Pope canonises four, including India´s first female saint.
VATICAN CITY (CNA) – Pilgrims from around the world gathered in St Peter’s Square on October 12 as Pope Benedict XVI canonised four saints.
In his homily, the Pontiff recalled the lives and virtues of Gaetano Errico (1791-1860), Sr Maria Bernarda (Verena) Butler (1848-1924), Sr Alfonsa (Muttathupadathu) of the Immaculate Conception (1910-1946) and Narcisa de Jesus Martillo Moran (1832- 1869).
Describing the lives of the newly canonised saints, he began with St Gaetano Errico, an Italian teacher whose life was changed when St Alphonsus Liguori appeared to him asking him to found the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and Mary.
The Pope spoke of St Gaetano´s dedication to the Sacrament of Reconciliation.
¨How many wounded souls did he heal by this sacrament? How many people did he bring to reconcile themselves with God through the Sacrament of forgiveness? Thus, St Gaetano Errico became an expert in the ´science´ of forgiveness, and taught it to his missionaries, urging them: ´God, who does not want the death of the sinner, is always more merciful than his ministers; for this reason, be as merciful as you can be, because you will find mercy with God,” the Pope said.
The first modern Swiss woman to be canonised, St Maria Bernarda Butler was born in 1848 and had a very early experience of deep love from the Lord. At 19 Maria entered the Capuchin Maria-Hilf convent and was named mother superior only four years later.
At 40, Maria received her missionary vocation and travelled to Ecuador and Colombia to establish a convent to spread her love for the Eucharist and to teach and care for children.
India’s first female saint was also canonised – St Alfonsa of the Immaculate Conception was born in Kerala, India in
1910 and died in 1946. Benedict XVI noted that her short life was marked with ¨extreme physical and spiritual suffering.¨
¨This exceptional woman,¨ he continued, ¨was convinced that her cross was the very means of reaching the heavenly banquet prepared for her by the Father.¨
¨May we imitate her in shouldering our own crosses so as to join her one day in paradise.¨
While speaking of young Ecuadorian woman Narcisa de Jesús Martillo Morán, the Pope noted her generous acceptance of the Lord’s will.
After receiving the Sacrament of Confirmation, ¨she clearly felt in her heart, the call to live a life of holiness and surrender to God”, the Pope said, and emphasised her passionate love for Jesus and her simplicity saying that this young saint “offers us a path of Christian perfection attainable for all the faithful.”
“Let us thank the Lord for the gift of holiness that shines today in the Church with singular beauty.¨
He said that Jesus calls each of us to follow their example for encouragement, their teachings to “guide and comfort us,” and their intercession to “support us in our daily struggles, so that we too may come to share with them in the joy of the eternal banquet in heaven.”
