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Hundred Years of FMA Presence in Northern India Provinces

Opinion | Articles | Penny Rose Chinir | 12-Aug-2022

The Daughters of Mary Help of Christians (Figlie di Maria Ausiliatrice = FMA) founded by St John Bosco with co-foundress St Maria Domenica Mazzarello at Mornese, Italy is also known as Salesian Sisters of St John Bosco or simply FMA. The FMA province of Mater Ecclesiae, Guwahati (ING) was carved out of Shillong province on 24 February 2000 with its provincialate at Guwahati. Sr Lucy Rose Ozhukayil was appointed provincial and now Sr Alphonsa Kurisingal (2018 till date). It has 293 Sisters working in 38 centres in the states of Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur and Nagaland. ING extends its mission to eight dioceses of Northeast India - Bongaigaon, Dibrugarh, Guwahati, Imphal, Itanagar, Kohima, Miao and Tezpur. Together with the other provinces of Northern India, viz., Shillong province (INS) and Calcutta province (INC), ING is preparing for the centenary celebration of its presence (1923-2023).

It was at the invitation of Monsignor Louis Mathias SDB, then the prefect apostolic of Assam, Manipur and Bhutan and during the leadership of Mother Caterina Daghero, then superior general of the FMA Institute, six FMA missionaries set their foot for the first time at Gauhati (now Guwahati) Assam on 8 December 1923. These daring Sisters as seen in the photo: 

(Standing from left) Antonietta Rosetti, Clotilde Appiano, Cecilia Da Roit
(Sitting from left) Giulia Berra, Innocenza Vallino and Maria Bricarello.

With the charism of Don Bosco and Mother Mazzarello, of a special predilection for young people, especially the poorest and the needy, the FMA missionaries devoted themselves to young people through educational and promotional activities. Following the Salesian spirituality, based on the “Preventive System” of Don Bosco, a spirituality of pastoral charity inspired by the compassionate love of Jesus Christ, the FMA missionaries began their missionary activities at the Cottage left by the Catechist Missionaries of Mary Immaculate, located within the campus of the Salesian Gauhati Mission (now Don Bosco School, Guwahati). The roles of the pioneering community were Sr Innocenza Vallino (superior), Sr Maria Bricarello (English school, oratory and visit to hospital) Sr Giulia Berra (Assamese and Hindi classes, visit to the village and garden), Sr Clotilde Appiano (weaving), Sr Cecilia Da Roit (knitting and visit to the hospital) and Sr Antonietta Rosetti (workroom). First and foremost, they put themselves to study the local languages to enter into the lives of the people. But even before learning the languages sufficiently they threw themselves into the mission which demanded courageous responses to the needs of the time and place especially those of children and young people. They initiated their evangelising-educating activities with English medium school, village apostolate, orphanage, hospital ministry, vocational training school, Assamese and Hindi medium schools and formation of past pupils’ association. The nascent community also served as the “House of Bethany” for religious and laity on transit.

Within three years of its mission in the Brahmaputra Valley, the FMA charism and its apostolates expanded to the Jaintia Hills with the new foundation at Jowai in 1926. Once again, Sr Vallino led the pioneering group. In 1933, the Sisters procured a piece of land at Gauhati Club and in 1934, and though incomplete, they shifted their house from the Cottage to the new location, now St Mary’s Higher Secondary School, Guwahati. In 1934, another new foundation was laid at Sacred Heart attached to the civil hospital Gauhati where the Sisters rendered their service in the hospital as staff nurses (1932 to 1962).

With a feminine slant shaped by the creative fidelity of their co-foundress St Maria Mazzarello and “the first Sisters of Mornese”, the FMA pioneers laid its foundations beyond Northeast India - St Joseph’s Tezpur (1936), Sacred Heart Mawlai (1938), Ganesh Das Hospital (1946-1979), Auxilium Bandel (1951), Little Flower Dibrugarh (1953), Little Flower Imphal and Auxilium Shillong (1958), Auxilium Tangla and Auxilium Dum Dum (1960), Little Flower Kohima (1964), Park Circus and St Mary’s Maligaon (1967), New Delhi (1970), Bellefonte Shillong (1975), Nongstoin (1977), Holy Child (1979) and many more new houses were opened in the provinces of Northern India.

Following the footsteps of the pioneers, the FMA province of Guwahati continues its mission in committing itself to catechises and evangelisation, oratories and youth pastoral, formal and non-formal schools, vocational and professional, promotion and formation centres for women, institutes of higher education, boarding houses and hostels, shelters and homes for street children, rehabilitation centres for drug addicts and HIV/AIDS patients, prison ministry, family and village apostolate, nature care ministry and pastoral services in the local church. Together with the synodal church, FMA ING continues to express its vitality of the charism by networking and collaborating with the Salesians, past pupils, co-operators, religious and secular institutes, civil and non-governmental organisations.

The other two provinces of the Northern India are Immaculate Heart of Mary, Shillong (INS) formed on 24 November 1953 with Mother Caterine Mania as provincial and its provincialate at Mawlai-Shillong. At present, it has 324 and 32 centres. The province of Mary Help of Christians, Kolkata (INC) carved out of INS was erected on 10 February 1987. Sr Genevieve Battigelli was appointed provincial with the provincialate at Dum Dum, Kolkata. It has 153 Sisters working in 25 centres in West Bengal, Odisha, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, Sikkim and in Kathmandu, Nepal.

The FMA in the provinces of Southern India - Madras (INM) established in 1946, Mumbai (INB) erected in 1982, Bangalore (INK) created in 1993 and Trichy (INT) founded in 2017 also celebrates its centenary presence this year (1922-2022).

The centenary hallmark of FMA India in the provinces of Southern India which began with six pioneers in 1922 and in Northern India, also with six pioneers in 1923 have grown to seven provinces with the total number of 1553 Sisters and 220 centres working all over India, Sri Lanka and Nepal. In response to the XXIV General Chapter theme of the Institute, it also focuses its vocational fruitfulness especially in promoting and nurturing young vocations.

(The writer is a FMA Nun, and she could be reached on pchinir@gmail.com. The Article is her own research work, therefore personal)

 

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