Saint Euphrasia:

Feast day : 30 August

Saint Euphrasia of the Sacred Heart of Jesus was a Carmelite nun of the Syro Malabar order who lived during the period 1877-1952. Mother Euphrasia offered her life in sacrifice for love of God. She abandoned herself to His will and gave her maternal love and tenderness to all those who sought her help. She was called by the local people as ‘Praying Mother’ and also the ‘Mobile Tabernacle’ because she was so united to Jesus in her heart. She was canonized on 23 November 2014 by Pope Francis. Her feast day is celebrated on 30 August.

Early life:

She was born Rosa Eluvathingal on 17 October 1877 in Kattoor village, Trissur District, Kerala, India to Cherpukaran Antony and Kunjethy. Her mother's deep piety and great devotion to the Virgin Mary, the Mother of God, had a strong influence on little Rose from her childhood. From the stories that her mother told her, especially about St Rose of Lima, she grew with a strong desire to practice the virtues, to suffer for Jesus and to be holy, and to do all this in a quiet, hidden manner. During her developing years Rose began to detach herself from earthly possessions and pleasure and took a great interest in spiritual matters. This was all the more rooted in her at the age of 9 by means of an apparition of the Blessed Mother, after which the young girl offered herself totally to the Lord. Notwithstanding the strong opposition of her father, who wanted Rose to marry into a rich family, she wanted to become a religious Sister. Her intense prayer life, which included the rosary, fasting and abstinence, as well as the rather sudden death of her younger sister, brought about a change of heart in her father, Anthony, who granted Rose permission to enter the convent.

Vocational life:

In fact, her father accompanied her personally to the convent of the Congregation of the Mother of Carmel at Koonammavu, the first indigenous congregation of Syro-Malabar On 10 May 1897 Rose became a postulant and took the name Sr Euphrasia of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, and on 10 January 1898 she received the holy habit of Carmel. She practised the virtues of humility, charity and renunciation and grew in holiness with the help of the Blessed Virgin Mary. For the periods of grave illness and the trials of the powers of darkness that she endured, she was rewarded by intense spiritual joys. On 24 May 1900 Sr Euphrasia made her perpetual vows to God. From 1904 to 1913 Sr Euphrasia was entrusted with the duty of novice mistress and, sustained by the gifts and power of the Holy Spirit, she formed the future members of her Congregation. Although Sr Euphrasia wanted to live a hidden life, she was chosen as Superior of the Convent of St Mary at Ollur. She held the post from 1913 to 1916. For almost 48 years the convent of St Mary was home to Mother Euphrasia. Observing her life of prayer and holiness, the local people called her "Praying Mother", and her Sisters in community referred to her as the "Mobile Tabernacle", because the divine presence she kept within her radiated to all she encountered. Mother Euphrasia spent much of her day in the convent chapel before the Blessed Sacrament and she also nourished a great love and devotion for the Blessed Virgin Mary; as a result, she was naturally an apostle of the Eucharist and of the Rosary. Mother Euphrasia had a profound sense of Church and she personally felt the sorrows and problems of the Church of her day. She offered her mortifications and penances for the conversion of schismatics and asked the novices and children to pray for them. She prayed ardently before the Blessed Sacrament for the Holy Father, for Bishops, Priests and Religious.

Death and Canonization:

Mother Euphrasia offered her life in sacrifice for love of God. She abandoned herself to his will and finally joined him in the heavenly embrace with her holy death on 29 August 1952. After Mother Euphrasia's death many of those who had obtained her help during her lifetime now continued to beseech her help at her tomb. In 1990 her tomb was opened, and her mortal remains were moved to the convent chapel. Pope John Paul II approved the Decree of the heroic virtues of the Servant of God in 2002, proclaiming her Venerable. On Sunday, 3 December 2006, she became the fifth Blessed of Kerala, India, and the sixth of the Nation of India. She was canonized on 23 November 2014 by Pope Francis. Her feast is celebrated on 30 August.