BECOMING DEEP ROOTED AND WELL GROUNDED

THE FIRST YEAR NOVICES WITH FR DION AND FR SUNIL

Dear friends,

Greetings from Mount St Joseph Novitiate, Bangalore. The First Year Novices are beginning their Month’s Retreat on 01 November under the guidance of Fr Dion Vaz, the Novice Director. Please do pray for them as they begin this Spiritual Journey with the Lord to strengthen and deepen their vocation. Please do remember the Second Years as well, as they venture out into the Mission Experiment. During this grace-filled time, we count on your prayers and we assure you of ours.

Seeking your prayers and blessings,

Novices

Mount St Joseph, Bangalore

THE SECOND YEAR NOVICES

PS: We are glad to invite you to check-out the Blog for regular updates all through November featuring highlights from the Exhibition put up during the Golden Jubilee. While we are away, do associate yourself closely to the MSJ family...

PILGRIMAGE AND RECOLLECTION

A pilgrim is a person journeying in search of the will of God. Life is a journey and we are invited to give a spiritual tone to it. On 29 October, our First Years journeyed through as pilgrims from Bannerghatta to Anekal carrying with them the graces they needed in terms of their goals for their Month’s retreat. The Second Years on the other hand withdrew from their normal routine and spent time in Recollection in order to focus intensely towards the Lord in preparation to be ‘sent on Mission.’ The theme of the Recollection was 'Consecration and Mission: Decipleship.' Their only prayer was ‘to have a heart as large as that of the world.’ After the special mass offered for us ahead of our important encounters. We leave for our respective Missions this evening and our First Years begin their retreat on Sunday. Please pray for us, we will certainly remember all of you.

INTENSIVE JOURNAL

The Intensive Journal was coined by Progoff in 1966. It has a three-fold purpose: self-awareness, self-acceptance and self-depth purely for personal growth. One is invited to an attitude of openness and honesty in this process. We write our feelings and even our dreams. The dynamics involves the conscious and unconscious levels of an individual. Our First Years are undergoing this course through the guidance of Fr Francis Menezes from 26-28 October. Soon after the Jubilee celebrations form 13-16 October, Fr Dion guided them along with the Novices of other congregations through the Psyco-spiritual integration course. The silent atmosphere at Mount is helping everyone to be in deep spiritual union with God.

A VISION AND A MISSION

Dear Friends,
As we Novices are about to undergo two important experiments in our life, our companions are eager to share their thoughts and feelings with you all. Please pray for us as we undergo this journey of our life.
Royce: my heart pumps with joy and anxiety as I near my “months retreat” I have been waiting for this day ever I steeped into the novitiate. It is a time for me to encounter Him intensely in my life and to experience spiritual bliss with in Him. I wish to actualize my true self, to be a soldier of Christ’s army, to be deep routed and well branched but at this moment the words of St Alberto Hurtado strike me, “the search for Him is only possible in this life and life takes all its meaning from this search.

Jaison:Human beings are created to love and to be loved. Everyone’s commissioned with a particular mission and that to be witness of His love through our life, words and deeds. As second year novices are being enriched by the love of Christ through the spiritual exercises, its an opt occasion for us to relive this experience in our mission place. This experiment tests call and initiates us to be contemplative in action.

Genuine and clear motivation for deeper commitment to mission should become a guiding principle. Following Christ the poor in the suffering of our humanity has must help us grow in relationship with the lord.

JUBILEE CELEBRATIONS WITH THE LOYOLA STAFF

On 20 October, we were delighted to share our joy with the collaborators of our Mission i.e. our staff from Loyola Higher Primary, High School, PUC and ITC. The programme began with the invoking of God’s blessings through an all faith prayer lead by the staff. Sch Rajesh was the Master of Ceremonies for the programme. Fr Rector welcomed the gathering and acknowledged with gratitude the role of our staff in bringing to reality the Kingdom. Mrs Prema, the HM of the Higher Primary, spoke on behalf of the staff while the Novices entertained the gathering with a few cultural items. Fr Henry amused everyone with his words of gratitude. The staff was thrilled to see the Exhibition. All our celebrations culminated with a Jubilee Dinner served by Fr Arocksamy

FEEDBACK SESSIONS

A life unreflected is not worth living. God speaks to us through events, persons and things. Feedback was the time when God spoke to us through our companions. We got a chance to be personally involved in the growth of each other. Three of our Brothers are happy to share their experience with us.

Dolwin: We approached the feedback with an atmosphere of group prayer and great love towards each other. It was a revision of our life. It helped us build a stronger community. We were like instruments in God’s hands. I can now live better in future.

Ashwin R: It is said, “There is always room for growth” I came to know myself better. It gave me an opportunity to be an integrated person. I got to know companion better. The sessions were fruitful. I feel loved and accepted.

Wilson: All my companions were expressed their love and support for me by giving me a genuine feed back. I was moved to do the same in return. My vocation certainly thrives because of this experience. It is an occasion to grow as a better human. I feel grateful towards God.

GOLDEN JUBILEE EXHIBITION

Dear friends,

There was an Exhibition of interesting memorabilia giving a bird’s eye view of 50 years of the Mount. The theme of the Exhibition was ‘A Mission, A Vision, A Prayer.’It was a marvellous collection exhibited by the Novices after one month of creative and painstaking effort. The exhibition brought back nostalgic memories especially to those who lived here in the early years of this institution. Fr Provincial inaugurated this exhibition and scores of people visited it which has definitely rewarded all the effort that had gone in. We place on record the help rendered to us by Jesuits of our Province in putting up the exhibition. We are grateful to Fr’s Hilario, Ralph and Richard for preparing the community for the Golden Jubilee through the Tridum that was conducted from 6-8 October.

JUBILEE CELEBRATION WITH OUR CO-WORKERS

Friends,

We had an extended Jubilee celebration with 40 of our co-workers on 16 October. Novices organised an all faith prayer service and a cultural programme. On this occasion all our workers were felicitated and thanked for the silent and caring CREATIVE FIDELITY that they render to us. It was a unique experience to share our love with them. We all had dinner together.

GOLDEN JUBILEE SEMINAR

On 11 October at 9 AM 55 Jesuits from different communities in and outside the Province attended a days seminar. The recourse person was Fr Rudolf Heredia SJ (Bombay Province). He spoke on ‘Evangelization in the context of Religious Fundamentalism and Terrorism’. In the group discussion many participants indicated what our response could be under such a situation. The total participation of around 90 Jesuits to this seminar made it a real success.

THANKSGIVING EUCHARIST

Remembrance and Gratitude, the themes of any Eucharist, were bound up together more than ever in the liturgy as Mount St. Joseph completed 50 years of life in service. Our pioneers planted a small sapling of a formation house on this Holy Ground in 1959 and it has now blossomed into a huge tree bearing a rich variety of ministries. Ever since its conception this house has experienced the tender and loving care of our Blessed Mother. As a mother cares for her child, this house has nurtured the vocations of scores of individuals helping them to walk hand in hand with God as responsible persons in society working as servants of the Kingdom. Our joy was doubled with the presence of our beloved Archbishop, Bernard Moras, who was with us to celebrate the solemn Eucharist. We are happy to have our Alumni, our dear priests from the neighbouring parishes and our neighbouring religious, relatives, friends and benefactors present at the Mass. This Jubilee day was a time for us to look back and assess what had been accomplished and look ahead and see what remains to be done.

CULTURAL PROGRAMME AND FELICITATION

Dear friends,

At 5 PM was the concelebrated Mass followed by a cultural programme. Archbishop Bernard Moras spoke highly of the Jesuit contribution in education and pastoral work. Fr Provincial thanked the Lord for His generous gift of Novices and Juniors to the Mount during the past 50 years. He also recalled the years that he had spent here as a Novice. On this occasion those who rendered their services to the Mount were specially honoured. There were Jesuits from different Provinces who received their Novitiate and Juniorate formation at Mount present at the function. The blog quiz winners received their prizes. Congratulations Fr Jossie D’ Mello, Sch Luminesh, Sch Praveen and Sch Bryan. Fr Joy was the Master of Ceremonies. The hall was full and all the guests were very enthused. What brought back nostalgic memories amid all these things was the power-point presentation by Sch Marcel and Sch Kiran. This day was certainly a day to remember, a day to be recorded in Golden letters.

ANSWERS TO QUIZ (Series IV)

Dear Friends,

We are happy to share with you the Answers of Series IV of the online Quiz. Please find the answers marked in Orange.

1. What is the Room Number of our Rector Fr William Sequeira?

A. Room No 19

2. Which Jesuit Saint's Photograph is placed in our Beadle's Room?

A. St Stanislaus Kostka

3. Who inaugurated the Alberto Hurtado block?

A. Fr Hedwig da Costa

4. How many years has our cook Sharada served this community through her caring hands?

A. 8 years

5. When was Kalena Agrahara canonically constituted as a full-fledged Parish?

A. 31 August, 2000

6. By what name is the Novitiate Garden popularly called?

A. Stanislaus Garden

7. Who inaugurated Prerana, the Ignatian Spirituality Centre at MSJ?

A. Fr Lisbert D’Souza

8. Who is presently appointed as the Prefect of Health at MSJ?

A. Fr Tom D’Souza

9. Who is the KNL correspondent of the MSJ community?

A. Fr Fregidian Shenoy

10. When did the MSJ Blog begin - Date? Year?

A. 10 April 2007

ANSWERS TO QUIZ (Series III)

Dear Friends,

We are happy to share with you the Answers of Series III of the online Quiz. Please find the answers marked in Orange.

1. Which Provincial converted the Mirza Farm (Old DA) into a Retreat house?

a. Fr S Monteiro b. Fr A P Menezes c. Fr J C Pereira d. Fr Julian Fernandes

2. How old is the cart that our driver Mr Lawrence Fernandes uses for his maintenance activity at MSJ?

a. 40 years b. 25 years c. 50 years d. 20 years

3. Who is presently appointed the head cook at the MSJ Kitchen?

a. Mrs Sharada b. Ms Esther c. Mrs Venkatamma d. Ms Rathna

4. When did Fr Arrupe visit MSJ?

a. 13 Jan '66 b. 13 Jan '67 c. 13 Jan '65 d. 13 Jan '68

5. When did Pope John XXIII die?

a. 4 Jun '65 b. 4 Oct '65 c. 4 Dec '65 d. 4 Sep '65

6. How many years did Fr Apoline D’Souza serve the Society as Novice Master?

a. 12 b. 10 c.11 d. 13

7. Which Provincial shifted the Provincialate from MSJ to Loyola Mandir?

a. Fr S Monteiro b. Fr A P Menezes c. Fr J C Pereira d. Fr Julian Fernandes

8. In which year was the Novitiate closed down?

a. 1965 b. 1966 c. 1967 d. 1968

9. When was the First Parents day celebration held at MSJ?

a. 31 Mar '65 b. 31 May '65 c. 31 Jan '65 d. 31 Dec '65

10. The shape of the Main building of MSJ resembles which letter of the alphabet?

a. E b. V c. M d. P

ANSWERS TO QUIZ (Series II)

Dear Friends,
We are happy to share with you the Answers of Series I of the online Quiz. Please find the answers marked in Orange.

1. When was Fr JC Pereira announced Rector of MSJ?
a. Jan 1959 b. Apr 1959 c. May 1959 d. July 1959

2. Who celebrated the very first Mass at MSJ with the Juniors on May 1 1959?
a. Fr Austin D’Souza b. Fr Denis D’Souza c. Fr Apoline D’Souza d. Fr Boniface D’Souza

3. Who was the very first Minister at MSJ?

a. Fr Denis D’Souza b. Fr Denis Alvares c. Fr Denis Pinto d. Fr Denis Pereira
4. When did Fr Boniface make his first canonical visit as a vice provincial to MSJ?
a. 10 Jan 1960 b. 15 Feb '60 c. 28 Nov '59 d. 29 Aug '59

5. When did Bp Thomas Pothacamury inaugurate the Altar of the Main Chapel?

a. 12 March 1960 b. 22 Aug '59 c. 3 Dec '60 d. 15 Aug '61

6. When did Fr Denis Alvares take over from Fr Austin D’Souza as Socius to Novice Master?

a. 12 Aug 1960 b. 26 Jan '60 c. 30 Nov '60 d. 25 July '60

7. Who was the first one to be buried in MSJ cemetery?

a. Fr George Pai b. Fr James Sampaoli c. Br Bignami d. Fr P Zanolin

8. Fr Denis Coelho was appointed the youngest Rector in which year?

a. 1959 b. 1967 c. 1963 d. 1966

9. Who took over as Socius from Fr Walter Albuquerque at MSJ?

a. Fr Denis Coelho b. Fr Robert Cutinha c. Fr Antony Coelho d. Fr Terence Colaco

ANSWERS TO QUIZ (Series I)

Dear Friends,

We are happy to share with you the Answers of Series I of the online Quiz. Please find the answers marked in Orange.
GENERAL SECTION

01. Mangalore Seminary was taken over by the Jesuits: What year?

a. 1879 b. 1880 c. 1878 d. 1881

02. The foundation stone of St Aloysius was laid: In which year?

a. 1879 b. 1882 c. 1884 d. 1880

03. Date of inauguration of St Aloysius?

a. 12 January 1883 b. 12 Jan 1884 c. 12 Jan 1882 d. 12 Jan 1885

04. The first Novitiate began in Jeppu: What date?
a. 12 January 1883 b. 12 Jan 1884 c. 12 Jan 1882 d. 12 Jan 1885

05. The Mangalore Mission became Calicut Mission: In which year?

a. 1925 b. 1929 c. 1928 d. 1927

06. Mangalore Mission became Mangalore Vice-Province: in which year?

a. 1956 b. 1954 c. 1955 d. 1957

07. Mangalore Vice-Province became Karnataka Vice-Province: in which year?

a. 1956 b. 1954 c. 1955 d. 1957

08. Karnataka Vice-Province was consecrated to Our Lady of Karnataka: Date?

a. 22 August 1960 b. 22 Aug 1961 c. 22 Aug 1962 d. 22 Aug 1959

09. Fatima Retreat House began: Date?

a. 27 January 1947 b. 27 Jan 1946 c. 27 Jan 1948 d. 27 Jan 1945

10. Ashirvad began: In which year?

a. 1974 b. 1973 c. 1972 d. 1975

MOUNT ST JOSEPH SECTION

01. The Christ Hall Novitiate in Calicut began: Date? First Novice Master?

A. 4 December 1933, Fr Aloysius Coelho

02. The foundation-stone of Mount St Joseph Laid: In which year?

A. 1957

03. Christ Hall Novitiate/Juniorate transferred to MSJ Bangalore: Date?

A. April 1959

04. MSJ was blessed and opened: Date? Officiating Archbishop?

A. 22 August 1959, Archbishop Thomas Pothacamury

05. That Day was the feast of Our Lady: Under what title?

A. Immaculate Heart of Mary

06. Name of the person who designed MSJ? [Nationality? Congregation?]

A. Br David Giani, P.I.M.E. Milan Foreign Missionaries of Vijayawada

07. Name any two persons (Jesuits) connected with the beginnings of MSJ.

A. Frs Boniface D'Souza, JC Pereira, E Cantoni, Apoline D'Souza, Brs Bignami, Goveas & Vadaparam

08. Name of the contractor who built MSJ?

A. Gangappa

09. In the year 1959: Who was the Pope? Jesuit General? Vice-Provincial? Rector? Novice Master?

A. Pope John XXIII, General Fr JB Janssens, Vice-Provincial Fr Boniface D’Souza, Rector Fr JC Pereira, Novice Master Fr Apoline D'Souza

10. Karnataka Vice-Province now called a Province: In which year?

A. 1983 [GC33 d. 3]