THRISSUR: Ollur town, which is also known as ‘Chinna Roma’ (Little Rome), as it is home to the largest Parish in the country with more than 3,600 Christian families, is in a spiritual euphoria on the eve of the canonisation of Sr Euphrasia by Pope Francis in Vatican on Sunday. Devotees have been thronging the tomb of Sr Euphrasia at St Mary’s Convent,Ollur,seeking intercession of the ‘Praying Mother’, ever since the Vatican announced the date of canonisation of Sr Euphrasia on November 23.
Of her over 52-year-long nunhood, Euphrasia lived four years in the Ollur convent,and she died there in August 1952.
Mother Euphrasia was declared Servant of God in 1987, venerable in 2002 and blessed in 2006 by Pope John Paul II. There have been many miracles attributed to the life of ‘Praying Mother’. The miracle for canonisation, healing of thyroglossal cyst of a six-year-old boy Jewel Jenson, was reported after a fortnight of beatification and it was approved by the Vatican in May 20l0.
Over one thousand faithful from Thrissur, including Jewel Jenson from Irinjalakkuda, have already left for Rome on November 19 to participate in the canonisation ceremony at Vatican.
Sr Sharon of St Mary’s Convent told ‘Express’ that there would be special prayers and holy masses at the convent that houses the tomb which was a popular pilgrim centre much before Sr Euphrasia was named Servant of God by the Church, she said. A torchlight procession will also be taken out by the State Committee of the Christian Life Community on Sunday from Kattoor, Sr Euphrasia’s hometown,to St Mary’s Church, where she had served for several years.
According to Sr Chrisologa, the assistant director of the Blessed Euphrasia Centre here, it would apposite to call Euphrasia a ‘socialist saintess’ as her outlook and approach towards the poor and downtrodden was quite gentle and non-discriminative. According to the convent authorities, Euphrasia would, perhaps, be the first one in a century to get the miracle for canonisation approved within a quite short period of eight years after beatification on December 02, 2006. Though Sr Alphonsa of Bharananganam was canonised in October 2008, she was beatified in 1986 together with Fr Chavara in Kottayam.