Context
Devasahayam Pillai, an 18th-century Hindu convert to Christianity, would be the first Indian layman (a non-ordained member of the Church) to be made a saint.
About Devasahayam Pillai
- He was born on 23rd April 1712 in the village of Nattalam in Tamil Nadu’s Kanyakumari District.
- Known as Nilakanda Pillai before embracing Christianity, he grew up in an upper-caste family of temple priests.
- Devasahayam Pillai is the first Indian layman to be declared a saint. He is to be declared a saint by the Vatican in May 2022.
- He went on to serve in the court of Travancore’s Maharaja Marthanda Varma. It was here that he met a Dutch naval commander, who taught him about the Catholic faith.
- He became a Catholic in 1745. Pillai took the Christian name Lazarus but later came to be known as Devasahayam (God’s help).
- Lazarus means “God is my help”.
- He then faced the wrath of the Travancore state, which was against his conversion.
- He faced harsh persecution and imprisonment during the 18th century when he decided to convert to Christianity.
- On 14th January 1752, just seven years after he became a Catholic, Devasahayam was shot dead in the Aralvaimozhy forest.
- Since then, he has widely been considered a martyr by the Catholic community in South India.
- His body is at Saint Francis Xavier Cathedral in the Diocese of Kottar (Tamil Nadu).
- The Church is of the view that his preaching of equality of all people despite caste differences eventually led to his martyrdom.
- He was first approved for sainthood in February 2020 for “enduring increasing hardships” after he decided to embrace Christianity.
