Media Release
Mangaluru, May 27: The renovated oratory of St Mary of Jesus Crucified, the sacred place where the Arab Carmelite sister made her first profession, was solemnly blessed and inaugurated at St Ann’s Campus, Mangaluru, recently. Fr Freddie D’Silva SJ blessed the renovated Oratory and celebrated the Thanksgiving Eucharist on this grace-filled occasion. Present for the event were the provincial superior of Karnataka province, Sr Maria Naveena AC and her team, Micheal D’Souza and family who contributed their share of contribution, the engineer, contractor, and a large gathering of sisters and devotees.
The oratory, which had undergone its first renovation in 1984–85, has now been comprehensively restored after four decades and adorned with a renewed and prayerful ambience.
St Mary of Jesus Crucified, fondly known as the ‘Little Arab’ and the ‘Lily of Palestine’, was born as Miriam Baouardy in Galilee. Her birth itself was considered providential, as her parents had undertaken a pilgrimage on foot for nearly 200 miles to Bethlehem after losing nine children in succession. Yet, at a very tender age, Miriam herself was orphaned, along with her brother Paulos, and the two were brought up by their uncles.
As she grew into a young woman, Miriam courageously refused an arranged marriage and remained steadfast in her faith. Consequently, she was sent away to work as a domestic servant in a Muslim household, where she was pressured to renounce her faith. On refusing, her throat was slit and she was abandoned in a gutter. According to her own testimony, she was miraculously healed and cared for by a beautiful lady whom she later recognised as Mother Mary.
Drawn to religious life, Miriam joined the Sisters of St Joseph of the Apparition in France. However, because of the extraordinary mystical experiences and stigmata she bore, she was not admitted to the novitiate. At this critical moment, Venerable Mother Veronica, who belonged to the same congregation and was preparing to leave for the Carmel of Pau to begin a new congregation, the Apostolic Carmel, invited Miriam to accompany her.
In God’s mysterious plan, Miriam Baouardy, though only a novice, became one among the six Cloistered Carmelite sisters who travelled with the three pioneering Apostolic Carmel sisters to India. They arrived at the hallowed grounds of St Ann’s on November 19, 1870. It was here at St Ann’s that Miriam made her first profession in 1871 in this very oratory, which today stands lovingly preserved and renovated.
She later returned to the Carmel of Pau, France, in 1872 and eventually helped establish a new Carmelite foundation in Bethlehem in 1875. After completing this mission, she fell seriously ill and breathed her last on 26th August 1878 in the arms of Mother Veronica. Miriam Baouardy was beatified in 1983 and canonised a Saint in 2015.
Meanwhile, the Cloistered Carmel sisters who had resided at St Ann’s from 1870 moved to the Sacred Heart Monastery, Kankanady, on March 19, 1882. Thus, St Ann’s remains privileged to preserve the oratory associated with this saintly soul who was endowed with rare mystical gifts such as levitation, stigmata, and prophecy. When the process of her beatification commenced, this sacred Oratory where she pronounced her first vows was carefully preserved as a place of prayer and veneration.
The AC sisters express their heartfelt gratitude to Sr Maria Nirmalini AC, the superior general, Michael D’Souza and family for their generous contribution, an alumna of St Ann’s who donated the statue of the saint placed in the garden, Oswald Veigas, the engineer, Gratian Lobo, the contractor and his dedicated team, and all those who contributed in various ways to make this dream of renovation a reality.
The blessing and inauguration ceremony concluded with a short felicitation programme followed by a fellowship meal.
The faithful and devotees are invited to come to this sacred place, seek the intercession of St Mary of Jesus Crucified, and experience the peace, grace and blessings of God through her powerful prayers.