Holy Spirit Sisters celebrate 50 years of mission in Odisha

By Tessy Jacob

Bondamunda, Oct 15, 2023: The Missionary Sisters Servants of the Holy Spirit, largely known as Holy Spirit Sisters, celebrated the golden jubilee of their missionary presence in the eastern Indian state of Odisha.

Archbishop John Barwa of Cuttack-Bhubaneswar led the jubilee Mass at Pabitra Atama Convent Bondamunda, a parish under the Rourkela diocese and the nuns’ first mission station in Odisha.

In his homily, Archbishop Barwa lauded the sisters for their renowned services in Odisha’s tribal belts, especially in the field of education, health care and socio- pastoral work.

The Divine Word prelate highlighted the interculturality of the congregation, and their initiative in venturing into less trodden paths of mission.

During the October 14-15 celebration, the laity organized exclusive jubilee celebrations to pay special tributes to the sisters for their service.

On the first day, the celebration was held in the convent premises, along with the lay collaborators and the religious of surrounding cities. On the second day the parishioners celebrated the jubilee in their church premises, with Mass, cultural events and felicitation of the sisters, followed by agape.

They recalled the service of the sisters down the years, especially running a dispensary and the schools – Odia medium and later an English medium to provide basic education for the economically backward children.

Bishop Kishor Kumar Kujur of Rourkela too commended the courage of the pioneers, most of them Europeans, to learn the life of the people and to help them at grassroots level. He also highlighted the work of sisters in promoting Christian values among the people, which subsequently resulted in building strong Catholic communities in Rourkela diocese, the bishop added.

The mission was hard, as the socioeconomic condition of the mostly tribals was very poor. The pioneers battled with the harsh weather, poor living conditions and the language barriers, Bishop Kujur said.

Bondamunda, situated on the suburbs of Rourkela, is where the first integrated steel plant in the public sector in India was set up in collaboration with Germany in 1959.

Although industrialization brought revenue, the lives of the ordinary citizen, mostly displaced tribals living in the peripheries of Rourkela city, were in misery, as they had to depend on main city for education, healthcare and employment, said Sister Vilma Noronha, the Odisha provincial.

She recalled the initiative of Divine Word Father Marian Zalazek, a Polish missionary, who went to Rome to request the then superior general to send sisters to the Odisha Mission, especially to work among women and in the health sector. The suburbs were disconnected with the main city because of lack of transportation.

The sisters first set up a dispensary that eventually became the life line of ordinary folks, recalled Sister Francis Mary, one of the pioneers of the Odisha mission who was present at the celebration.

The next move was to conduct life skill training for the village women to empower them to lead the families’ economical, intellectual, physical and spiritual viability.

The main focus of the mission was to attend to the needs of the ordinary people and empower them to build up their lives, she added.

The congregation was founded in 1889 by St. Arnold Janssen, who also founded the Society of Divine Word in the Netherlands.

The Holy Spirit Sisters entered India in 1933 and set up their first house in Indore, the commercial capital of the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh.

As Indian women began to join the congregation, mostly from southern India, the congregation spread to south and west of India, serving the educational and healthcare needs of the local people, the provincial said.

In the 1970s, the congregation came to the Chotanagpur region of Odisha, at the invitation of Father Zalazek, who is now a Servant of God, the first stage in the canonization process.

Bishop Kujur highlighted how the missionaries sowed the seeds of mission among the young girls and invited them to join the congregation. Over the years a considerable number of women from the Bondamunda parish joined different congregations and now work as missionaries at large, he said.

The Holy Spirit congregation has 123 Odisha native members now.

Sister Mary expressed joy at being the Bondamunda mission that she served as a young sister. She recalled how on the first Sunday of their arrival, the parishioners brought head loads of farm produce. After her 12 years of mission in Odisha she was relocated to Indore in 1986 for the rest of her life

Julious Jate, s local Catholic who was employed as gardener for 22 years, speaking on the occasion, recalled the names of the sisters and their invaluable contribution to the villages around. He attributed his own confidence and the acceptance in society as the result of his association with the sisters.

He recalled that the nurse sisters were miracle workers; who used to walk for miles to reach the sick persons in their homes. The villagers still believe that the medicines prescribed by the sisters are of miraculous value.

Philomina Ekka, who was the first maid in the convent was also honored on the occasion. Both Julious and Philomina, who had long standing association with sisters, expressed in their testimony, the selfless services of the sisters for five decades.