Mother Eliswa - Strengthening Christian Families in the 19th Century: Her Witness as a Wife, Mother and Nun

Everyone doesn’t create history, only a chosen few are capable of creating history. Mother Eliswa who lived as a wife, a mother and a widow later  turned  an  ascetic and gave birth to the first indigenous religious congregation of women in Kerala along with her daughter and sister. This is not mere history, but an unparalleled and singular history in the annals of time. Like the luminous sun, her radiance illumined the entire sphere around her. We have heard of heroes, heroines  and change makers. Usually  their impact remains only in one particular realm. But we have  a heroine who created a tremendous impact on  all domains that a woman comes in touch with…  family life, social life  and spiritual life. She was   truly a phenomenal woman who touched and  uplifted the  lives around her through prayer,
love and service. By courageously transcending the limitations of her time, Mother Eliswa became a model of Christian family life, female empowerment, and spiritual renewal. Her witness demonstrates that family ties and spirituality are not opposites but can enrich each other, giving rise to a new paradigm of holiness rooted in  domestic and religious life.

Mother Eliswa lived in a highly patriarchal and feudal socio political context marked with feudal and patriarchal hegemony and misogynistic practices and customs like sati, child marriage, devadasi system, smarta etc.  At a time, when a widow was considered a curse, she emerged as a phoenix from the ashes of widowhood and decided to forge a new future for herself and for her fellow beings. She carried out her mission with conviction and courage  to enhance the dignity of women through education and economic independence serving as a catalyst for social change. She started  the first school  for girls in an informal way at Koonammavu and later in Varapuzha. She was the first to start a boarding house and an orphanage for girls and gave them training in various  crafts and skills equipping them for self
employment. 

It is important to note that  Mother Eliswa’s  mission started in the family which is  the basic unit of society. From childhood onwards, Eliswa displayed  the divine sparks of compassion, prayer, and service. Growing up in a deeply Catholic household, she inherited devotion to the Eucharist and  Rosary, and a love for the poor. Born into the aristocratic Vyppissery family of Ochanthuruth, she grew up surrounded by
spiritual  devotion, and a deep commitment to service. Her family was known for philanthropy, and young Eliswa imbibed this spirit of service, often reaching out to workers and servants with kindness and generosity. This early grounding in family prayer, charity, and
Marian devotion became the fertile soil from which her later vocation as wife, mother, and religious foundress would grow. Her journey from wife and mother to the foundress of a religious congregation presents a unique harmony of family and spiritual life. 

  Eliswa was first called to live the vocation of marriage. She got married to Mr. Vatharu of Vakayil family in Koonammavu at the age of 16.  As a wife, she reflected the virtues of fidelity, devotion, and mutual respect, nurturing her household with love and responsibility. She embraced motherhood with deep faith, imparted Christian values to her child, Anna and teaght her the beauty of prayer and service. She
believed that sanctity begins within the family—the ‘domestic church’. However, her married life didn’t last long and her husband died three years after their marriage when her daughter was only one and a half years old.  After the death of her husband, she sought the
permission of her in laws to devote her life in prayer and meditation. Eventhough her dear ones requested her for a second marriage, she shifted to a hut made of bamboo with the blessings of her husband’s family and devoted to prayer and contemplation.  At a time when
widowhood was considered a curse and often led women into social invisibility,Eliswa refused to remain confined to despair. Instead, she discerned God’s call to a wider mission of service. The way of bringing up a child in true Christian values, charity and prayer is a model for all. Single parenting at such a young age was really challenging. But she took it up in deep faith and brought up Anna in the spiritual path. The model she gave was so strong and tremendous that her daughter, Anna and her sister, Thresia became the first  members of her congregation. This rare blending of family and religious life offered a new model: spirituality need not separate one from family bonds, but can instead be enriched through them.

 A mother and daughter embracing spiritual life was really unique and singular and especially at a time, when women remained on the peripheries of religious and ecclesiastical structures and  access  to consecrated life was  denied to them, she brought about a historical change by establishing the first indigenous religious congregation of women in Kerala and the first Carmelite women congregation in India.  She made her spirituality instrumental fo social progress and strived for  women empowerment through education and economic self reliance. As a nun, she devoted completely in prayer, contemplation, solitude and detachment. Her inherent and deep spirituality got revealed in her day to day life even in small, simple actions and communication with the world and the people around her. Her love of the Holy Eucharist, devotion to Mother Mary and compassion for the poor and the destitute  that were seen in an  exceptional way from her childhood onwards became more intense and fruitful during her life as a nun. By creating a space where women could pursue consecrated life within their own culture, free from foreign models, Eliswa gave Indian Christianity a new identity. The community she founded empowered women through prayer, education, and economic self-reliance—introducing skill development like rosary-making that continues to sustain women in Koonammavu even today.

Mother Eliswa’s life demonstrates a rare harmony between family ties and spiritual commitment. She was  a wife, a mother and finally a nun—without abandoning one for the other. Instead, she allowed each stage of her vocation to enrich the next. Her daughter and sister joining her congregation symbolized a seamless blending of kinship and consecration, where the family became the seedbed of a new spiritual movement. Mother Eliswa’s witness carries enduring relevance for Christian families today. In the 19th century, she broke the chains of
patriarchal oppression and offered women, a dignified space for spiritual and social contribution. As a wife and mother, she sanctified the ordinary rhythms of family life. As a widow and foundress, she opened new horizons of freedom and empowerment for women. Her legacy offers a new model of family spirituality, where kinship and consecration are not in opposition but can mutually enrich each other. For Christian families facing challenges in the modern era, her life remains a beacon, reminding us that faith lived within the family can radiate outward to transform society.

Mother Eliswa’s story is not merely a chapter in  history but a timeless lesson:  Christian families, rooted in prayer, service,and resilience, can become sources of transformation in  society. Religious life is not confined to the four walls of the convent ; it extends to the outer society and can  bring in social change. Her witness as wife, mother, and nun continues to inspire, making her a true pioneer of faith, love
and service. She remained as the light, sault and leaven to the 19th century, but not to that century alone. She will be remembered by posterity as a blessed wife, mother, nun and  reformer who helped in creating   successful and powerful   sororities of women. She effected revolutionary and epoch making changes in the common destiny and living conditions of families. Her witness goes beyond a
particular time and continues relevant today. This beacon of light will go on illumining the world in a more luminous way in the coming days too because the real light never fades away. It is perennial. It will go on igniting the world beyond time and space.