Diocese: Udupi

Pioneers: Sisters Joanina Patrao, Generosa D’Almeida and Marie Dulcis Braganza

The term ‘Kallianpur’ literally meaning a town of benevolence, is situated ten kilometres away from Udupi. The benevolence could be attributed to factors such as its two vital professions, namely agriculture and merchandise and its two parishes, namely Milagres and Mount Rosary. The rich economic and religious heritage of Kallianpur these two factors suggest, is an objective reality which ought to be appropriated subjectively especially by the populace living on the margins. The parishioners of Our Lady of Miracles church at Milagres who belonged to this category, through the representation of their parish priest, Fr Denis Joseph D’Souza, invited the Catechist Sisters of St Ursula to ally with them in their quest for empowerment both individual and communal.

Fr Denis J D’Souza approached Sr Mary Agnes Mathias, Superior General and she designated the trio, Sisters Joanina, Generosa, and Marie Dulcis as pioneers to Kallianpur. At their arrival on June 2, 1950, the Sisters received a thatched house for their residence along with an acre of land which consisted of thirty coconut trees. Thirty more trees were added in the plot which made the number sixty; a portion of the land with eight trees was reclaimed by the parish when an approach road to the Milagres College was to be made in 1978. Their simple residence was named St Rose Convent after the memory of a kind, motherly and simple Superior General, Sr Rose Saldanha who had expired on January 2, 1949. A chapel was added to the convent building in 1959 with the assistance of Fr Denis J D’Souza and on November 14, 1968 a remodelled Convent was inaugurated by Bishop Basil S D’Souza of Mangalore Diocese.

The Sisters’primary task at Kallianpur was to impart quality education at St Joseph Higher Primary School of the Milagres parish. A quick glance at their sixty years of unassuming service at the School brings out the fact that they have fulfilled the objective of their presence to the appreciation of those who knew them. Sisters Generosa D’Almeida, Margarita Rodrigues, Jovita Fernandes, Flavia Tauro, Irene Castelino, Noella Menezes, Shalini Lobo, Gabriel Rodrigues and Irene Rodrigues as head teachers along with other staff members have succeeded in changing the face of St Joseph School to a considerable degree that even the Education Department has noted it with words of appreciation. A specific feature of the School is that the Sisters have been admitting several poor children to the School under the Compulsory Education Scheme. As this design  increased the number of students, Fr Denis J D’Souza extended and enlarged the school building. The outstanding service of the Sisters at St Joseph School came to an end in 2010 with the retirement of Sr Diana Saldanha. This is because the newly formulated rules of the Education Department did not permit replacement of Sisters at retirement of their senior fellow- religious. Nonetheless, the existence and mission of the Sisters at the School remains recorded in golden letters.

The Catholic Board of Education made an attempt and succeeded in transferring Sr Susheela Monteiro from St Lawrence Higher Primary School, Vijayadka to Kallianpur School in 2013 in the place of the retired lay head teacher.

As retirement of teaching Sisters has become a frequent phenomenon and replacements were not possible, it was felt necessary that the Sisters explored alternative means of livelihood. Hence a pre-nursery class was started in the Convent in 2006 under the leadership of Sr Noella Menezes. All required facilities, including a play park and annual Talent Day celebrations at the nursery class served as incentives for more admissions to the nursery school. It ought to be admitted that not everything has been bleak for the Sisters in the field of education at Kallianpur. Some other developments have taken place. The Milagres College employed Sr Lilly Pushpa as lecturer at Milagres College in the department of Social Work and Sr Bibiana Noronha has been rendering her valuable service as warden at Girls’ Hostel of the College.

Pastoral activities have been accorded utmost priority at Kallianpur. As in other parishes, here too the Sisters undertake all church-related apostolate in the church and in families, in spiritual as well as moral sphere. Besides, they assist poor students with cash and kind which points to their personal involvement in the lives of people and also their readiness for self-sacrifice. The Sisters attend camps arranged by the CRI even in the distant parishes like Arva, Miyar and Panja. A good rapport is maintained by the Sisters with the parishioners. The parish consists of 1694 members belonging to 465 families. They contributed substantially on the occasion of the post-triple centinary silver jubilee of the Milagres parish on December 6, 2005. The student candidates graced the occasion with a prayer dance. Student candidates and Sisters keep visiting regularly the senior citizens’ houses at Ozanam Home and differently abled children’s home at Manasa at Pamboor; they also present cultural programme to inmates of these houses. Encounter with these less privileged people has been contributing to the deepening of their religious call.

St Rose Convent is significant for various reasons. In 1998 the Mangalore Province was formed into smaller units called zones. The objective was to facilitate sharing or unity and to reach out in needs. The convents comprising Kallianpur, Thottam, Permapally and Bhatkal were formed into Kallianpur zone, with St Rose Convent being the zonal house. The house arranges zonal recollections, superiors’ meetings and vocation promoters’ meetings. In their spiritual exercises, they utilize expertise and services of Capuchin friars from Brahmavar and Perampally, Jesuits from Kalmady parish when it was administered by them, Holy Cross priests from Katpadi, OCD Fathers from Kota and Pilar Fathers from Kallianpur. Sisters of Little Flower of Bethany from Ozanam also profit from the spiritual exercises like exhortations, Sacrament of Reconciliation etc. The Convent has been a study house for student candidates and Sisters since Milagres College is adjacent to it. Several Sisters and candidates pursued their studies and excelled in them while residing at St Rose Convent.

Thanks to the growth in the size of the community it was found necessary to remodel the convent building with more rooms added in 2006. The remodelling of the structure included repairing the house roof and replacing the electricity wiring, putting up five fibre-partitioned living rooms, constructing five bathing rooms and fixing ten wash basins, constructing an underground water tank, fixing it a pump to water coconut palms, and furnishing the house with furniture. Besides a cowshed was constructed, the compound was walled which helped mark the boundary of the Convent and the cemetery. Building a grotto in honour of our Heavenly Mother in 2010 was an important event in the history of the Convent. St Rose had other joyful events to celebrate, which included the golden jubilee celebrations of the religious profession of Sr Veronica Fernandes who had served at Kallianpur for thirteen years. This was on May 9, 1988.   The other celebrations were golden jubilee of Sr Ninian Therese on August 20, 2006 and of Sr Patricia Tauro on May 28, 2010. Since 2012, St Rose Convent forms part of Udupi Diocese with the bifurcation of Mangalore Diocese and that of Udupi.