The Sisters of
St Charles of Borromeo
Faith, Toil, Progress
St.Charles Generalate
Kamba village,
Varap post, shahad
Kalyan west,Thane Dist
Maharashtra state – 421 103
Ph: 8976587778
The Sisters of St. Charles Borromeo
Kamba village, Varap post, shahad, Kalyan west,Thane Dist, Maharashtra, India - 421103
Sisters of St, Charles Borromeo were invited to Palayamkottai diocese in the year 1999. It was auspicious to the diocese of Palayamkottai for two reasons, firstly it was, the year of completion of 25 years of its erection and secondly the peals of silver bells sounded aloud the 25th year of the Episcopal ordination of their Shepherd Msgr, Irudayaraj. The desire to make these events memorable brought forth the idea of establishing a Home for the aged. The idea was the most welcome one as that year had been declared as the Year of the Aged by the UNO.
The jubilee memorial Home for the Aged proposed to be built in Puliyampatti needed a team of compassionate people to administer it. The Jubilarian Rt,Rev.S.Irudayaraj, Bishop of Palayamkottai .extended an invitation to the Sisters of St.Charles Borromeo. Srs.Lilly Kuriakose, Annie joseph, Josephine Nirmala Rani and Cynthia Robinson accompanied by Sr.Jaya, reached Puliyampatti on June 2, 1999. Padua home for the Aged was blessed by Rt.Rev,S,Irudayaraj, bishop of Palayamkottai, on June 13, 1999, the feast day of St.Antony of Padua, the venerated Patron of the Shrine and was inaugurated by Mr.Malik Feroz Khan, the Collector of Tuticorin .The lamp was lit by Sr.Ignatius, the then Provincial Superior of the Eastern Province. A contract was signed between the diocese and the Congregation.
Apostolic Works
The hands that join in prayer normally are also hands that extend in service to the needy. This is borne witness to by the faithful, the priest sand the religious of Puliyampatti. The donations and offerings received are generously shared with the poor through developmental works. In 1963, a Mercy Home for the boys was founded by Rev.Fr. Arulanandam. This home sheltered about 50 boys at its beginning. This is now under the care of the priests of the diocese. The extension of Mercy Home for girls was realized by Rev.Fr. Lourdu Raj in June 2000 in the building attached to the convent. To incarnate the compassionate love of God to the old in the Padua Home was the primary call to the sisters. The challenge before them in fulfilling this mission is to face the rebellion and aggression of these abandoned old who vent their feelings of rejection and insecurity. There are 21 women and 4 men presently occupying the home. That they should be 13 in each was the foreseen plan because, January 13, is the feast of St. Antony of Padua. The sustenance of this home and that of the boarding home for the girls is entirely financed by Puliyampatti church.
The diocesan middle school is the centre for education for all the children in the Mercy home. One of our sisters teaching in the school has the advantage to give special care to these children. The zeal to give wholesome education is not hampered by many things that are needed to make this a model school. Children who studied in this school have grown into excellent men and women over the years. The essence of education is not modernizing but foundation of character and that is the preoccupation of our sisters. Due to innumerable demands and regulations from government that could not be easily complied with, the mercy home for the girls was closed in the year 2018.
In a church constantly filled with pilgrims one cannot calculate and schedule the pastoral work. The sisters give a big hand to join links of the chain of people in service to the numerous who seek assistance to register the intention for mass, to pray the rosary, to organize the adoration hours, to keep clean the church and its premises, to visit the pilgrims lodging in the campus, to head the BBC meetings, to prepare the people in the substations for the weekly Eucharistic celebrations and above all to listen to the hundreds who need and plead a hearing of their woes and miseries. The sisters source of joy is the echoing voice of our Lord, “whenever you did this to the least of my brethren you did to me”.(Mt.25;40.)
Argentina Region