Devasahayam Pillai, who lived in Kanniyakumari in south Tamil Nadu in the 18th century after his conversion as a Roman Catholic, would be canonized by Pope Francis in the Vatican on May 5, 2022.
This has been conveyed by Elphinston Joseph, a Postulator, to the Bishop of Kottar Diocese, Fr Nazarene Soosai, who had represented to the Vatican for Pillai's beatification.
Born Neelakanta Pillai, a high caste Hindu, he had converted to Christianity and was baptized on May 14, 1745, as Devasahyam Pillai. He was shot dead on the border of Kanniyakumari in 1752.
According to CatholicSaints.Info, the canonization miracle involved the resumption of the heartbeat of a 24-week fetus that had stopped earlier in 2013.
“The mother, who was a Catholic and had a devotion to Blessed Lazurus, the Tamil equivalent of Devasahyam, began praying for his intercession for the baby; within hours she felt the baby kicking, tests showed that the heartbeat had resumed and the infant was later born with no complications,” says the website.
Some months ago, a consistory of cardinals called by Pope Francis had approved his canonization.
