Annakutty was God’s precious gift to Christendom in general and to the Indian sub-continent in particular. At her birth on August 19, 1910 at Kudamalloor in Kerala, India, no one had anticipated that there lurked in that babe a potential heroine of suffering, waiting to be released by the master craftsman, Jesus. From the womb to the tomb, traumatic experiences would be her never-failing companions to mould her in the likeness of her Lord. Annakutty’s painful journey to Calvary began with her premature birth and the untimely death of her beloved mother shortly thereafter. Her upbringing and education was taken over by Mrs. Annamma Muricken, her maternal aunt. This foster-mother was a strange mixture of unbounded love and Spartan discipline, which ultimately transformed the little girl into a loving and lovable person. Annakutty was hardly three years old when the Lord offered her a fresh but tiny particle of his Cross in the form of eczema, the impact of which lasted almost a year. As the child grew in age and wisdom, her aunt was at work to transform her into an accomplished woman, a successful wife, a loving mother and a genius in house-management. In the meanwhile Annakutty’s earnest plea to forgo marriage and consecrate herself to Jesus in a cloister was over-ruled by her aunt with an iron hand. Faced with no other option, at the tender age of thirteen she thought of forestalling an impending marriage by deforming her legs in a heap of husk fire. Unfortunately, in that process Annakutty accidently slipped into fire with disastrous consequences. Apart from the excruciating agony that followed the incident, a pair of crippled feet became her life-long cross.
Perhaps stung by her own obstinacy and inspired by the sincerity of her adopted darling, Annamma Muricken relented, though reluctantly to her religious vocation. Thus Annakutty joined the Postulancy in the Order of the Poor Clares of Bharananganam in 1928 and adopted the religious name Alphonsa. It was at the novitiate in Vazhapally, 1930, that her spiritual edifice received a solid foundation under Sr. Ursula, her Mistress and Fr. Aloysius, her spiritual Director. Now Alphonsa was well set to continue her march to Calvary. The cross re-surfaced during the Novitiate in the form of a serious hemorrhage and a malignant ulcer on her leg that she endured patiently for three months till one day she was instantly healed by the miraculous intervention of Blessed Cyriac Elias of Chavara. Sr. Ursula, who happened to be in the patient’s room, was an eyewitness to the event that unfolded itself. However, the cross of Christ accompanied Alphonsa to Bharanaganam where it took the form of high temperature. After a period of sixty-five days, she was on her feet again when the Little Flower (St. Theresa Lisieux), along with Bl. Elias, appeared to her, blessed her and said: “You are cured of your fever.” This was not the end, but only an interlude, like Veronica’s wiping away of the sweat and blood from the face of Jesus on his way to Crucifixion.
The sudden intrusion of a thief into her bedroom and the consequent paralyzing fear robbed Sr. Alphonsa of her capacity to speak and to remember. This was followed by a swelling on her feet, which ultimately developed into a painful ulcer. As the holy nun was unable to move her limbs, she confided that she was being stretched on the Cross like Jesus himself. However, the Lord’s consolation came on 30th September 1941, the anniversary of the death of the Little Flower. To everyone’s surprise and thrill Sr.Alphonsa miraculously regained her memory and capacity to read. In 1945, she was blessed with a heavier cross as convulsions, malaria, exhaustion and helplessness tormented her relentlessly. The disciple’s painful journey of the cross in the foot-steps of Jesus came to an end on July 28, 1946, when she commended her soul into the hands of her heavenly Father. Sr. Alphonsa was beatified by Pope John Paul II on February 8, 1986 and canonized by Pope Benedict XVI in October 2008.
Reflecction: All through her life, Sr. Alphonsa maintained a child-like simplicity, perpetual cheerfulness and bewitching smile which even death could not obliterate. Little children freely approached her and were ecstatic to be in her presence. The Novices loved to hear her words of wisdom and witness her spirit of self-sacrifice. Even the maidservants, who ignored her and the fellow sisters who frowned on her from time to time, found in this holy nun someone who loved them, cared for them and forgave them generously.
I joined the Convent to become a saint, and having survived so many obstacles, what have I to live for if I do not become one?
(St. Alphonsa)
