Jubilee Celebration

Cuddalore – On November 24th the Silver Jubilee of the Guanellian presence in India and Priestly Golden jubilee of Fr. Joe started with decorations, rangoli, songs, and programs at St. Joseph’s Seminary. After the conclusion of the Provincial Chapter the celebration began with Holy Mass presided over by Fr. Joseph Rinaldo, as thanksgiving to God for all that we received in these years of mission, years of grace and fraternal love among us and with all the people he has met. After Mass everyone gathered in the auditorium where Fr. Joe cut and served the anniversary cake. A cultural program dedicated to the Golden Jubilarian was performed and Fr. Soosai Rathinam recounted the history of St. Joseph’s Seminary and the pioneers to India. The celebration ended with the thanksgiving note of Fr. Visuwasam, Superior of the Cuddalore community.

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Fourth Provincial Chapter

Pondicherry – The Divine Providence Province’s Fourth Provincial Chapter began as the chapter fathers gathered at Prsahanth Vanam on November 20th. Fr. Alphonso Crippa, Superior General, enlightened the confreres with inspiring thoughts during his recollection talk. He highlighted three important points: Wisdom of God, Guanellian Simplicity and Mission. He underlined the fact that we are gathered here not merely just to make some governing proposals or administrative rules, but to seek what the Lord wants from us. He stressed the importance of dialogue and fraternity. The chapter continued until the evening of the 24th. The chapter fathers went to St. Joseph’s Seminary for the Silver Jubilee of their presence in India and Golden Jubilee celebration of Fr. Joe.

Enthronement of the Apostle of Charity

Cuddalore – To make the feast of St. Louis Guanella a remarkable one and on account of the silver jubilee year of the Guanellian presence in Cuddalore, Tamil Nadu, India, St. Joseph’s Seminary was pleased to enthrone a beautiful and sanctimonious statue in the campus on October 25th. The statue was blessed and enthroned by local community superior Fr. Visuwasam, SdC. Fr. Francis Assisi, SdC, Rector of the seminary, thanked and acknowledged all those who provided the means and blessings to actualize the project. In a special way he thanked Mr. John Bosco and his family from Velikoonankurichy, the sole sponsor of the statue. A solemn Mass was celebrated and fraternal Agape shared. Giving ‘Bread and the Lord’ in the footsteps of St. Louis Guanella was accomplished.

Family, the Cradle of Formation

Cuddalore – St. Joseph’s Seminary, the formation house for Aspirants, organized the ‘Annual Parents Meet’ for the current scholastic year on October 24th. Since it was the feast day celebration of our holy Founder, it was more pertinent for the young scholastics to make their personal and collective assessment of their initial formation with the parents and formators. The day began with a prayer service and Eucharistic Adoration. There was a conference by the Rector, Holy Mass and time for personal dialogue with the parents and seminarians. This particular program for the students helped them to make a triple examination of their formation through retrospection, introspection and prospection. Their parents realized that family is the first place of priestly formation; and spiritual parenting is the very basic phase for human, Christian, religious and apostolic progression. Everyone in the program was content and happy.

Corpus Christi Procession

Cuddalore – God is yearning to be with us. It is through the Eucharistic Lord, we are able to encounter Jesus and feel His presence. He calls out for us to come and see Him. The people of Our Lady of Perpetual Succor Church celebrated the feast of the Body and Blood of Jesus on June 18th. The Eucharistic Procession began at the parish. Fr. A. Periyanayagasamy, the Parish Priest, gave a blessing in the Church. Then the people piously moved towards Don Guanella Boys Home. Fr. Lawrence, the director of DGBH conducted half an hour of Adoration with the help of the boys home students. Eventually, the Eucharist was taken to St. Joseph Seminary. Fr. Amal Raj beautifully ended the ceremony with five lessons that we have to learn from the Eucharist: care, unity, sharing, humility and sacrifice.

Academic Year Opens

Cuddalore – The St. Joseph’s Minor Seminary for Guanellian Aspirancy Formation happily began the 2017-2018 academic year on June 3rd with a solemn Eucharistic celebration presided by Rev. Fr. Visuwasam, SdC, superior of the Cuddalore Community. Fr. Visuwasam exhorted the seminarians during his homily to be open vessels, to be filled with the three important nourishments of religious formation such as Spiritual, Human and Charismatic dimensions. Fr. Assisi, rector of the seminary, presented the formation project for the year which seems to be in Line with the theme of our general chapter, “Going Back to the Roots of Guanllian Formation – By Ways of Heart”. He then welcomed all the candidates to live their lives in Conformity with Jesus Christ. Let the future pillars of Guanellian life and mission be strongly rooted in the spirit of Christ and the footsteps of our Holy Founder.

Next Step of Journey Begins

Ho Chi Minh City – On May 23rd two students, Trong and Toan, who completed two years of priestly formation in Vietnam, left for the Philippines to continue their studies. Both Trong and Toan were well prepared in English and spiritual formation. They will spend two years in the Philippines for postulency and Novitiate. Please pray for them to have a wonderful Guanellian experience in the Philippines and be well-trained as workers for the Lord’s harvest.

Strengthening Fraternal Bonds

Manila – May 23rd-26th the seminarians from Legazpi and Quezon City shared time together. The primary purpose of the event was for the seminarians to develop a strong fraternity towards the Guanellian mission. The seminarians were given talks by Bro. Mauro, SdC, who presented some of the Guanellian Mission Principles, and Sr. Marivic, CM, who talked about discipleship. Team-building activities were conducted by Fr. Ronnie preceded by a fraternal night which allowed the seminarians to show off their talents and skills. Tita Alice and Tito Jun went with the seminarians to Batangas for a relaxing getaway. A tree-planting was the final activity that symbolizes the relationship between the two communities that will continue to grow.

Formation of the Formator

Ho Chi Minh City – Fr. Sahayaraj, SdC, from the Legazpi community in the Philippines, visited for a month to experience the Vietnamese culture. He wanted to understand the culture more since he will be the Novice Master for the six Vietnamese students in Legazpi beginning in July 2017. During his stay, he visited the families of some of the students’. Before his departure for Manila on May 1st the Vietnam community went on a picnic to a nearby river. It was a wonderful day of relaxation and fraternity.

Guanellian Charism School

Cuddalore – The Guanellian Charism School of the Divine Providence Province for 2017 was held at St. Joseph’s Seminary, Samupillai Nagar, April 3–7th. The theme of the year is “Come, Let Us Go to the Roots.” The school was inaugurated with the prayer service conducted by the minor seminarians. Thereafter the purpose and objectives of the Guanellian Study Centre and charism school was narrated and explained. It is mainly to “Know the Founder,” to “Preserve the Guanellian Tradition” and to “Live the Spirit and Charism” in our context today. The major themes that were discussed in the charism school dealt with the death of Don Guanella, Mother Marcellina Bosatta and the DSMP’s, Ven. Aurelio Bacciarini, the successors of Don Guanella and the Guanellian Mission, and the Process of Beatification and Canonization of St. Guanella. On the last day of the Charism school, there was a day of Lenten pilgrimage to our Lady of Lourdes Shrine and leisure program in the amusement park at Villiyanur, Pondicherry.
The Charism School was a memorable one for all the participants of the Province. It was an enriching program for all the young Guanellians to educate themselves deeply with the spirit of our Founder. It enabled every individual to renew and revitalize their Guanellian commitment and consecration. Finally, our thanks to the Provincial Superior and his Council for their efforts at equipping the Province with Guanellian enlightenment.