Perumbavoor: Sr Rani Maria was always smiling, like in the photographs hanging in her parents’ house at Pulluvazhi near Perumbavoor. Her parents and siblings remember her with the smile that effaced all worries. She could laugh at the face of adversities, her sister-in-law Lilly Varghese said.
Little Rani Maria was closer to her grandmother than mother Eliswa. She was named after her grandmother Mary. She also inherited her grandmother’s piety, her brother Stephen said. Stephen and Varghese are the only siblings living in the locality.
Varghese and Lilly live in the ancestral house. The room the nun used is a prayer room now. Groups of pilgrims pay a visit to the house en route Bharananganam and Vallarpadom.
Village rejoices as Sister Rani Maria beatified
The beatification of Kerala nun, Sister Rani Maria, was celebrated at her village near here at Pulluvazhy with the bursting of firecrackers and distributing of sweets.
On Saturday all roads led to the St Thomas Catholic Church near here where a special mass was held to mark the beatification ceremony held in Indore, Madhya Pradesh.
"This is a proud moment for each one of us here, and a special mass was held to mark the event. More programmes are slated. On November 15 a special prayer session will be held, followed by a public meeting and special mass on November 19," said the parish priest of the church.
Currently Indian Catholics have three native saints, Kuriakose Elias Chavara, popularly known as Chavara Achen, Sister Euphrasia, popularly known as Evuprasiamma (both canonised in 2014), and in 2008, when Sr Alphonsa became the first native Indian to be canonized.
Catholics in Kerala constitute 50 per cent of the 61.41 lakh Christians in the 33.4 million Kerala population.
(With inputs from IANS)
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