Life of the Congregation (1)

Our Superior General Fr Gaspar Fernandez always reminds us that Betharram is small, Betharram is poor, and Betharram is Beautiful. Yes it is true; the Betharram Congregation has always been small in numbers, poor in heart but never failed to be beautiful. One such beautiful branch has been our Formation house in Mangalore.

Mangalore is a major all-weather harbour linked to other major harbours of the country and international ports. It is located about 350 kilometres west of Bangalore which is the capital of the Indian state of Karnataka. It is in this chief port city of the state that our ‘Betharram Formation House’ is situated.

It was indeed a delightful day, 10th September 2014 when our Superior General Fr Gasper Fernandez SCJ inaugurated the “Betharram Formation House” in Mangalore in the august presence of Fr Enrico SCJ- our Vicar General, Fr Austin Hughes SCJ- the Regional Superior, Fr Biju Alappat SCJ- the Regional Vicar and many other priests and nuns, friends and companions of Betharram amidst the hospitality of Maria Kripa community. Most Rev. Dr Aloysius Paul D’Souza, the Bishop of Mangalore blessed the new house and presided over the Eucharistic Celebration.

Maria Kripa- the name of the formation house where we have been living since 1999 in Mangalore, was a beautiful cottage which was later converted to be a prayer house for the Apostolic Carmel Sisters in 1977. From then on, it was at the service of the sisters and in 1980 it turned out to be centre for the study of ‘Asian Spirituality’. It became the House of Postulants of Apostolic Carmel from 1980 to 1994. But in 1999, this Maria Kripa house was placed at the disposal of Betharram Fathers as our Formation House.

It all started with two fathers namely Fr Jose Mirande SCJ and Fr Britto Rajan SCJ and a handful of brothers in the year 1999 at Maria Kripa in Mary Hill under the guidance of the Apostolic Carmel sisters and with the magnanimous approval of the Bishop of Mangalore. From then till today, it has been the mother who has given birth to 14 priests and 2 deacons.

The priests in Maria Kripa are active in forming the future priests, preparing them with some parish ministries. The theology students go to different parishes for their pastoral ministries at the weekends whereas the postulants and scholastics are involved in social ministries. The postulants too go to a nearby ‘Home for Aged’ run by the Little Sisters of the Poor Congregation and help them out in all possible ways.

Despite our witness to evangelical poverty expressed in our way of life, the signs of time necessitated the construction of a new Betharram Formation House. We had to build this new house not because we desired it but because the demand of formation of brothers for the priesthood needed it. Nevertheless, the task wasn’t a cake walk considering the construction costs and the resources at our disposal were very meagre. But our God works even when we all sleep.

Under the guidance of the present Superior Fr Biju Antony Panthalookaran SCJ, a project committee was formed with six lay members namely Mrs Vilma Pais, Mrs Marriette Mascrenhas, Captain John Prasad Menezes, Mrs Joan Fernandes, Mrs Vimala Monteiro and Mr Stanley D’Silva. Fr Antony Chiramel, a Passionist Priest designed the house and every one of them worked wholeheartedly towards the building of this formation house as their own home building.

“Betharram is not only poor but also with the poor”, are the words of Fr Biju Alappat SCJ and that echo the prophetic message of Pope Francis who called on the Church to be ‘Poor Church for the Poor’. To give tangible substance to this effect, Fr Enrico Frigerio SCJ , the Vicar General inaugurated and blessed the “St Michael Care Home” on 11th September2014, that is adjacent to our Formation House. It accommodates nearly twenty children who are socially disadvantaged and whose needs are taken care of by our community .

Inauguration of St Michael Care Home by Fr Enrico Frigerio scj

We remain grateful to the Superior General Fr Gaspar Fernandez Perez scj and his General Council who granted permission for the erection of this new house, Sr Agatha Mary- the former Superior General of the Apostolic Carmel and her councillors for their generous donation of this land in 2011, all our donors and benefactors whose contribution and hard work resulted in this new house.

We ask God’s blessing on all the benevolent hearts whose goodwill made this day a manifestation of God’s love for Betharram and for the Church.

José Kumar JOHNROSE, scj

Our Fathers with several benefactors whose contribution and hard work resulted in our new formation house in Mangalore