There is no cause for delay

Neelakanta Pillai was already a man of standing when he came to the font: an officer at the court of the king of Travancore, of good family, and thirty-two years old. It was Eustache de Lannoy, an officer of the king's own army, who first spoke to him of the Christian faith and sent him on to Fr Buttari, the priest of Vadakkankulam. Buttari could see the persecution such a convert would draw, and he did not hurry. He “judged it necessary to defer the grace he so ardently desired; and, having tested him long, admitted him to the sacrament of regeneration.” A Protestant historian of Travancore records what the waiting man said to the hesitating priest: “There is no cause for delay. This is no compulsory baptism. I came here to receive the sacraments not by force, but by my own free will and desire. I shall even give up my life to maintain the Truth of which I received the light and of which I am convinced.” He would. The instruction ran nine months. On 14 May 1745 the water was poured in the church here, with the catechist Gnanaprakasam Pillai standing as his godfather, and the officer took the name Lazarus, and in Tamil Devasahayam, God is my help.

DocumentedThis moment rests on 6 sources.

Agur 1903p. 281

281 He also narrated the history and trials of Job: In wrapt at- tention Neelacunda Pillay listened to the story, and his bur- dened mind felt great relief. This occurrence drew them into similar conversation day after day until Neelacunda Pillay was converted to the Christian faith, and expressed his desire to receive baptism and partake of Sacraments. Greatly pleased at this desire in his friend, De Lanoy 5 sent him with a note to the presiding priest at Vadakkankeon'! at Vadakkankulamain Tinnevelly Rev. Fr. R. Battari Italus S. J. who hesitated to baptize him until he received more particulars about the man. Observing the delay that Fr. Battari was making, Neelacunda Pillay said, ‘‘ There is no cause for delay. This is no com- pulsary baptism. I came here to receive the sacraments not by force, but by my own free will and desire. I shall even give up my life to maintain the Truth of which I received the light and of which I am convinced. ”’ At this firm. assertion of Neelacunda Pillay, the priest taught him the Creed, the Commandments Baptism. andsome pravers and baptised him changing his name into Devasagayam (God's help.) Though the Native Christians of Travancore and South India to the present day generally call him Devasagayam Pillay, his real baptismal name was Lazarus. From this time forward Devasagayam advanced in piety and grew to be an excellent Christian, endeavouring to preach the Gospel to others and to convert them. It gave him much pleasure that he was also enabled to bring his wife and some others of his family into the pale of Christianity. Now the matter became. public that Neelacunda Pillay had renounced the Hindu religion of his 36

281

What this source establishes

⭐⭐ The saint's own words at his baptism in this church, from a NON-CATHOLIC pen. Fr Buttari hesitated to baptise him until he knew more, and Neelakanta Pillai answered: "There is no cause for delay. This is no compulsary baptism. I came here to receive the sacraments not by force, but by my own free will and desire. I shall even give up my life to maintain the Truth of which I received the light and of which I am convinced." Agur spells the village several ways, which is why name-spelling sweeps kept missing him.