Nagpur Province

  Blessing of "Mermier Bhavan" in Haryana

  Successful Parish Mission in Mozambique

MSFS

Global News

To mark the event of 'Yesu Krist Jayanti 2000', we have installed a beautiful 6 feet statue of Pieta at the main gate of St. John's High School, Nagpur. It was blessed by His Lordship, Bishop Joseph Rosario msfs, the former Bishop of Amravati, on 01st January 2000, in the presence of a very large gathering. It is installed because of the several decades of the special Devotion of the Catholics of Nagpur City to Our Lady of Sorrows nurtured by the MSFS. The Novena to the Mother of Sorrows commences at St. John's in the month of July every year for nine consecutive Fridays, and the Feast is celebrated with great fervour on 15th September. Over 200 devotees attend the Novena and the Feast Day Celebrations.

The Community of St. John's High School, Nagpur, had a pleasant surprise when a few months ago news flashed across Nagpur City that St. John's High School had been notified by the Urban Development Department, Government of Maharashtra, as one of the 204 heritage sites of Nagpur in Grade II category according to which 'intelligent conservation’ is the goal. Among other things a particular mention has beer made of the architectural beauty of St. John's, its arches and the pointing over the exterior red bricks. People lovingly call St. John's as "lal School" (i.e. red school - with reference to the red-brick exterior of the building).

The Regulations prevent the owner in making any alteration on the interior and the exterior of the structure without the prior permission of the Heritage Committee headed by the Municipal Commissioner. All the changes which are required must be in harmony with the existing structure.

Fransalian International,  Vol. 3  May 2001

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Mermier Bhavan itself lies about 2 kms away from the highway at the outskirts of Dharuhera. It is an upcoming industrial area with a lot of scope for jobs. While addressing the gathering the Archbishop was all praise for the MSFS for accepting the request of the Archdiocese to start a Non-Formal Technical Institute there. The Mermier Institute of Non-formal Technical Education (named after the founder of the MSFS) is meant to impart job-oriented non-formal technical training to the poor, the school drop-outs etc.

Fransalian International,  Vol. 3  May 2001

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In our Mission Work in Mozambique we are adopting very successfully the original charism of our Congregation handed down by our Founder, Fr. Peter Mermier, i.e. the Parish Mission which consists of the faith-renewal programmes of the Catholics through direct catechesis. The two important methods adopted are Blessing of every home, and Faith Formation Seminars.

At first it looked a Herculean task, if not an impossible one! Initially the progress was slow and difficult as walking through sandy, marshy forests, deep jungle, thickets, thorns and fields was something new to us and very hazardous too. The houses were distant from one another. Not knowing Ronga, the people's dialect, added to our communication problem. But then, as the people began to appreciate and experience the joy and thrill, they too joined us in groups in pilgrimage by singing hymns and canticles and praying the Rosary. In some places the line was quite a long one. It was something very new to us as well as to the people who made it a solemn event.

We were at a loss as to how to catechise the people and to thereby increase their faith. Due to Communism, the long civil war. the ignominy attached to the practising of Catholic Religion because of its colonial and imperialistic link and background, most of the faithful were becoming faithless due to the absence of timely, frequent and periodic nurturing of their faith. Many, of course, have joined the mushrooming 'Sects' (ingrejas independents). Almost all practise Rites for antepassados, and they depend on and follow the feiticeiras and inhangas. Even those who attend the Sunday Mass do not know catechism, and they have no idea of the meaning and bearing of the Liturgical Symbols and Sacraments. Very few have read the New Testament (let alone the Old Testament) - not even the Gospels! For many years there were no Catechumens, no baptisms.

We began by organising Seminars on three consecutive and suitable weekdays from 10.00 a.m. to 4.00 p.m. The people too participated very actively like, raising questions, clarifying doubts and solving problems of daily life, sharing of difficulties about the rectification of marriages, problems regarding munyikelo (dowry), run-away cases, abandoned persons, disinterest on the part of the spouse in the practice of faith, the hold of superstitions, the societal obligations to participate in these superstitions as well as in many other 'ceremonies' etc.

Fransalian International,  Vol. 3  May 2001

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