‘Celebrate your consecrated life with joy and hope’, with this beautiful theme we gave a grand start to our celebrations. The animators of all our communities, sisters of neighbouring communities, PAC members and a few members of the educating community all gathered around our dear Provincial, Sr. Ritha Dora to celebrate this special day” our ‘Provincial Gratitude Day’. The students warmly welcomed the gathering in the Indian style and led them to the chapel as they danced the Guajarati style.
We then proceeded to an agape meal amidst much joy and laugher. There followed a lively and creative recreation conducted the Dakor community. All the groups got prizes. We then went up to the hall where we viewed the collated report of the preparations for the Provincial Gratitude day of all the houses of out province. The day concluded with the Good night talk by Sr. Ritha Dora on the theme of ‘Thanksgiving and Mercy’
After the previous days’ surprises of the lovely entrance procession, the special vigil service,the grand meal and the creative recreation, we had a restful sleep looking forward to the surprises that awaited us the next day.
The 14th of February was indeed a very extraordinary day for all of us in the Mumbai Province. We join with one heart and mind to thank God for all the marvels worked in our lives, both as individuals and as a Province. With grateful hearts we gather around our dear Provincial, Sr. Ritha Dora to thank her for all that she is and does for each of us.With joyful hearts we woke to the sound of music and joined in prayer in the school hall. The prayer moment was beautifully animated by Sr. Susan Moraes highlighting all the themes of our four weeks of preparation: the family, care for creation, year of mercy and consecrated life. We had a very special moment during prayer when we formed two circles, an inner and outer one. We then laid hands on each other and prayed. Sr. Ritha Dora then went around placing her hands on each sister and praying for her.
After this solemn prayer moment we headed to the refectory for the cutting of the cake and the grand breakfast. This was followed by yet another beautiful moment of togetherness – the exchange of gifts, by the Gujarat houses to all the houses of the province, by the Provincial to all the sisters, and by the animators to the Provincial. This was indeed a very touching experience of sharing and caring.
the Solemn celebration. All the sisters entered with lamps and placed them at the feet of our Blessed Mother, while the Provincial and Vice Provincial carried the Bible and important Church documents. Fr. Issac sdb was the main celebrant, who wonderfully brought out the importance of the ‘Consecrated Life’ in his homily.
The SHG women too presented a skit and a dance. The main item of the day was a amazing musical on the ‘Consecrated life’ beautifully highlighting the role of the sisters in promoting unity in family life, care for creation and the practice of mercy. It beautifully portrayed how the sisters strive to live their consecration inspite of the many challenges they face. It was a superb performance. The vote of thanks too was creatively presented by the vice provincial Sr. Agatha Dias. At the end, Sr. Ritha Dora thanked all those who had a role to play in making the day special. She urged all present to continue to live the spirit of joy, thanksgiving and mercy. We then proceeded to a fellowship meal.
