By Tessy Jacob
Sundargarh, Jan 5, 2020: The Hand maids of Mary, an indigenous congregation of Odisha, on January 4 celebrated 75 years of serving those at the grassroots.
The jubilee celebration was attended by six bishops and hundreds of priests and nuns and lay people.
Archbishop John Barwa of Cuttack-Bhubaneswar, head of the Catholic Church in Odisha who led the jubilee Mass, commended the congregation for it stupendous growth and service to society, especially in the eastern Indian state.
“Unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground, it shall not produce fruit,” the archbishop quoted from the Bible to highlight the growth of the congregation.
Founded in 1944, by Jesuit Father Edmund Joseph Harrison, in Kesaramal parish of western Odisha, the congregation now serves 10 countries.
It is the first indigenous congregation of Gangapur region, a former princely state spread over Odisha and West Bengal. Gangpur town is in Purba Bardhaman district of West Bengal, India.
The Handmaids of Mary sisters have made a huge contribution to the growth of the Church in Odisha specially, in the Gangpur region, a tribal belt, Archbishop Barwa said.
He recalled that the Father Westermann started the congregation at a time when the Church hesitated to accept tribal people into religious congregations. “What he had done was revolutionary,” he added.
Today, more than 500 members of the congregation serve people at grassroots to develop their social condition while safeguarding their identity. They are able to go beyond Odisha as one of the provinces is in Moodbidri, Karnataka.
The jubilee program was told that the congregation had faced nearly death situation within years of founding as health issues forced its founder to leave the country. Divine Word Herman Westermann of Sambalpur then took them under his care.
The good will of nuns from other congregation too helped the growth of the Hand Maids of Mary in Odisha.
Bishop Westermann steered the nun to address the shallow the Catholic faith of the villagers who were steeped in superstition and illiteracy. He introduced “Abba Sangath” for men, ‘Ayo Sangath’ for women and ‘Cruz Beer’ for children. These Catholic bodies that initiated and organized developmental activities among the villagers are still active.
The congregation is engaged in education, social development, health care and pastoral activities. Their residential schools for tribal girls brought in drastic change among people. Education also paved way for vocation to many congregations. It also helped many to reach higher positions in civil society, the jubilee celebration was told.