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Pilgrimage to Our Lady of Graces

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A group of 52 Catechism students belonging to the “Jesus Club” made a fruitful pilgrimage to the Basilica of Our Lady of Graces, Sardhana, Meerut, UP on Saturday, October 22, 2016 in order to celebrate the Jubilee Year of Mercy. They were accompanied by Sr. Celine Alexander, Sr. Jenita Mary Savarimuth, three staff members and Fr. Cyprian Creado op, who was invited to celebrate the Holy Mass at the Shrine. On reaching the holy place, Fr. Cyprian Creado op, invited the pilgrims to enter the Holy Door praying the Divine Chaplet and to experience the loving Mercy of God. It was followed by Eucharistic celebration, Praying of Holy Rosary, lunch, recreation and enjoying a walk around the Basilica.

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It was a grace-filled day for all of them as they understood that there can be true happiness and peace if Jesus, the Merciful Healer remains in their lives.

The Offering

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Sr. Annie Theyattil,  Sr. Shanti Tirkey and Sr. Prisca Bara,  from Kurtumgarh, Kandhamal, Odisha, are grateful  to God for the good vegetables  grown  in  their  garden.  On 23 October 2016  they plucked the first fruits from their kitchen garden and  offered it to  the Lord at the Eucharistic Celebration.  The people were happy and inspired to  do the same.  The  Sisters  apart   from  their regular  tuition  classes  and  family  apostolate  enjoy  working  in their  vegetable  and  flower  gardens.

 

‘Nine is Mine’

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The students of class VIII B represented Holy Child Auxilium Vasant Vihar for the ‘Nine is Mine’ Campaign (drum out poverty) held on 18th October 2016 at Bal Bhawan ITO Kotla New Delhi.The Nine is mine campaign is an advocacy initiative of the children for the children and by the children. The Campaign ensures that India keeps her promise of decating 6% of GDP to education and 3% of GDP to heath. The Campaign consisted of folk dances, an amazing drum show and stories were shared by children from different part of India who are deprived of proper water, education, sanitation and midday meal. All the activities were centered on the specific theme ‘clean water and sanitation.’  The participants took part in ‘drumming out poverty by drumming the bucket provided 1100 students representing different schools along with band –‘D Club’ and entered in the Limca Book of Records while drumming out poverty.

 

Training Programme on Counselling Skill and Trauma Counselling – YOUR TOUCH HEALS ME

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NDF had Organized a 4-day Training Programme on Counselling Skill and Trauma Counselling, from 07-10 October 2016 at Mannivakkam Chennai. There were 24 participants from five FMA Provinces (Chennai, Mumbai, Kalkata, Shillong and Gauhati). The  programme commenced with the welcome ceremony. Sr. Isabella the NDF Coordinator welcomed the chief guest Sr. Magnificat Soosai the Provincial of Chennai and all the participants. Thereafter Sr. Magnificat in her message said, “According to Don Bosco every educator is a Counsellor, therefore let us learn the art of building friendship and gain confidence”.

The first 2 days were on Counselling Skill animated by Dr. Sr. Elizabeth and Sr. Vimla Sebastian of Chennai Province. They stressed on how to develop counselling skill and positive thinking as well as the functions of the brain. On 3rd day we had an exposure programme. We had an opportunity to interact with the clients of MCCSS (Madras Christian Council of Social Service) who are victims of various problems.

Dr. Christina Augustine dealt with Trauma counselling. She explained the three stages of counselling and stressed on each stage in detail.

Stage I  – behaviour, skills involved and body language

Stage II – Safety, talking about the problem and detail (no skipping)

Stage III – diagnose, rationalise, facilitate

The training was good and enriching. It enabled the participants to learn the techniques of dealing with the clients with better understanding. In summary “The Counsellor is A Healer, Facilitator and not a Judge”.

 

 

Community day Celebration

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Oh! how lovely life was at Mornese! Yes,  indeed our community of R.K. Puram is also a tangible expression of the community  of Mornese . We celebrated our community-communion on 15th October 2016 after a month-long spiritual preparation. The theme chosen for the celebration was “ Community –                 A celebration of Mercy” and  some of our practices were: praying for each other, common reading and reflection on Articles regarding “ Fraternal Life”  which helped us  to live Mercy in action. The solemn thanksgiving Mass held on 14th  evening was  presided over by Rev. Fr. Babu  Varghese SDB,  the Rector and principal of Don Bosco Alaknanda. Morning Prayer of the next day was another occasion for us to praise and thank God for the unique gift of one another in the building up of  our community.

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On this special day we had a community  outing to the  newly inaugurated  Rashrapathi Bhawan Museum set up with latest technology . We then moved on  to Nehru Park where we had a friendly  time in the  company of each other. We concluded the day  with a thanksgiving adoration praising God  for all His blessings.

Reported by Sr. Anima  Minj

BIBLE CAMP for Oratorians

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25th September 2016 was an important day for our Oratorians from Banglatoli, Colussinagar and Sahera. 93 children of different age groups had gathered together. We began with the enthronement of the Bible. Sr. Rosalia presented the parable of the sower and invited them to be the good soil and produce good fruits. After the introductory talk the children were divided into eight groups. Sr. Mukta Kerketta. presented the Gospel of St. Luke in a nutshell since all the activities were based on St. Luke’s Gospel. Then the children sat in their groups to prepare mimics, group songs, and fancy dress on competition basis. This was followed by the group presentation.

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The children participated actively and enjoyed every activity. In the afternoon action songs and the parable of the lost sheep were presented. The children were prepared for the Sacrament of Reconciliation through a power point presentation. Everyone exchanged the sign of peace.  After few outdoor games the children went home happily with sweets.

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Novices

Sacred Heart Novitiate Ranchi.

 

 

Youth Sambilan at Kurtumgarh Parish,

On 12th October one-day youth programme was organized at Kurtumgarh Parish, Kandhamal.  Rev. Fr. Jibanta Kumar Nayak, the assistant parish priest, Raikia was the resource person.  More  than 100 youth from the villages belonging to Kurtumgarh parish had gathered together to gain some experiences to make their living more creative, active and strengthen their faith.  At 10.oo a.m. Fr. Jasmanta Pradhan, the assistant priest welcomed the youth and asked them to introduce themselves. Sr. Annie Theyattil congratulated them for attending the camp.  She narrated Don Bosco’s dream of the dragon and the Rosary.  October being the month of the Holy Rosary she told them to pray the rosary devoutly and regularly to overcome the problems in life.

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The camp began with the lighting of the lamp followed by the talk.  Fr.Jibanta helped them to reflect on four seasons of life; spring, summer, monsoon and winter.  He compared this with one’s own life.  A person has to face this four seasons in life.  Spring; childhood days, Summer; holding responsibility, monsoon: difficulties in life, winter; old age.  Through this imagery he enlightened them on the value of a human life and its worth.  Sr. Shanti Tirkey helped them to refresh themselves with a self composed Odia action song.  At the end of the talk Fr. Jibanta divided them into four groups and gave them two questions to discuss, and decide some action plan.DSC01078.JPG

Sr. Prisca Bara assisted them during the group discussion. They felt good and mostly all the group agreed to be a good natured and responsible youth.

Sr. Shanti asked the youth the 14 works of mercy and the winner was rewarded. The youth day concluded with Eucharistic celebration followed by fellowship meal.  We hope to have more gathering of young people to orient them for better life.

 

AUXILIUM CONVENT SCHOOL DUM DUM HONOURS ST. TERESA OF CALCUTTA

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Auxilium Convent School, Dum Dum organized a series of events to celebrate the Canonization of Mother Teresa. ‘Saint Teresa Week’ began from 19 September. The assembly prayer was dedicated to Mother Teresa. Classes VI to XII respectively, took up the prayer service each day. On 19 September, the Art and Craft Club organized a painting and sketching competition. The response from the students was overwhelming and the sketches/paintings submitted were beautifully done.

 

DSC08884.JPGOn 23rd September, the Media club organized a Power Point presentation competition on the theme: “Mother Teresa, Life and works”. The visuals on her life were heartwarming as we saw the indomitable spirit that moved Mother Teresa to share in the suffering of others and to alleviate it. The Music club, on the 27 September had a surprise in store for us. They organized a song writing and singing competition (Duet) for classes VI to XII. The participants had to compose original lyrics and set them to melody. It was a creative and a melody filled session.  On 27 September there was a dance competition for the middle school. Vibrant and colourful dances were showcased by the students. The Instrumental/Musical competition of classes VI to VIII proved the talents of students at various instruments.

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Mother Teresa’s Spirit of love, devotion and heroic sacrifice will be remembered by all of us.

Ms. Sharmila Biswas

General Co-ordinator

 

Seminar cum Workshop on Social Media

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A three-day Seminar cum Workshop on Social Media was organised from 30 September to 02 October 2016 at Auxilium Convent, Bandel.  It was coordinated by Sr. Elizabeth Valliyil the Coordinator of the Province for Social Communication. 22 sisters from different communities participated in the seminar. In the keynote address Sr. Rose Ezarath, the provincial quoted Pope Francis: “Communication is a gift of God which involves a great responsibility. It has the power to build bridges, to enable encounter and inclusion, and thus to enrich society”.

The seminar focused on “Social Media and Ethics, the New Revolution” by Fr. Anthony Erathara SDB, rector, Don Bosco Seminary, Bandel, the Profile of a Master communicator, Art of writing Chronicles, news and reports by Sr. Elizabeth Valliyil and video making and editing by Sr. Shanty Tirkey.

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The impact of social media on society, balance in digital media, ethical  decision, privacy in sharing personal information, reputation, relationships in digital media, online security were presented in brief by Fr. Anthony on 1st October morning. The afternoon sessions on 1st and whole day of 2nd October was spent in practice of publisher and video making and editing. The participants found the seminar and workshop useful and rewarding.

Sr. Kanchan Bara

 

 

Feast of the Holy Rosary

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On 7th October 2016 the feast of the Holy rosary, the inmates of Auxilium Barasat began the day  with a solemn Morning Prayer followed by the Recitation of the HolyRosary in the chapel in front of the well decorated statue of Mother Mary. The boarders animated the Holy Rosary with a fitting introduction and with songs and various intentions praying for the wounded world, persecuted Christians, for the sick, for our province and our Provincial sr. Rose Ezarath as it is the eve of the Provincial Community day.  This was followed by a fervent Eucharistic Celebration presided over by Rev. Fr. Leo , In his homely he narrated the history of the devotion to the Holy Rosary. He also exhorted the assembly to have great devotion to our Blessed Mother, quoting rosary is the simplest prayer which each Christian should know and pray. Rosary is unifying force of all the Christians all over the world and helps us to meditate upon the mysteries of Christ. The celebration concluded with a hymn to the Blessed virgin.