Thrissur: Pope Francis will declare Kerala nun Mariam Thresia Chiramel Mankidiyan, a saint on October 13. Celebrations have already begun in Kerala's Thrissur district after Pope's declaration.

The Pope has formally approved the canonisation of Mariam, foundress of the Sisters of the Holy Family, at an ordinary public consistory of cardinals on causes of canonisation at the Vatican on July 1.

The nun from Thrissur will be canonised during a mass along with John Henry Newman from England, Swiss Marguerite Bays, Italian Josephine Vannini and Brazilian Irm Dulce Pontes.

Meanwhile, a team from Kerala will participate in the special prayer session on the previous day of canonisation at the Vatican.

The Kerala nun was born in Thrissur district of Kerala on April 26, 1876. She passed away on June 8, 1926. The nun was declared venerable on June 28, 1999, and beatified on April 9, 2000, by Pope St. John Paul II in Rome. She was professed in 1914.

The foundress and the first member of the Congregation of the Holy Family, Mariam, with indomitable energy and utter trust in divine providence, built, in less than 12 years, three new convents, two schools, two hostels, a study house, and an orphanage.

The Congregation of the Holy Family has over 1,500 professed sisters, serving in Kerala, in the mission areas of North India, in Germany, Italy and Ghana, with a total of 176 houses in seven provinces and 119 novices. 

With PTI inputs