(Christian Mirror)- Born in an ordinary family in Kudamaloor in Kottayam, Anna Muttathupadath became a nun when she was 18 and was christened Sister Alphonsa. Until her death in 1946 at the age of 36 after 16 years of illness, she was largely unknown outside her village. She lost her mother when she was child and she showed inclination to religious life from the very young age. 

A number of miracles attributed to her started coming to light after her death which were formally examined first by Indian church authorities and then by Vatican’s various committees, papal courts and medical panels.

Pope John Paul II declared her the Blessed Servant of God in 1985 following his approval of a miracle attributed to her, related to the healing of a young boy’s twisted feet after his family prayed at her tomb in at the Alphonsa Chapel at Bharananganam in Kottayam.

While the Pope will be leading the ceremonies in Vatican, the faithful in large numbers would be turning up to attend a special mass and thanks-giving meeting in the small town of Bharananganam in Kottayam district where Sister Alphonsa spent most of her life in a Clarist convent of Fransican order in early 20th century.

According to Church sources here, a team of nuns from Franciscan Clarist congregation left for Rome on Wednesday carrying the casket of relics and a portrait of the Blessed nun to be displayed during the canonisation.

The head of Syro Malabar Catholic Church Cardinal Mar Varkey Vithayathil and senior prelates would attend the ceremonies at Vatican, where a large number of Keralite Christians are expected to turn up to witness the rituals.