Diocese: Mysore
Pioneers: Sisters Beatrice D’Silva, Claudia Tauro and Stella Rodrigues
The year 1965 is significant to the Church as it marks the conclusion of the grace-filled event of the Second Vatican Council on December 8. The spirit of the Council began to flow in the Congregation too as it deepened the zeal of the Ursuline Franciscan Sisters to carry the message of Christ to the marginalized of society. Having been already rooted in the love for the poor and the downtrodden the Congregation carried on the task of moving in line with the directives of the Councils and intensified its option to go to the backward villages of the State of Karnataka and strove strenuously for the promotion of the well-being of people, the marginalized in particular.
Accordingly, the Sisters chose a non-developed village, Naganahalli; it is located 34 kilometres to the south-east of Hunsur and 58 kilometres to the south-west of Mysore. The closest bus point to Mysore was seven kilometres from the village. The veiled village was detected during his hunting by a humane French missionary to India, Fr Peter Penven MEP, a professor at the St Peter’s Seminary, Bangalore. Fr Michael, the parish priest of Hunsur, having witnessed the work of the Sisters elsewhere in Mysore, invited them to illuminate the shadowy existence of people.
When the Sisters arrived at the place on June 8, 1965 traversing by a bullock cart, they received a heartwarming welcome by people, which entailed in it a pressing appeal for assistance as well as an assurance for collaboration. The Sisters determined to face a situation of unhygienic water for drinking, kerosene lamps for illumination, ragi as their staple food which was sometimes gobbled by dogs due to lack of safety in the hut, a thatched hut for their residence which was inundated during rainy season and developed ant hills during summer season – all with love, patience and prudence.
It can be claimed that their endurance was rewarded duly. As if to make up for insolvency, the Sisters own a large plot of land. Bishop Mathias Fernandes of Mysore Diocese while handing over the M&RF hospital to the Sisters in 1981 donated a coconut farm of three acres for the maintenance of the hospital and six acres of dry land opposite to the convent for orphanage. In addition, Sr Beatrice D’Silva, then superior of the community, purchased six and three acres of land on either side of the Taraka flowing stream. Later Sr Alphonsa purchased another three acres of land. The land is reachable easily by means of a bridge constructed in 2001.
The Sisters have been serving in the field of education, pastoral care, and socio-medico concerns ever since the inception of their existence in Naganahalli. Pastorally, the Sisters undertake a lot of responsibilities. They catechize, pray with people, animate Altar Servers’ Sodality and Legion of Mary; they prepare children for reception of sacraments. They have also introduced Universal Living Rosary Crusade founded by venerable Pauline Mary Jeri Cot in USA, Texas. Sr Severine Barrows deserves a note of admiration for the great efforts she took to spread this devotion not only among the people of Naganahalli and elsewhere but also among the Sisters of the Congregation. She can be rightly called a promoter of Rosary. For this special apostolate she undertook in her years of acute pain and helplessness, Mother Mary blessed her with the reward of a happy death on October 7, the feast of our Lady of Holy Rosary. The Sisters visit the sick and the aged and participate in SCC prayer services. One can claim unhesitatingly that the Sisters have contributed a great deal in the formation of faith of people at Naganahalli. The number of priests and religious from the place probably attests to this fact. The education apostolate of the Sisters has been a boon in the all-round development of Naganahalli. The Sacred Heart Primary School of 1965 has been upgraded to high school in 1985 by Fr Angelo Pais, the parish priest. The Sisters endeavour to educate every child of the locality.
The Sisters have been putting maximum efforts into health ministry throughout the course of their life at Naganahalli. The hospital receives visiting doctors from St Mary Health Centre, H D Kote. Two each general nurses and nursing-aids and a few helpers are at the beck and call of patients always. On an average 50 to 60 outpatients and five to six inpatients receive treatment at the hospital. It sounds strange but it is true that the Sisters have been often working for twenty hours a day. In their times of illness, people trust the Sisters more than they trust in medication. At the silver jubilee celebration of the Convent, a block was added to the existing structure which caters to more sick persons. Sr Jyothi Fernandes inaugurated it and Bishop Joseph Roy blessed it on December 1, 1999. A Sister nurse travels across villages and attends to the sick. Seeking assistance of the specialized medical personnel, she organizes periodical awareness programmes on HIV/Aids and communicable diseases. The hospital M&RF has assumed collaboration in the Revised National Tuberculosis Control Programme since 2010.
Naganahalli is doubtlessly a receptive ground for initiatives of any sort. Precisely this aspect led the Sisters to venture into social apostolate at Naganahalli. In 2006 Sr Carmine D’Souza initiated women development programmes, which were extended to surrounding villages of Naganahalli. People were organized in groups and guided to work for the uplift of their individual villages. They procured benefits of governmental schemes. It is observed that as a result of the pastoral-socio- medical apostolate, social evils such as alcoholism, gambling, theft and suicide are restrained to a large extent. Moreover, Naganahalli is declared a ‘clean Panchayat’ on August 16, 2010 for its development in health and hygiene.
A few other developments require a mention: the coconut farm was improved in 2005 by a borewell as well as a farm house named ‘Jyothi Farm’. The residence of the Sisters has been well furnished making it feasible for accommodating the elderly Sisters of the Province. Bishop Thomas Vazhapilly blessed it and Sr Jyothi Fernandes inaugurated it on September 9, 2003. Christa Raj Convent has offered solace to Sisters Severine Barrows and Jude D’Souza in their final days on earth. The Sisters have been keeping the Franciscan Spirit alive by toiling in the farm: they cultivate cash crops such as groundnuts, cotton, tobacco etc. The Sisters at Christa Raj Convent take example of Christ the King to be the compassionate and loving Sisters in their ministry.