Mariam Thressia was the fourth Indian to be beatified as she received beatification at the hands of Pope John Paul II in the Jubilee Year 2000. She was known as a ‘social reformer saint’ as she worked tirelessly for the upliftment of the poor and needy, while leading an extreme religious life.
She was born on April 26, 1876 as the third child of Chiramel Mankidiyan Thoma and Thanda, in a remote village known as Puthenchira in Thrissur district of Kerala. Moved at an early age by visions of the Virgin Mary, she took to prayer and night vigils, scourging herself in penitence, donning a barbed wire belt to mortify her own flesh, forsaking meat and mixing bitter stuff in her curry.
Mariam Thressia was a mystic and had stigmata in her hands and feet. Like Saint Teresa of Avila centuries earlier, she suffered seizures, during which she levitated: neighbours would come to her family home on Fridays to see her suspended high against the wall in a crucified pose. The Church was initially suspicious; the local bishop wondered if she was a “plaything of the devil”, and in her late 20s she was repeatedly exorcised to rid her of demons.
However, nothing shook her faith, and soon her exorcist, the parish priest of Puthenchira, became her spiritual mentor and ally. Before she turned 40 she was allowed to found her own order – the Congregation of the Holy Family, along with three of her friends. By the time she died in 1926 the congregation had grown to 55 and today there are more than 1,500 sisters in the order, serving not only in Kerala but in north India, Germany, Italy and Ghana also.
Mariam Thressia was driven not only by her intense visions of the other world but by an equally strong sense of responsibility for the present one. She made it a point to seek out the sick, the deformed, the dying, and tend to them. She bravely nursed victims of small pox and leprosy at a time when they were shunned even by their own families, caring for people whose illnesses were hideously disfiguring and dangerously contagious.
In a caste ridden society she insisted on going to the homes of the lowest of the low, the poorest of the poor, and sharing her food with them. When these outcastes died, she buried them and took charge of the care of their orphaned children. Her devotion to good works won her a devoted following: it was said she emanated an aura of light and a sweet odour, and that her touch could even heal! However, she could not heal herself of a wound caused by a falling object.
Mariam Thressia breathed her last on June 26, 1928 due to poor health. But her fame started spreading far and wide after her death. On June 28, 1999 she was declared ‘Venerable’, and was elevated to the status of ‘Blessed’ on April 9, 2000 by Pope John Paul II. Pope Francis canonized her on 13 October 2019 and is venerated as the Patroness for Families in the Indian Church.
Other Saints of the Day
1. Saint William of York
2. Saint Maximinus of Aix
3. Saint Edgar the Peaceful
4. Saint Gildard
5. Saint Melania the Elder
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