The journey of Devasahayam Pillai, India’s first layman to be declared a saint by Vatican

Catholics in India rejoiced on Sunday after Pope Francis canonised Tamil Nadu’s Devasahayam Pillai, or ‘Blessed Lazarus’. With this, Pillai has become the first Indian layman to be declared a saint by the Vatican.

On Sunday, Pope Francis created 10 new saints during the canonisation Mass in St Peter’s Basilica, which was attended by more than 45,000 people, including cardinals and bishops from across the world.

Here’s a better understanding of who Devasahayam Pillai was and his road to sainthood.

Life of Devasahayam Pillai

Devasahayam was born on 23 April 1712, as Neelakanta Pillai into a Hindu upper-caste family, at Nattalam in Kanyakumari district, which was part of the erstwhile Travancore kingdom.

He was an official in the court of Travancore’s Maharaja Marthanda Varma. It was during his service in the court that he met Captain De Lannoy, a Dutch naval officer and was introduced to Christianity.

Inspired by the teachings of Jesus Christ, he was baptised in 1745 and assumed the name of ‘Lazarus’ or ‘Devasahayam’, meaning ‘God is my Help’.

History records that the Travancore Maharaja was furious about his conversion and shot him dead at Aralvaimozhy forest on 14 January 1752.

A Vatican note on him in February 2020 had read, “His conversion did not go well with the heads of his native religion. False charges of treason and espionage were brought against him and he was divested of his post in the royal administration.”

His mortal remains were interred near the altar inside St Xavier’s Church, Kottar, Nagercoil, which is now the diocesan Cathedral.

Becoming a saint

Devasahayam was recommended for the process of Beatification by the Vatican in 2004, at the request of the Kottar diocese, Tamil Nadu Bishops’ Council and the Conference of Catholic Bishops of India.

In 2014, a miracle attributed to Devasahayam was recognised by Pope Francis, paving the path to his sainthood.

According to website CatholicSaints.info, “The miracle involved a 24-week foetus who stopped moving and whose heart stopped beating in India in 2013; the mother, who was Catholic and had a devotion to Blessed Lazarus, began praying for his intercession for the baby; within an hour, she felt the baby kicking, tests showed that the heart beat had resumed, and the infant was later born with no complications.”

In February 2020, he was approved for sainthood and it was announced that his canonisation would take place on 15 May 2022.

Pillai’s teachings

While preaching, he particularly insisted on the equality of all people, despite caste differences.

It is believed that Devasahayam always fought against casteism and communalism and stood for equality and what is right.

According to church chroniclers, this was one of the contributing reasons for the Brahmin chief priest of the kingdom, the feudal lords, members of the royal household and the Nair community to be upset with him and hence, brought false charges against him.

Celebrations in Tamil Nadu and Kerala

Pope Francis’ canonisation of Devasahayam was celebrated in some Latin Catholic churches in the southern States of India – Kerala and Tamil Nadu.

In Kattadimalai in Kanyakumari district of Tamil Nadu, special prayers and celebrations were held and attended by hundreds of people.

Similar special prayers were also held at the St Joseph’s Latin Catholic Cathedral in Thiruvananthapuram.

Catholic Bishop Conference of India (CBCI) laity secretary, VC Sebastian told IANS that the “conferment of sainthood to Devasahayam Pillai will rejuvenate the Christian community in the country, in particular the Catholic laity. The elevation of a layman as a saint or canonisation of a common man has immense relevance to the present times.”

With inputs from agencies

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