Life of St. Devasahayam | In 4 Minutes | NISCORT Production
Channel: NISCORT PRODUCTION
Date: 2022-05-28

The True disciple of Jesus, a symbol of faith and fraternity, an unforgettable person in Indian Church history is none other than st. Devasahayam. He became the first Indian layman to be declared a saint by the Vatican on 15th May 2022. Pope Francis canonised Blessed Devasahayam during the Canonisation Mass in St Peter’s Basilica, which was attended by over 50,000 faithful from all over the world.

Devasahayam was born on April 23, 1712 in Nattalam village in Kanyakumari district, and went on to serve in the court of Marthanda Varma of Travancore. His parents are Vasudevan Namboodiri and Devaki Amma. He was very well trained in different art forms and he had the knowledge of literature and languages.  He began his career in the royal palace of King Marathanda Varma as a treasurer and came in close contact with several Dutch officials at the palace. After meeting a Dutch naval commander, De Lannoy, Devasahayam was baptised in 1745, and assumed the name ‘Lazarus’, meaning ‘God is my help’.

His conversion, however, was considered “an act of treason and a danger to the stability of the kingdom”. But Devasahayam received the sacraments regularly, and “ate with people of lower caste than himself and of very humble status. While preaching, he particularly insisted on the equality of all people, despite caste differences. This aroused the hatred of the higher classes, and he was arrested in 1749. He was treated like a criminal. He was intentionally marched through populated areas, sitting backward on top of a buffalo. As a method of torture, he was beaten every day with eighty stripes, pepper rubbed in his wounds and nostrils, exposed to the sun, and given only stagnant water to drink. 

According to religious lore, Devasahayam was dragged from one village to another in the last seven months before his death. While halting at Puliyoorkurichi, not far away from the Padmanabhapuram Palace of the Travancore king, it is believed by Christians that God quenched his thirst by letting water gush through a small hole on a rock, on the very place where he knelt to pray. The water hole is still found in the compound of a church at Puliyoorkurichi, about 15 km from Nagercoil. He was also tied up on a neem tree in the village of Peruvilai while being marched to Aralvaimozhy. It is believed that he cured illnesses of sick people in the village and around.

After enduring increasing hardships, he received the crown of martyrdom when he was shot on 14 January 1752. His body was then carelessly thrown out near the foothills at Kattadimalai. It is said that local Christians collected his remains after five days of his death and buried it in the present-day Cathedral of Saint Francis in Kottar, Nagercoil. From that day on, Devasahayam has been considered a martyr.

Saint Devasahayam stood for equality and fought against casteism and communalism. His sainthood comes at a time when India is facing a surge in casteism and communalism. His life is a great impetus for all who work for fraternity.

#devasahayam
#LifeOfStDevasahayam
#NiscortProduction