Eliswa Vakayil

In 1862, Eliswa met Father Leopoldo Beccaro, an Italian Discalced Carmelite missionary who discerned her vocation. Her daughter Anna and her younger sister Thresia joined her. On February 12, 1866, Msgr. Bernardine Baccinelli signed the decree for the erection of the new community. The following day, they settled into their bamboo convent in Koonammavu, founding the Third Order of Discalced Carmelites (TOCD), the first indigenous female religious congregation in Kerala. In 1868, she founded the first convent school, a boarding school, and an orphanage for girls in Kerala. Later, the community split into two branches: the Carmelite Teresian Congregation (CTC) and the Congregation of the Mother of Carmel (CMC). Mother Eliswa spent her final years at the Saint Joseph convent in Varapuzha, where she died on July 18, 1913.

The reputation of holiness of Mother Eliswa Vakayil has been maintained well after her death. The diocesan process for her beatification was officially opened in the Archdiocese of Verapoly. On March 6, 2008, she was declared a Servant of God by the Archbishop of Verapoly, Mgr. Daniel Acharuparambil. After the examination of her heroic virtues by the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, Pope Francis signed the decree recognizing the heroism of her virtues on November 8, 2023, thus conferring upon her the title of Venerable.

The path to beatification is sealed by the recognition of a miracle attributed to her intercession, which occurred in 2005 at the Lourdes Hospital in Ernakulam, concerning the unexplained healing of a fetus diagnosed with a cleft lip and palate. On April 14, 2025, Pope Francis authorized the promulgation of the decree recognizing this miracle. The solemn ceremony of beatification took place on November 8, 2025, at the National Shrine Basilica of Our Lady of Ransom in Vallarpadam, Kochi. The celebration was presided over by Cardinal Sebastian Francis, acting as the papal delegate of the new Pope Leo XIV.

The spirituality of Mother Eliswa Vakayil rests on an intimate union with God through contemplative prayer, inspired by the tradition of the Teresian Carmel, combined with concrete and compassionate action toward the most destitute. Her legacy is immense: as a pioneer of women's religious life in Kerala, she paved the way for thousands of consecrated women. Today, the Congregation of the Teresian Carmelites (CTC) has more than 1,500 members spread across more than 200 convents throughout the world, continuing her work of education and emancipation.