January 14th is the Feast Day of Blessed Devasahayam Pillai, the first Indian lay martyr to be beatified.
He is the first Indian martyr, the first Tamil saint, the first Indian layman [to be canonized]…
Devasahayam, whose Christian name means Lazarus in Tamil, grew up in an affluent family. By his early 30s, he had been a soldier, an officer in the court of the Kingdom of Travancore, and in charge of the King’s treasury. Bl. Devasahayam connected with the meaning of suffering in the Book of Job. He took the name Devasahayam, Tamil for the Biblical name Lazarus, meaning, ‘God has helped.’ Banished to the forest of Aralvaimozhi for sharing the Good News, he prayed to God and hit a rock with his elbow, which miraculously gave water to quench his thirst. Even today, people drink this water of the Muttidichan Parai ‘rock from which the water now gushes forth’ to receive God’s healing. When Neelakanta Pillai was baptised a catholic in 1745, at the age of 32, he attended Church, frequented the sacraments, evangelized others, and spoke against injustice.
Devasahayam was not a mediocre Catholic, but gave 100% to living the faith and proclaiming Christ.
Devasahayam knowingly left behind the comfort of his wealthy, high- caste Hindu family for almost certain persecution and death.
Fr. Harris Pakkam, the director of the Salesian News Agency (ANS), explained that it was only four years later that Pillai, who took the Christian name Devasahayam at Baptism, did experience arrest, imprisonment, humiliation, torture, and eventually death.
Fr. Harris Pakkam, the director of the Salesian News Agency (ANS), explained that it was only four years later that Pillai, who took the Christian name Devasahayam at Baptism, did experience arrest, imprisonment, humiliation, torture, and eventually death.
“How to live this holiness even in your ordinary family life — this man shows it,” Pakkam said. “He has first evangelized his family, then his friends.. his colleagues. And this is what this saint is asking us: How much are you sharing Christ with the people around you?”
“St.Devashayam discovered an incomparable joy and became a brilliant reflection of the Lord of history. For that is what a saint is: a luminous reflection of the Lord of history.” – Pope Francis.
Sherida D’Souza