Kochi: Mother Eliswa, the first nun of the Kerala Church and the foundress of the Third Order of the Discalced Carmelites (TOCD), will be elevated to the status of ‘Blessed’ on November 8.

The announcement will be made by Cardinal Sebastian Francis, the Bishop of Penang diocese in Malaysia, at a beatification ceremony to be held at the National Marian Pilgrimage Centre, the Basilica of Our Lady of Ransom, Vallarpadom in Kochi at 4.30 pm. Cardinal Francis will serve as the Papal Delegate, officially representing Pope Leo XIV for the occasion.

The Apostolic Nuncio and representative of the Pope in India, Archbishop Leopoldo Girelli, Cardinal Oswald Gracias, and the Archbishop of Verapoly, Joseph Kalathiparambil, will officiate various ceremonies. Following this, the relic of Mother Eliswa will be installed on the altar. 

The Novena of Mother Eliswa will be released by the Catholic Bishops' Conference of India (CBCI) President Archbishop Mar Andrews Thazhath. The Souvenir will be released by Kerala Region Latin Catholic Bishops Council (KRLCBC) President Archbishop Varghese Chakkalakkal. The Coffee Table Book will be handed over to CTC Superior General Mother Shaheela by Archbishop Joseph Kalathiparambil. This will be followed by the presentation of the musical depiction, 'Eliswa Charitham', which narrates the story of Mother Eliswa. 

Preparatory observances will precede the main ceremony. Starting at 1.30 pm, three devotional processions organised by the Kerala Latin Catholic Association (KLCA) and Kerala Catholic Youth Movement (KCYM) of the Verapoly Archdiocese will begin from different locations and converge at the Basilica by 3.30 pm. These include a portrait procession from St Philomena’s Church, Koonammavu, a logo procession from Smrithi Mandir, St Joseph’s Convent, Varapuzha, and a Deepashikha (flame) procession from Kurisingal Church, Ochanthuruth. 

With the beatification, Mother Eliswa will be formally recognised for veneration within the local church. Her image and relics may now be enshrined, and her feast celebrated by the Archdiocese of Verapoly and the CTC. 

Her eventual canonisation as a Saint, however, requires one further miracle attributed to her intercession to be verified and approved by the Holy See, which is the administrative government of the Catholic Church worldwide.