Ali's anniversary and an Indian connection

Ali, pictured with Koteswari in January 2006,
had great love for 'her' children in India.

The ninth anniversary of Ali's death falls, as it does each year, on the feast of the great "Apostle of the Indies," St Francis Xavier.  He died 461 years before Ali, on 3rd December 1552, and the shrine with his incorrupt body is in Goa, India.  

I had hoped to have an Introduction to Ali ready for publication by this ninth anniversary of Ali's passing to eternal life, and I regret that it has still not emerged.  Please God, it will be published before next year's tenth anniversary so that others will become aware of Ali's extraordinary life.  Others will then be able to consider whether Ali, who had a great love for India and its "poorest of the poor" people, might be regarded as exceptional a saint as St Francis Xavier.  

St Francis Xavier was canonised 70 years after his death, in 1622, and today he is known and loved by millions in India and around the world. It is my conviction that Ali is similarly destined to be known and loved by millions, and I think that, just as she was greatly loved by "her" children in India, especially those in Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu, countless numbers of people - in India and throughout the world - will come to know and love her. 

Ali, happy to be with her children in India, in January 2003

A remembrance

A birthday in Sri Lanka

Ali with birthday cards in Colombo, Sri Lanka 8 January 1992

30 years ago Ali celebrated her birthday in Colombo, Sri Lanka - on her last full day there before returning home to England.  

During the past three weeks I have been recalling the trip Ali and I made with our good friend, Ray McGuinness, to India, where we stayed in the cities then known as Calcutta and Madras, before arriving on New Year's Day in Sri Lanka where we visited a few places in the south.  I had hoped to write about aspects of the trip during recent weeks, but computer/scanning problems prevented this.  I have at least been able to scan a couple of photos for now.

The highlight of the trip was meeting Sriyanee, whom Ali had been sponsoring for a few years and was now to meet for the first time.  Ali had learnt Sinhala so that she could converse with and write to Sriyanee.  I hope to write more about Ali's meeting with Sriyanee and about the trip another time.

Ali with Sriyanee 6 January 1992