On 26 May 2022, once again, the Salesian Sisters of Kolkata Province exults in joy for the gift of Sr. Ranjita Nayak and Sr. Suzan Maria Louis who committed themselves in perpetuity to the Lord at the Basilica of the Holy Rosary, Bandel.
The Holy Eucharist was presided over by Most Rev. Thomas D’ Souza, the Archbishop of Kolkata along with other con-celebrants. Archbishop started his homily highlighting the importance of the forthcoming synod and reminding the assembly that we are pilgrims, journeying towards our heavenly home and we are a family of communion. Basing on the reading of the occasion he stated that the vocation to be religious is not received due to one’s own merit but God’s love for us, his great compassion for the humanity. In the book of Jeremiah the Lord has promised His everlasting love for the humanity. Finally, he invited the sisters to be effective models to the young people after the example Don Bosco and Mother Mazzarello keeping in mind their motto of the profession: ‘Called to Love, Send forth to Serve’.
The presence of the parents and relatives of the professed sisters, the religious, friends, the Salesian cooperators and the students brought color and delight to the celebration. The Eucharistic celebration was followed by felicitation and a fraternal meal.
As the Institute celebrates the 150th Anniversary of its foundation; the Province of Kolkata rejoices and thanked God for the gift of our six sisters who made their first profession at Mazzarello Convent Ranchi, on 24 May 2022. The FMA India, commemorates, the centenary of the arrival of the first missionaries in India in 2022. In the year 1922, the six missionaries arrived in India, and it is a coincidence that six sisters Sr. Alice Rosline Tirkey, Sr. Elina Minj, Sr. Neha Beck, Sr. Neha Lucy Kujur, Sr. Nayna Agatha Kujur and Sr. Ursula Kujur made their first profession in Mazzarello Convent, Sahera Ranchi with their motto: Chosen to love, serve and generate life. The Holy Eucharist was presided over by Most Rev. Felix Toppo, SJ, the Archbishop of Ranchi along with other con-celebrants. During his homily he highlighted Jesus as an obedient Son of the Father who gave himself for the humanity. He offered his body mind and soul to his father to fulfill his Father’s glory. Therefore, our only desire should be to sacrifice to God. He invited the newly professed sisters to be the glory of the Church. The presence of the parents and relatives of the professed sisters, the religious, friends and the past pupils and the class mate of the professed sisters added joy to the celebration. The Eucharistic celebration was followed by felicitation and a fraternal agape.
The Province of FMA INC joins the FMA world to celebrate the feast of Gratitude 2022 to say ‘Thank you to Mother Chiara’ the Superior General of the Institute of the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians on 24, 25, 26 April 2022 in Turin, Mornese, Nizza Monferrato.
The annual Provincial Team meet was held from 11-13 February 2022 at Auxilium Dum Dum, Provincial House to draw up the provincial project and program for the coming year. 13 members participated. Sr. Lily Perumpettikunal the general coordinator of the province gave a warm welcome to all especially to the new team members of different sectors. The introductory talk was delivered by Rev Sr. Leelamma Palliparambil the Provincial. She thanked the sectors for carrying out their responsibilities faithfully and encouraged the members to do everything with love and nothing through constraint. She invited everyone to be with Mary a life-giving presence.
Thereafter the general coordinator guided the team members in the planning and programming. The sectors presented their reports and planned for the future. The members showed keen interest in this important task and each one gave her rich contribution in planning the project and program for the year 2022-2023. The members then presented the well-defined provincial project and the calendar and the sector plans to the provincial and the provincial secretary and got their approval. The members thanked Sr. Provincial for her wise guidance and also proposed the vote of thanks to Sr. Lily for her continual guidance and support.
This is the day the Lord has made, we rejoice and be glad in it. (Psalm 11:24)
By wisdom a house is built, and by understanding it is established; by knowledge the rooms are filled with all precious and pleasant riches (Proverbs 24: 3-4).
11 January 2022 will be a memorable day in the history of Auxilium Convent, Kurtumgarh. The beautiful day dawned with an unparalleled air of joy and excitement in everyone. It was the long awaited day of the inauguration of the temporary residence of the Sisters in one wing of the new school building.
The historic event was graced by Fr. Jugal Kishore Digal the Parish Priest of Kurtumgarh, Fr. Aswin Singh the assistant Parish priest, Sr. Leelamma Palliparambil our Provincial and four provincial councillors – Srs Teresa Adampakallel, Lily D’Souza, Inocencia Jojo and Celine Alexander besides Mr. Bishember Nayak and Mr. Ugresan Nanda the representatives of Parish council, Mahila Samiti, Youth group, village leaders and other invited guests.
Fr. Jugal accorded a very warm and grateful welcome to Sr. Leelamma, councillors and the community Sisters of Kurtumgarh. They were greeted with a song, bouquets of flowers and Gamuchha. Fr. Jugal then enlightened all present on the importance of the house blessing. It was followed by the cutting of the ribbon by Sr. Leelamma and the lighting ceremony of the Indian lamp. The Parish Priest conducted the rites and prayers of the house blessings. The solemn Thanksgiving Holy Eucharistic celebration and the blessings of the new chapel followed. Fr. Jugal presided over the Holy Eucharist and Fr. Aswin Singh delivered the homily on the liturgical readings of the day highlighting the persistent prayer of Hannah, and Jesus in the synagogue teaching with authority. He compared the new house to the temple and invited all present to respect the place of prayer and to pray with faith and trust confident that God will hear our prayers and fulfil our hearts desire, like that of Hannah.
After the holy Mass, on behalf of the community Sr. Rinki Nayak extended her deepest gratitude to Sr. Leelamma Palliparambil for her untiring labour in establishing this wonderful house, and all the Sisters of the Province for their prayerful support. She also expressed her appreciation and thanks to the Parish Priest of Kurtumgarh Fr. Jugal Kishore Digal for his support and assistance offered from the time of our presence in Kurtumgarh, Fr. Aswin Singh, the assistant Parish priest, to all the invited guests and the provincial councillors. A sumptuous lunch was served for all present. Everyone raised a hymn of thanks for the good weather and the successful program.
53 Sisters of the province made their Spiritual Annual Subscription to the Mercy and Compassion of God at Bandel from 28 December 2021 to 4 January 2022. The theme “Rooted and Established in love” was dealt at a deeper level by Rev. Fr. V.M. Thomas S.D.B from Don Bosco Renewal Centre, Bangalore (formerly known as Don Bosco Yuva Prachodini). The Holy Retreat commenced with the inspiring introductory talk by the provincial, Sr. Leelamma Palliparambil. It was an awesome experience when she asked the retreatants to bless each other. Her good night talks were very thought-provoking and based on the General Chapter XXIV theme and today’s reality.
The entire retreat revolved around making Jesus come alive in our consecrated life: in our being and doing. The intensive days spent with Jesus was for all the participants an experience of walking down the dark corridors of our inner world; searching the hidden corners that have remained unexplored in our subconscious; tracing our path along the slippery slopes of uncertainties, and exposing the areas of our intimate being to the Word of God. The preacher said that in order to be vibrant and efficient in our life and mission we need to ask 3 questions to ourselves like the pilots: Where am I? Why am I here? And where am I going? The participatory method used by the preacher helped the retreatants to get personally involved in our inner spiritual journey. The video clips, sweet chanting of devotional hymns, short prayers, discussions in two’s kept us in connection with the Lord all through the day. The figures of Simeon, Anna, Leper, Zaccheus, Nicodemus, Bartimeus, and ten virgins through light on our inner journey spurring us to imitate their attitudes of CS AAP: Come, Surrender, Acknowledge, Ask, and Proclaim. Fr. V.M. challenged the participants not to be a “Fuse Box” wire that comes in and goes out in the same manner, instead we should go out with a determination to be faithful and fruitful, and be a transformed person in the likeness of Jesus. A glimpse on our first missionaries and sharing of his own work experience enthused us to be more fruitful and faithful in our journey with the young. All the participants desired to put on the ‘Armour of God’ (Eph.6: 10-18) to bear witness to Him, generate life, and to produce ‘New Wine’ in the mission among young people as we are on the eve of 100th anniversary of the FMA presence in India and 150th anniversary of the foundation of our Institute.
The holy and fervent Retreat was concluded with Thanksgiving Holy Eucharist and renewal of the Vows. Indeed, the Almighty has done great things for all the retreatants. With hearts filled with love and gratitude they expressed their thankfulness to the provincial, preacher and community in a very creative and festive manner. Praise, Honour, and Glory to God today, tomorrow and forever for His countless blessings upon everyone!
In the 2rd Year of Preparation for the 100th anniversary of FMA presence in India (1922-2022), the PCI (Provincial Conference of India) has as its theme “Accept the mandate: I entrust them to you. To revive the Salesian family spirit and strengthen community communion.” To deepen the theme, the Province of Mary Help of Christians, Calcutta (INC) conducted four Webinars in four groups for the 150 Sisters of the Calcutta Province from 5-7pm., on 24 July, 14 August, 28 August and 11 September 2021. The four speakers of the webinar developed the following four topics: Family Spirit as lived at Valdocco; Family Spirit as lived in Mornese; Family Spirit as delineated in the Constitutions; Family Spirit as lived by the first FMA missionaries in India.
Sr Francesca Ekka, Sr Deepa Minj, Sr Rosy Veliyan and Sr Maria Goretti Ekka were the speakers of the first webinar participated by 48 Sisters and Novices. Sr Francesca took the group to Becchi and Valdocco where Don Bosco and Mamma Margaret created a family atmosphere for the boys to grow as in a family while the second speaker Sr Deepa highlighted the Mornese spirit as the three YES of Mary Mazzarello, Yes to Life, Yes to Faith and Yes to Suffering. The third speaker Sr Rosy stressed on the Constitutions as a sure guide to holiness while Sr Maria Goretti spoke of the first missionaries who were sisters and mothers to everyone.
For the 2nd group of Sisters the resource persons were Sr Mary Ekka, Sr Aquila Phawa, Sr Nirmala Tigga and Sr Maria Pettayil. They too dealt with the four topics elaborately and expounded their reflections to the group. Sr Mary focused on the Preventive system practiced by Don Bosco, Sr Aquila enlightened on Mornese the house of the love of God while Sr Nirmala Tigga underscored the elements of the Family Spirit, and Sr Maria emphasized on Sr Maria Avio as an exemplary FMA who lived the family spirit to the full.
Srs Mary John, Aruna Kispotta, Shanti Tirkey and Teresa Pulickathadathil the speakers of the 3rd group too dwelt with the topics extensively. Sr. Mary John took the participants for an online picnic to Valdocco exhorting the listeners to create a home where everyone felt loved; Sr. Aruna gave practical tips on how to build the family Spirit; Sr. Shanti had an interactive session delving deeply into the articles of the Constitutions pertaining to Family Spirit while Sr.Teresa stressed on the practice of family spirit lived by our pioneering sisters especially Sr.Cesira Gallina.
The resource persons for the 4th webinar, Srs Prema Lourdu Francis, Basanti Ekka, Emilia Vas and Lucy Kachira led the group to re-discover the family atmosphere that reigned in Valdocco and Mornese and are permeated in our Rules and in the life of our first sisters. Sr Prema took the audience to Valdocco the cradle of the family spirit followed by Sr Basanti who underscored the importance of practicing the family spirit among the sisters and girls. Sr Emilia stressed on the aspects that make up our family spirit as mirrored in our Constitutions while Sr Lucy invited the group to follow the example of the pioneer missionary of the northeast Sr Clotilde Appiano who weathered all types of difficulties of the beginnings living her motto, “to give and not to count the cost”.
All the 16 speakers made the concepts penetrate the minds and hearts, by their vivid presentation and innovative methods. The webinar was a strong invitation to carry forward the rich and beautiful heritage that we have received from Don Bosco, Mother Mazzarello and the pioneers and to continue to make it bear fruit today and in the years to come. “Family spirit, the creative outpouring of Don Bosco’s heart, must characterize all our communities and requires the commitment of everyone”, was stressed by all the speakers unanimously. The resource persons were chosen from the Sisters of the province. Srs Stella Potteparambil, Celine Alexander, Rosalia Tirkey and Teresa Adampakallel were the Moderators of the webinar co-ordinated by Sr Lily Perumpettikunnel the General Co-ordinator of the province.
So the LORD said to Moses, “Take Joshua the son of Nun, a man in whom is the Spirit, and lay your hand on him’ (Numbers 27:18).
FMA INC Kolkata had the same biblical experience on 23rd and 24th of June. At the close of the six-year term the province felt indebted to thank the outgoing provincial Sr. Rose Ezarath with an evening get together both offline and online due to the pandemic situation. The service consisted of thanksgiving prayer service prepared by the media coordinator Sr. Celine Alexander was sent to all the communities to be live streamed at 5p.m. This was followed by expressions of thanks by the communities compiled by Sr. Clara Saminathan and the Google meet coordinated by the General Coordinator Sr. Lily Perumpettikunnel during which the vice provincial Sr. Teresa Adampakallel appreciated Sr. Rose Ezarath for her endearing service marked by dynamism, love and caring for sisters of varied ages, and strengthening of prayer life. As an expression of gratitude the province offered a spiritual bouquet of prayers and sacrifices in thousands, represented in basket of flowers. The cutting of the cake and thanksgiving song witnessed by all the communities online sent vibes of gratitude from all 25 communities to dear Sr. Rose. The communities in attendance offered gifts, bouquets, cards and gifts to Sr. Rose expressing their heartfelt gratitude. The zenith of the day’s ceremony was the sumptuous dinner prepared by the community of Dum Dum and enjoyed by all, escalated the family spirit.
24th June 2021 was a memorable day in the annals of FMA INC Kolkata when the 7th provincial Sr. Leelamma Palliparambil was given the realm of the province. The day began with Morning Prayer prepared by Sr. Regina Adampakallel seeking blessing on Sr. Leelamma delineating the charism of a leader after the Good Shepherd. The Holy Eucharist presided by Fr. Joseph Pauria Sdb the provincial and four concelebrants commenced with an entrance dance by the aspirants followed by the handing over ceremony comprised of thanksgiving to Sr. Rose Ezarath, reading of decree of appointment of Sr. Leelamma as the 7th provincial of INC Kolkata, handing over the symbolic tree representation of INC Kolkata and seeking the blessings on Sr. Leelamma anchored by Sr. Stella. The Celebrant in his homily drew our attention to the two Mornesian symbols inviting each of us to be infiltrated with the spirit of the origins. After the Mass there was a short felicitation ceremony in the provincial hall followed by Breakfast.
Three days Catechetical Seminar was held at Auxilium Bandel from 2nd to 5th January 2021. It was organized by Sr. Lily Perumpettikunnel the Coordinator of Catechetical sector. Rev. Fr. Gilbert Choondal SDB was the recourse person. 28 sisters from Kolkata zone participated in the seminar and benefited by it.
On the first day in the introductory talk Fr. gave brief description about the Catechesis and its role in the church. What is Catechesis?
God’s way of life
It’s a vocation
It’s sharing of faith
It’s faith formation
Spirituality of Religious
An Identity of Religious
It’s a Mission of Consecrated life
Second day’s session preceded with the topic “Art of Catechesis”, where Fr. explained about the origin, definition and task of the Catechesis. He also gave brief history of the Catechesis and shared knowledge about the various catechism books that were introduced in the church; Compendium, Catechism of the Catholic Church, Youth Catechism of the Catholic Church (Youcat) Theology of the Body (Docat).
He spoke in length about the content of Catechesis that are: Creed, Sacraments, Commandments and Prayer which are also known as 4 pillars of the Church. At the end of the session, he gave us some methods & guidelines how to make Catechism classes more interesting, innovative and lively.
On the third day he explained about “Communicating Faith” in the present and post pandemic, where he stressed about finding new way out of Catechizing through family prayer, social media, newspaper with Bible, jumbled Bible story, action songs, riddle etc.
Session was very educational, innovative and persuasive. All the participants are stimulated to be a vibrant religious Catechesis today.
BANDEL: Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, be thankful in all circumstances (1st Thessalonians 5:6-8)
The 26 sisters from Kolkata zonal commenced their annual spiritual retreat at Auxilium Convent Bandel from 26th December 2020 to 2nd January 2021.The preacher of the retreat was none other than vibrant Fr Biji Thomas SDB. Sr Rose Ezarath the provincial welcomed the retreatants and encouraged to have a deeper encounter with the Lord during this time of grace and assured all of her prayers. It was indeed a good start as we began it with the Holy Eucharist. From the very beginning the retreatants were helped to prepare themselves meaningfully for the Sacrament of Reconciliation.
The entire retreat was centred around personal holiness, love for God and neighbour, stressing more on prayer life, community living, vocation and mission which are all expression of Giving Jesus to other and thus saving souls, supporting his views for the Scripture. The Old Testament and the New Testament were interconnected well for better understanding so as to delve into the depth of oneself.
Fr Biji dealt systematically the aforementioned points. Speaking of holiness he said that the basic awareness of the fact is that we are worthless and what we can’t learn in humility the Lord will teach us in humiliation. The grace of God is necessary in each of us which is equivalent to unjustified suffering and God. As he spoke of community life he focused on Love for neighbour which is indicated in owning up every sister in the community and to value them as St Paul says in Romans 15:1 we who are strong ought to put up with the failings of the weak and not to please ourselves. He concluded saying we are convinced to keep our focus on where we need to focus and not to turn back, for the Lord knows how to provide if only we give Him a chance.
We gratefully acknowledge the valuable Salesian goodnights given by our provincial Sr Rose Ezarath from Constitutions, Circulars, family news and reminders. The day always ended with a good thought. We are privileged to conclude our Annual Spiritual retreat at the Balcony of the Basilica of Our Lady of Bandel with the Holy Eucharist.
We thank Sr Provincial for blessing us with this opportunity of making this spiritual renewal possible in a new normal way during this pandemic. Our gratitude and love to Sr.Rosy and the community of Bandel for their great hospitality and goodness in providing the best for our stay.
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