Postal stamp on Saint Alphonsa released

New Delhi, Nov 16 (IANS) A postal stamp on Saint Alphonsa, India's first woman saint, was released at a convention of the Syro Malabar Church here Sunday.

Chief Post Master General (Delhi) P.K. Gopinath released the Rs.15 stamp and handed it over to Supreme Court Judge Cyriac Joseph, a church official said.

Bishops of different diocese in Kerala and Delhi, led by Thrissur Archbishop Andrews Thazhathu, attended the ceremony.

The central government has also decided to release a coin honouring Saint Alphonsa.

Saint Alphonsa was canonised Oct 12 by Pope Benedict XVI at a ceremony at St. Peter's Square, Vatican.

Alphonsa was born in Kudamaloor, a village near Kottayam, to Joseph and Mary Aug 19, 1910.

Having lost her mother at a very young age, she was brought up by her maternal aunt and educated by an uncle who was a priest. She faced several health problems, which eventually claimed her life on July 28, 1946.

On Dec 2, 1953, Eugene-Gabriel-Gervais-Laurent Cardinal Tisserant inaugurated the diocesan process for her beatification and Alphonsa was declared a 'Servant of God'. On July 9, 1985, she received the title Venerable Sister Alphonsa.

She was beatified Feb 8, 1986, by Pope John II.