Catechetical Day celebration at ACS Barasat
On the 5th November 2016, under the able guidance of Sr. Clara the Principal, Sisters and the catholic teachers, the catholic students of ACS, Barasat had a grand celebration of Catechetical Day. The auditorium was well decorated with balloons,streamers and various charts prepared by each class displaying the corporal and spiritual works of mercy. The day started with the Holy Eucharist. All the parents of the catholic students were also present to take part in the grand celebration. Each Class starting from the toddlers to the senior most Class XII displayed a lively and valuableperformance on stage, on the topic of ‘Mercy’. The parents were also given a special talk by Fr.Alphonse who was the chief guest for the day. He encouraged the parents to be faithful to each other and be strong in their Christian faith and also invited them to impart the faith in their children through their witnessing life.
Convention of the Novice Formators
29 Mistress of Novices from the various parts of the world gathered at the Generalate of the Institute of the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians from October 3 -16 , 2016 to have an in depth study of the Constitutions with the theme: “The Constitutions , a plan of life that Forms and Transforms.” Mother General Sr. Yvonne Reungoat in her inaugural address exhorted the participants in the following words: “Your encounter is of utmost importance for the present and for the future of the Institute : you are entrusted with the FMA of tomorrow ,those who will continue to keep alive and make the charism real, to fulfil the mission for which Mary Help of Christians desired it in the style of Mornese, to be the living stones of the monument of gratitude to her , as Don Bosco wanted.”
We lived an experience together, an experience of the church, the Institute and of communion. Our hearts exults with gratitude, when with surprise and wonder we became aware that it is the same Lord who counts on us, on each of us, just as we are with our name and surname; is the one who asks us to accompany and begin the religious life of the young people who listen to his call , who recognize a great passion for Him and for the young so they joyfully assume the identity of the Daughter of Mary help of Christians.
The “ workshop – encounter ”of research, comparison, processing and working created a platform where each of us experienced the cultural richness, giving a direction not just to return to the Constitutions but go to the root of a perennial vitality, to the source of fidelity with the same passion of Don Bosco and mother Mazzarello.
The joy of the encounter accompanies us as we leave the portals of our Institute happy to be able to be at the side of the novices with joy until our way of thinking, feeling, speaking, acting and the sentiments of Jesus become our own .
Sr. Rosalia T.
CATECHETICAL DAY at Auxilium Dum Dum
On 11th November 2015, Auxilium Convent School, Dum Dum was honoured with the opportunity to organize and host the ZONAL CATECHETICAL DAY 2015. Apart from ACS Dum Dum, Auxilium Barasat, Bandel and Gobra also joined us for the Catechetical Day. We were 125 participants. The theme of the event was “To appreciate one’s own femininity as God’s precious gift”. A renowned doctor and councilor Dr. Sipra Goswami MBBS enlightened us with the precious gifts of womanhood. She made us realize how fortunate we are to be female whom God has trusted with the ‘Machine of Life’, to be a source of and reason for carrying on life and she also cleared many of our doubts regarding our emotional and physical problems.
Short movies were shown to instill in us the moral values of respect, life of sacrifice, care and concern for the other, examine oneself etc. We also learnt many new exercises and action songs.
We were shuffled amongst ourselves into seven groups bearing names of important women from the Scripture like Ruth, Judith, and Magdalene etc. We learnt the value of team work and oneness which helped us to put up the Gospel plays successfully. Group ‘Ruth’ stood first, group ‘Magdalene’ stood second and group ‘Suzana’ stood third. The day’s program ended with prizes distribution and gifts. All the students were grateful to Sr. Esther & Sr. Basanti who took the initiative and all the other sisters who collaborated with them to organize this meaningful and enriching day for us and we hope to be a part of more of such experiences in the future.
Snigdha Bhattacharyya – X A
Gnyana Sheeba Pillai – XI C
St. Mary’s Convent School, Geyzing won AWARDS 2015
On 9th November 2015, Sisters, Staff and students of St Mary’s Convent School, greeted “Mary Jane”, the School’s progressive Band, who brought home six Awards from the prestigious ‘S.R. Regional 2015’, held on 7th November 2015, at Town Hall, Kalimpong.
Mary Jane along with five other bands from Bengal and Sikkim were the final contenders for the “Band of the year Award” and other individual awards.
The band played the final judgmental bout on 7th November morning and confirmed victory later that evening.
We are proud to announce that our students -Bassist Pema Zangmoo “All India Topper”in Rock School Exams 2015, bagged the “ Bassist of the year Award”, while guitarist Esha Thapa and drummer Martha Lepcha were honoured with Guitarist and Drummer of the year awards.
Finally, the band was conferred with the band of the year award and Esha collected her second award of the day- the “Larry Carlton – musician of the year award”.
Not to forget Yojna Thapa from Yuksom school , who joined forces with the band as twin guitarist with Esha and owned the “Promosing Guitarist” memento.
The band members are also pursuing formal education in music from Rock School UK and the school is taking a lot of initiative and providing every possible facilities needed to enhance their musical prowess under the able guidance of Mr.Clement Lepcha, the music master of the school. Kudoooos to you Sir Clement.
Sr. Lucy Kachira
Children’s Day Celebration at Auxilium Kalyani
Children’s Day Celebration at Auxilium- Kalyani was anticipated to 10th November, Saturday being a holiday. The dawn of this day saw children in their colorful attire which filled the premises like a beautiful garden. As the children ushered into the hall, a brief prayer moment began the show of this day where representatives of Classes 1-4 lit the lamp to symbolize God as our true Light. This was followed by an entertainment program offered by the teachers where the students were very happy to see them perform dances, skit, song and comic. What grabbed their attention with wonder awe and great joy was the Chinese ambassador Ms. Chung-un-lung who came all the way from China to greet the loving children of Auxilium-Kalyani and give them a sweet message (comic). Stunning performance by Ms. Nita and her Regiment from the UK who led the BSF cadet through the stage in “Real White Shorts”…something unthinkable, unimaginable and unforgettable! With March past and Exercise performed in a most comical way. Oh, it was more of laughter and excitement to a limit. Sisters too made a show of their dance to the rhythm of “I’m a Barbie Girl” Indeed; we all could dance to bring joy to these little ones. It was indeed a splendid and special day for our dear children. Hats off to our teachers and sisters who made it a great one! The program concluded with Ashis’s words of gratitude to all our sisters and teachers for making this day a happy one for them. Truly Children are a gift from the Lord, A Blessing, A Joy, A Hope, A Promise and A Future.
Catechetical Day – Nirmala Niketan, Jaigaon
Nirmala Niketan, Jaigaon celebrated the Catechetical Day on 8th November 2015. The theme of the celebration was “Love is our mission” which waved throughout the celebration making it more lively, joyful and memorable.
The day began with Holy Eucharistic celebrated by Rev.
Fr. Rajesh Barla, the Parish Priest at 10.am. It was followed by a program based on Gospel themes. All the catechism students, their parents, teachers along with all the sisters of the community took an active part in it. At the end of the program Sr. Margaret the Principal exhorted the parents to help their children and to cultivate a strong mindset so as to excel in academics as well. All the parents were happy and wanted to have such type of celebration every year.
Prity Bhujel
Class XI
MEDIA WEEK celebration at Auxilium Convent School, Dum Dum
In the first week of November 2015, Media and Computer club of Auxilium Convent School, Dum Dum celebrated Media Week 2015-16.The theme given by Pope Francis this year for the World Communications Day is “Communication and Mercy: a fruitful encounter”, an advance theme which was never before thought of. Through the entire week the club tried to present a programme highlighting the capacity of good communication to open up a space for dialogue, mutual understanding and reconciliation, thereby allowing fruitful human encounters to flourish.
On the inauguration day, 2nd of November, 2015 the club inaugurated the week by lighting the lamp by Sr. Superior Sr. Teresa A., Sr. Principal Sr. Esther, the Moderator of the club and the President of the club followed by a prayer song portraying that “in prayer it is better to have a heart without words than words without a heart.”
Sr. Superior in her speech stressed on the importance of spreading humanitarian values through social networking, media and technology which is nowadays being used for evil welfare.
On the 3rd of November, the middle school had to put their thinking caps on to confront the Quiz competition with all their zeal. A slide show presentation based on the subject “Media: A medium to communicate!” was also presented. On the 4th, the club presented a short programme depicting how one can communicate through music. The very talented musicians of the middle school performed a musical piece along with a slide show based on human virtues and vices. On the 5th was a very special day as the high school presented a self made short film based on “Cyber Crime” along with a Quiz competition that proved to be a huge challenge to the high school participants.
The final day was the closing ceremony of the glorious Media week in which the club presented a dance depicting the story of a girl who gave her eye sight to her sibling, a song depicting the importance of spreading love through communication as a message of God and a skit depicting the pitiable condition of disabled (deaf and dumb) people in our society and the atrocities done to them. Sr. Principal delightfully congratulated the club and appreciated them for their efforts and asked everyone to use social networking sites safely for the welfare.
Geetanjali Singh (President, Media Club)
Missionary Animation Seminar
The Missionary Animation Seminar with the theme “Consecration and Evangelizing Mission” was held at Don Bosco Skill Mission, Bangalore from October 30- November 01, 2015. It was conducted by Rev. Fr. T.C. George SDB, Regional Delegate for Missionary Animation, South Asia. The participants were from all members of the Salesian Family of South Asia (SDB, FMA, MSMHC, SMI, VDB). They were the Province delegates for the mission animation and in all 40. Sr. Rose Kureekattu and Sr. Nirmala Tigga took part in this seminar from FMA INC.
The seminar began with an hour of Eucharistic adoration in the evening of 29 October. On 30th – 31st we had input sessions on various topics by the eminent persons such as; Situating Vocation, consecration and Mission as Relational Realities: by Fr. Dominic Veliath SDB, Towards a New Understanding of Vocation: by Sr. Ruby Korah FMA, Mission as Proclamation, Dialogue and Lifestyle: by Fr. Jose Kuttianimattathil SDB, Prophetic Dimension of Consecration lived through Mission: by Nestore Guria SDB, Missionary Commitment of the Consecrated People in the Present Socio- Religious Context: by Dr. T.C. Thakachan and Formation for Mission: by Sr. Christine Mynsong MSMHC.
It was very enriching and inspiring to see how each province and the members of the Salesian Family live their missionary identity. The third day was to evaluate the Mission Statement and Action Plan of the last year. Many shared their positive reply as how they have lived the action plan.
The mission Statement and action plan for the year 2016-16 were drawn up. Each family made their own action plan. The FMAs action plan: 1. To live the “culture of care”- welcoming, joyful FMA missionaries of the young, sensitive to the needs of others, especially families, 2. To celebrate annual Missionary Day at local and provincial levels- Sr. Teresa Balestra Day on 22 November, 3. To revive the animation of the Missionary Groups.
The seminar was concluded with the beautiful and meaningful Eucharistic celebration with the young people of Bangalore Christian Community of Meghalaya (BCCM). The participants went back to their provinces carrying home the message: We are consecrated missionaries and joyful agents of evangelization called to relive in our lives the mysteries of Christ and shared Him joyfully with others as the Saviour of humankind.
Sr. Nirmala
A picturesque presentation of the Odisha – Kurtumgarh Mission of the FMA
Family Visit
Oratory
Month of the Holy Rosary
Coaching Class
Youth Pastoral
Visit of Provincial Sr. Rose E.
Visit from Sr. Rose K & Sr. Annie T.
Visit of Sr. Annie T.
Feast Day Celebration
Village Visiting
FMA INC News Update 