Vol: 7 Issue: 5 - The Marianists

To all of the readers of
this newsletter, may the
blessings of Christ’s coming
at Christmas and into your
hearts be abundant and
lasting.
NEW ARRIVALS TO THE DISTRICT
On the 23rd of November Fr. Jose
Ramon Sebastian de Erice arrived in his new
community, Faustino from his Province of
Madrid. A few days later he accompanied the
first year professed on the famous bus tour of
Mysore and Brindavan. Where ever the tour took
them Fr. Jose Ramon led the way, astounding the
young brothers with his endless supply of
energy. Fr. Jose Ramon and the brothers got
back to Chaminade Nilaya only at 11:30 pm but
Fr. was up early the next morning and ready to
go while our young brothers were not yet seen.
Fr. Jose Ramon is already teaching scripture to
our Aspirants. Fr. Dave Fleming is especially
happy to have Fr. Jose Ramon at Deepahalli to
share the many sacerdotal duties of Deepahalli
Vol: 7
Issue: 5
December 2007
campus. Fr. Jose Ramon also was introduced to
Indian cultural programs by sitting through
Children’s Day Mela of REDS as an honored
guest.
Bro. Jim Facette, S. M., arrived in Bangalore on
5 December from Hawaii. Bro. Jim will be
teaching science courses at Deepahalli in January
and will be at Deepahalli to April. During
December Jim will be visiting Fr. Bill
Christensen in Bangladesh, Kathmandu, Bharaul,
Ranchi, Patna and Barh. Bro. Del and Bro. Jim
were in the same community in St. Louis 46
years ago.
FIRST YEAR BROTHERS’ GATHERING
Our eight first year brothers came
together at Clara Sadan, Carmelarum, Bangalore
from 24-26 November under the guidance of
Bro. Xavier and Fr. Syl. Fr. Ignace Dungdung,
CSSR gave several conferences. On the 27th
Bro. Xavier and Fr. Jose Ramon accompanied
them for an outing to Mysore as mentioned
above.
CHILDREN’S DAY IN RANCHI
The annual Children’s Day for REDS
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Ranchi was held on the Samlong parish grounds
on 24 November with 1100 people in attendance.
The Director of the Jharkhand Educational
Council was the chief guests. Other guests
included Fr. Pragasam and Bros. Prakash and
Sanjay of the District Council, Fr. Marty Solma,
Bro. Lester Kaehler, the five brothers making the
30 day retreat at Nirmal Deep, and Fr. Anand,
the Samlong Parish Priest. All of the centers
participated in the long cultural program. In
addition a group from Binda led by Bro.
Augustus Surin also performed a Mundari
cultural dance. All enjoyed the meal after the
program. A special thanks to Bros. Alex and
Paulus and all of the REDS staff for their
excellent work in organizing the program.
CHILDREN’S DAY IN BANGALORE
The 12th of December found over 1600
people gathered on the playground in Austin
Town, Bangalore for REDS Children’s Day
Mela. Breakfast was furnished followed by the
cultural program of dances, skits and fashion
shows and the usual speeches. Skill booths were
opened after lunch with the Marianist Aspirants
and Augustinian Sisters making sure all won
prizes. At the same time some children were
enjoying rides while still others and parents were
listening to the orchestra. All of the REDS
programs attended from three year olds in play
school to older girls in our tailoring centres. And
our three main religious groups all participated
fully—Christians, Hindus and Muslims. For
weeks before the 12th REDS staff solicited funds
from businesses and other benefactors.
Practically all of the food for three meals was
donated. Much appreciation is expressed to
program directors Mrs. Prema Mantesh and Bro.
Arokia Dass and the rest of the REDS staff for
all of their long hours of hard work in making the
day so enjoyable for the children and their
parents.
INAUGURATION OF ADDITION TO
CLASSROOM BUILDING IN BARH
On 18th of November sixty people
gathered at our St. Mary’s Multipurpose Training
Institute in Barh to inaugurate the first floor
addition of our classroom building.
Fr. Remy Andrews, Pastor of Barh parish, lead
the opening prayers. Other important guests were
our Councilors, Fr. Pragasam and Bro. Prakash.
The Sacred Heart Sisters lead the music for the
prayer service. After the ribbon cutting Bro.
Prakash gave a word of thanks, especially for the
contractor and workers. The high tea was
enjoyed by our visitors which included priests
and sisters from Barh, Mokama and Bakhtiarpur.
Fr. Pragasam was impressed by the excellent
construction work. Unfortunately the acting
director of the Institute, Bro. Chitti, had to miss
the function as he was in the middle of his
perpetual vow retreat.
The typing room will be shifted from the
brothers’ residence to the addition. A garage
shelter and bicycle shelter are still to be added.
SHORT NOTES:
• Bro. Marcus Tuti, S. M. has requested
and received dispensation from his
temporary vows. We thank Marcus for
his contributions to our District during his
time in the Society and pray that his
future may be successful.
• Bro. Tom Wendorf, S. M., finished his
English teaching assignment at UD,
Deepahalli and headed back to Dayton
after first visiting our communities in the
Ranchi area. The Scholastics had high
praise for his English classes.
• Bro. Dan Stupka finished his music
classes at UD, Deepahalli and at Faustino
and headed back to Dayton on 3
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December. Before that he and Jinu were
driven by Manju to Velankanni. Even in
late November it is hot in Velankanni.
• Bro. Ananias spent his November
holiday doing research in south
Jharkhand for a thesis he has to write. He
has no Christmas break.
• Bro. Tom Oles, S.M. is helping out with
English teaching at Faustino until he can
get a new visa for Nepal starting 1
January.
• Bro. Augustus Surin’s cerebral malaria
was diagnosed in its earliest stages and he
recovered quickly and is back at Binda.
• Bro. Leo, our third year Scholastic, is
recovering well from a knee operation.
• Bro. Marianus Bilung has come back to
India to be with his family for some time
after the death of his mother.
• Bro. Siprian Kiro made it to his home
shortly before his father died as the third
year Scholastics have taken their home
visits starting in December.
• Retreat masters for next June’s retreats
are: Fr. Joe Kozar, S. M. of the U. of
Dayton for the perpetual professed and
Fr. James Fitz, S. M. for the Temporary
Professed.
• Our Austin Town school construction
has now reached the third floor.
• Purchase of land for our community
building in Budakata, Orissa is almost
finished. Negotiations for land near
Siliguri, West Bengal and near
Ambikapur, Chattisgarh continue.
• Bro. Jim Fitzgibbons, S. M. spent
several days back in Bangalore renewing
acquaintances with many brothers,
checking out Bangalore improvements(he
claims Bangalore is cleaner than it was
five years ago), getting new glasses and
sharing in the celebration at Deepahalli
on 8 December.
• Bro. Jinu has a double run in a three
person pinochle game at Chaminade
Nilaya, the first Bro. Del has seen in his
60 years of playing pinochle.
CHAMINADE RURAL DEVELOPMENT
PROJECT, BINDA
Bro. Augustus Surin is busy preparing for
the official inauguration of the Chaminade Rural
Development Project, Binda on Chaminade Day,
22 January. The bishop of Khunti, Bishop
Stephen Tiru will be there along with several
other dignitaries. Congratulations to Bro.
Augustus for moving so quickly with this
important work. The people of the Binda area are
already excited by hearing of Augustus’s
development plans.
OUR SCHOOLS IN NEPAL
On the 14th of November Fr. Pragasam
and Bro. Prakash met once more with
representatives of Fondazione Fratelli
Dimenticati, members of Vimcen Pokhrel’s
family and our Bharaul community. Some
modifications of our first agreement were made.
Once again, we were asked to take over the
Biratnagar School and to start a community there
so as to avoid having another religious
community move into that situation. The District
Council has decided to start a new community in
Biratnagar, but first we must receive permission
of the USA Province. That community hopefully
could begin in June 2008. Fratelli has agreed to
build a community residence for the Marianists
in Biratnagar near the school.
To our property at Morning Star School
Fratelli is adding a piggery, cycle shed, fish
pond, goat house, a convent for the Sisters, a
dispensary to be run by the Sisters, more
borewells and hostels.
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INAUGURATION OF GYAN DEEP’S
SKILL TRAINING CENTRE FOR GIRLS
BUILDING
On the 12th of November a large crowd
of 400 squeezed into Gyan Deep’s compound to
inaugurate our new Skill Training Centre
building. Twenty-two members of Fondazione
Fratelli Dimenticati from Italy attended. They
were housed next door at the St. Anne’s
Generalate. Cardinal Telesphore P. Toppo did
the blessing of the building. He took the
opportunity to express his happiness with our
REDS work and with the Marianists. Members
of Fratelli expressed the same sentiments.
DISTRICT COUNCIL’S MEETING WITH
THE CARDINAL
The day after the STC inauguration the
Council met with Cardinal Toppo. He has
accepted being the ordaining bishop on 5 January
for Deacons James Dungdung and Marianus
Lugun. The council updated him on plans for our
Marianist sisters to purchase land in Lowadih
and plans for the future of our parish at Singhpur.
He hopes to secure us some of the funds we need
for building the parish church in Singhpur.
BINDA’S NEW SCHOOL
On 12 November the place for the new
school on our Binda property was measured and
the placement of the school was finalized. The
school will be L-shaped. The preliminary work
for the construction has already started.
PATNA, CHAMINADE TRAINING
INSTITUTE
Fr. Pragasam had a chance to rest in his
long travels for an extra day in the Patna
community as a bandh in Jharkhand stopped
travel for a day. The brothers are finding a
challenge in attracting more students for our
training institute as there are competitors in the
locality.
SINGHPUR
Fr. Alphonse is still busy trying to acquire
plots of land near to our school for a parish
church and for a dispensary and residence for our
Marianist Sisters. The District Council is asking
our brothers there to give him more assistance.
The youth group of the parish is being
revitalized. The compound wall is being
completed and the residence is undergoing
extensive repairs. Hopefully all will be ready for
the ceremonies of 5 January. There are also
plans to re-construct the stage and at last to
prepare the playground.
FROM BRO. ED VIOLETT, S. M.
Bro. Ed wishes to express his gratitude
and that of his family to all the members of the
District of India for their prayers and support on
the occasion of his mother’s death.
VOW AND ORDINATION RETREAT AT
NIRMAL DEEP
Initially we planned to have this first 30
day Saragossa retreat at another location, but in
the end we realized that only Nirmal Deep’s
property and quiet would fulfill the requirements
needed for this special retreat. (This is returning
to a long ago tradition of the St. Louis Province,
where for some years the 21 day retreat in
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preparation for final vows was held at the
Novitiate in Galesville, Wisconsin.) Bro. Xavier
joined the Novitiate staff to help keep the
retreatants and retreatmasters supplied with food,
drink and other comforts as Bro. Prasad was still
incapacitated with his shoulder injury. At the end
Fr. Marty, Bro. Lester and the retreatants were
highly satisfied with the retreat, with the staff
and novices of Nirmal Deep and with the
excellent facilities provided. May all Saragossa
retreats go as well as did this one. Of course we
are very grateful that Fr. Marty and Bro. Lester
could find the time to give this special retreat.
And it was special to have Bro. Peter Kimeu to
join the retreat from Kenya. Thanks are also in
order for the willingness of Fr. Nicky and his
staff for hosting this retreat at Nirmal Deep.
They have had a great part in making it a
spiritual experience for all the retreatants.
PERPETUAL VOWS AT DEEPAHALLI
For those of you that read Family Online
you will have already read about the 8 th of
December ceremony and viewed Bro. Raj
Mohan’s photos. Bro. Chitti and Bro. Tony
Nesam both had large groups of family members.
The Aspirants lead the entrance procession in
excellent fashion. The introduction was given in
Tamil, Telegu and English but after that the Mass
was in English with music from seven
languages.The Scholastics handled the music all
by themselves—a first? Congratulations. Our
senior most cook, Vincent, and our Deepahalli
cooks provided excellent food. The decorations
were exceptionally well done. The Scholastics
were duly rewarded with an outing the next day.
We owe much gratitude to Fr. Dave Fleming and
the other Directors of the Deepahalli complex
along with the staff of the communities and
especially the Scholastics and Aspirants for all of
their dedicated work and making this day special.
REDS SKILL TRAINING CENTRE,
SINGHPUR
On 21 December we received word
from Fondazione Fratelli Dimenticati(the Italian
foundation for our REDS ministry in Ranchi and
our schools in Nepal) that they have approved
the funding of our new REDS STC and hostel
that will be constructed near our Singhpur
community. We also expect that the Foundation
will also support the running costs of the centre
and hostel. In gratitude let us pray for the
members and benefactors of Fondazione Fratelli
Dimenticati for their most generous support of
our works for the poor.
PERSONNEL UPDATES
Some new and/or changed email addresses are:
• Peter Samad:petsam78@yahoo.com
• Sudhir Soreng:
sudhirsoreng@yahoo.co.in
• John Paul: johnrajsm@rediffmail.com
• Kumara Swamy:
kamkumarsm@yahoo.co.in
• Ashok
Dungdung:ashoksm_1@yahoo.co.in
• Albert Devasagayam:
aldev09@yahoo.com
• Julius Tete: juliussm@yahoo.co.in
• Jesuraj:jesurajsm@yahoo.co.in
• Vinod V.T.: vinodsm@rediffmail.com
• A. Balaswamy:
balavrswamy@yahoo.co.in
• Philippine Marianists address: P. O. Box
80718, 8000Davao City, Ph. Telephone:
63-82-2278322.
• Bro. James Fitzgibbons’ birthday is 19
December.
• This year Bro.Tom Oles and Fr. Sylverius
celebrate their Silver Jubilees as
Marianists
• Singhpur’s new mobile no. is: 0947-013-
0837; drop no. 9431105234.
• The correct title of our Institute in Patna
is Chaminade Training Institute.
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CALENDAR FOR JANUARY AND
FEBRUARY, 2008
• Audit in Ranchi
• 5 Jan.—Ordinations and dedication of
science building at Singhpur
• 7—Spring term begins at UD Deepahalli;
Fr. Joe Lackner arrives in Bangalore
• 8—James Dungdung’s first Mass in his
village
• 11—Marianus Lugun’s first Mass in his village
• 13-14—District Council meeting in Ranchi
• 22—Fr. Chaminade Day; inauguration at Chaminade Rural Development Project, Binda
• 26—Republic Day
• 2 Feb.—MLC Foundation Day
• 6—Ash Wednesday
• 7—Fr. Lackner back to Bangalore after visiting north communities, 18 Jan. to 6 Feb.
• 25—Deadline for requesting seminary studies
• 28-29—Seminar at Deepahalli Educational Centre
• 28-29—District council meeting at Bangalore
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