St Devasahayam (Lazarus)

Word for the day

“Everyone therefore who acknowledges me before others, I also will acknowledge before my Father in heaven.” Matthew 10:32

Life

Neelakanta Pillai was born on 23 April 1712 at Nattalam, in present-day Kanyakumari district, then part of the kingdom of Travancore. He served as an official in the administration of Maharaja Marthanda Varma, the able ruler who built and unified Travancore.

Through his friendship with Eustachius De Lannoy, a Dutch naval officer who had entered the service of Travancore after the battle of Colachel (1741), he came to know Christ. He was baptised in 1745 by the Jesuit missionary Fr Giovanni Battista Buttari at Vadakkankulam, taking the name Lazarus, in Tamil and Malayalam Devasahayam, “God is my help”.

In a society where public office, caste and religious duties were closely bound together, his conversion and his refusal to give up his faith led to his arrest in 1749. After a long imprisonment and much suffering, he was shot dead on 14 January 1752 at Aralvaimozhy. His remains rest in St Francis Xavier Cathedral, Kottar. He was beatified at Nagercoil in 2012 and canonised by Pope Francis on 15 May 2022, the first Indian layman to be declared a saint.

Lessons

Faith is worth everything

Devasahayam gave up position and security rather than deny Christ.

Friendship can lead to God

The witness of a foreign friend opened the way to his faith.

Equality in Christ

As a Christian he treated people of every caste as brothers and sisters, which was costly in his time.

Forgiveness and patience

Tradition remembers him praying and bearing his sufferings without bitterness.

Stories

Kattadimalai (tradition)

The place of his martyrdom near Aralvaimozhy, Kattadimalai, has become a place of pilgrimage. Tradition says that he knelt in prayer before he was shot.

Homily · The saint's life and message

1. An official who found Christ

Neelakanta Pillai, a trusted official in Travancore, met Christ through his friend Eustachius De Lannoy.

2. Baptised as Lazarus

God is my help: baptised in 1745.

3. Faith above position

He would not give up Christ, accepting imprisonment and suffering.

4. Martyr and first lay saint of India

Died at Aralvaimozhi in 1752; canonised in 2022.

Dear brothers and sisters, St Devasahayam was a layman, a husband and an official, not a priest or religious. He is the first lay saint of India, and his life shows what it means to put Christ above everything.

Neelakanta Pillai served in the administration of Maharaja Marthanda Varma, the able ruler who built and unified Travancore. Through his friendship with Eustachius De Lannoy, a Dutch officer in the king's service, he came to know Christ, and in 1745 he was baptised with the name Lazarus, Devasahayam, God is my help. Friendship led him to faith.

In that society, public office, caste and religious duties were closely bound together, and his conversion and his treatment of all people as equal created serious conflict with the established order. He was arrested and suffered imprisonment and hardship for several years. He did not give up his faith, and he prayed for those who made him suffer. In 1752 he was shot to death at Aralvaimozhi.

Devasahayam teaches us that faith is worth everything, that Christ makes all people equal, and that we should answer suffering with prayer and forgiveness, not with hatred. Let us ask his intercession for all who suffer for their faith, and for the courage to acknowledge Christ before others (Matthew 10:32).

Homily option 2 · In the light of the Word: acknowledging Christ before others

1. Acknowledge me

Everyone who acknowledges me before others (Matthew 10:32).

2. Not peace but a sword

Faith can bring division even in families (Matthew 10:34–36).

3. Whoever loses his life

will find it (Matthew 10:39).

4. Love your enemies

Pray for those who persecute you (Matthew 5:44).

Dear friends, Jesus said: everyone who acknowledges me before others, I also will acknowledge before my Father in heaven (Matthew 10:32). St Devasahayam acknowledged Christ publicly, at the cost of his position, his comfort and finally his life.

In the same chapter Jesus warned that faith in Him could bring division, even within families (Matthew 10:34–36). This was true for Devasahayam. His decision to follow Christ brought him into conflict with the social and religious order of his time and with people close to him. Following Christ is not always comfortable.

Jesus also said: those who lose their life for my sake will find it (Matthew 10:39). By the world's measure, Devasahayam lost everything. By God's measure, he found eternal life, and today the whole Church honours him.

But notice how he suffered: without hatred. The accounts of his martyrdom say that he prayed for those who caused his suffering. Jesus said: love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you (Matthew 5:44). Let us honour him by acknowledging Christ boldly and by forgiving those who hurt us.

Homily option 3 · For young people and families: friendship, equality and courage

1. A friend who leads to God

De Lannoy's friendship brought him to Christ.

2. Everyone equal before God

Devasahayam treated people of every caste as brothers and sisters.

3. A lay saint

Holiness in ordinary jobs and marriage.

4. Courage without hatred

Firm in faith, respectful to all.

Dear young people and families, St Devasahayam came to Christ through a friend. Eustachius De Lannoy shared his faith with him, and that friendship changed his life. Ask yourself: do my friends lead me closer to God or further away? And am I a friend who leads others to God?

After his baptism Devasahayam treated people of every caste as equals, brothers and sisters in Christ. That was revolutionary in his time, and it is still challenging today. In Christ there is no higher or lower person. Let us root out every form of caste prejudice and discrimination from our hearts and our communities.

Devasahayam was a layman, a husband, an official. He shows that holiness is not only for priests and sisters. You can be a saint as a student, an engineer, a nurse, a government officer, a parent.

He was firm in faith, yet he did not hate. He respected the authority of his land and prayed for those who caused his suffering. Be like him: firm in your faith, respectful to people of every religion, and courageous when you must stand for what is right.

Prayer

Lord God, you strengthened St Devasahayam to confess Christ even unto death. Through his prayers give us courage to live our faith openly, respect for every person, and peace among all communities of our land. Amen.