Kerala nun Sister Alphonsa to become saint

• Vatican will announce full sainthood to Sister Alphonsa of Bharananganam, Kerala, on October 12 2008, the cradle of Christianity in the country has earned the distinction of producing the first completely "Indian" saint who also happens to be a woman.

• Sister Alphonsa's beatification — recognition by Church of a dead person's accession to heaven — was ordained by Pope John Paul II during his visit to Kerala in February 1986.
• (Pic)Sister Alphonsa
  
• The miracle was the healing of a one-year-old boy, Jinil, who could not walk because of a disability. Jinil began walking the very day his parents took him to the Sister's tomb for prayers. Sister Alphonsa will be the second Christian saint from India after Gonsalo Garcia and the first woman. Garcia, who was canonized in 1862, was partly Indian. He was from Vasai, near Mumbai, and is believed to have been crucified .

• Sister Alphonsa's tomb at Palai in Kottayam is a famous Christian pilgrimage and draws thousands of faithful.