May 6th was a day filled with God’s blessings and a day to ponder and wonder at God’s ways and the manner in which He writes history of the presence of the Augustinian Missionaries here in India in a mysterious way. It was such a great blessing for all the communities of the Province to relive our communion, unity and harmony with the whole of the Congregation and to join all the sisters all over the world and with those who have preceded us, on this great day of May 6th.

In the Province, the sisters of Mother Monica Illam in Chennai and of Mother Clara Bhavan in Meghalaya celebrated this day in their communities. The communities in and around Bangalore joined together in the Novitiate to celebrate this day together, that is, the communities of Tagaste Nivas, Shanthi Casiciaco, St. Augustine Bhavan, Jyothi Nilaya, St. Augustine Nilayam, St. Monica Study House and St. Rita Illam. It was a moment of great joy and bonding. The liturgy prepared and sent by the General Government was lived intensely during the Eucharistic Celebration. The caption which decorated the altar with Pope’s words: Look to the past with gratitude, live the present with passion and embrace the future with hope and the benevolent and graceful look of our beloved founderesses gazing on the community gathered, and the faces looking up to them for assurance, guidance and accompaniment, were blissful moments.

The items for offertory and the symbolism that they stood for, rooted us in that present historical moment by encompassing the whole life of ours personally, as a community and as a province and at the same time transported us to that time of the beginnings of our Congregation. As the caption says, we were grateful for the past, grateful for the fidelity, the courage, the stamina, the perseverance and it gave us that great hope for the future. We feel deep within that we have a great legacy to pass it on. And we all vowed to lived this 125th year profoundly and felt so fortunate to be part of this charism, a gift to the Church.

After this beautiful celebration, we enjoyed a fraternal meal, enjoying the presence of each other and the dining roared with laughter and joy making us wonder how beautiful it is for sisters to live together in unity and harmony.