Pope Benedict XVI has canonised an Indian nun in a move said to have boosted the flagging spirits of the country's persecuted Christian minority.

Sister Alphonsa of the Immaculate Conception was made a saint at a ceremony held in the Vatican on Sunday.

Described by Pope Benedict as “an exceptional woman” who lived in “extreme physical and spiritual suffering”, Sister Alphonsa is the second Indian to be declared a saint. She is said to have decided to become a nun aged seven, and at the age of 13, to have thrust her feet into burning embers, in a bid to disfigure them and thus avoid attempts by an aunt to make her marry.

After entering a convent, she endured serious illness, eventually dying at the age of 36 in 1946. Numerous miracles have been attributed to her intercession by pilgrims to her tomb in Bharananganam in the southern Indian state of Kerala. The hundreds of Indian Christians visiting Rome for the ceremony yesterday included a 10-year-old boy who claimed that his club foot was healed, after he prayed for the intercession of Sister Alphonsa. For a candidate to sainthood to be canonised, a miracle must be attributed to their intercession.

Pope Benedict appealed after the ceremony for Hindus and Christians to "work together in building a civilisation of love."

Forty Christians are said to have died in the ongoing attacks on Christians by Hindu mobs in the east and south of the country.

The Pope added "As the Christian faithful of India give thanks to God for their first native daughter to be presented for public veneration, I wish to assure them of my prayers during this difficult time,"

India's first saint, Gonsalo Garcia, was canonised in 1862.