Kochi (PTI): The date of canonisation of Sister Alphonsa, who is set become the first Indian to be elevated to sainthood, will be decided at a meeting of Cardinals and the Pope at Vatican on March one.

The date, place and time of canonisation would be discussed and announced at the meeting of college of Cardinals to be presided by the Pope at Vatican on March 1, said Sister Ceelia, Superior General of the Francescan Clarist Congregation, to which Sister Alphonsa belonged. Sister Ceelia, who is also the Vice-Postulate for the cause Alphonsa's canonisation, has been invited to attend the meeting. When canonised, Sister Alphonsa will be India's first Saint, she said.

Sister Alphonsa, who died at the age of 36 on July 28, 1946, had been recognised as a saintly person during her lifetime, Ceelia said. The process of her beatification began in 1953. In 1984 the Pope officially declared that she had practiced Christian virtues heroically and she was beatified in 1986, she said. Pope Benedict VI had signed the decree on June 1, 2007 approving a "miracle" that reportedly took place when a physically challenged person in Kurupanthara in Kottayam district, was cured of his deformity after his parents prayed at Alphonsa's tomb in May 1999.