Mary Celine Payyappilly was a Syrian Catholic (Syro-Malabar) nun from the

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

n state of

Kerala Kerala ( ; ) is a state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile regions of Cochin, Malabar, South ...

. She was declared as Servant of God by Mar George Cardinal Alencherry,

Major Archbishop In the Eastern Catholic Churches, major archbishop (sometimes also styled as major archeparch) is a title for the chief hierarch of an autonomous ('' sui juris'') particular Church that has not been "endowed with the patriarchal title". Major ar ...

of the Syro-Malabar Catholic Church on 9 April 2018.

Family

Mary Celine Payyappilly was born as Annakkutty Payyappilly on 10 December 1906 at Mallusserry to Payyappilly Ousep and Kochumariam. Payyappilly is an ancient Nasrani family in India believed to be baptized by

Thomas the Apostle Thomas the Apostle ( arc, 𐡀𐡌𐡅𐡕𐡌, hbo, תוֹמא הקדוש or תוֹמָא שליחא (''Toma HaKadosh'' "Thomas the Holy" or ''Toma Shlikha'' "Thomas the Messenger/Apostle" in Hebrew-Aramaic), syc, ܬܐܘܡܐ, , meaning "twi ...

in Kottakkavu,

North Paravur North Paravur. formerly known as Paravur or Parur, is a municipality and suburb in Ernakulam district in the Indian state of Kerala. It is a northern suburb of the city of Kochi and is situated around 20 km from the city centre. It is ...

in the first century. The word Payyappilly, translated as "beautiful building" or "beautiful house", is derived from the

Syriac Syriac may refer to: *Syriac language, an ancient dialect of Middle Aramaic *Sureth, one of the modern dialects of Syriac spoken in the Nineveh Plains region * Syriac alphabet ** Syriac (Unicode block) ** Syriac Supplement * Neo-Aramaic languages a ...

ܦܐܝܐ ''Payya'' "beautiful, radiant" and the

Malayalam Malayalam (; , ) is a Dravidian languages, Dravidian language spoken in the Indian state of Kerala and the union territories of Lakshadweep and Puducherry (union territory), Puducherry (Mahé district) by the Malayali people. It is one of 2 ...

word പിള്ളി ''Pilly'', a variant of പള്ളി ''Pally'', "church, building". Her forefather Vareed Payyappilly migrated from Paravur to Mallusserry and settled at Thattaduparambu. Hence her family is also known as Thattad Payyappilly. Mary Celine Payyappilly is the second Servant of God from Payyappilly family; the first being Mar Varghese Payyappilly, whose forefather Cheria Payyappilly migrated from Paravur to Perumanoor and founded the Palakkappilly branch of Payyappilly family.

Life

Annakkutty Payyappilly had her schooling in the Government school at Vattapparambu and became a C.M.C. (Congregation of the Mother of Carmel) sister on 29 May 1928. Mary Celine Payyappilly started her career as a teacher at St. Joseph School, Karukutty. Later, she served as the headmistress of St. Augustine's High School, Muvattupuzha and B.T.S., Karukutty. She was elected as the Superior General of Ernakulam and Kothamangalam provinces of C.M.C. on 17 March 1963 and went on to become the first Superior General of the united C.M.C. congregation on 16 November 1963. In 1968, she was re-elected as Superior General and retired in 1974 after serving as Superior General for 11 years. It was she who built the Central House Generalate of the united C.M.C. at Thaikattukara, Aluva. She died on 23 April 1993 at Karukutty.

Cause

The Cause of the Beatification of Mary Celine Payyappilly was initiated on 9 April 2018 by Mar

George Alencherry George Alencherry ( syr, ܡܵܪܝ ܓܝܼܘܲܪܓܝܼܣ ܐܵܠܲܢܫܝܪܝ, Mar Giwargis Alencherry) is the Major Archbishop of the Syro-Malabar Catholic Church and also a cardinal of the Catholic Church. He was elected by the Holy Synod of the ...

of the

Syro-Malabar Church lat, Ecclesia Syrorum-Malabarensium mal, മലബാറിലെ സുറിയാനി സഭ , native_name_lang=, image = St. Thomas' Cross (Chennai, St. Thomas Mount).jpg , caption = The Mar Thoma Nasrani Sl ...

in the presence of the bishops Mar Sebastian Adayanthrath and Mar Jose Puthenveettil.Canonisation process of Mary Celine begins
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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Payyappilly, Mary Celine 1906 births 1993 deaths Syro-Malabar Catholics Christian clergy from Kochi People from Ernakulam district Indian Eastern Catholics Malayali people Eastern Catholic Servants of God 20th-century venerated Christians 20th-century Eastern Catholic nuns Women school principals and headteachers