“Go in to all the world and proclaim to the
good news to the whole creation” {MK16:15}
San Francisco province is the
offshoot of Seraphic Province, Palakkad, which in turn came in to existence
when Thrissur province was divided in to three separate units namely Thrissur,
Irinjalakuda, and Palakkad. When it was divided in 1979 the then Palakkad Vice
Province got two mission stations in
Lucknow Diocese. The missionary zeal felt by the sisters of the Province urged
them to make the mission in to a region if sufficient number of sisters opts
for the mission. Later in the option held in 1999 the number increased to 42. The
new ‘San Francisco Region’ Bareilly, was officially declared by the then
Superior General Rev. Mother Marianna with the help of Rev. Sr. Jeremy the then Provincial Superior of
Seraphic Province,Palakkad on 17th September 2000.Rev. Sr. Tracila was appointed
as the first regional Superior .
After ten years of being a Region, Rev .Mother
Sinclare, the superior general and Rev.Sr.Chiset the province, Palakkad took initiative to elevate it in to
a independent Province.So the procedures were completed and after the 1st
provincial Election Synaxis,the 1st provincial team of San Francisco
Province was elected on 16th February 2011.New Provincial Sr.Mary Elesia,
Asst. Provincial Sr.Elsa Grace, Councilors Sr. Raisy , Sr. Clare and Sr. Lismin, Finance Officer Sr. Roselin and
Secretary Sr. Julie constituted the first provincial team .
Superior General Rev. Mother Sinclare
declared San Francisco Region as a province on 17th February 2011
during the solemn Eucharistic celebration. Thus San Francisco province has
become the 21st province of FCC with 50 members and ten houses
spread over 5 Diocese{Bareilly Diocese-4,Lucknow Diocese-3,Delhi Arch Diocese-1,Gorakhpur-1,Palakkad
-1}. Now San Francisco Province has 14 convents and 62 members.Let us have a
glance at the various convents of FCC Bareilly province.
1.Fatima F.C. Convent Shahjahanpur,U.P{ Bareilly Diocese}
Shahjahanpur is the name denotes has
a historical background. It is believed that this district was given to Shahjahan
–the Mughal emperor –as the dowry of one of his wives. Fatima F.C. Convent is located in the cantt area and the
Church that we use as the Parish Church-St. Raphael’s church bears several
plaques bearing the name of the Christian Military Officers killed during the
‘Sepoy Mutiny’ in 1857. Shahjahanpur was a part of the Arch Diocese of Agra and
in 1940 it became a part of the Diocese of Lucknow. Accordingly, six sisters
came to Shahjahanpur on 20th Jan 1974 to be on the staff of St. Paul’s
Parish school. Besides teaching, sisters are doing Sacristan work in the
parish, teaching Catechism, during prayer meetings, in charge of youth etc. The
Diocese has given us the old prayer hall in the cantonment area where we have started
free education for children from Leper’s colony. We completed 38 years of
service in this area and we are grateful to God for all the blessings specially
to make known Jesus in this non-Christian land.
2.St. John’s convent, Gola {Lucknow Diocese}
This convent has its beginning
1977.In October 1979 the foundation stone for the convent was laid and in
November 1980 most Rev.Cecil D’Sa then Bishop of Lucknow blessed and
inaugurated the convent. Besides the main apostolate of teaching, the sisters
do help in the parish work and Sunday Catechism, preparation for first Holy
Communion, Confirmation and Marriages. Conducting prayer meetings in the
families and mission stations are all part of the apostolate of this mission .
3.Sacred Heart Convent, Lakhimpur
{Lucknow Diocese}
Way back on 1st July 1980
the F.C.C. was asked to open a convent at Lakhimpur by Rev.Cecil D’ Souza the then
Bishop of Lucknow. The main apostolate work at Lakhimpur is teaching in the school and assisting the
parish. The sisters are in close contact with the village. There are only a few
Christian families in the parish. But now they take active part in the Church
activities with the guidance and support of the sisters. Sisters also teach Catechism,
do family visits and take care of English Medium well as Hindi Medium to support
the priests in charge.
4. St. Francis convent & School,
Bareilly
St. Francis convent was founded at
Bareilly on 25th June 1986.The foundation stone of the School was
laid by late Bishop Alan De Lastic then Bishop of Lucknow.It was wise and
prudent from the part of Lucknow Diocese
to allow us to start a School of our own,to give us a safer footing and a
strong motivation to take up new ventures.Late Sr.Adolphus,the then mission
Superior and late Fr. Raymond were the inspiring persons of this institution
.When Lucknow Diocese was devided in to Lucknow & Bareilly in 1989,this
convent came under Bareilly Diocese .Then growth of St. Francis School was very
fast under the leadership of Rev. Sr. Tracila.Within few years it became one of
the leading Schools in Bareilly .We have opened a Hindi medium
School for the low income group. In the parish too we contribute our share of
time and work.Our Community members take turn to make family visits and pray
with them.There is a free boarding with 30 girls[Catholics]and they study in
Hindi medium from class I-VIII.
5.Clare Bhawan, New Delhi {Delhi
Archdiocese}
To have a house in the Arch Diocese
of Delhi for the convenience of our travelling and give shelter to the working
girls was a dream of our province. Several attempts were made earlier, but it
materialized only in 1998 .On 10th September 1998 ,the new house ”Clare
Bhawan was blessed and inaugurated by late ArchBishop Alan De Lastic, then the ArchBishop
of Delhi . ”A part of this house is used as hostel for working girls .In July
1999 we started a Nursery School to have more contact and rapport with the
local people .Jail ministry also is a part of our apostolate here. Sisters from
this house are assisting in three parishes (syro-malabar) including catechism,
preparation for first Holy Communion, confirmation etc. Since this house is
situated in the capital of our country they get a lot of opportunities to show
our Franciscan fraternity to a number of people, priests and sisters.
6.Shanthi Bhawan, Meerganj { Bareilly Diocese }
Shanthi Bhawan is located at Meerganj
30km. away from Bareilly. The house and church were blessed by Most Rev. Antony
Fernandez Bishop of Bareilly on 2nd October 1999. At Present sisters
have a dispensary where more than 5000 people from different villagers come
annually. Along with medicine they give Jesus to them. A Tailoring class is
running under the supervision of sisters and almost 60 girls get training in a
year. Sisters are engaged in social work too as a part of the diocesan social
work society. Now there are 28 self help groups spread in 15 villages. The name
of Jesus is known to all the non- Christian of Meerganj.
Sisters are an integral part of
“Prabhu Dham” ashram under V.C. fathers which is a Charismatic prayer center
with daily adoration (12 hours), prayer services night vigils and Bible
conventions where a lot of people from far and near gather in the church.
Sisters preach the Word of God during vigils and conventions, not only in local
level but also in out stations along with V.C. fathers. Shanthi Bhawan has an
atmosphere, suitable for F.C.C formation. So it is also a formation house for
candidates of Pre-Postulancy Phase-I.
7.San Francisco mission house, Palakkad
{Palakkad Diocese}
When the mission of Seraphic province
had grown up in to a region ,it became a pressing need to have a house in
Kerala for the mission especially for holidays and vocation promotion.It is
provided by mother province- Seraphic province,Palakkad .The sisters of this
house are engaged variety of apostolate.They teach Sunday Catichism in St.
Raphel’s Cathedral parish,animator of S.F.O(Secular Franciscan Order),spiritual
preparation for marriages, preparing
persons of other religion for Baptism,helping Capuchin priests in their
orphanage,looking after the chapel and extending help whenever they are in need.They
go for jail ministery ,house visiting and also intense vocation
promotion.Vocation camps are also conducted in the mission house.Sisters those
who go for vocation (home visit)have a comfortable stay over there and enjoy
their hospitality .
8.St. Agnes F.C. Convent Lucknow
{Diocese of Lucknow}
St. Agnes F.C. Convent materialized as a response to the invitation
of Most Rev. Dr. Albret D’Souza then Bishop of Lucknow Diocese to start special
school on 19-9-2001. St. Agnes Convent was officially inaugurated by Most Rev. Dr.
Albret D’Souza. In 2003 Navdeep Vishisht Vidyalaya special school for children
with mental retardation made its humble beginning .Sisters are running the
school under the guidance of Lucknow Diocese .Sisters are engaged in family
visits ,Sacristy work, free tuition, Sunday Catechism, looking after the alter
servers ,friends of Jesus, Youth and Mahila groups in the parish ,preparing
them for various activities in the parish and diocese, first Holy Communion
,Confirmation and Marriage preparation , preparing persons of other religion for Baptism. They
do jail ministry too. Since it is in the heart of city, our sisters from the
province are helped by them for all medical checkup and comfortable stay over
there for treatment.
9.Pushpa Sadan, Salempur { Diocese of
Gorakhpur }
Pushpa Sadan was established on 18th
July 1984and it belongs to C.S.T. fathers. Originally F.C.C. sisters from
Bhopal province were working there. They were engaged in teaching in Little
Flower School and also social work in the surrounding villages. On 7-3-2002 in
the presence of C.S.T. Provincial Rev. Fr. John Olickal provincial superior of
Bhopal province Lissy Jose handed over the convent to the regional superior of
Bareilly Sr. Tracila. Sisters teach in the school of C.S.T. fathers look after the parish ,teach Catechism and do
house visiting .
10.San Francisco Provincial House
,Bareilly { Diocese of Bareilly }
San Francisco Region was born in the
year 2000. The infancy time of the region was spent in St. Francis convent
Bareilly. After becoming a region, a plot adjacent to St. francis Convent was
bought and the foundation stone for the Regional House was laid by Most Rev. Antony
Fernadez, Bishop of Bareilly in the presence of many fathers and sisters. The completed
house was blessed by Bishop Antony Fernadez on 22nd November
2003.Then the regional Superior Sr. Tracila and team shifted from St. Francis
to this house. Candidates were brought to regional house for studies.
In the same compound a home for the
aged was constructed. ‘Karuna Bhawan’ was blessed on 16th June 2007
by Most Rev. Antony Fernadez, Bishop of Bareilly. At present there are six
inmates. Perpetual adoration from 8.00 a.m. to 4.00 p.m.at Karuna Bhawan also
started as an Adoration centre of the province.
When the region was elevated to a province on
17th February 2011, the regional house was also changed in to
provincial house. The provincial house members teach in the school, look after
the Hindi medium, assist in the parish, prepare adults for Baptism and help the
poor and downtrodden of this area by house visiting, moral, financial and
spiritual help. We arrange the Holy mass and confession in Malyalam for the
spiritual upliftment of migrants who are working in the different hospitals of
Bareilly.
11. Francis Bhawan - Kakori { Diocese of Lucknow }
4 acres of land was bought at Kakori
under diocese of Lucknow in 2009 with the intentions of starting a special
school for mental challenged children. At present a convent – Francis Bhawan
and a formation house are under construction. The foundation stone for the same
was laid on 14th July 2012…………………
12. Assisi Bhavan Chaubattia { Diocese
of Bareilly }
New Community, the 12th
Convent of San Francisco Province, Bareilly- Assisi Bhavan Chaubattia in
Uttarakhand inaugurated. When the FMM sisters who were staying in ‘Assisi Bhavan’
for the last 23 years, left from the diocese on their own, we FCC – Bareilly,
took it up on the invitation of Bishop Ignatius D’ Souza, so that the good
works of that mission would be continued without interruption. It is a divine
providence that as one Franciscan Congregation left the place, it was taken up
by another Franciscan Congregation.
20th February – Provincial
Sr. Mary Elesia and sisters were welcomed at Ranikhet by the parish priest Rev.
Fr. Shaji Christopher, as they were on their way to Chaubattia. It belongs to
Ranikhet parish. On 21st February 2015 Sr. Litty Rose was installed
as the Local Superior of the new house Assisi Bhavan. Sr. Elsy John & Sr.
Tesmin joined her as members. Thus the 12th Convent of San Francisco
Province, Bareilly was born in the Himalayas, 7500 feet from the sea level.
13. St. Alphonsa Convent Fatehganj
(West) {Diocese of Bareilly}
Five acres of land at Fatehganj,
Bareilly was purchased in the year 2007 and 2008 for the convent & school.
Foundation stone for St. Alphonsa convent was laid by Most Rev. Ignatius D’
Souza Bishop of Bareilly on 28.03.2015. It was inaugurated and blessed on 28th
May 2018 by the same Bishop.
14. Anugraha Ashram - Sitarganj { Diocese
of Bareilly }
Anugraha Ashram at Sitarganj is a vibrant spirituality
center. where genuine Seekers irrespective of caste and creed worship the Lord.
The spiritual term ‘Anugraha’ means ‘Divine Blessings’. The purpose of the
Ashram is to have continues prayers every day, conduct retreats, conventions,
Bible courses and training to the new evangelists. The Simple style and
vegetarianism helps the seekers to grow
in faith through worship, teaching, and witness. renewal in life through prayer,
healing & sharing. Rev. Fr. Rudolf Rodrigues, the Director of the Ashram (Acharya) is the
pioneering missionary of the place who along with his charismatic prayer team
and catechists conducts prayers meetings in and around the place. The Most Rev.
Ignatius D’ Souza Bishop of Bareilly, invited the Sisters of FCC from San Francisco Province Bareilly.
Superiors agreed to send two sisters to collaborate in the mission of the
Church at Anugraha Ashram, Sitarganj, Udham Singh Nagar District,
Uttarakhand where the Diocese has an established Ashram cum Parish. Thus on 22nd June 2017, 14th
Convent ( Residence) began to function with two members Sr. Jessin & Sr.
Latha Maria. Bishop renovated the building adjacent to the Ashram, for the stay
of the sisters.
New Attempts: Little flower School Jungle ekla, Gorakhpur & Jamshedpur mission