St. Devasahayam
Channel: tribaldarshan
Date: 2022-05-14

St. Devasahayam Pillai
India gets its first lay saint in the person of Devasahayam Pillai. He was a Malayalee, born Neelakanta Pillai in a Hindu Nair family, at Nattalam in Kanyakumari district, which was part of erstwhile Travancore kingdom, on 23 April, 1712. His father was Vasudevan Namboodiri, a temple priest. His mother’s name was Devaki Amma. 
He became a court official in King Marthanda Varma’s royal court. While in the service of the court, he came under the influence of East India Company’s naval captain Eustachio De Lannoy. Lannoy’s Christian faith interested Devasahayam who sought instruction in Christian faith from Lannoy. Lannoy instructed him accordingly. Neelakanta felt a call to follow Jesus. He received baptism from a Jesuit priest in 1745. 
He was arrested by the royal police in 1749 and was asked to renounce his new faith. He refused the order and was subjected to much torture for three years. He was shot dead on 14 January 1752. Devasahayam Pillai is buried in the Cathedral of St. Francis Xavier at Kottar in Nagercoil.  
Devasahayam Pillai was declared a Martyr and Blessed on 2 December 2012. On 21 February 2020 Pope Francis recognized a miracle attributed to the intercession of Devasahayam, clearing his way to canonization (sainthood).  His Canonization date is 15 May, 2022.