Rani Maria Vattalil
1954-1995 20th century Feast day: February 25
Recognizing Christ in the poor, even to giving one's life, and the forgiveness that makes kin again.
Who was Rani Maria Vattalil?
A Franciscan Clarist sister from Kerala, she chose to live among the landless peasants of central India. She taught them to know their rights before moneylenders and landlords, which earned her the hostility of the powerful. Stabbed on a bus in 1995, she was recognized as a martyr; her family later went to form a bond of kinship with her pardoned killer.
In their own words
I am deeply convinced that I am called to work for the poor and the oppressed. I am ready to die for them, because they are children of God and, as such, our brothers and sisters.
There is a power within which moves me forward in the midst of opposition and difficulties; it is nothing else but the power of the Spirit of God.