India is a land of diverse religions, languages and cultures. The major religious communities of India today are Hindus, Muslims, Jains and Parsis. The major faith is Hidusiom.

The lifetime of Blessed Mariam Thresia was a period of vast political upheavals and ecclesiastical convulsion in India. She was born in the heyday of the British Raj. The thirst for freedom and independence was growing in India under the leadership of the Congress Party and Mahatma Gandhi was coming to the scene.

A new world order was ushered in, precipitated by the First World War. The repercussions of the war were bound to shake the society. In Kerala for the church it was a period of two schisms, originating from outside interventions. There was a tension on the basis of rites between Eastern Christian and Latin Christian communities. In order to safeguard the ancient tradition of apostolic origins the then Pope Leo XIII erected a separate Syro Malabar hierarchy in 1887 and 1896.

The life and activities of Mariam Thresia can be understood properly only in their social and religious background and historical setting. Her native state Cochin was under paramount of the imperial British Raj. The traditional caste system contributed its share of woes and sufferings especially among the outcastes. The landlords exploited the poor laborers keeping them in virtual slavery. Hindu widows were forced to immolate themselves on their husband’s funeral pyre. The call of Mariam Thresia was to humanize such a society and work for the betterment of the families. According to Pope John Paul II “In God’s plan family is in ways the first school of learning how to be human”? Hence God called, molded and commissioned a poor, illiterate girl with extra ordinary holiness and spiritual power for the revival of the families.