defied cure owing to her diabetes. After her death the fame of Mariam Thresia spread as she continued from heaven to succor the sick and the needy through miraculous favors. In 1971 a historical commission collected the necessary evidence regarding her life, virtues and writings and presented it in 1983 before an eparchial (diocesan) tribunal, which also collected the depositions of 15 of the surviving eyewitnesses. On June 28,1999, the Congregation for the Causes of Saints promulgated a decree stating that the Servant of God Mariam Thresia had practiced the Christian virtues heroically, and so she was entitled to be called Venerable.
Of the numerous miraculous cures reported, the following one was examined canonically in 1992.
Mathew Pellissery was born in 1956 with congenital clubfeet and till he was 14 he could only walk with great difficulty on the sides of his feet. After 33 days of fasting and prayer invoking the help of Mother Mariam Thresia by the whole family, his right foot was straightened during night sleep on August 21, 1970. And similarly after 39 days of fasting and prayer his left foot was straightened overnight during sleep on August 28, 1971.
Ever since then Mathew has been able to walk normally. This double healing was declared inexplicable in terms of medical science by as many as nine doctors in India and Italy and was declared a miracle obtained through the intercession of the Servant of God Mariam Thresia by the Congregation for the Causes of Saints on January 27, 2000. This miraculous cure thus met the last canonical requirement for her beatification in April 2000. Pellissery was grateful to be able to be present at this solemn celebration of beatification in Rome.
(Indian Catholic Matters | Feb 14, 2019 (concluded)