Mariam Thresia Chiramel Mankidiyan

Mariam Thresia's project for community life took shape after several unsuccessful attempts to join existing communities. In 1913, Bishop John Menachery authorized her to establish a house of prayer with a few companions. On May 14, 1914, the Congregation of the Holy Family was officially erected, with Mariam Thresia as its first superior. The congregation's mission is centered on what she called the "family apostolate": the sisters visit the homes of the poor, the sick, the dying, and the marginalized, without distinction of caste or religion, to provide them with material and spiritual support. They founded convents, schools, student hostels, orphanages, and shelters, thus contributing to the social and educational development of the Thrissur region. Mariam Thresia showed a particular sensitivity for families in distress, childless couples, and people rejected by society. The congregation grew rapidly after her death and expanded to several provinces in Kerala, then to other Indian states such as Delhi, Punjab, and Bihar. This institution remains vibrant in the 21st century, faithful to the founding intuition of centering apostolic service on the family unit.

From childhood, Mariam Thresia distinguished herself through exceptional ascetic practices: severe fasting, nocturnal vigils, and prolonged prayer. Her spiritual life was characterized by mystical phenomena attested to by her contemporaries and examined by ecclesiastical authorities: visions, ecstasies, levitations, and an odor of sweetness. She received the stigmata for the first time in 1905; these became more manifest starting on January 27, 1909, but she concealed them with care to avoid any notoriety. From 1902 to 1905, she underwent what her ecclesiastical superiors described as diabolical attacks; they ordered exorcisms under episcopal direction, ultimately concluding the authenticity of her spiritual path. Her charity was exercised without discrimination: she visited and cared for lepers, smallpox patients, orphans, and dying persons of all faiths. The decree of heroic virtues, promulgated on June 28, 1999, recognized in her an ardent love of God from childhood, a profound charity towards the poorest, exemplary humility and obedience towards ecclesiastical authority, as well as an apostolic zeal for the return of sinners to God. Her spirituality is rooted in devotion to the Holy Family of Nazareth, a model she proposed to the Christian families of Kerala.

The cause for the beatification of Mariam Thresia led to the official recognition of her heroic virtues by the decree of June 28, 1999. The miracle accepted for her beatification concerns the healing of Mathew D. Pellissery, born in 1956 with severe congenital clubfeet. At fourteen years old, after thirty-three days of fasting and prayer through her intercession, his right foot was miraculously straightened on the night of August 21, 1970; his left foot was healed in the same way on August 28, 1971, after thirty-nine additional days of family prayer. Nine doctors declared this healing medically inexplicable. The miracle was officially recognized on January 27, 2000. Pope John Paul II proceeded with the beatification of Mariam Thresia on April 9, 2000, in Saint Peter's Square in Rome. For the canonization, the second recognized miracle concerns Christopher Jolly, a premature infant born in 2009 at Amala Hospital in Thrissur in critical condition. After his family prayed at the tomb of Mariam Thresia, the child recovered his health in a way deemed inexplicable by doctors. This miracle was validated by the pontifical medical board in March 2018, then by the theologians in October 2018; Pope Francis approved it on February 12, 2019. The canonization was celebrated on October 13, 2019, on the feast of Our Lady of the Rosary, in Saint Peter's Square. The liturgical feast of Saint Mariam Thresia is set for June 8, the anniversary of her death.

The canonization of Mariam Thresia Chiramel Mankidiyan, which took place on October 13, 2019, makes her one of the first saints of Indian origin recognized by the Catholic Church in the modern era, alongside Saint Alphonsa Muttathupadathu, who was canonized in 2008. Her shrine in Puthenchira, the place of her birth, has become an important pilgrimage site for the faithful from all over India, particularly from Kerala. Families in difficulty and couples desiring a child invoke her particularly. The Congregation of the Holy Family, which she founded in 1914, now has several provinces in India and continues the apostolic family mission initiated by its founder. The spiritual legacy of Mariam Thresia lies in her conception of the family apostolate as an instrument of evangelization and social service, a prophetic intuition that finds a renewed echo in the family pastoral care of the contemporary Church. She is venerated in the Catholic communities of the Syro-Malabar, Syriac, and Latin rites. Her feast is celebrated on June 8 in the universal liturgical calendar, and on April 26 in the Saint Mary's Forane Church of Puthenchira, the place of her birth.