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| Secretariat of
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| Vatican |
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First Section -General Affairs
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| No . 408.291 |
| 4 February 1997 |
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Witness to The Evangelical Counsels
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The Holy Father was to be pleased to be informed of the Fiftieth Anniversary of
the foundation of the Franciscan Sisters of the Immaculate Heart of Mary,
Quilon. He is spiritually united with you and all the sisters in giving thanks
to the Lord for this half century of witness to the evangelical counsels and to
the congregation’s specific charism of loving service in the footsteps of Saint
Francis .
His
Holiness is confident that the jubilee will be for all of you an occasion for
renewed fervour and ever more intense joy in the following of our Lord Jesus
Christ .With these statements he sends his Apostolic Blessing.
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With
every good wish, I am
Yours Sincerely in Christ,
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| Missionaries of
Charity |
| 84 A , A . J. C . Bose Road |
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Calcutta-700 016
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| 27 Th Auguest 1997 |
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| Sign
Of God's Love |
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Action |
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On
the occasion of the Golden Jubilee of the Congregation of the Franciscan
Sisters of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, Quilon, I send you my prayerful
greetings and God’s blessing.
May
you continue the wonderful service of love you render to the Church and country
through your Educational Ministry, Health care apostolate and other social
welfare programmes and Pastoral work which you undertake with so much zeal.
God has blessed you abundantly and may He continue to bless each one of
you. The fruitful 50 years of your Congregation is a sign of God’s love in
action.
God bless you
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| Bishop's House |
| Kollam,Kerala,India |
| February 8,1997 |
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The Congregation of the Franciscan Sisters of the
Immaculate Heart of Mary of Quilon had its origin as a Pious Association in
Pondichery and later erected as a Religious Congregation in 1864, the Founder
being Rev. Fr. Louis Savinien Dupuis of holy memory. In the year 1907 the great
venerable Missionary of this diocese, Rt. Rev. Dr. Aloysius Maria Benziger
invited this Congregation to this diocese. They had their first House at
Kanjiracode.
The Congregation had a steady growth recruiting members from this side
of the western Ghats. In forty years of their experience, Situations
changed and it become necessary for their own well beings that the Congregation
being divided .Thus the convents in the now extinct State of
Travancore
were grouped into one Congregation independent of the headquarters in
Pondichery thus becoming a diocesan Congregation of Quilon.
It was my illustrious predecessor Rt,Rev.Dr. Jerome. M. Fernandez who
daringly took up the questions with
Rome
. He had to face strong objections and obstacles .A man of his
caliber would not bow to any obstacles and allow to be defeated. In the year
1947 forty years of entrance of the Congregation into this diocese, orders were
got from Rome bifurcating the Congregation and forming the present Congregation
of the Franciscan Sisters of Immaculate Heart of Mary of Quilon now celebrating
the Golden Jubilee of their independence along with Mother India celebrating
her Independence.
In 1947 the Congregation had their head quarters at kanjiracode; now it
is at Pattathanam. His Lordship Bishop Jerome Fernandez brought up the
Congregation with the tender Love of Mother and the solicitous care of a father
and promoted its growth further. Thus under his guidance and vigilance the
Congregation spread out to several other dioceses with in and out of state of
Kerala and even outside India. In this context I would not hesitate to call
Bishop Jerome Fernandez the SECOND FOUNDER of the Congregation.
While I call to mind their Excellencies Rt. Rev. Dr. Aloysious Maria
Benziger and Rt. Rev. Dr. Jerome M Fernandez with the gratitude rightly due to
them, I also recall to mind with no less gratitude the Directors and Major
Superiors of the Congregation as well all others who contributed to the growth
of this Congregation.
On this occasion they are bringing out souvenir to commemorate the
Golden Jubilee Calibration I am happy to offer them my best wishes and assure
them of my special prayers that they may grow further and steadily in the
spirit of their Founders and become more devoted to the Immaculate Heart of
Mary. May they all realize the priorities of their apostolate and try to work
according to God’s holy will. May the mother of God help them work assiduously
to establish a NEW SOCIETY for which we are all preparing.
It is expected that soon the Congregation will be raised to the state of
Pontifical Right. God bless all
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| Msgr.Joseph G. Fernandez |
| Bishop Of Quilon |
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To conscientize
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| the downtrodden |
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| CONGREGATO |
| PROGENTIUMEVANGELIZARIONES |
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Vatican,Rome
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| PROT .558/97 |
| February 8,1997 |
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It gives me great pleasure to send you my best wishes and congratulations on
the Golden Jubilee of your Congregation, and to join with you in thanking God
for the many graces and blessings received during these past 50 years.
I note that the motto of the Institute is “Service and Sanctification”
and that you are dedicated to the patronage of the Immaculate Heart of Mary.
This Calls to mind the Holy Father’s words about Our Lady in his “Letter to
women”. He says, “Putting herself at God’s service, She also put herself at the
service of others : a service of love”(LTW,10),
and this was also the guiding spirit of Saint Francis. I would also encourage
each member of the Congregation to reflect on the vocation of Mary and Francis
of Assisi.
As you look back on the origins of your Institute in 1844 and subsequent
history, no doubt in your present ministries you are able to identify a very
close similarity to the original apostolate of the Congregation ” to
conscientize the downtrodden women ”.
As we are all aware , there is still much to be done to bring all men
and women to the knowledge and love of God. I pray sisters that, in your
particular apostolate ,in fidelity to your founding charism ,by your witness of
life and acceptance of the challenge of the new evangelization , you will “be
zealous heralds of Jesus Christ, ready to response with the wisdom of the
Gospel to the questions posed today by the anxieties and the urgent needs of
the human heart ”(VC.81).
With every best wish and kind regards and confiding each one to the care
and protection of Our Blessed Mother, I remain,
Devotedly yours in Our God,
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| Joseph Cardinal Tomko |
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| APOSTOLIC NUNCIATURE IN
INDIA |
| 50-C,NITI MARG , CHANAKYAPURI |
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NEW DELHI-110021
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| 20 th January 1997 |
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A
sign of the Lord’s Love for the lowly
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Upon learning of the golden Jubilee of the
Congregation of the Franciscan Sisters of the Immaculate Heart of Mary in
Quilon, I extend to its superiors, sisters, novices and candidates as well as
to those who are close to it warm prayerful good wishes.
By the grace of God the Congregation has constantly grown in numbers and
holiness. Serving the poor and humble it has been a sign of the Lords love for
the lowly. For this we praise and thank God. May the Congregation remain ever
true to its motto “Service and Sanctification”.On behalf of our Holy Father the
Pope I bless all who take part in the celebration cordially
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| Archbishop George Zur |
| Apostolic Nuncio |
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| FIH Generalate |
| Pattathanam |
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Kollam - 691001
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| Kerala, India |
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Fifty years of God’s Bounty
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“And
you shall hallow the fiftieth year and proclaim liberty throughout the land to
all its inhabitants,”( Levi 25:10)
The year 1997 marked the dawn of the Golden Jubilee that we the members
of the Congregation of the Franciscan Sisters of The Immaculate Heart of Mary,
Quilon have been looking forward to. It’s my wish and prayer that this Golden
Jubilee Year be observed as a year of perpetual and prayful thanks giving to
our Lord Jesus, our beloved blesses Mother Mary,our Seraphic Father St. Francis
and our great Founder Rev. Fr. Louis Savinien Dupuis. We also remember with
prayerful gratitude those members who have led the Congregation my esteemed
predecessors and all those members who have called by God to their eternal
reward.
Let us take this Jubilee year as a God-given opportunity to renew our
decision to God’s will and to the service of the community around us. At this
juncture, we happily proclaim that we who have been called by God and nurtured
by Him are immensely indebted Him for his marvelous mercy, divine guidance and
for fifty bountiful years. Let us sing with the Psalmist” O Come, let us sing
to the God: let us make a joyful noise to the Rocks of our salvation”(Ps. 95:1)
Service is our
duty. Serving others is divine assignment. Assuming our duty and accepting the
divine assignment and adopt the motto ‘Sanctification through service’ we are
engaged in different type of apostolate, in different part of
India
and the word. Looking
back we have reasons to rejoice over the hard labour in various fields of
apostolate, yet we do humble admit that these achievements could not have been
attained without continuous ,constant concern and blessing of our Bishops,
reverend Fathers and brothers, prayers and co-operation of sisters of other
Congregations, love and encouragements of our parents relatives, friends,
well-wishers and benefactors .
On the occasion of this golden jubilee year God has bestowed on me the
privilege of congratulating all the members of my Congregation for their
selfless and dedicated services and their allegiance to their divine vocation.
I pray that God may continue
to bless my beloved sisters with courage to go ahead with
their sincere service and also pray that he may imbue them with the spirit of
love for one another with the spirit of sacrifice for the growth of their
personal holiness and for the growth of our Congregation in the direction of
greater service to humanity.
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| Sr.Delphine
Mary FIH |
| Superior
General (10-February 1997)
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