Saint Alphonsa (19 August 1910 – 28 July 1946) was a Syro-Malabar Catholic Franciscan nun who is now honoured as a saint. Sister Alphonsa became the first native Indian to be canonized In 2008. She is the first woman of Indian origin to be canonized as a saint by the Catholic Church, the second saint to be canonized in India and the first canonised saint of the Syro-Malabar Catholic Church, an Eastern Catholic Church of the Saint Thomas Christian community.