Our Formation Houses

During those crucial years of scholasticate, the balance between community life and missionary life is one of the great challenges formation. Promoting the first without devaluing the second... Combining the two... Happily our masters of scholastics have clear ideas on this subject.

Formation is a path way of growth and development to realise that each seminarian is called to “become another Christ”. To this purpose, our formation offers various apostolic experiences to our scholastics. Our Indian scholastics go to different parishes on Saturdays and Sundays. They collaborate with the parish priests to have a meaningful liturgy. They teach catechism to the children in order to inculcate in them the gospel values. They organise youth and altar servers meetings and mobilise them for various church activities. They make regular family visits and also partake actively in the up-building of the Basic Christian Communities (BCC).

As you all know well that our society is a multi-cultural, multi-linguistic and multi- religious, these experiences will mould our scholastics to be integrated person with the virtues of availability, humility, Christian compassion, generosity, and respect for each other, dialogue and the art of relationship. These are of course learned and cultivated in the formation houses but gradually allowed to bloom and bear fruit in their respective parishes. It is not that easy “to bring to others the same happiness”. But it is our mission. Thus, though they are two different realities, they do not clash rather complement each other. They are like both sides of the same coin. One does not give its full meaning without the other.

Stervin Selvadass scj

In the scholasticate in Andiapodoume, where the Fathers are also in charge of St Bernard’s Parish, the scholastics accompany the Fathers in the different Sunday Masses. They also help them in the chaplaincy of the different movements in the parish. They give their time for the teaching of catechism and to accompany the different prayer groups that exist in the parish namely: Vocational Groups, the choral, the pastoral care of children, youth and adult groups, the Legion of Mary, Friends of the Blessed Sacrament, and the Liturgical Group.

- These different tasks allow them, not only to experience with the Fathers the apostolic realities, but prepare them for the mission of tomorrow. It is something which also provides them with an even balance between the theology lectures which they are following and the apostolic realities which they are living.

- Where virtues are concerned there is apostolic zeal, commitment to the Betharramite mission, love of service, availability to be present beside our brothers and sisters in humanity.

Sylvain Dansou Hounkpatin scj

Sampran

Community life is a foundation of missionary life for religious who are formed in the community, in order to witness the Word of God among the members, to share the happiness, respect, service and at the same time, to be ready to be both a message and a messenger.

In Sampran, our scholastics give catechism classes to parishioners, teach languages to the young, visit the poor families, support ethnic groups of refugees in town, animate liturgical celebrations; they also do some charity work for slam people, visit orphanages, and cooperate with groups supporting drug addicts.

Jiraphat Rakhsikao scj