6. AUXILIUM CONVENT,SILIGURI

History of Auxilium Convent

At the invitation of Fr. Joseph Kezhakekara sdb, the Provincial of Kolkata Province, the MSMHC set foot in the soil of West Bengal in 1981.  Mother Mary Rose Thapa, the Mother General accepted the invitation to establish a Convent and initiated the process for our coming to Siliguri.  It was a red letter day for the MSMHC.  Fr. Paul Taverna SDB, the Rector and Parish Priest of Don Bosco, Siliguri saw to the preparation for a comfortable stay for the Sisters in Siliguri. The land was walled, a Convent and four classrooms for conducting a Kindergarten school with furniture was provided. 

The Pioneers
 Accompanied by Mother Mary Rose and Sr. Pushpa George the Secretary, the Sisters left Peach lands on 31st August 1981, and reached the NJP Railway Station on 1st September. The Fathers came to fetch them at the Station and cordially welcomed them.  The pioneer6 sisters and the activities assigned to them were the following.

Sr. Reena Joseph -Superior    
Sr. Agatha Kandulna – Nurse
Sr. Rose Cyriac – Pastoral ministry
Sr. Bernadette Kujur – Pastoral ministry

Since the Convent construction work was not yet complete the Salesian Fathers  accommodated the Sisters at the Don Bosco center for a week.

The official inauguration of the Convent took place on 6 September 1981. Rt. Rev. Bishop James Toppo, the Bishop of Jalpaiguri blessed the Convent building and expressed his happiness of having the Missionary Sisters in his diocese to instruct the people in faith and care for them.

The zealous missionary Fr. Paul Taverna organized the reception of the Sisters and the inauguration of the Convent in a grand manner. Fr. Joseph Kezhakekara, the Provincial, the Fathers from Siliguri and Sonada were present to grace the occasion. After the Eucharistic celebration there was a grand welcome accorded by the parishioners. It was very encouraging to see the joy of Fr. Taverna and the people. Each program was followed by the presentation of gifts and garlanding the guests and Sisters to express their happiness of having the Sisters in the Parish. Indeed it was a day of great rejoicing for everyone in the Parish.

The various activities of the sisters:

1.    The Pastoral Ministry
2.    Healing Ministry
3.    Preparatory School
4.    Running a boarding for the poor children of the parish

Village Apostolate: Our main aim is pastoral ministry. This is relevant even today. The sisters take much care of pastoral work, from the very beginning of its inception; two sisters are entirely set apart engaged in the pastoral and parish activities. According to the agreement, the parish priest will pay the monthly allowance to the touring sisters as long as it is required. As they had given the Kinder- Garten School to us, they expected all the expenses of the touring sisters to be met by the community once the school has been started. This is carried out even today. Now the touring sisters are working without any remuneration for the cause of our noble mission. We are indeed happy to witness the number of families added to the Church through the hard labor of our touring sisters. Full support and encouragement is given to the sisters from the community in all the possible ways. 

The parish is vast and the people are spread in different areas and the sub – stations are underdeveloped and are far from the parish. The people are mostly engaged in the tea gardens and the progress in these areas is very slow and so we cannot expect many religious vocations from these societies. Yet, God has blessed us with 3 vocations to our congregation, in the Province of Tezpur. These Sisters who joined us are strong and are doing well. The sisters are still trying to motivate the people in the villages through their apostolate.

Boarding. The boarders were of the primary section of Hindi medium School. They were mostly from the tea gardens and were given financial assistance from the parish. The boarders after the completion of the primary studies were expected to find their own means for higher education. Therefore we could not have continuous contact with them. The sisters helped the poor boarders from its inception up to the year 2008. The parish community decided to discontinue the boarding cum Hindi medium parish school on their own accord. At their request the boarders were sent out to the different schools for their further education. On 2nd March 2008 the boarding was closed down.

Dispensary: The Sisters managed a dispensary with great efficiency as part of our ministry. People from the neighboring areas used to come to the dispensary when they are sick and Sisters used to visit the sick in their families.  But in the long run it was difficult to function the dispensary due to the development of our locality with all the possibilities, like hospitals, Nursing Homes, increase of doctors, free distribution of medicines by the tea garden managers etc. 

Preparatory School: The school runs smoothly since the beginning with the help of the sisters and staff. The students are provided with quality education in their initial stages here. They are around 320 students right now with maximum capacity in the preparatory sections. 

AUXILIUM PRE-NOVITIATE

Novitiate:  On 8th December 1995 the Novitiate came into existence in the province. This novitiate was meant for the entire Congregation, hence there were novices from all the five provinces. We ever remain grateful to the Salesian fathers especially from Nazareth Bhavan for the spiritual guidance that they give to the Novices. The priests from Don Bosco School and Nazareth Bhavan were available for celebrating the Holy Mass every day. The province felt proud to have a novitiate here for this is the power house for the congregation. The novices get the privilege to visit the families and bring God’s love to the people through their visits and prayers. They do this missionary proclamation irrespective of caste and religion and the people are found welcoming and joyful. Since 2012 December, the novitiate is shifted to New Bongaigaon and the Pre-Novices are having their formation here. 

Address
AUXILIUM CONVENT        
Siliguri, post box - 48
Sevoke Road, West Bengal - 731 401
0353-2545253 / 08348152654/9475761207
Members
Sr. Merlyn Jacob 
Sr. Rebecca Ekka 
Sr. Philomena Kharryja 
Sr. Rita Kullu 
Sr. Usha Rani 
Sr. Rashmi Soreng 
Sr. Merilyn Thongni 
Sr. Veronica Gangmei 
Sr. Julie Rai  
 
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