A Catholic nun, Sister Alphonsa, has become India's first female Christian saint, at an event presided over by Pope Benedict XVI at the Vatican.
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According to a Vatican biography, when she was only 13 she deliberately thrust her foot into a pile of burning embers.
Her aim was to make herself less attractive, and therefore less likely to be forced into marriage.
She wanted instead to be free to dedicate her life exclusively to God, and eventually she entered a convent.
Sister Alphonsa endured successive bouts of illness and died in her mid-30s.
In the Vatican's view, Jesus led her to perfection through a life of suffering.
And it credited her with miraculously curing illnesses after her death.
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