Pope Francis has approved the beatification of Mother Eliswa of the Blessed Virgin Mary, founder of the Teresian Carmelite Sisters and one of India’s pioneering women religious, after recognizing a miracle attributed to her intercession.
The decree, authorized during an audience with Cardinal Marcello Semeraro, prefect of the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints, marks a significant step toward sainthood for the 19th-century nun from Kerala.
Born Eliswa Vakayil in 1831 in Ochanthuruth, Ernakulam district, she devoted her life to prayer, service, and the empowerment of women following the death of her husband in 1852.
Led by Italian Carmelite Fr. Leopoldo Beccaro, she founded in 1862 the Third Order of Discalced Carmelite Nuns (TODC), later known as the Teresian Carmelite Sisters.
The congregation integrated a life of contemplation with active engagement in education, particularly for poor and orphaned girls.
Initially comprising women from both the Latin and Syro-Malabar rites, the order eventually branched into two congregations: the Teresian Carmelite Nuns (CTC) of the Latin rite and the Mother of Carmel (CMC) of the Syro-Malabar rite.
Mother Eliswa spent her final 23 years in Varapuzha, where she established a Latin rite convent and continued her mission until her death in 1913.
“With her activity,” wrote the Dicastery, “she contributed to the human and intellectual promotion of women in the complex social and religious context of India between the 19th and 20th centuries.”
The miracle attributed to her intercession involved the healing of a baby girl diagnosed with a cleft lip during the 34th week of pregnancy in 2005 at Lourdes Hospital in Ernakulam.
After prayers through Mother Eliswa’s intercession, the child was born healthy via caesarean section.
