Blessed Alphonsa Canonization Draws Loganville Pilgrims

Published: October 9, 2008

(L-r) Bill and Eleanor Lashley, parishioners of St. Lawrence Church, Lawrenceville, Missionaries of St. Francis de Sales priests Father John Devore, a resident member of the Blessed Alphonsa community, Father Joseph Mullakkara, parochial vicar at the Cathedral of Christ the King, Father Abraham Schariah, parochial vicar at Blessed Alphonsa Church, and Father Kurian Thomas, vicar of Blessed Alphonsa Church, stand outside Blessed Alphonsa Church, Loganville. Father Thomas, Father Mullakkara and the Lashleys are attending the canonization of Blessed Alphonsa in Rome, Oct. 12. (Photo by Michael Alexander)

LOGANVILLE—The canonization of the first Indian-born woman saint in Rome Oct. 12 will be attended by a group of 30 people from the Archdiocese of Atlanta. Blessed Alphonsa, a Franciscan Clarist nun, will be canonized by Pope Benedict XVI. Among those coming from around the world are a group of people who worship at Blessed Alphonsa Parish in Loganville, a Syro-Malabar parish established in recent years. Blessed Alphonsa, who lived from 1910 to 1946, was inspired as a young woman to become a nun and while living a life of physical suffering has, in her life and after her death, been sought for her intercession for healing the sick.