How a high Caste Hindu became a Cloistered Carmelite Nun.

[Xavier]

A beautiful incident that depicts the transforming Power of the Grace of God. Choosing to be considered "low Caste" for God and His Church, and giving her life to Christ alone as her Spouse forever in a Cloistered convent.

https://cruxnow.com/global-church/2017/03/19/high-caste-hindu-became-nun-embodies-conversion-story/

"High-caste Hindu who became a nun embodies conversion storyNirmala Carvalho

Mar 19, 2017

CRUX CONTRIBUTOR

Sister Radha Krishnan Iver, a convert from Hinduism in India now celebrating her 40th anniversary as a cloistered Catholic nun. (Credit: Nirmala Carvalho.)

MUMBAI, India - Conversion stories abound in Christian literature. The modern conversion story is less well known, especially in places not associated in the Western mind with Christianity such as India.

Yet India is an enormous place and there are millions of Christians, even though they remain a small minority in an overwhelmingly Hindu nation.

That's one of the reasons the story of Radha Krishnan Iyer is so compelling, as she is someone who was a member of the Brahmin caste, the highest category in the traditional Indian system.

As a Brahmin, she grew up with certain expectations of what she would do and whom she would marry. Yet she defied them all, not only converting to Catholicism but also entering a convent. She willingly chose to go from the highest echelon of society to the lowest, all for the love of God.

Iyer was born in 1948 into a staunch Hindu family. She says of her younger life that she "would go often to the temples, very fervent in observing all the Hindu festivals and customs, praying morning and evening Sanskrit prayers, making 40 prostrations each time."
As someone from a reasonably well off family she went to Catholic school and thus had many Catholic friends. She said that she "would visit the Basilica of Mount Mary's Bandra for the Feast and the fair. The beautiful church with the great masses of people thronging, it touched me deeply."

She was so infatuated with the scene that in her room she "hung on the wall a beautiful image of Mary, which I explained to my mother was for its artistic value."

These experiences were not just artistic for Iyer, as she was starting to feel the pull of another faith. After secondary school she attended St. Xavier's College, a Jesuit school, and on the Feast of St. Francis Xavier she attended a Mass for the first time.

She said that "the beautiful singing, and the communitarian worship, touched my heart. Everyone, sat, stood and knelt together. It was a wonderful experience...By my third year in college, I developed a great interest in Christianity, and became a regular Mass-goer."

She was not ready to come out of the closet quite yet, however. She said her parents didn't suspect anything, as they thought she was merely going on early morning walks.

The real difficulty began after her graduation when she started receiving marriage proposals.

Her parents consulted astrologers, who, she said, according to Hindu customs, study the horoscopes to find the best match. Her father set up interviews with young men who were thought to be good matches, and at first she was happy about it.

"I used to get very excited, and would deck myself up and would be well dressed. I had great dreams and great plans for my future life." But, she said, she had a change of heart. She said that, "After [a prospective match] finished the visit to my house, I used to feel a sort of uneasiness, a kind of dissatisfaction. I did not pay attention to it. But this same experience was repeated each time a particular boy came to interview me.

"Then I questioned myself, 'Why should this happen. Here I am wanting to be married and at the same time not wanting these interviews."

She said it was at this point that she felt "the very definite call of God...somehow I wanted to stop these interviews for the time being."

To stop the marriage process, she told her father that she wanted to get a degree in education and enrolled in school, thereby keeping her options open.

On March 23, 1971, she finished her last paper for her degree, and two days later she was baptized in secret on the feast of the Annunciation. She took the name Radha Maria Krishnan, and said, "God gave me the grace to join the Canossian Daughters of Charity."

She is now celebrating 40 years in the Carmelite monastery of cloistered nuns, which she joined in 1977. She did, she said, because "God saw my desire for greater knowledge and deeper experience of Christianity and gave me the grace to join the Carmelite cloistered nuns."

Iyer describes the joys and tribulations of cloistered life. Through the ups and downs she believes it has all been worth it, and she remains enthusiastic about her choice. One of the greatest difficulties was the possible sacrifice of her family.

"When I got baptized secretly and ran away from home to join the convent, my family, specifically my parents, suffered excruciatingly. For a Hindu Brahmin to become a Christian is to reduce yourself to the lowest caste."

Luckily, she said, her three brothers and sister who are Hindu, "have come to accept me and they are happy to see that I am happy and contented in the way of life I have chosen."

In the end, Iyer said, all she asks is that people "pray for me that I may respond to the graces God is showering on me at each moment in my life."

[Gardener]

Wonderful story, Xavier.

For those who don't know much about the caste dynamic, could you give us a western analogy which brings home just exactly what her actions meant in a social context?

[Xavier]

Wonderful story, Xavier.

For those who don't know much about the caste dynamic, could you give us a western analogy which brings home just exactly what her actions meant in a social context?

Well, Sr. Radha Maria Krishnan was born a Brahmin, considered the highest Caste of all, India's system of Hindu priests. Now, a person named Manu in the Manu Smriti wrongly imagined Brahman- the Hindu god, coincidentally similar to Brahmin - made 4 castes or classes of people, some from his head, some from his shoulders, some from his thighs, and the lowest of all supposedly from his feet. They are called Shudras. And Brahmins these days, though even Manu didn't say that, consider Christians to be low Caste. At any rate, we cannot become "forward Caste." But God's Grace is such Christians care more about the fact that Jesus Christ has made us all children of God, like Sr. Radha Maria Krishnan found.

Of course, Manu imagined this because he was ignorant of the Truth that God had made Adam just  by His own Power from the Earth, Eve from his heart to be his beloved companion, and the rest of us all from them.

A link on the Caste System that should be helpful in understanding more: http://creative.sulekha.com/manusmriti-epic-of-caste-system-and-casteism_416485_blog

As an Indian, I can say casteism is far less rampant these days than it was in the past, though it is still prevalent in some areas mostly in North India. Many of the founders of our nation like Dr. B.R. Ambedkar said casteism was one of the worst blights on India ever. Earlier enlightened persons like Raja Ram Mohan Roy, influenced by the British and Christianity, had said the same. Finally, Gandhi had said "untouchables" were children of God.

Mahatma Gandhi was an admirer of Christ and even came close to being baptized when he was in South Africa. But unfortunately that never transpired, otherwise history could have been so very different; likely many others would have too, following his lead, and casteism would have been abolished earlier. Dr. Ambedkar was very critical of casteism but felt India Christians at the time were insufficiently politically involved at the time. So Dr. Ambedkar became a Buddhist and led political efforts against the evil.

And Gandhi also said that should be soul-numbing, and a call to much greater Christ-likeness among us Christians, "Oh, I don't reject Christ. I love Christ. It's just that so many of you Christians are so unlike Christ. If Christians would really live according to the teachings of Christ, as found in the Bible, all of India would be Christian today."

But anyway, on another note, I can say confidently that Nuns, Brides of Christ, are generally highly respected in India today, for the sacrifices they make and the work they do and have done for the poor: and that's largely because of one Nun who served in India and is well known the world over: Mother Teresa. Another Hindu Brahmin, Sr. Nirmala, became Catholic thanks to her good example and later joined in the Missionaries of Charity.

So I hope Gandhi's call to all Christians to be more Christ-like Christians is being heeded more, and I hope, in time, it will indeed lead India to Christ.

Edit:: Here's an update on SSPX Vocations of Women Religious. Report on Indian Nuns in general in the next post.

From: https://fsspx.asia/en/news-events/news/three-new-consoling-sisters-sacred-heart-8669

"Please join us in offering happy prayers of thanks - beseeching heavenly graces upon their superiors, their families, friends and benefactors. These vocations are all the more beautiful and precious in a world pre-occupied with selfish rights, pleasure, unnatural freedom and independence from God.

We doubly rejoice because all three vocations have a link to our Indian Mission: Sr. Maria Caterina discerned her vocation while volunteering at the Consoling Sisters' orphanage in India; Sr. Maria Chiara chose the Consoiling Sisters as a result of her experience as volunteer at the orpahange and school; and Sr. Maria Veronica discovered the Consoling Sisters through reading all about them in the Apostle magazine.

Deo gratias thrice over."

See also: https://sspx.org/en/news-events/news/great-feastday-consoling-sisters-sacred-heart-india-43256 on the Consoling Sisters of the Sacred Heart, an SSPX Congregation for the Beloved Brides of Christ.

[Xavier]

Too long, so a new post. From: https://www.catholicworldreport.com/2011/05/12/nuns-worldwide/

"Almost unknown in the United States, the Indian-based Franciscan Missionaries of Mary, founded by Blessed Mary of the Passion in 1877, number 7,050. Combining Eucharistic contemplation with missionary activity, they serve on six continents and are most active in Asia and Europe. Unlike other leading women's religious institutes, the institute displays on its website numerous pictures of members without habits. The institute's membership declined by 189 between 2006 and 2008.

The Franciscan Clarist Congregation, founded in 1888, is based in Kerala, the southwestern Indian state that has been the nation's center of Catholicism since its evangelization by St. Thomas the Apostle. Canonized by Pope Benedict in 2008, St. Alphonsa of the Immaculate Conception (1910-46)—a Franciscan Clarist, and the nation's first canonized saint—combined the spirituality of St. Francis with that of the Easternrite Syro-Malabar Catholic Church. The congregation, which serves the elderly, orphans, lepers, AIDS patients, and others in need, has 6,984 members—a gain of 62 between 2006 and 2008.

The Congregation of the Mother of Carmel is another Indian religious institute largely unknown in the West. Founded in 1866 by Blessed Kuriakose Elias Chavara, the congregation is the Syro-Malabar Catholic Church's first women's institute. These active Carmelite sisters work in 500 schools and run 18 hospitals; their membership increased by 29 between 2006 and 2008 to 6,428.

Unlike other large Indian religious communities, the Missionaries of Charity are renowned the world over because of the sanctity of their founder, Blessed Teresa of Calcutta (1910-97). Serving the poorest of the poor in 133 countries, the Missionaries of Charity have grown to 5,046 members, an increase of 154 between 2006 and 2008.

Founded in Italy in 1832, the Sisters of Charity of Saints Bartolomea Capitanio and Vincenza Gerosa serve in the fields of education, health care, and catechesis. Though present in 20 nations, the majority of the institute's houses are in India and Italy. Membership in the order stands at 4,967, a decline of 186 between 2006 and 2008.

Benedictine nuns, characterized throughout their history by devotion to the liturgy, work, and hospitality, live in 299 communities around the world, the majority in Europe. Their numbers have fallen to 4,613, a decline of 119 between 2006 and 2008.

Rounding out the list of the 10 largest women's religious institutes, the Syro-Malabar Sisters of the Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, founded by Bishop Thomas Kurialacherry in 1908, have spread to 100 dioceses. Centered upon Eucharistic adoration, the sisters also serve in the areas of education, health care, missionary work, and publishing. In the past decade, they have begun to staff missions in Kenya and Tanzania. Their membership now stands at 4,583, an increase of 64 between 2006 and 2008.

THE ROME OF THE EAST

With five of the 10 largest women's religious institutes now headquartered in India—where only 1.6 percent of the world's Catholics live—India has become the worldwide center of women's religious vocations. The number of professed women religious in India grew by 9,398 between 2002 and 2007. While India has nearly 50 million fewer Catholics than the United States does, it has over 30,000 more women religious.

If St. Louis is sometimes called the "Rome of the West" because of the number of religious who once served there, it would be far truer to call Ernakulam-Angamaly in Kerala the "Rome of the East." Ernakulam-Angamaly is the see of the head of the Eastern-rite Syro-Malabar Catholic Church, which has just under four million members. Although the Syro-Malabar Catholic Church has 200,000 fewer Catholics than the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, it has 30,000 sisters— more than half of them members of the Franciscan Clarist Congregation, the Congregation of the Mother of Carmel, and the Sisters of the Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament.

Father George Madathi Parampil, vicar general of the Syro-Malabar Catholic Diocese of Chicago, told CWR last year that several factors contribute to India's success in attracting priestly and religious vocations:

• "very exemplary Christian family life" with "no divorces"; "faith [that is] an integral part of life," manifested in Mass attendance and the catechesis of children;

• "the influence of Catholic schools and colleges, where the Catholic atmosphere is still very much alive";

• "the good examples given by the priests and their active involvement in the lives of the people";

• "the interest the Christian community shows in bettering the lives of the economically depressed people";

• the Church's "active voice, never keeping silence when secular forces try to denigrate the moral and religious values of the people";

• "daily family prayer and Rosary at home";

• "the faith tradition of 'St. Thomas Catholics' of Kerala, which traces its faith-heritage to the preaching of St. Thomas the Apostle and which has the greatest number of vocations."