Kottar, June 24, 2022: Church in India on June 24 conducted a National Thanksgiving Prayer Service from the tomb of St. Devasahayam and consecrated all families to the Sacred Heart of Jesus.
In his homily on the occasion, Cardinal Oswald Gracias, the Archbishop of Bombay and one of the topmost consulters of Pope Francis, urged everyone to become holy like St. Devasahayam.
“St. Devasahayam’s life reminds us that the vocation to holiness extends to all Christians, not just priests and religious. The canonization of the first married lay martyr from our land is a very significant landmark, particularly in the history of the Church in India,” said Cardinal Gracias.
St. Devasahayam is the first Indian lay martyr, canonized by Pope Francis on May 15..
Cardinal-elect Filipe Neri Ferraro, the president of the Conference of Catholic Bishops in India (CCBI) and the Archbishop of Goa-Daman, consecrated all families to the Sacred Heart of Jesus.
Archbishop George Antonysamy of Madras-Mylapore, vice president, CCBI, initiated the prayer service. Archbishop Anil Couto of Delhi, CCBI secretary general, along with Bishop Nazarene Soosai of Kottar and Sister Annie Kuttikadu recited the psalmody.
Father John Kulandai, vice postulator, canonization of St. Devasahayam, proclaimed the Gospel. Father Yesu Karunanidhi, executive secretary to the CCBI Commission for Bible, along with seven lay Catholics from different parts of India led the prayers of the faithful in Hindi, Tamil, Malayalam, Kannada, Telugu, Bengali and Badga languages.
Archbishop Thomas J. Netto of Trivandrum recited the prayer to St. Devasahayam. The litany to St. Devasahayam sung by the choir invoking the intercession of the saint.
Archbishop Antony Pappusamy of Madurai recited the concluding prayer and Apostolic Nuncio to India Archbishop Leopoldo Girelli gave the Eucharistic Benediction.
All Catholic faithful in India spent an hour as one family and renewed their consecration to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, said CCBI deputy secretary general Father Stephen Alathara.
A circular from the CCBI president had requested all religious communities, seminaries, hostels and other Catholic institutions to participate in the prayer service and intercede for the mediation of St. Devasahayam.
The service was telecast on Catholic satellite television channels like Madha TV, Shalom TV, Goodness TV, Shekinah TV, Divyavani TV, Atmadarshan TV, Ishvani TV, CCR TV and Prarthana Bhawan TV and streamed through leading Catholic YouTube channels, Father Alathara said.
Source: https://ccbi.in/cardinal-gracias-urges-all-to-become-holy/