Blessed Rani Maria was beatified
on 4th Nov. 2017 in Indore, India.
The man who served a prison
term for the 1995 murder of a Franciscan Clarist nun in central India’s Madhya
Pradesh state said that the forgiveness shown to him by the slain nun's family
has given him "new life." Samandhar Singh told Catholic News
Service that he experienced a "rebirth" during a 2002 visit by Sister
Selmy, the younger sister of slain Sister Rani Maria Vattalil, while he was in
prison. Sister Selmy, also a member of the Franciscan Clarist
Congregation, offered words of forgiveness and tied a rakhi, or sacred thread,
on his hand signifying that she accepted Singh as her brother, he recalled in
an interview in his native Semlia village, near Indore. Rakhi is a Hindu
festival that celebrates the brotherly bond between a woman and a man, and
includes a ritual tying of a sacred thread by a sister on the brother's wrist,
whether they are related or not. "It gave me a new life,"
recalled the 46-year-old Singh with beaming eyes sitting at his farm. Singh
said that even his wife deserted him after his conviction.
Police said Singh stabbed
Sister Rani Maria 54 times in front of more than 50 bus passengers in a jungle
area near Udainagar allegedly at the behest of money lenders affected by the
nun's social work among village women who were organizing self-help groups. He
was convicted of the murder and sentenced to death, but the sentence was
commuted to life in prison. "I had visited him in the jail on Aug.
22, the day of Rakhi and the feast of Queen Mary," Sister Selmy said,
explaining that she had decided to forgive Singh soon after her sister's death.
Sister Rani Maria's name means Queen of Mary, she said. Sister Rani Maria
was given the title "servant of God" in 2007.
As we rejoice in the 'Beatification" of the heroic Sr. Rani Maria and look forward to her "Canonization" as Saint Rani Maria, we also recognise the exemplary gesture of Christian forgiveness of the murderer by her family.
