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Fransalian International

"Be what you are, Be at its best!"      - St. Francis de Sales

Editorial  SFS  Fr. Mermier  General Curia  SFS Publications      News from the Provinces Brazil   East Africa England Franco-Swiss North-east India Nagpur  Pune   South-west India Visakhapatnam     Hearty Congratulations Fr. D. Kuzhupil  Fr. E. Mayoraz Fr. A. Fernandes Fr. A. Mookenthotam Fr. A. Mangatt  New Priests   Vol. 3  May 2001

Fransalian International

Visakhapatnam province has a strong tradition of bringing the message of the Gospel to new areas, and we are doing our best to be faithful to this tradition. Both Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu are fertile fields for evangelization. In all our parishes and missions we can see the vibrancy of faith and Christian life. Considerable numbers of people participate in the celebration of the Sunday liturgy. The great events of the liturgical year such as Christmas and Easter are celebrated with great solemnity and with the participation of a multitude of faithful. In our missions we promote faith formation by means of Bible study, spiritual retreats, regular gathering of prayer groups, constant contact with the people and regular celebration of the liturgy in the mission centre and in villages.

During the last six years the province has taken up pastoral ministry in several places outside India. At present our confreres are serving the Church in the southern part of USA which is a Diaspora, in Germany, in Italy, in Australia. Since three years our confreres are serving the Church in St. Lucia, West Indies and recently we have sent confreres to the mission opened in Rumania. Without going into many details, it can be said that our service is of great value to keep up the faith of these communities and our service is well appreciated.

On 22nd February 2001 the parish of Mondasoro in the archdiocese of Cuttack Bhubaneswar celebrated the centenary of the arrival of Christianity in the area. Since the Christian message was first brought to the region by the MSFS in 1901, a special invitation was sent to the Provincial of Visakhapatnam. Fr. Jose Chirayath, the bursar and Fr. Provincial participated in the celebration. The celebration, which lasted for a week reached its climax on 22 February with the solemn Eucharistic celebration, presided over by the Archbishop of Cuttack-Bhubaneswar, Bishop of Berhampur and the Bishop of Balasore. About 50 priests, a number of Sisters and more than two thousand people from the surroundings participated in the celebration. The singing and dancing during the Eucharistic celebration showed the cultural integration of the Church in the tribal millieu. There are three priests and a Sister from the parish and a number of candidates are in the process of formation for priesthood and religious life.

The elder generations have good memory of the MSFS and their struggles to plant the seed of faith in the area. In the early days it was known as Deegi (Dighy) mission and in the midst of thick forests. The MSFS reached there in 1901, and in 1902 they established a primary school and boarding there. When asked about the name of the early Fathers, the oldest catechist of the place named three of them: Fr. Rey, Fr. Descombes and Fr. Suiffet. Attack of tigers was a great menace for the mission; children had to be locked in the boarding house before 6 p.m. "Close to the house, the Fathers had a trap to catch tigers; the trap was arranged in such a way that, when the tiger was closed in the trap, the church bell would ring and the people of the village would come to kill the tiger", said the catechist.

The missionaries acquired good bit of land for the mission; in spite of the encroachment of the land by some people, the mission has still about 20 acres of land. In the year 1923 Vincentian fathers took over the mission and built a beautiful church dedicated to Our Lady about the year 1940. At present there is a middle school, boarding, convent, dispensary and the parish has about 1500 Catholics scattered in a few villages. Besides, a few parishes are created out of the former Deegi (Dighy) mission territory. Even today travel facility to Mondosoro is quite inadequate. We have to admire the zeal and courage of the missionaries to reach out to such inaccessible places.

Our journey to Mondosoro was an occasion to visit some other places associated with our early missionaries. We visited Surada, and important mission of our forefathers.

The present beautiful Church dedicated to Sacred Heart was built during the years 1916-19 and it was repaired by the Vincentian Fathers about ten years back. The church has a lot of similarity with the church at Ross Hill, Visakhapatnam. The present convent of Sisters contains a part, which was built by the MSFS Fathers. There are two schools and two boardings at Surada. The school and boarding for girls are managed by the Daughters of Charity and the school and boarding for boys are managed by the Vincentian Fathers. The present Catholic population of Surada is about 700.

At Surada the tombs of Fr. Muffat +18-7-1898, Fr. Petit Jean +11-9-1905, Fr. Vulliez + 21-7-1921 and Fr. Fleury + 29-11-1921 are well preserved. According to the obituary of Fr. F. Moget, Fr. Muffat died at the age of 54. Fr. Petit Jean died of malignant fever at the age of 28, three months after his arrival at Surada. Fr. Vulliez came to India as a seminarian in 1894, became priest in 1900, served most of his life as a zealous missionary at Surada and died at the age of 45. Fr. Fleury came to India in 1908 as a seminarian, became a priest in 1912 and died at Surada"at the age of 39.

The village of Thottabally, one of the important centres of our early missionaries is about four-km from Surada. At present there is hardly any Catholic community there; but there is good bit of land acquired by the MSFS and now it belongs to the Diocese of Berhampur.

About 12 km away from Surada is the mission of Dantolingi which was established by the MSFS in 1854. Our Fathers built the Church of Our Lady at Dantolingi at the beginning of the twentieth century. "Bell of the church is the biggest in the diocese", said the parish priest. The parish has about 160 Catholic families. At present the parish has about two thousand acres of land acquired by the MSFS. Most of the land is paddy fields and the rest is forest. The parish is paying the tax for the land, but the land is leased out to the people for cultivation. The cultivators give to the parish a small amount of paddy as cess. In the fields there are four pools for irrigation made by our Fathers.

Dantolingi is also a famous place of pilgrimage with a grotto of Our Lady. At the beginning of the 20th century many people in the locality died of some contagious sickness. In this situation the Fathers built a Grotto of Our Lady in a rather elevated place and promised to celebrate the feast of our Blessed Mother and to make pilgrimage to the sacred place. There was no more death through the contagious sickness. From then onwards, pilgrimage to the place became an expression of Christian faith and devotion. Today many pilgrims visit this sacred place especially on Saturdays, and on feast days of Our Lady. "Many miracles take place here", said the parish priest.

Although Dantolingi is not a very accessible place, zealous missionaries accept the inconveniences for the cause of the Gospel. A few Adoration Sisters from Kerala are there and they are building a house to establish themselves in this village for missionary ministry. We visited Gajalbadi, about 5 km away from Dantolingi; the MSFS bought land, built a residence and a small church and established a community there. Today the church and the residence are in a ruined state. However, in spite of the encroachment of the land by the neighbours, the church has still about three acres of land there. There are about 15 Catholic families there and the Holy Eucharist is celebrated in one of the houses whenever a priest visits the village.

We also visited Daringabadi, a parish that belongs to the archdiocese of Cuttack-Bhubaneswar. Here also the MSFS spread the seed of faith, although it was not an important centre of the MSFS at the time. Today Daringabadi is a good parish with about 6000 Catholics spread out in several villages. The parish has two priests, a community of Sisters and boarding for children. In this region there are a few other parishes born of the missionary efforts of the MSFS. Some of the priests whom we met expressed their appreciation for the vision and planning of our missionaries. The three bishops whom we met and several priests invited the MSFS to come again to Orissa. Their remarks of appreciation gave me a more positive sentiment regarding the out come of the MSFS missionary efforts as a whole.

Fr. Many Panthalany msfs

January 28th 2001 is written in silver in the annals of SFS Parish, Shantinagar of the Archdiocese of Hyderabad.

		Started about 25 years ago in the outskirts of Secunderabad City with a few families, the SFS Parish grew from a tiny seed into a mighty tree sheltering more than 400 families. His Grace Most Rev. Dr. Marampudi Joji the Archbishop of Hyderabad graced the Silver Jubilee at 8.30 a.m. with the Holy Mass. The Eucharistic procession started from the church portico proceeded by the people singing and 40 First Holy Communicants to the site of the Jubilee Celebration, systematically and beautifully arranged. At the altar beautifully decorated by the Sisters, were 10 concelebrants some of whom were the former parish priests.
His Grace Archbishop in his homily exhorted the people about the importance of the Jubilee, the parish and the parish life. The Archbishop confirmed 40 children by the unction of the Holy Spirit. The Choir was well tuned and timed to the occasion. The Archbishop blessed the pictures of Jesus Our Saviour to be distributed to the Parishioners as memento of the Jubilees. He also blessed the corner stone of the Sacristy and the extension of the church. The Eucharistic celebration was followed by felicitation of the Archbishop and other distinguished guests, dances and cultural programmes.

The whole celebration went according to time and programme. The conclusion of the celebration was the family meal in which more than 1500 people participated. Even outsiders lauded the arrangements and the functions. Thanks be to God and to Our Patron St. Francis De Sales and all who took active participation in the Jubilee celebration.

Fr. George Pakumala msfs

The feast of Our Lady of Lourdes, the titular feast of the parish was solemnly celebrated on 9th to 11th February 2001and it was an occasion of joy for the people. During the three days, pilgrims from nearby villages also gathered there and paid their homage and gratitude to the Blessed Mother. On 9th February, Rev. Fr. Lawrence MSFS hoisted the flag to mark the beginning of the celebration and offered the Eucharist along with our confreres.

Fr Joseph Kondala MSFS, parish priest of Mellavagu, preached the Word on the aspect of faith. On the 2nd day, Rev. Fr. Deva Raj of Nellore Diocese was the chief celebrant and he instructed the people on the role of Mary in the life of every person. The concluding celebration was on 11th February. Rev. Fr. Michael, the procurator of the Diocese of Nellore, with several other priests concelebrated the solemn High Mass. In his homily Fr. Naidu Prakash spoke on the ineffable love of Mother Mary who always grants favours to those seeking to her help. In the felicitation that followed the parishioners, with guidance and assistance from FCC sisters, presented a variety of dances and songs. The play "Siluva Dhari" directed by the parish priest, won the applause of the large audience. The grand finale was attended by large gathering of faithful, sisters and priests.

The aim of any celebration is to bring joy and happiness to the celebrants. Thus the people of Reddipalem are privileged to celebrate the feast of their patron saint. St. Francis Xavier. As a mark of the beginning of the novena celebrations, on 25th of ena celebrations of each day. Thus the spiritual preparations of the parish was begun. There was a spiritual convention led by Bro. Mohan Kumar and his group. From the 1st of December, everyday a priest celebrated the Eucharist and gave God's message to the people. On the 2nd of December, a Biblical Drama "PREMA SAMRAJYAM" was beautifully staged by "Kaladarshini" a cultural unit in Andhra Loyola college, Vijayawada and instructed the people with the message that God gracefully rewards the generous giver. It was clear that the parishioners drew a great spiritual fruit.

On the feast day, a grand Eucharistic celebration was held in the parish house premises. Very Rev.Fr. Mani Panthalany, the Provincial Superior of M.S.F.S., celebrated the High Mass with many more concelebrants. As the saying goes, "Constant dripping wears away the stone", the constant preaching of His good news surely has changed many hearts. Added to the happiness of the parish, 30 more new members were added to the number of the Catholics in the parish. They received Baptism on the auspicious occasion. They were spiritually well prepared by Jesuit Novices who are having their work experience in the parish. Rev. Fr. Mani Panthalany M.S.FS., Provincial of Vizag Province, presided over the ceremony.

The impressing aspect of the celebrations was the "Candle Procession". As usual People bought a lot of candles and came around the church, to offer the candles and get blessings of the Saint. And after a while the Statue of St. Francis Xavier was taken in procession with full decoration and illuminations that was a delight to the eyes. During the procession people recited the Rosary and sang hymns with great devotion.

Fr. Many Panthalany msfs