Saint Alphonsa ma...an epitome of love and faith...

Saint Alphonsa the first Indian women to be conferred sainthood. Simplicity , faith and love is a condition for being in harmony with God.

It was the first time i visited Saint Alphonsama's church and pilgrim centre at Kottayam district -Kerala , i touched her grave and made my wish.It is scary to visit any cementary , but this cementary is a holy cementary , which graves saint Alphonsa's mortal remains .The body has been removed from the cementary and after Beatification and Canonization her mortal remains has been placed inside the church in front of Almighty Jesus inside the cementary.A tomb has been constructed inside the church.

Here is a life history of Annakutty .

Born as Annakutty on August 19, 1910, in Kudamaloor Kottayam district, Kerala, India
Baptized on August 27, 1910
Died on July 28, 1946, Bharananganam ,Palai
Beatified on February 8, 1986, Kottayam by Pope John Paul II

(Beatification :An act of the Pope who declares that a deceased person lived a holy life and is worthy of public veneration; a first step toward canonization)
Canonized on October 12, 2008 by Pope Benedict XVI

(Canonization-To declare (a deceased person) to be a saint and entitled to be fully honored as such) .It was the miraculous cure of a boy with clubfoot that led to her canonization.

Saint Alphonsa's museum houses her mortal remains .

Her hair collected from the grave .

(Christian religion believes that if a person has led a holy life then their body will not contaminate after death )
Stones , Mud from the grave.

Nails.

Powder collected from her grave.

The cot where she died.etc.

This apart from the things which she used when she was alive like cups, spoon ,umbrella, books,clothes which she used.

Saint Alphonsa was a person, who practised love in its most pure form, spending herself for others . Truth forgiveness and simplicity was the foundation of her life.

Faith as defined by Wikipedia is "the confident belief or trust in the truth or trustworthiness of a person, idea, or thing"

Temples, dargahs, churches, tombs are the centres of Faith where faith rise above all difficulties and hurdles of life.Thats the reason why millions of people visit these places.

Atheism consider faith to be irrational and god does not exists.While most of the people who visit temples dargas and churches are still not following simplicity in life.

It is easy to lead a happy life if you are simple , truthful, honest and faithful .

Nature always sides Truth. Faith can work wonders. Annama became a saint by just following simplicity.

Some of pics which i clicked inside the pilgrim centre dated 2nd Jan 2010.

Church