At last the long awaited day, 23rd
May 2015, dawned with the spark of excitement and happiness within our hearts
as we, the postulants, were initiated into religious life. It was not easy for
us to leave the Aspirantate - Lonavla for it was the first house or cradle where
we learned to share our joy and sorrow with one another. But it is also true
that from the time we began our religious journey we were being prepared for
this beautiful stage of being a No-Vice.
Sr. Anelfreda Miranda and community here at
Nashik joyfully welcomed us eight postulants to the novitiate. The next day, 16th
evening, we began preparing ourselves spiritually, through six days of intimacy
with God, to experience His love for each of us which would give us strength to
accept the challenges of our new stage of life.
And then came the memorable day of our life,
the 23rd of May, 2015 when we were officially initiated into the Novitiate. We
began the initiation ceremony with a beautiful prayer service. After professing
our wish or the answer to God’s call in the Institute of the Daughters of Mary Help
of Christians, we received medals from Mother Provincial Sr. Wilma de Souza.
She explained to us article 90 of our Constitutions which says that Novitiate
is a period of real initiation into the religious life through reflection,
study and assimilation, self-discipline and integration of work and prayer. She
made us aware that religious life is not a bed of roses, there will be problems
and difficulties but with the help of God and our Blessed Mother we will
overcome them. The prayer service concluded with the official entrusting of novices
in the hands of our Novice Mistress Sr. Anelfreda Miranda, by the provincial.
We are grateful to our Sisters of Maria Vihar community who were present to
offer us their prayerful support. There followed song and music, celebration
and felicitation that brought much joy and made us feel great.
As we commence our
novitiate we ask our loving Lord to help us to be open to the workings of His Spirit
in order to let Him pray in us, work through us in fulfilling the mission that
is entrusted to us. We also ask each of you dear Sisters to continue to support
us with your prayer as we make our Novitiate journey.
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| Blessing of novices' medals, crucifix and religious dress |
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| Congrats to the first year novices |
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