BENAULIM
Excitement, preparation and enthusiasm reigned in Auxilium Benaulim for weeks in the month of July in anticipation of a grand occasion of the 150th Anniversary of Foundation, the 100 years of arrival of the first Missionaries to India and the 40 years of the presence of Daughters of Mary Help of Christians in Mumbai Province was held on 16th July 2022 .
The festivities took off with a solemn Eucharistic Celebration by the Rector of Don Bosco Benaulim Rev. Fr. Edison Fernandes. We thanked Mary Help of Christians for walking along with us as Mother and Helper, for being a living presence in our communities and pastoral ministries, for strengthening our commitment to educate the young and be a sign of expression of Gods foreseeing love among young people.
A skit illustrating the life of St. Mary Domenica Mazzarello and the first sisters was then presented. It was a grand, melodious fusion of song and dance with a multitude of performances, enchanting voices singing “A light of Mornese “echoed in the auditorium. The celebration was attended by the parents, students, past-pupils, teachers, friends, benefactors and the Neighboring families.
The celebrations for the 150th anniversary of the Foundation of the Institute continue with the hope that they will bear abundant fruit in the life of every FMA to keep the Salesian charism alive in creative fidelity to Don Bosco and Mother Mazzarello.
WADALA AUXILIUM
A momentous and memorable day was celebrated on 4th August by the Pre-primary, primary, and international school and on 5th August at Sr. Bertha Hall. It was held to commemorate 3 milestones, the 150 years of our Institution, 100 years of Salesian presence in India and Ruby jubilee of Mumbai province.
The programme began with the solemn lighting of the lamp. Rev. Sr. Magdeline Sequira , Sr.Rita Dora , Sr.Shanta Philo , Sr.Audury Dias , Sr.Phillis Fernandes , and Sr. Aruna Castelino lit the lamp which signifies love and care. Following this solemn symbolic moment, a prayer service commenced with a prayer dance praying with rhythm invoking God’s presence. Sisters who celebrated their anniversary were felicitated followed was the cutting of the cake with all the sisters from the communities coming forward joining together in solidarity to cut the cake as a symbol of the festal occasion.
Next followed a skit put up by the Red House on the 150 years of the foundation of the congregation of Salesian sisters and the journey that began inspired by St. John Bosco and Mary Mazzarello following the message our Blessed Mother Mary conveyed through a dream. That dream turned into a reality of 150 years of service to the society in the field of education in India and all over the world. An excellent performance with dance, music and perfect coordination of all sectors. A feather in the cap for the flawless performance by the Primary and Secondary section students.
Rev. Sr. Magdeline Sequeira then addressed the gathering going into the history and journey of the Salesian sisters all these years. She spoke about Jesus being the focal point of this mission and love, care, devotion to their vocation brought about this momentous occasion to unravel.
Sr. Gloria announced and acknowledged that Tr. Paskin Sales who was felicitated with a plaque from MSSA sports association for her valuable contribution over 25 years on the field of sports. Sr. Gloria Ferrao next addressed the gathering and declared that the British Council has conferred a silver medal to Auxilium Convent Wadala for the Skills Builder Activity and has acknowledged their logo to be utilized on our website for this year and next year. Auxilium is reaching higher grounds with such feats which is truly commendable.
Finally vote of thanks was proposed thanking all those who made this memorable event be remembered in the portals of the history of Auxilium. A festive meal was served to the staff and guests gathered. Students received a key-chain as a token. Truly fond memories were created and all basked in this glorious occasion.
CARANZALEM
The feast of Our Lady of Snows was once again a happy occasion for us at Caranzalem and especially as we celebrate the three important milestones this year. Our community participated in a solemn Eucharistic celebration in our Chapel and the main celebrant was Fr. Loddy Pires, the former Provincial of the Konkan Province who highlighted the presence of Our Blessed Mother in our Institute and in our lives and also explained the importance of the feast. We then renewed our vows after the homily in the presence of a few lay people who participate in the Eucharist with us every day. Being the Marian month in school, it was the turn of the sisters to animate the prayer which we did with much fervor and prayed for the various intentions of our school and students.
The next day was like a symphony that flowed from the vibes of the previous day into a joyous melody of thanks and praise to the Father and Mary, Our Blessed Mother for being with us through all these years of history till the present. To grace this occasion of the completion of 150 years of the Institute, 100 years for the pioneers who arrived in India and 40 years of our presence as the Province of Mumbai, Fr. Felix Fernandes, the present Provincial of the Konkan Province was invited to celebrate the solemn Eucharistic celebration and it was con-celebrated by Fr. Cipriano Da Silva, the Parish Priest of Taliegao. Representatives from all the sectors like the school staff, students, Past-pupils, co-operators, NIOS students, Parents and relatives of our sisters, neighbours and other people were invited for the Mass and the program. Fr. Felix spoke beautifully about the wonders our Blessed Mother has done in our Institute and also about the three milestones.
The Eucharistic celebration was followed by a short program depicting the history of our Institute interlaced by dances and songs by the students. Everyone appreciated the performance of the students and encouraged them. The co-operators surprised us sisters, by bringing in a cake and singing their blessing song for us. It was a moment of joy as all the sectors of our mission joined us in celebrating this great event. After this the participants were invited for a festal lunch by the sisters.
DAKOR
It was a great day of joy and deep gratitude for us Sisters in particular at Pushpanjali, Dakor as on 20th August 2022 we celebrated the 150 years of the Foundation day, 100 years for the presence of our Sisters in India and the (Rubby jubilee) 40 years of completion of our Bombay Province. We invited our Boarders, ITI Students, Tuition Teachers and the community of Don Bosco, Dakor. We began our Solemn Eucharistic celebration at 12.p.m. which was Celebrated By Fr. Pravin Makwana, the Rector of Don Bosco, Dakor and the concelebrants Fr. Elson Barretto sdb and Fr. Ajay Shelke sdb from Don Bosco, Dakor. Fr. Pravin gave a beautiful homily on the theme “I entrust them to you” by interacting with the assembly, telling about the history of our congregation and by connecting our life with the life of our first community of Mornese Sisters. After the Eucharistic meal, we offered them the snack and drink. After which we had short programme by our boarding girls and ITI students. There was a prayer dance, Skit, Video clip on the life of our first Sisters, which enabled the assembly to know more about the life and spirituality of our founders. As a tokan of love and gratitude, Sr. Gracy Thomas our animator gave them key chains. After the Programme we had delicious fellowship meal all together and we enjoyed each other’s company. All were very delighted, thrilled to meet & to know each other. It was a memorable day for each one of us especially for us Salesian Sisters as we honored St. Mary Mazzarello. As we admire her simplicity in her dealing with others it was a lesson too to practice in our day today life. We took leave of each other and ended our celebration.
Maria Vihar and SHTC Nashik
On 3rd August we, the community of SHTC and Maria Vihar had a meaningful Reconciliation prayer moment conducted by the Novices, which brought us together to reconcile us with God and each other, we had a cup of soup and snacks at the end of the service.
On 4th August we had the Triple celebration with the VTC students, where in Sr.Urvashi explained to them about our congregation and what we are celebrating. It was a beautiful moment where they felt that they are with such big Salesian family. As a memento we distributed key chains and ladoos to all present. At 10.00 a.m. soon after her English class, Sr. Agatha explained our triple celebrations to the Spoken English students. She then took them to the chapel where the pictures of Mornese, of our Pioneers and of our province were put up. She explained it all to them and they also shared in our celebrations. At.11.00 am Sr. Agatha had a meeting with the parents of the Nursery children. She told them a little of the history of our Congregation, of our beginnings in India and of the Ruby Jubilee of our province. The parents gave us a loud clap in appreciation. We distributed ladoos to the parents and children.
In the Evening the joyous moments that we were awaiting had arrived. Once again SHTC and Maria Vihar community had a lively celebration together. It began with a meaningful prayer moment by Sr. Agatha. We prayed and sang together going back to our origins, singing hymns in Italian, symbolically placing bricks with our names before our Mother. We also renews our vows together. All of us – sisters and novices – placed a key at the feet of Our Blessed Mother and while each one was in front of our Mother all the others whispered a prayer for her. We made sure to conclude our service singing our anthem “O qual sorte”. We then had recreation together with interesting Mornesian games conducted by Sr.Jaya and Sr.Linette. The games were lively and fun-filled. After recreation we had dinner together and we felicitated Sr.Willma and Sr.Agatha on their profession day and Sr.Supriya and Sr.Meera on their silver jubilee. We thank God and each other for the relaxing evening.
We celebrated the long awaited day – our foundation day. The Maria Vihar campus was filled with fathers, brothers, sisters and novices. The celebration began with Holy Eucharist by Rev. Fr. Wyman SDB. In his homily he brought out the values that St.Mary Mazzarello had inherited and handed down to all of us. He also spoke about her simplicity and her prayer life which sustained her throughout her life. After the Holy Eucharist we had a short programme performed by Boarders and Novices, the power point by Sr.Agatha and spot prizes given to those who could tell us about our beginnings and our celebrations. There was a lot of excitement and laughter as we listened to each other. We had dinner together with all the salesians and thanked God almighty for the wonders He has worked in our institute, in India and in our province.
On the 6th Evening we had celebrations with our hostel girls and boarding children. Sr.Linette explained to them about our celebration and our congregation. They were happy to know about St.Mary Mazzarello. The boarders put up a beautiful dance on Mother Mazzarello which brought life. Sr.Hilda spoke about our triple celebrations and made them feel that they are part of our family. As a memento we distributed key chains and ladoos to all present. We ended our celebration thanking God.
AHMEDNAGAR
An Anniversary is the time to celebrate the joys of today, the memories of yesterday, And the hopes of tomorrow. This year 2022 marks the great jubilee 150 years of our institute, centenary of the FMA presence in India. And we in INB celebrate 40 years of presence. We had a great grand celebration of jubilee’s in Auxilium Ahmednagar, we also celebrated the feast of the Patron Saints of our four houses our Mother & Co-Foundress St. Mary Domenica Mazzarello, the saint of youth St. John Bosco, The Patron saint of the chair boys St. Dominic Savio & the feast of our teenage girl blessed Laura vicuna.
This magnificent day started with the welcome of identical saints and all the sisters in procession and thereafter by invoking God’s blessing upon each one of us through the intercession of all saints. Auxilium Ahmednagar is indeed very thankful to God almighty for bringing the Salesian charism to our land through our Salesian sisters and fathers amidst us, through them and in them we can see the image of these saints. And it was the moment that the students performed a skit which conveyed the message that “Not with blows, but with gentleness and kindness, we must deal with those on the wrong way”.
After that the students presented the famous quotes of these saints that gave us a glimpse into what faith can do. A jubilee was highlighted with the theme song… RECALL, RENEW, REJOICE. A breath holding dance performance which delighted each one of us to be grateful. Our Manager Sr. Rita Lobo enlightened us with her meaningful message that “It’s not important to know the life story of these saints but each one should emit, what they did to others.
She shared with us the real life story of these our first sisters who sacrificed their life to spread the charism of Don Bosco and Mother Mazzarello in the world, in our country and in Mumbai. Those words were truly very motivating. It was a blend of wonderful music and rhythmic moves was indeed a great combination. At the end of the day, we were left inspired and enriched with lives of the great saints and we enjoyed the grand triple jubilee celebration performance.
Auxilium Pali Hil
The Community of Auxilium Pali Hill celebrated the 150th Foundation of the Institute on 5August with much joy and enthusiasm. Our joy was doubled as we had the privilege of having Sr. Meena D’Silva, our Provincial for her visit to our community.
On 4 August, we began our celebrations with a meaningful and well animated vigil service, joining with the FMA world to thank God for the gift of the Institute. On 5 August, we had well animated morning prayer during which Sr.Teresa Vettical, the animator of the community placed the house key at the feet of the statue of Mary Help of Christians, symbolizing Mary Our Blessed Mother as the head and Superior of the community as Mother Mazzarello felt. We also thanked and praised God for our four sisters, Sr.Teresa Vettical, Sr. Caroline Fernandes, Sr.Elizabeth Ross and Sr. Philomena D’Souza, as they celebrated their profession anniversary on this very day.
Our teachers, Catholic students and their parents, support staff were part of the celebration. After the homily the sisters renewed their vows. It was indeed a proud moment to renew our commitment on this memorable day. The Eucharist was followed by a felicitation program and fellowship meal.
SHIRVA
“Jubilee is the time of celebration and the time of joy and remembrance to recall the past memories of our Institute and give thanks to God for his marvelous works over these 150 years since the foundation of the Institute of Daughters of Mary help of Christians”. With gratitude we remembered our first 11 sisters including our foundress St. Mary Mazzarello who gave the feminine touch to the spirit of Don Bosco. We the community of Auxilium Shirva had a solemn celebration on 4th August 2022, beginning with the Holy Eucharist followed by a short play which included dances and skit of the beginnings of our Institute. It was St. Mary who took the first step and believed in the words of St. John Bosco under the guidance by our blessed Mother. Today we honor her as we look back and recall the great moments in the history of our Institute. We indeed had a great day with our founders and our pioneers who became the living monument and now we are to journey in the footsteps of St. Mary Mazzarello and St. John Bosco to express our gratitude to our beloved Mother Mary help of Christians.
Nandgad
The Auxilium Convent English Medium School, Nandgad celebrated the 3 milestone events with great enthusiasm. The 150 years of its Foundation, 100 years of its presence and 40 years of the MM Mumbai province. The celebration began with a short prayer moment followed by a talk given by Sr. Mangala on the importance of today’s day. The Principal Sr. Jyothi Pinto presented a short video on the story of the FMA in India. Then we had the distribution of sweets and key chains for all the students and the teachers.
This day was indeed filled with much joy and love as all the sisters were very happy for all the work they are doing in order to keep this school and its mission function successfully with God’s help. The teachers and the students of our school took the initiative to appreciate and thank each sister for all the good work that they are caring out to help the poor and abundant people especially the youngsters whom they encounter.
On 7th August 2022, the Salesian sisters of Auxilium Convent English Medium School, Nandgad had the foundation day with the boarder’s parents. The celebration began at 1:00 p.m. in the afternoon with a Prayer dance followed by a welcome song and a cultural dance performance. A short video was presented to the parents of all the activities the boarders had this past months. We had Sr. Jyothi who spoke to the parents about the triple celebration we are celebrating this year, which was then followed by a video on the story of the FMA India.
Sr. Santana took the initiative to instruct the parents few rules of the boarding. the boarders then presented cards to their parents. We had the distribution of the keychains followed by lunch for all. All the parents were very glad and delighted to see their children come up on stage and do well in all that is told to them. Indeed it was a great day for all of us to celebrate and jubilate together in each ones company.
NIRMAL
We the sisters of Nirmal community celebrated the 150 years of Grace and blessings of our Institute at world, province and community level. At different moments sisters shared with the youth, families, ADMA group, children, and friends, about the Institute and the works we are involved in with the people of God . In the Parish Church Sr. Shaila spoke to the people about the triple jubilee. They were very glad to know about our institute. The Parish Clergy praised and thanked the Lord for the wonderful mission of the Institute. After the Eucharistic Celebration the people congratulated the sisters and invoked God’s abundant blessings. Cake & symbolic ribbon key chains were distributed to the gathering. Priests and Religious joined us for fellowship meal. It all began with Mary thus we praised our Blessed Mother for the gift of our great Institute.
MADANTHYAR
