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Introduction

blesseddevasahayampillai

Bᴏʀɴ : 

23 April 1712 Palliyadi, Nattalam, Kanyakumari District, Kingdom of Travancore.

Dɪᴇᴅ : 

14 January 1752 (39 Yrs) Aralvaimozhy,  Kingdom of Travancore.

Hᴏɴᴏᴜʀᴇᴅ Iɴ :

Catholic Church Latin Rite

Bᴇᴀᴛɪꜰɪᴇᴅ Iɴ : 

2 December 2012,  St. Xavier's Church,  Kottar, Tamil Nadu 

by Angelo Amato  (On behalf of Benedict XVI)

Fᴇᴀsᴛ Dᴀʏ : 14 January

Mᴀᴊᴏʀ Sʜʀɪɴᴇ : Cathedral of St. Francis Xavier

Aᴛᴛʀɪʙᴜᴛᴇs : Tied up in chains, Praying on knees before execution

Also known as

Neelakandan

Neelam

Nilakandan

Nilam

Blessed Devasahayam Pillai (1712–1752), born Neelakanta Pillai in southern India, is a beatified layman of the Latin Catholic church. Born into a Hindu family in the 18th century, he converted to Christianity and is considered a martyr of the Christian faith. Pillai was an official in the court of the king of Travancore, Maharaja Marthanda Varma, when he came under the influence of Dutch naval commander, Captain Eustachius De Lannoy, who instructed him in the Catholic faith. He is believed to have been killed by the then Travancore state for upholding his Christian faith.

In 2004, at the request of the diocese of Kottar, Tamil Nadu Bishops' Council (TNBC) and the Catholic Bishops' Conference of India (CBCI) recommended Devasahayam Pillai for the process of beatification to the Vatican. Some Hindu groups objected to this initiative on the grounds that there was no evidence of religious persecution in Travancore during that period, and that Pillai was executed for sedition. However, documents dating back to the period of Devasahayam Pillai show that conversion of court officials to Christianity was not tolerated.

On June 28, 2012, Pope Benedict XVI authorized the Congregation for the Causes of Saints to promulgate a decree regarding the martyrdom of Devasahayam Pillai and he was referred to as "Venerable".

On 2 December 2012, a ceremony of beatification and declaration of martyrdom was held in Nagercoil, in the Roman Catholic diocese of Kottar in Southern India, presided over by Angelo Cardinal Amato, Prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, acting as papal delegate. Devasahayam Pillai is the first layman to be elevated to the rank of "Blessed" in India (the step preceding raising a person to Sainthood under the Canon Law of the Catholic Church).

A brief biography

By Verghese V Joseph, January 13, 2019 Team ICM Best of ICM, Faith-Spirituality, indiancatholicmatters.org

January 14th is the feast day of Blessed Devasahayam Pillai, the first Indian lay martyr to be beatified.

Popularly known as Devasahayam Pillai (God’s help), he was born Nilakandan Pillai (1712-1752) into a Hindu family in the then Kingdom of Travancore (in the present district of Kanyakumari, in Tamil Nadu) southern India.

Pillai, an upper-caste Hindu nair convert to Christianity, was a member of the royal service and was close to King Marthanda Varma, then-ruler of Travancore. He was very much loved by the king and was a good man who was faithful to his duty. However, after several bad harvests, he lost his goods. This devastated him and who wondered: “Who will respect me now that I’m poor?” Nilakandan shared his worries with a devout Catholic, a Dutch official by the name of Benedictus Eustachio De Lannoy who explained to him the meaning of suffering in the light of the Book of Job. For Nilakandan, Job’s example and his trust in God was decisive. Convinced of the truth of the Christian mysteries, Nilakandan asked for Baptism which he received in 1745 from the hands of Father Giovanni Battista Buttari, a Jesuit missionary, after nine months of preparation. He took the name Devasahayam, the Tamil translation of the biblical name Lazarus, which means “God has helped.”

On the day of his Baptism, Devasahayam dedicated himself solemnly to Christ: “No one [forced] me to come; I came by my own free will. I know my heart: He is my God. I have decided to follow Him and will do so my whole life.” His life was no longer the same; Devasahayam dedicated himself to the proclamation of the Gospel for four years.

However, the heads of his native religion did not look kindly on his conversion to Christianity. He was threatened, beaten, mistreated, imprisoned and tortured uninterruptedly for three years. Despite his sufferings, Devasahayam remained firm in his faith. His wife, Bhargavi Ammal too became Catholic and she took the name Gnanapoo Ammal (Theresa). Their conversion antagonized upper-caste Hindus and King commanded Pillai to reconvert to Hinduism but he refused.

Noticing that his example caused many to do the same, the king ordered his arrest in 1749, charging him with treason and espionage. He was imprisoned, tortured and finally banished to the Aralvaimozhy forest, a remote border area of Travancore. According to Church documents, en route to the forest, he was beaten daily, pepper was rubbed in his wounds and nostrils and he was exposed to the sun and given only stagnant water to drink. He prayed to God weeping, and hit the rock with his elbow, which gave forth water in a miraculous way he could drink.  This rock continues even today to give water and even now people visit this fountain in large numbers. Today people drink this miraculous water and receive God’s healing. This rock is called Muttidichanparai meaning the rock from which water gushed forth.

He was a Catholic for only seven years. In that short period, he was in prison for three years under severe persecution for witnessing his faith. Finally, he was shot dead in the Aralvaimozhy forest on January 14, 1752. His corpse was thrown into the forest, but was found by some Christians who buried him in front of the altar of the church of Saint Francis Xavier, which would later become the cathedral of the diocese of Kottar.

Very soon Devasahayam was venerated in the region. His beatification was already desired in 1756, but it was only in 1993 that his cause was opened canonically in the diocese. Soon a ceremony of beatification and declaration of martyrdom was held in Nagercoil on 2 December 2012 in the Roman Catholic diocese of Kottar, southern India, exactly 300 years after his birth! Prior to this, on June 28, 2012, the then Pope Benedict XVI authorized the Congregation for the Causes of Saints to promulgate a decree regarding the martyrdom of Devasahayam Pillai and he was referred to as “Venerable”.

Pillai’s tomb at St. Francis Xavier Cathedral in Nagercoil attracts large numbers of devotees. His life teaches how to witness our faith. While undergoing severe persecution, he never complained or was deterred. The spirit of evangelism was strong in him. 

Towards sainthood

2021

Nov 11, 2021: The Times of India

Devasahayam Pillai, a Hindu converted to Christianity in the 18th century, will become the first Indian layman to be conferred sainthood.

Pope Francis will canonize Blessed Devasahayam Pillai, together with six other Blesseds, during a Canonization Mass in St Peter’s Basilica in Vatican on May 15, 2022, Church officials said. The announcement was made by the Congregation for the Causes of Saints in the Vatican.

With the completion of the process, Pillai, who took the name “Lazarus” after embracing Christianity in 1745, will become the first lay person from India to become a saint, the church said.

“Lazarus” or “Devasahayam” in the local language, meaning “God is my help”.

“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. After enduring increasing hardships, he received the crown of martyrdom when he was shot on 14 January 1752”, a note prepared by the Vatican said.

Sites linked with his life and martyrdom are in Kottar Diocese, in Kanyakumari district of Tamil Nadu. Devasahayam was declared Blessed on December 2, 2012, in Kottar, 300 years after his birth. PTI