The canonisation of Blessed Lazarus, popularly known as Devasahayam Pillai who was a Catholic for just seven years, will be held at St. Peter’s Square, Vatican on May 15, 2022. Pillai who had lived in the 18th century was a layman who is believed to have attained martyrdom for upholding his faith. Pillai was an official in the court of the king of former Travancore. He was born into a Hindu family and was introduced to Christianity by Dutch naval officer Captain De Lannoy during the latter’s stint as commander of the Travancore Army under King Marthanda Varma. Pillai is believed to have been killed by the king for upholding the new faith. It is believed that he underwent brutal torture in custody before getting executed. 
Pillai was born on April 23, 1712, as Neelakanda Pillai, at Nattalam of Vilavancode taluk in the present district of Kanyakumari in Tamil Nadu. His parents were Vasudevan Namputhiri and Devaki Amma. Pillai started his career with Travancore state as a soldier and later as an official of Neelakandaswamy temple at Padmanabhapuram. It was during his third job as a palace official he befriended De Lannoy. Born Neelakanta Pillai, a high-caste Hindu, he knew Sanskrit, Tamil and Malayalam. He learnt about Catholicism from Lannoy, a French prisoner of war and converted to the faith. He was baptised on 14, May, 1745 and assumed the name Devasahayam Pillai.
Devasahayam was declared Blessed on December 2, 2012, at Kottar. He was declared eligible for sainthood in 2020. A communication issued by the Vatican in February 2020 reads: “His conversion did not go well with the heads of his native religion. False charges of treason and espionage were brought against him...He was imprisoned and subjected to harsh persecution. A Catholic for only seven years, he was shot dead in the Aralvaimozhy forest on January 14, 1752.” 
“He is being canonised 270 years after his martyrdom. It is an important event for the people of Tamil Nadu,” said former IAS officer M.G. Devasahayam, who wrote a letter to the Vatican in 2017 to drop the caste title “Pillai” from the “Blessed Devasahayam’s name”. Even though the Vatican refused to change the caste title in the beginning, it subsequently dropped it on a representation from the district.
“It is not fair to retain his caste name since he revolted against it. Though the Vatican declined to change it, after our subsequent letters arguing that India’s Constitution and laws are against the caste system, they agreed,” Mr. Devasahayam said.
According to CatholicSaints.Info, the canonisation miracle involves the resumption of the heartbeat of a 24-week foetus that had stopped earlier. It happened in 2013.
“The mother, who was a Catholic and had a devotion to Lazurus, the baptismal name of Devasahayam, began praying for his intercession for the baby; within hours she felt the baby kicking, and tests showed that the heartbeat had resumed, and the infant was later born with no complications,” says the website. In May 2021, a consistory of cardinals called by Pope Francis approved his canonisation.
The mother church rejoices because one more saint is added to the multitudes of saints in the Catholic Church.