CHF ARUNODAY PROVINCE, BHAGALPUR, BIHAR

(Registered under the Societies RegistrationACT XXI of 1860, No 43 of 1974-75- Bihar, in the name of The Poreyahat Holy Family Society, Holy Family Convent, Tilkamanjhi, Bhagalpur-812001, Bihar, India)

One of the Nine Provinces of the Congregation of the Holy Family

Congregation of The Holy Family (CHF)

Congregation of The Holy Family was founded by Saint Mariam Thresia Chiramel Mankidiyan, in a remote village called Puthenchira in Thrissur Dt., Kerala, in the year 1914. Servant of God Joseph Vithayathil is the co-founder of the Congregation. It is an indigenous Congregation of Pontifical right of the Syro-Malabar Church. It has nine Provinces and one Region with more than 2000 Sisters working in five continents of the world.

Charism

Being hidden in the Holy Trinity and identified with the Crucified Lord, live the beatitude of Mercy is the charism of the foundress. The spirit of the Holy Family of Nazareth, the compassionate love emanating from the deep union with the Crucified Lord and the liberative mission accomplished through family apostolate are the fundamental characteristics of the charism of the foundress. Communion with God welling up from the contemplative prayer and meditation on the Word of God, fraternal love (Koodapirappusneham) that serves one another, the apostolic zeal for families and the preferential love for the poor are the main streams of our heritage.

Motto: Thy Will Be Done

The Motto of CHF

The Bible and the history of Christian spirituality retain that God has a specific will for every person, which one needs to discover and fulfill in the context. St Mariam Thresia, the foundress of CHF and known as an apostle to the families, was a person who surrendered her whole being to the will of God. It was her profound God-experience that made her realize the divine will, specific to her life, in time and space. The life-style which she followed was both contemplative and active, which the Church had not supported for centuries in the case of women, especially in the milieu in which she lived. Being led by the Spirit and dynamic in nature, as a lay woman she stepped out of her home, dedicated her life completely for families despite all challenges that encircled her. The specific will of God for Mariam Thresia was realized in the prophetic mission of family apostolate and the foundation of the Congregation of the Holy Family. The intervention of Jesus, Mary and Joseph in her life is extremely significant as far as her commitment to doing the will of God is concerned.

The life of St.Mariam Thresia makes it clear that in order to reach spiritual maturity, the specific will of God must be realized in the lesser and greater concerns of our lives. Following the footsteps of Jesus, Mary and Joseph she proved that a person can and should strive for the fulfilment of the will of God in his or her life. Imbibing Thy Will Be Done, the life-mantra of Mariam Thresia, the CHF General Plenary Council in 2011 confirmed it as the motto of CHF. Each CHF Sister is expected to seek, find and do the will of God after the example of its foundress, Saint Mariam Thresia. In order to reach spiritual perfection, everyone should follow Christ who was obedient unto death (Phil 2:8) and who fulfilled the will of the Father (Heb 5:8). Mariam Thresia proves it to be attainable through the ready submission of her will to the divine will by attuning herself to the impulses of the Holy Spirit.

Apostolate

Saint Mariam Thresia, the prophetess and apostle of families transformed the broken families into 'holy families'. Thresia was convinced that the world could be saved only through families and she hastened to the families with fire in her heart and wings on her feet to bring back the astray. She assumed from her life experience that 'Nobody knows how great is the reward that God gives to those who help the destitute'. CHF live this apostolic spirit in the new forms and expressions in our various fields of ministries and in diverse ways such as health care, education at all levels, works of mercy, counselling, visiting the families, pastoral works, homes -for the aged, differently abled and children at risk, care for the poor, the youth, the orphans etc. Compassionate love drawn from the heart of the Crucified Lord is the motivating force of all our Apostolates. The thrust and heart of every apostolate performed by a CHF Sister anywhere at any time is towards Family.

CHF Arunoday Province

In 1964 a seed of Holy Family Congregation was sown in the fertile land of Bihar at Charkapather, Bhagalpur Diocese. It was God's Providence that Msgr. Urban McGarry, TOR, Prefect Apostolic of Bhagalpur felt the need of missionaries in the remote villages of his Diocese and requested to the then Superior General of CHF- Mother Josephine to send her sisters to the mission. Mother Josephine -a woman of broad vision and charismatic leader took courage to risk, trusting in the loving providence of God and decided to start CHF Mission in North India. In the absence of the Msgr. Urban Mc Garry, our fathers namely Very Rev. Fr. Aquinas Lieb, TOR the then administrator, Rev. Fr. Boniface Bonk TOR, Commissary Provincial and Rev. Fr. Maurice Buckley, TOR received Superior General and Srs.Teresitta and Flora who came to mission to learn the situation and they were received warmly by Fr. Alex Bombero,TOR the Parish Priest of Charkapather mission. The Franciscan Missionaries promised all their help and support and encouraged the Superior General in her new missionary venture. Discerning the will of God and need of the mission eight missionaries namely Sr. Mary John ( Superior) Sr. Amos, Sr. Therese Samuel, Sr. JessyAttokaran, Sr. Petrina, Sr. Jeremiah, Sr. Rita Francis and Sr. Leopold accompanied by Mother General and Srs. Rosalia and Fulgencia came to Bihar, Charkapather mission on February 11, 1964. TOR friars had been the ever supporting source for the CHF mission. With God's Grace and with the understanding support of the Prefect Apostolic and priests, especially Fr. Alex Bombera TOR, the sisters made steady progress in their efforts to serve the poor, the illiterate and the sick. The first Mission House of CHF was established in the year 1964 at Charkapather which is the cradle of the missionary activities of the Congregation Holy Family in general and of Arunoday Province in particular. Sisters were invited to render their service for new mission stations like Poreyahat, Mariampahari, Jhajha and so on. The service was extended to different parts of Bihar, Jharkhand, West Bengal and Punjab,etc. In the year 1992, 11 February the region was raised to the status of Arunoday Vice Province and in 1997 it was called a Province with the name 'Arunoday' and Navajyoti being the Mother Province gave all support needed for the new Province.

In all our mission areas we provide, medical facilities, Parish assistance, Family oriented programmes, Social ministries, Works of Mercy, Education Apostolate and faith formation programmes in villages especially through Home Missions and retreats. In their service to the rural folks the sisters are motivated by the encouraging words of Blessed Mariam Thresia: 'Nobody knows how great is the reward that God gives to those who help the destitute' (MMT- L-5). Sisters assist the parish priest in the activities of the parish. Sisters prepare the catechumens to accept Christ, teach them catechism. They also give awareness classes for the mothers of the parish on how to bring up their children and their family. Sisters have been taking care of Eucharistic Crusade of Children (Krusvir) training them to be the soldiers of Christ. Youth animation is another important area in which sisters are very much involved. Sisters have always taken lot of pain and struggle to bring up the youth in all spheres of their lives. They help the illiterate women to come out of themselves through Mahila-Sangh and self-help groups. Sisters are also actively involved in the Jail Ministry in which Spiritual Assistance, Counselling, art and craft studies, formal education were provided especially to the women. Sisters also took steps to rehabilitate the Jail children to the girls' hostel at Poreyahat and provide good education and accommodation facilities. Net working with governmental organization was also part of the program. With the help of Sisters, the village people are made aware of the schemes and facilities meant for them. Keeping in view, the mission and vision entrusted by the Lord, the sisters devote their time, energy and resources for the wellbeing and upliftment of the weaker sections of the society.

14 years after the arrival of CHF Missionaries in Bihar, Sisters stepped into Punjab region opening a house in Adampur at Jalandhar Diocese. Over the years the region grew and a new Province - Divyoday was erected in the year 2009 from Arunoday Province.

At present the Arunoday Province has a total number of 25 convents in 10 different diocese of India namely Bhagalpur, Delhi, Dumka, Hazaribagh, Khunti, Kolkata, Krishnagar, Patna, Ranchi and Thrissur. Few of our Sisters are also serving abroad mission, like Africa, Germany and Rome which is directly under Generalate. Each community as to the need of the locality is rendering services to the people in all walks of life. At present we have vocations from Kerala, Bihar, Jharkhand, Orissa, West Bengal and Assam. Today the vision and mission of CHF is being lived by 186 Sisters and 42 formees.

May the Holy Family our heavenly Patrons, Jesus Mary and Joseph be praised forever.

Mile-Stones of Arunoday

STATISTICAL DATA-ARUNODAY PROVINCE