Media Release
Tanuku, Oct 3: On the feast day of St Theresa of Child Jesus the patroness of missions at the Nirmala Matha Parish Church, Tanuku, Andhra Pradesh, on Sunday, October 1, eight youngsters of the Missionary Sisters of the Immaculate congregation, gave themselves into the hands of God through a public religious final commitment ritual to the cause of evangelization.
Six of the eight sisters’ hail from Andhra Pradesh, one from Karnataka and one from Tamil Nadu some are trained as theologians, some as teachers and some nurses and some will pursue their higher studies in theology, said an MSI Sister.
Sr Sahaya Mary is destined for the mission of Africa, Sr Swaroopa Rani will be sent to Brazil as Missionary and Sr Maria will pursue further theological studies in Italy, she said.
His Excellency Bishop Polimera Jaya Rao of Eluru diocese presided over the service and blessed them in the name of the church and united their offering with the Mass.
In his introduction, the bishop invited Missionary Sisters of the Immaculate to be grateful to God for his manifold blessings on their life and missionary service. Evoking the imagery of the book of Revelation, where the blessed follow the lamb dressed in white robes that are washed in the blood of Lamb, the prelate announced that God has chosen them giving them life so that their life may produce abundance of fruits for the kingdom of God. This privileged election as God’s servants is for the proclamation of the message of the Gospel with apostolic courage as prophets. He also cautioned the participants to beware of God’s Holy Instructions and follow them with great humility, loyalty, spousal love and fidelity.
With the backdrop of melodious liturgical singing and music the eight MSI sisters prostrated before God and the assembly of the faithful invoking the heavenly hosts and the blessed through the litany of the saints to help them fulfil the demands of their life - commitment to Jesus Christ for the service of His kingdom. They pronounced their final vows at the feet of the altar, signed their covenant contract with God and handed over the document to the provincial superior in front of the entire congregation gathered to witness the religious ceremony. They also received a ring each for the finger as a sign of the betrothal and a Bible which they are to proclaim to the world.
The eight sisters received over ten years of basic spiritual, theological and professional formation which brought them to their final missionary commitment, stated provincial, Sr Amala Rani who received their vows and declared them as permanent members of the congregation of the Missionary Sisters of the Immaculate that is an international congregation which was started in 1936 in Italy with the same charism as the Pontifical Institute of Foreign Missions.
The spacious Parish Church was tastefully decorated with festoons and coloured balloons to display the grandeur of the religious feast welcoming parents and families of the eight sisters who had come from Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, different parts of Andhra Pradesh and Telengana.
The provincial thanked the Mary Matha parish community and the lay MSI’s of Tanuku parish for their readiness to host the celebration with great generosity and missionary fervour with a sense of gratitude to the erstwhile missionaries who had worked in their parish for many years to build the faith. Guests were treated with a sumptuous agape meal at the end of the religious ceremony.