BANDEL: “With unique God Experience, Towards Prophetic Religious life”, was the theme of the Annual Spiritual Retreat held at Auxilium Bandel from 03 – 10 January 2024.  50 Sisters from various communities of the province took an active part with the spirit of Refreshing, Rejuvenating and Renewing oneself.  Rev. Fr. Austin Joy MSFS led the sisters to encounter Christ to live a consecrated life.

The Holy Retreat commenced with the introductory message and blessing of Provincial Sr. Leelamma Parlliparambil, at 5.00 pm.  Thereafter it was followed by the Holy Eucharistic Celebration at 6.30 pm.

Fr. Austin Joy presented the various challenges of our Religious Life and also offered the group the solution to overcome them.  He said, “Whatever may happen in your life, there is an answer in the Holy Bible.”  He imparted to the group higher things – the treasures of our Religious Life. He dealt with numerous topics which led the retreatants to deeper God’s experience for the Prophetic Religious Life. Some of the topics were God’s call and anointing, serving the Lord with undivided heart, the common fall of God’s chosen ones, the power of the Word of God, the consequence of sin, salvation through Jesus, the way of treating God’s chosen ones, the power of praise and worship, how to live a blameless life, how to avoid the evil one, the power of the Holy Spirit in our lives etc.  

Fr. Austin made the group realize the power of consecration which is meant for others.  He also imparted how to win the battle with the powerful sword; the ‘Word of God’.  His witty and rhyming words like “every disappointment is an appointment with God” and ‘create memories and not injuries’ made the retreat interesting and fun-loving. After participating in this inspirational and vigorous life-giving preaching, the retreatants unanimously decide to serve the Lord with an undivided heart. After the retreat, the retreatants expressed their heartfelt gratitude to the preacher, the provincial and the community Sisters.  It was one of the unique retreats for all the participants.  

 The second day 24 commenced with Morning Prayer and talk on pride with quotes from the bible.  In the second session Fr. Remesh presented the 12 steps of humility by St. Benedict the father of western monasticism and in the third session he elucidated 17 signs of lack of humility again by St. Benedict preparing all for good confession.  In the afternoon there followed confessions and counseling sessions. After the cleansing of the sins all gathered to partake in the Holy Eucharist celebrated by Fr. Anthony Earathara SDB the Parish priest. The day ended with the healing session by Fr. Remesh, Fr. Anthony and Alfred Paul from Auxilium Parish.

The third day was initiated with prayer and worship which continued with a session on the best time of prayer: ‘Early Dawn’ proving it with numerous quotes denoting from the bible explicated  by Sr. Pranati Sabhasundar. She also further stated the need for family prayer, recital of family rosary and unceasing prayer.  The next two sessions were illuminated  by Fr. Remesh Cherian   on the power and strength of the Holy Eucharist quoting numerous miraculous instances. The 3 days encounter with the Lord was climaxed with the Celebration of the Holy Eucharist by 3 fathers Fr. Anthony Earathara, Afr. Alfred Paul and Fr. Remesh Cherian followed by anointing of all participants by all three of them.

Fr. Remesh gifted each participants with some memento  in memory of the beautiful days with the Lord, a large picture of Divine Mercy and other memorable religious articles.  The soul stirring retreat culminated with group photographs and all returned home carrying the keepsake of memories to witness in their lives.

The Catholic students of classes IX -XII of Auxilium Convent School, Dum Dum, had the privilege of making an enriching retreat in the Bandel Church Retreat Centre from 12 to 15 August 2022. It was organized by Sr. Esther Rani Abraham, the principal of Auxilium Convent School, Dum Dum, and they were accompanied by Sr. Esther, Sr. Anima, and the teachers. The spiritual retreat was animated by Rev. Fr. Remesh Cherian SDB of Auxilium Parish, Gobra and he was assisted by Mr. Vicky D’Cruze and his team.

The retreat was animated through praise and worship sessions, the explanation of the Word of God laced with several real-life instances, sessions on the essence of virtues like humility, chastity, and truthfulness, an explanation of the power of the sacrament of reconciliation, and the nature of the Eucharistic celebration, adoration of the Blessed Sacrament and healing session. Fr. Remesh also explained to the students the history of Bandel, Basilica after which there was a candle-lit Rosary procession to the main balcony. The counseling sessions were offered by Sr. Nirmal Jyoti to all the students. The informative and soul-stirring video on the life of the saint Maria Goretti drew the attention of the students to the need to possess a pure body as well as a pure soul.

It was a fruitful retreat for the students as they received the infilling of the Holy Spirit and abundant blessings from God. The students resolved to keep the fire burning in their hearts so that they could become messengers of the good news.

Shreoshi Suzana Gomes , Class XII A      

The Retreat for the aspirants was held in the Aspirantate – Bamunmura from 20-23 July 2022. Rev. Fr. Robi Sarkar SDB, preached the retreat on the theme “: “God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong.” 1 Corinthians 1:27. Provincial Sr.Leelamama Palliparambil exhorted the 35 candidates to spend the days in close intimacy with Jesus. One of the aspirants says, “We began our retreat with much enthusiasm and in the Spirit of recollection. It was a wonderful experience for all of us to spend our time with the Lord praying and reading the word of God”.

On the first day, of the retreat, the talks and prayer moments were based on the topic “God’s call”. We considered our call which was given to each one of us in different forms, of our lives. Whether it is in Religious life or in marriage, it is a call to which each one of us had to respond; and remain faithful until the end of our lives. Every day our day ended in the adoration to the Blessed Sacrament which we were helped to spend fruitfully.

At the end of the retreat, this is what echoed from the aspirants: “It was simply a wonderful experience for each one of us. We praised God, thanked God, and made petitions to God. We were helped to be reconciled with God and to one another. We were helped to forgive others. After being reconciled with God we were helped to make our resolutions, how we could grow deeper in our loving relationship with Jesus”.

As we concluded the retreat Fr. Robi reminded us that our spiritual retreat began the day we ended. So, all of us have started our journey with the Lord in earnestness and enthusiasm to be faithful to Him, who loves us and cares for us.

Abha Kishori Tirkey and Daffodil Nayak

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 100^th anniversary of the FMA presence in India and 150^th 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!

Sr. Shanti Tirkey

BANDEL: Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, be thankful in all circumstances (1^st Thessalonians 5:6-8)

The 26 sisters from Kolkata zonal commenced their annual spiritual retreat at Auxilium Convent Bandel from 26^th December 2020 to 2^nd 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.

The retreatants

NEW CHUMTA: 14 sisters from North Bengal gathered at Auxilium New Chumta for their Annual Retreat. The retreat started on 27^th December 2020 and was concluded on 3^rd January 2021. Rev. Fr. Albert Kujur and Br. Kenneth Karan Pradhan were the facilitators of the retreat. The Theme of the retreat was  Ps. 34:5  “Look to Him and be radiant”.

On the first day the theme was centered on the “Word of God – the Word made flesh.” In the afternoon Br. Kenneth reflected on the three steps to reach heaven: “Read, eat and do – live the Word. The Word of God has to be alive through us and people have to read the Scripture through our lives. He spoke on forgiveness and also the authority given to all to bind and cast all kinds of evil spirits at the feet of Jesus on the Cross. During adoration he animated the sisters to forgive the persons who have offended and the family members, ancestors and family tree. All the sisters openly and freely tried to forgive the offenders in the name of the Lord. On the second evening there was inner healing session during adoration and brother explained about the inner wounds which can be healed only by Jesus.  Six areas – body, soul, mind, family, finance and demoniac power needs inner healing. There are various signs and reasons for inner wounds. Sisters were made aware of one’s inner wounds before experiencing healing. On the third day there was the meaningful Sacrament of Reconciliation. Some other topics dealt with were sin, eternal life, Mother of God, Holy Spirit and Holy Eucharist and the references made were mainly from the Word of God and the Constitutions.   During his last session Br. Kenneth spoke on Holy Spirit: The characteristics of the Holy Spirit giving reference from the Scripture; the Holy Spirit makes us holy, the holiness of life, for which we are called and set apart. We ask for the gifts and fruits of the Holy Spirit but we should ask for the gift of holiness. In the evening there was the infilling of the Holy Spirit session and all the sisters were anointed and received some gifts and charism. At the end sisters were made to reflect how to know the will of God while decision making. While making decision if the heart is at ease then it is the will of God. The Holy Spirit has to be allowed and given space to work in the daily life.

The retreat ended with the Holy Eucharist on 3^rd January morning. The reading and reflecting the Word of God in depth enabled the sisters to have very enriching experience and also the meditations on various aspects of Constitutions articles helped to have better understanding of the Constitutions. Indeed after infilling and anointing of the Holy Spirit sisters had Pentecostal experience and were determined to live their commitment with much fervor and enthusiasm. Finally they expressed their gratitude to Rev. Fr. Albert Kujur and Br. Kenneth Karan Pradhan for being channels of God’s blessings during the retreat. They also expressed their gratitude to Sr. Superior and the community members for their hospitality and providing all their needs during their stay at New Chumta.