Diocese: Belgaum
Pioneers: Sisters Felix D’Souza, Beatrice D’Silva, Theresia Serrao and Dulcine Crasta
St Michael Convent is situated in Hubli taluk. It lies two kilometres away from Fatima Convent at Keshwapur, Hubli. Being located away from the noise of the city, this scenic location is chosen as a post-retirement destination by several government employees. Existence of Catholic population is a gradual growth in the region. In order to attend to their pastoral needs, Infant Jesus church was established at Shanthi Nagar in 1988 by bifurcating the main church of St Joseph at Keshwapur, Hubli. The Ursuline Franciscan Sisters landed at Shanthi Nagar owing to a request of Fr Eusebius Fernandes, parish priest, to extend their assistance in spiritual and pastoral exercises of the Infant Jesus parish.
The life of the Sisters at Shanthi Nagar involved a fascinating process, which is worth noting. The Sisters of Fatima Convent commenced their extension service at Infant Jesus church, Shanthi Nagar in 1995 by commuting daily. In order to facilitate their work, on February 27, 1994 Sr Edilburga Monteiro, Superior General, approached Bishop Ignatius Lobo of Belgaum Diocese and requested him to grant permission to acquire a piece of land at Shanthi Nagar. The Bishop replied promptly, i.e., on March 3, 1994 suggesting that the Sisters could purchase a piece of land in which a convent as well as a high school building might be constructed in order to meet the pastoral and educational requirements of the place. The suggestion was followed and worked upon. Finally Sisters Eulalia Monteiro and Beatrice D’Silva succeeded in locating two plots, instead of one, consisting of 03.00 and 03.24 acres; they were purchased for a total amount of Rs 11,74,000/- And 20 cents of land had been encroached by a neighbour, which the Sisters decided to surrender after realizing that it was impossible to set the matter right.
The Sisters rented a house in the vicinity of the newly- purchased plot. The house comprised two bed rooms, two halls and a kitchen. With its blessing by Fr Peter D’Souza, parish priest and inauguration by Sr Ancilla Pinto, Regional Superior of the West Karnataka Region, on September 1, 1996 the Sisters formed the community. Sisters Felix D’Souza, Beatrice D’Silva, Theresia Serrao and Dulcine Crasta have been pioneers of St Michael Convent. While Sisters Felix D’Souza and Theresia Serrao were involved in teaching at St Michael High School at Keshwapur, Sisters Beatrice D’Silva and Dulcine Crasta carried on social apostolate at Shanthi Nagar. On September 7, 1996, they were introduced to the parishioners with a salutary advice that they were a gift to the people of God at Shanthi Nagar. They occupied the house altering it according to their requirements. On September 13, 1996 during a meeting with the parish priest their pastoral responsibilities were spelt out. Accordingly they were expected to undertake sacristy work, distribute Communion on Sundays, and proclaim the Word of God during daily Eucharistic celebration. The priest assured that he would celebrate the Eucharist at the Convent on Saturday; he would on Thursday take the Blessed Sacrament from the church to the Convent for adoration until the Blessed Sacrament was installed in the Convent. He would also share reflections on the Word of God on days of recollection if needed. He thus offered to render brotherly help to the Sisters in whatever way possible for him.
As Sisters Felix D’Souza and Theresia Serrao continued with their teaching apostolate at St Michael’s School, Keshwapur Sisters Dulcine Crasta and Beatrice D’Silva explored ways and means to involve themselves into the inhuman living condition of the people in the slums and rural areas of Hubli. With
assistance from the Jesuits in Mundugod, Sr Dulcine Crasta rented a part of a house at Bengeri and coached children from the slum every day between 08.30 and 10.30a.m. As many as twenty five children benefited from her service. Sr Beatrice D’Silva began organizing an awareness programme on HIV/ AIDS in schools and colleges. Students, teachers, head teachers, BEO (Block Education Officer) and Police Commissioners of Hubli and Dharwad attended the programme. The Education Department backed her venture.
Pastoral apostolate has been accorded great importance at Shanthi Nagar. When catechism classes were introduced in the parish, the Sisters assumed the responsibility of forming the faith of people. In order to be available fully for this cause, they discontinued catechizing at Keshwapur, which in a way served as a blessing: lay teachers were appointed in their stead. The Sisters engaged themselves in several activities of the church and the parish as in other places. They got into Mahadev Nagar, an area bypassed by everyone. Sr Dulcine Crasta deserves to be commended for her venturesomeness achieved in collaboration with Fr Peter D’Souza. He put in extra effort to learn the local language in order to celebrate the Eucharist there on days of solemnities. They involved themselves actively in novenas and charismatic prayers arranged on Thursdays at Infant Jesus church. The memory of their visits to families and the solace they offered through prayers and counselling is cherished by the people even today.
Gradually the Sisters focused on putting up structures at St Michael Campus. The building erected and inaugurated on November 29, 2000 consists of a multipurpose hall which is being utilized for several programmes of the mission; it also contains a first floor which the Sisters occupy as their residence. Meanwhile in order to attend to children in the vicinity with an English medium school, a kindergarten section with fifteen children was commenced in a shed close to the Convent. Fr Peter D’Souza inaugurated it; however, for various reasons it was closed down within a year. On October 11, 2001 permission was obtained to start a Pre-University College at Shanthi Nagar. But because of practical concerns such as building, teaching staff etc. the opening of the college had to be delayed till June 2002. The hall was availed of for sheltering the pupils of the Pre- University College.
The concern of the pre-university education was addressed systematically from 2002 onwards. On March 4, 2002 a 20x25- foot strip of land was bought as an approach road to the college building. The foundation stone of the college was laid on December 17, 2002. On June 2, 2003, sections of UKG, LKG and class I consisting of 157 students were commenced in the multi- purpose hall named now St Michael School. Sr Laura Pinto as the head teacher and Sr Anthony Mary as the correspondent served the institute in its beginning stage. A play park was also established in front of the hall for nursery children. The college building consisting of five rooms was ready for blessing on June 16, 2003. On August 23, 2003 the first floor was inaugurated and the three sections of St Michael School (this is a second school of the Ursuline Franciscan Management in Hubli with the same name existing at Shanthi Nagar, while the other school exists at Keshwapur) as well as the PU sections were shifted to it from the hall. As the hall was vacant after shifting the classrooms, a pre-nursery class was started there in 2006; the hall is utilized in the afternoon hours for activities related to social action. Sr Madtha D’Souza was in charge of the class; she managed the class of 28 children with assistance from a lay teacher. Currently, Sr Beatrice D’Silva along with a lay teacher and peon of the school manages the class.
Social apostolate has been accorded due importance at Shanthi Nagar. On April 13, 2005, a Centre for Social Action was opened in the multi-purpose hall. Several people contributed towards the furnishing of the Centre. Social apostolate formed an integral part of the St Michael Convent from then onwards. Women began availing themselves of its benefits. Having been formed into groups, they began claiming their rights; they also started raising voice against injustice meted out to them either at the domestic level or in society. They opened accounts in the Grameena Bank [bank pertaining to rural development], deposited weekly savings in it and procured loans for income generating trades. In all, this set a sort of revolution at Hubli.
Sr Dulcine Crasta, a qualified and committed social worker pioneered the social action in Shanthi Nagar in a professional manner in August 1996. She began with imparting literacy to children residing in slums; she also coached slow-learners. As she found it difficult to organize the ministry systematically, she was allowed to stay at Mundugod at the Social Action Centre of the Jesuits, which had been well established. Sr Rosa Cicily PJ continued the work at Hubli. She coached the children living in slums, rag pickers, and women from Gopankoppa area. She succeeded in admitting three children from the area to the Government School of Bengeri. As women learnt to read and write, they were encouraged to be formed into SHGs. Hence sixteen such groups were formed; they were accommodated for meetings in a room offered by a widow from Gopankoppa. At one Christmas children from the slum were brought together in the Convent and were made part of the celebration. Sr Angeline D’Souza replaced Sr Rosa Cicily PJ at the latter’s transfer to Hangal. She continued the good work. She enhanced the women with programmes on health and hygiene. She also brought the children to the Convent and trained them on self-hygiene. Sisters from Keshwapur and Sacred Heart Convent supported her in her good work by providing stationery, dress etc. Social work at Hubli was brought to an end as the successors of Sr Rosa Cicily PJ could not cope with the demands of the work. Sr Madtha D’Souza revived the social apostolate in 2002. We may note that her toil was duly rewarded when she was honoured during the Rural Women SHGs Meet at the Glass House, Hubli on March 13, 2007. The programme was organized by Mr Anil Kumar Patil, Ex-Mayor of HDMC; Mr Mallikarjun Kharge, Minister for Home in the State of Karnataka at the time honoured her by garlanding.
A new convent building was constructed and it was inaugurated on April 24, 2008. The occasion was combined with the celebration of the golden jubilee of religious profession of Sr Beatrice D’Silva. She was also the supervisor of the building. The Convent was equipped with solar lights, which Sr Beatrice D’Silva and the Mangalore Province jointly sponsored. This brought respite to the Sisters as the region experiences frequent power failure. In 2002 the property of St Michael campus was protectively encircled by a boundary wall.
St Michael Convent has been arranging pro-life programmes for various sections of people. Thus a seminar was held for teachers on HIV/AIDS and life skills from December 4 to 6, 2006 at St Michael College. Seventy-five teachers benefited from it. In 2005 Women’s Day celebration was organized at the premises of St Michael School. As many as 1300 women of the SHGs participated in the event; input sessions and a cultural programme were part of the programme.
The Sisters cherish the fruit of their toil at Shanthi Nagar especially from the field of education. The School consisting of Nursery to Pre-University College has been performing extremely well in curricular, co-curricular, and extra-curricular activities both at the taluk and district level. The education department and parents of pupils express great satisfaction regarding the functioning of the School. On September 5, 2008 the Educational Department honoured St Michael Primary School as the ‘Best Primary School’ among Hubli rural schools. Sr Serena D’Souza, head teacher received the award on behalf of the School.
Amid these success stories, the Sisters had an agonizing event that sent shivers down their spine. On November 16, 2001 the convent building was attacked by a group of armed dacoits at 8.15p.m. However God sent several angels to protect them. The Sisters are indebted to Fr Shanthappa, the parish preist, members of a prayer group at Vincentian Ashram, the police and the youth in particular, who guarded the Convent for a month subsequent to the event. The Sisters at Shanthi Nagar contend that they experience profound joy, which, according to them, is the result of total self-giving in the service of the needy.
