Martyr Devasahayam [Lazarus] was a True and Staunch Roman Catholic Believer and His Canonisation Will be Held on 15th May 2022, at Saint Peter's Square, Vatican City by His Holiness Pope Francis . Part Final

DeLanoy and Mr Neelakandan's [Devasahayam ]Spiritual Regeneration .  : As a friend  Neelakandan used to discuss every matter with his trusted friend  Delanoy. and their friendship was growing day by day. . During that period of time Neelakandan's  agricultural income was greatly affected due to bad weather, consistent  hot Sun, drought etc .  This economic loss affected Neelakandon so much  and so, with great grief he met Benedictus De Lanoy [ Delanoy's full name] and Neelakandan's  face  looked melancholic and .Neelakandan narrated to DeLanoy about the economic losses and distress he had lately been put to., Church Historian C.M. Agur writes " De Lanoy discoursed seriously on the uncertainty of earthly riches and the vanity of all sublunary pleasures and urged on him to put his trust in God and secure eternal life. He also narrated the history of Job .In rapt attention Neelacunda Pillay listened to the story and his burdened mind felt great relief. This occurrence drew them into similar conversation day after day until Neelacunda Pillay was converted to the Christian faith and expressed his desire to receive Baptism and partake of Sacraments " [ C.M. Agur, Church History of Travancore , 1903, pp. 280  and 281 ] 

                                                     

                                                    Martyr Devasahayam [  Lazarus ]

Neelakandan was Baptised by Fr. Battari    :  Delanoy was highly pleased at the desire of his friend Neelakandan to take baptism and DeLanoy sent Neelakandan to the Catholic Parish Priest at Vadakkankulam in Tiruvelveli  district Rev. Fr. R. Battari Italus . S.J. with  a note  But Fr. Battari  hesitated to baptise Neelakandan until he received more information and particulars about Neelakandan . Observing the delay that Fr Battari was making , Neelakandan said , " There is no cause for delay, This is no compulsory baptism . I came here to receive the sacraments not by force but by my own free will and desire . I shall even give my life to maintain the Truth of which I received the light of which  I am convinced " [ C.M.Agur , CHT, p. 281].   After hearing Neelakandan's firm  assertion and declaration, Rev. Fr. Battari taught Neelakandan the Creed, the Commandments and some prayers etc, for 9 months  and baptised Neelakandan changing Neelakandan's name as Devasagayam [ God's help]  Though the native Christians of Travancore and South India to the present day generally call him Devasagayam Pillay his real baptismal name was Lazarus  Lazarus means God's help , in Tamil it means Devasahayam 

Devasahayam's Baptism News Became Public  :  From the day of his baptism , Devasahyam  advanced in  piety and grew to be an excellent Christian , endeavouring to preach the Gospel to others and to convert them.  Devasahayam hated  the practice of  caste discrimination and valued the  dignity of all  Human-beings. . . Devasahayam loved  God and  respected  his fellow human-beings.  The  news that Neelakandan  Pillay had renounced the Hindu religion of his fathers and had become a Christian under a new name, Devasagaym. spread quickly among the people. . Many of his community members and Government  officers who worked in Maharaja's  palace started to hate Neelakandan Pillay on account of his conversion to Christianity.. Finally he earned  the displeasure of the then Dewan of Travancore  on account of a letter written by Neelakandan for permission to fell some teak trees for the  construction of a big catholic church at Vadakankulam . On seeing this letter the Dewan abused Neelakandan Pillay and warned him  with  threatening words . The Dewan reported this matter to Marthanda Varma Maharaja and animadverted against the stand and conduct of Devasahayam and on hearing this the Maharaja became very angry and  commanded Devasahayam to be produced before him at once. Raja Marthanda Varma  ordered that Devasahayam should be fettered and sent to the prison and it was done so 

Devasahayam Tolerated all the Tortures for the cause of  his Christian faith  : Maha  Raja was not satisfied with this punishment  and so the next morning  he ordered that a garland of the shrub gigantea { Erulalai in Tamil ] must be put  around  Devasahayam's neck and he must be led to a jungle and be beheaded there . But this order was again cancelled .  But Devashayam with Christ like patience bore all these tortures. At last his enemies mounted him on a buffalo and led him from village to village and battered him with canes,  stuffed Chilli powder into his mouth, nostrils and eyes and made him to stand in the burning sun  and he was given dirty water to quench his thirst.[[1] C.M.  Agur ,Ibid  p.p. 283 & 284 ,[2] Kumari Aathavn , Opcit, pp  114 to 117 and [3] Amalagiri Anthony Muthu and Amalagiri Ezhil, opcit , 2013, pp 96 &97] ].  C.M Agur writes that   "the Lord only sustained him [ Devasahayam ] and gave him the strength to be steadfast in his faith [ C.M.Agur CHT, , p. 284]. 

Devasahayam  Was Martyred at kathadimalai   :  Royal command was issued to take Devasahayam secretly to Kathadimalai near  Aralvaimozhi and there to be shot down .  During this time his relatives  and friends persuaded him and  tried every means in their power to make him to  apostatize the new faith embraced by him , but amidst all these  persecutions Devasahayam stood firm and undaunted .  Devasahayam  was led to the appointed place  by the Sepoys  in a cruel manner. The Sepoys fired at Devasahayam three  plus one more time, the noble Devasahaym fell down crying ,' Lord Jesus save me " and died on 14th January 1752, at Kathadimalai. Devasahayam's body was carelessly thrown away near the foot of the hill . After some days from the martyrdom of Devasahayam , some Christians came forward and carried the  Martyr Devasahayam's  revered bones and interred them in front of the high altar of St. Xavier's Church at Kottar .A small church has since been erected at the place where Devasahayam was martyred . There is a fountain in the rock near the church at Kathadimalai and the current story about the fountain is that when Devasahayam was taken to the hill by the Sepoys and when he was panting for water , he [ Devasahayam ] in utter anguish rested his elbow on the rock and from that part of the rock  water jutted out to quench the thirst of Devasahayam . It must be noted that after his baptism Devasahayam amidst all such trial continued to live seven more years as a pious, zealous,and noble Christian and was 40 years old when he was martyred 

Conclusion   :   Martyr Devasahayam did many miracles during his life time and after his death.  And on the basis of these miracle in 1986 Bishop Rt Rev Arockiaswamy took the necessary  initiative  for the canonisation of martyr Devasahayam . In 2003 Bishop Rt Rev Leon Dharmaraj sent the relevant Application to Rome for the same. Following this Bishop Rt Rev Peter Remigius  sent all the necessary documents to Rome for the beautification of Devasahayam with Martyr title, As a result of these efforts Devasahayam was declared as Martyr Devasahayam on 28th June 2012. In 2016 the Kottar Catholic Diocese sent all the necessary supporting documents to Rome for the Canonisation of martyr Devasahayam    It would be useful to get  some idea about the name changing history of Martyr Devasahayam . Fr. Rev Narcheesan while writing  the history of Devasahayam  in a quarterly "Martyr Devasahayam Pillay" as a series for 9 years and in his write-ups Fr Narcheesan  had mentioned the martyr's  name as Devasahayam only not as Devasahayam Pillai.  Bishop Rt Rev Leon Dharmaraj also has mentioned the name as Devasahayam without caste surname Pillai, in the 250th Year celebration Sovernir of Kottar Catholic Diocese. But Catholic Bishop Rt Rev Peter Remigius had written  and mentioned  Devasahayam as Devasahayam Pillai in his write-ups and correspondences and  we do not know the real reasons for the same. However as a  born-again baptised Christian and  Martyr, Devasahayam was above caste affiliations he was  a new creation in Christ and therefore it would not be correct to call Devasahayam as Devasahayam Pillai. More over  nobody has the right to change,  Devasahayam's baptised name in his absence  . Fortunately  Prof. Dr. S.. Lazarus and some others took needed initiative and had made timely representation to the current Pope Francis with proper supporting documents  through the current Catholic  Bishop of Kottar Diocese  Rt Rev Nazarene Soosai  to remove the caste name Pillai  from Davasahayam  and this request has been accepted by the Pope Francis.  . Prof Dr. S. Lazarus , Ph.D, D,Sc told me in person  that Martyr Devasahayam  will be canonised  on 15th May 2022 at Vatican City by His Holiness Pope Francis , as  St.Devasahayam  without his caste as surname.  .All the born again baptised  Christians are new Creations in Christ. and  therefore Christians in India should be disconnected and liberated  from  their original caste surnames. Martyr Devasahayam has become a shining, galvanising  and witnessing  Milestone in the Church History of India and World. I end this Article with the following simple sentence," I thank God for martyr Devasahayam ".

END 

By  P. Babu Manoharan , M.A, [ All rights are reserved . This Article will be  enlarged,  modified or corrected later if needed ]. 

 

 

Martyr Devasahayam [Lazarus] was a True and Staunch Roman Catholic Believer and His Canonisation Will be Held on 15th May ,2022 at Saint Peter's Square, Vatican City by His Holiness Pope Francis . Part . A.

Introduction   : Great Roman Catholic Believer and Martyr  Devasahayam was a true  Roman Catholic Believer and he was martyred at the Kathadimalai near Aralvaimozhi in Kanyakumari district  for the cause of Christian faith  on  the 14th  January 1752.  Until his conversion to the Catholic religious faith, Martyr Devasahayam  was called by his original name Mr Neelakandan Pillai .. Martyr Devasahayam counted all things worth nothing compared with the greatness of knowing Christ Jesus [ The  Incarnate Word of God ] Sri. Devasahayan carried his own cross for the cause of the cross of Jesus Christ and deservedly Martyr Devasahayam's canonisation is to be held  at the Vatican City, Rome by His Holiness  Pope Francis on the  15th May 2022.  This canonisation event  will open a new  thought provoking chapter in  Indian Church history .  

  

                     

                                                        Martyr Devasahayam [ Lazarus].

                His Parents and Birth :  There lies a beautiful village called Nattalam on the western side ot Padmanabhapuram , [ a former capital city of Travancore kingdom ] and in this village Ms Devaki [ sister of Mr Raman Pillai ] was living with her husband Mr Vasudevan Numboothiri and this couple gave birth to a male child on 23rd April 1712 and this couple christened their male child as Neelam and  later people started to call Neelam as Neelakandan ,  Nattalam was famous for  its  Aathikesaperumal temple and Nattalam Sivan Temple . Ms Devaki Vasudevan Couple also gave birth to a female child by name Ms Lekshmi Kutty .

Neelakandan's [ Devasagayam ] Education  and Training    : Mr. Neelakandan's maternal uncle Mr Raman Pillai took a keen interest to provide good and standard education and training to his sister's son Mr Neelakandan Pillai .[ Kumari Aaathavan, p. 32] and by using his influence he helped his nephew Neeelakandan to be a student of the famous teacher Mr Muthappanar. Nellakandan studied  Malayalam, Tamil, Sanscrit , Vedas, Grammar, Philosophy,etc, and  young Neelakandan gained a reasonable hold and mastery  over these subjects [Ibid]. Neelakandan also took training  and effort to learn Martial Arts and became an adept and expert in  Martial arts . [ Ibid] 

Mr. Neelakandan's [ Devasahayam's] Wife :  .  The famous historical Eraniel town is situated on the banks of Valliyar and near Eraniel there lies a lovely village by name Mekkodu and in this Mekkodu village there lived a famous Nair family and Mr Neelakandan married Ms Parkavi from this Mekkodu Nair family [ Kumari Aathavan , p. 42]. 

Marthandavarma Maharaja,  DeLanoy  and Neelakandan [ Devasagayam  ] :  After a strong and consistent  struggle and battle against Maharaja Sri  Balarama Varma's Children namely Mr Raman Thambi and Pappu Thambi , Maharaja Sri Marthanda Varma captured the throne of Tavancore in 1729 [ Kumari Aathan p. 37] Maharaja Sri.Marthanda Varma was called , "The Maker of Modern Travancore" by the historians,   The maker of the modern Travancore Maharaja  Marthanda Varma ruled Travancore kingdom from 1729 until his death in 1758. and he defeated the Dutch East India Company forces at the battle of Colachel in 1741.. In this battle the Dutch Captain DeLanoy was defeated and arrested by Marthana Varma Raja but Marthanda Varma Maharaja recognised the valour and intelligence of DeLanoy and accepted him as his friend[ Aathavan p,.52].  and  Marthanda Varma also requested DeLanoy to train Maharaj's Army in the European way and style  [ Ibid p. 52 and Amalagiri Anthonimuthu, Mukthi Peru Petta Vethasatchi Devasagayam Pillai , 2013,  P. 38].. Maharaja Marthanda Varma also asked Delanoy to rebuild the historical  Uhdayagiri Fort and accordingly DeLanoy  within three and half years rebuilt the historical Uthayagiri Fort and settled inside the fort and also gave training to Marthanada Varma's forces in the European pattern.  Maharaja Marthanda Varma  and Delanoy became very great friends and they respected each other mutually.  .Mr. Delanoy also joined Maharaja  Marthanda Varma's Army as its general . .  Mr.Delanoy  married  Ms Margaret D Almetha in 1745 and she was a daughter of a British officer and they started to live inside the Udayagiri Fort [ Kumari Aathavan p. 54]

Mr. Neelakandan [ Devasahayam]  and DeLanoy   :  As Neelakandan's maternal uncle worked in the palace, Marthanda Varma Maharaja came to know about Mr.Neelakandan and his efficacy , knowledge and intelligence and so Neelakandan got a job in the Padmanabapuram palace [ Kumar Aathaven p. 41] and during this period, Maharaja Marthanda Varma wanted to renovate the Padmanabapuram palace and so Marthanda Varma Raja appointed the smart Neelakandan as the Administrator of the Neelakanda Swamy temple . Maharaja also wanted to renovate the palace and build a Fort around the palace , and so he appointed the efficacious Neelakandan  as the Supervisor of the labourers and construction workers [ Ibid p. 42] More over it is learned that Mr. Neelakandan was made , as the In-Charge officer of  a section of Maharaja's Army [ Ibid p, 42]. . Naturally Mr.Neelakandan and General DeLanoy got lot of natural and necessary opportunities to meet each other frequently  and as a corollary they became great true  friends. The meeting of these two great minds changed the social and religious history of  Travancore , Tamil Nadu and South India 

Next Part will follow soon. 

By P. Babu Manoharan, M.A,.[ All the Rights are reserved . This Article will be enlarged, modified or corrected later if needed }.