By Jessy Joseph
New Delhi, April 29, 2020: A Catholic nun, who was tested Covid 19 positive, spends her time in prayer and meditation at the government quarantine center in Delhi.
“I accept God’s will. I am not afraid of death if that is what God wants,” the Sisters of Destitute nun, whose identity cannot be disclosed legally, told Sister Celine, a council member of the congregation’s Santidham province based in Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh.
Sister Celine, who is in touch with the quarantined nun, told Matters India on April 29 that her companion was tested positive for coronavirus infection on April 28. She now stays at a government-managed quarantine center at Delhi’s Narela area.
Earlier, Archbishop Kuriakose Bharanikulangara of Faridabad urged his people to pray in a special for the infected nun. The convent where the nun lived comes under the Syro-Malabar diocese. All parishes have conducted special prayers and adoration to obtain God’s grace to deal with corona pandemic.
According to Sister Celine, the infected nun was afraid and panicky when a government ambulance came suddenly on April 28 to pick her from their convent in Jahangirpuri, a slum area in Delhi’s northern region.
“But now she has been well settled and mentally prepared to face whatever comes ahead,” said Sister Celine and added that the quarantined nun has a separate room at center.
The provincial Councillor said the quarantined nun had told her over phone that she was among thousands of people suffering with coronavirus pandemic. “So there is nothing to worry about,” the infected nun added.
She also “totally” surrendered to God’s will and spends her time praying for those affected by the coronavirus pandemic. “It is a chance for me to understand the feelings of Covid 19 patients,” she explained.
Sister Celine spoke with the quarantined nun for an hour on April 29. The talk “has given me a positive energy and my fear about the pandemic has gone,” the quarantined nun told the Councillor.
Sister Celine also said another unnamed nun, who has a lockdown pass reaches the quarantined nun all necessary items such as fruits and medicine.
“We are all united with her and accompany her through our prayers” the Councillor said.
Sister Celine said the quarantined nun contracted the disease although she had not left the convent after the Indian government imposed nationwide lockdown from March 25. However, another nun, a nurse who lives with her in the Jahangirpuri convent, had gone out to distribute medicines to slum dwellers. The nurse nun’s test results are awaited.
The congregation manages a dispensary attached to their Jahangirpuri convent that has four members. Two of them are currently stuck in their provincial house in Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh, where they had gone for a meeting before the lockdown.
Sister Celine, who is also in Ghaziabad, said the developments have not made them to panic as they have all the precautions as directed by the government.