PROVINCIAL CIRCULAR 01 DECEMBER 2020

DEAR CONFRERES, Cordial Greetings… Let me begin my circular, by wishing each one of you, a faithful and meaningful observance of Advent, a time of preparation to welcome the Lord of joy and peace. The feast of the incarnation of the Lord, reminds us that Christ entered into our history to raise us, to a higher level of life, humanity, godliness and to grant us joy of peace.

The Angel, at the birth of our Lord, said to the simple shepherds, ‘Do not be afraid but behold I bring you good news of great joy.’ And this is the message of Christmas, to bring joy to others especially to the simple and downtrodden. To give this Joy to others, we need to be first of all, joy-filled people.

Often times we are not ready to adjust ourselves to the given situation, not ready to share our love and joy with others and we carry on, living as unfulfilled, unsatisfied and grief-stricken people. I believe that we can find joy in our lives when we start sincerely loving and truly appreciating people around us.

Mary, the mother of God was the finest example of a prepared person, who humbly admitted to the Divine plan and was instrumental in bringing joy to the world. She is given as a model in this season, especially as we remember her Immaculate Conception on December 08, to lean from her to welcome the Lord, adapting ourselves to a life of sincere love.

Wish you all a Joyful Christmas, a grace and hope-filled New Year 2021. REST IN PEACE, FR. LOUIS KULANGARA SDB It was sad and sudden that Fr. Louis Kulangara (fondly known as Fr. K.O.) departed from us to rest in his Father’s Abode on 04 November 2020, due to a massive cardiac arrest during his post-COVID period. His funeral was held on the same day 04 November at 04.30 pm at Amsam Trichy, with the Salesians from the neighbouring communities and close relatives of

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Fr. K.O. Fr. Gerard Britto who was a good friend of Fr. K.O., preached the homily, sharing the vivid memories of the character and the pastoral zeal of Fr. Louis. Fr. Amaladoss, the Economer blessed the grave and said the final prayers. Though many people from different parishes where Fr. K.O. Louis had worked, wanted to be present for the funeral, the funeral has to be conducted, following the guidelines of the government with minimum people.

A solemn requiem mass was celebrated on the next day, 05 November at 10.30 am at Amsam with the confreres of the province, confreres from INM province, Salesian family members, well-wishers and friends. Fr. K M Jose, Salesian provincial of , Fr. Vincent Durairaj, the formal provincial who had spent more than 10 years with Fr. K.O. Louis and a few others were also present. About 50 priests and 200 people paid their last respects to the departed soul. Fr. Arokia Raj, the Rector of the Retreat, Yercaud preached the homily. I shall share with you a few of the outstanding characters of Fr. K.O as a reflection.

30TH DAY MEMORIAL MASS FOR FR.K.O. LOUIS 30th Day Memorial Mass for Fr. Louis Kulangara will be held on 04 December 2020, Friday at AMSAM, Trichy. There will be a special blessing at the cemetery at 05.30 pm followed by a solemn Eucharist offered for the repose of the soul of Fr. K.O.

LEADERS MEET On 05 December 2020, Saturday, the Leaders Meeting will be held at the Provincial House for animation and sharing of information. I request all the Leaders of communities to attend this meeting without fail, to take stock of the current situation of our communities. The meeting will begin at 09.30 am.

SALESIAN BROTHERS DAY We celebrate the Salesian Brothers Day on 05th December during the feast of Bl. Philip Rinaldi. The GC 24 affirms that “The Salesian community is enriched by the significant and complementary presence of the Salesian Priest and the Salesian Brother. Together they provide an unusual complementarity of energy to the mission of the congregation.”

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I wish and pray God’s blessings upon all our Salesian Brothers of our Province, Br. George Joseph, Br. Arockiadoss, Br. Sagayaraj, Br. Chinnapparaj, Br. Philip Xavier, Br. Edwin Arockiadoss, Cl. Amuthan and Cl. Arul William as they celebrate their feast day. On behalf of the province, I thank them for their dedicated service and hard work. I request the leaders of the communities to celebrate this day appropriately, celebrating our Brothers and praying for vocation to Salesian Brotherhood.

I also extend my wishes to the two Volunteers of Don Bosco of our province Miss. Sheela and Miss. Agnes as they celebrate the feast of their founder.

PROVINCIAL VISITATION I have finished the provincial visitation in three formation communities. I thank the communities for all the arrangements made towards making this visitation a memorable one. I spent time with the confreres especially the formees, listening to them and their process of formation. The Vice Provincial, Economer and the Secretary accompanied me during the visit to look into the details of finance, house documents, records and general administration of the house. I will be visiting a few communities this month. Though our regular activities are interrupted due to the pandemic, I make this visit to spend time listening to the confreres and to be part of the usual activities of the house.

IN SOLIDARITY WITH PEOPLE AFFECTED BY RAIN AND FLOOD The continuous rain and floods in have caused severe damage, especially in the northern-coast and the river-banks of the Cauvery delta districts. We stand with the poor and simple people affected by this natural disaster and offer our sympathy to them. I recommend the communities to make it a point to identify the suffering families, reach out to them with necessary assistance and support then in whatever ways possible, in these moments of struggle and despair.

ORDINATION OF DEACON JULIAN OF INN PROVINCE Deacon Julian Pradeep SDB of INN province is getting ordained on 29 December 2020 at 06.30 am at Bishop’s house, . Most. Rev. Nazarene Soosai DD, Bishop of Kottar will confer the ministry of ordination. The newly ordained will celebrate his first thanksgiving mass on 30 December 2020, at 10.30 am at Sts. Peter & Paul Church, Kadiapattinam, in Kanyakumari District.

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On behalf of the province, I wish Dn. Julian, God’s blessings and graces, as he prepares himself for the ordination. May God accompany him in his priestly journey.

BON VOYAGE On behalf of the province, I extend my prayerful wishes to Cl. Nepolian Antonysamy who is assigned to the Belgium province (BEN) to undergo his formation as well to serve the province on contract. He is travelling on 07 December. I wish him Bon Voyage and a pleasant experience in his new place of assignment.

Recalling Events: • Meeting for those due for perpetuals was held on 07 November at the Provincial House. Fr. Arul Maran, the Vice Provincial coordinated this meeting. • The executive committee meeting of DBPP Association was held on 29 November at DBPH in view of preparation for the 150th Anniversary of their association.

Forthcoming Events… 04 Fri 30th Day Memorial Mass for Fr. K.O. Louis / Project committee Meet 05 Sat Salesian Brothers Day / Leaders Meet @ DBPH 11 Fri Administrators & Accountants Meet @ DBPH 21 Mon Provincial Council @ DBPH

Upcoming Salesian Feasts… 05 Blessed Philip Rinaldi, Founder of the secular Institute of Don Bosco Volunteers

CONDOLENCES • On behalf of the province I offer my sincerest condolences to Fr. Simonraj Savarimuthu at the demise of his beloved mother Savariyammal on 12 November 2020. I offer our prayerful support to the bereaved family. I thank the UPS Salesian community who made immediate arrangements for Fr. Simon to travel from Rome.

• To the provincial and confreres of INC province, at the sad demise of two Salesians, Fr. Sebastian Alencheril SDB (90), on 25 November and Fr. Varghese Kalluvachel SDB (66) on 26 November. May the souls of the departed rest in peace!

COMMUNITY REFLECTION: IN LOVINIG MEMORY OF FR. LOUIS KULANGARA SDB

Death for the Salesian is made bright by the hope of entering into the joy of his Lord, and when it happens that a Salesian dies working for souls, the Congregation has won a great triumph. The memory of departed confreres unites, “in a love that will not pass away”, those who are still pilgrims with those who are already resting in Christ (Const.Art.54).

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This pandemic time has made us to be more aware, that death could happen at any time to anybody. The death of Fr. K.O.Louis was sad and sudden. Yet I firmly believed that the province and the congregation has won a great triumph, as he died working for the souls and for the greater glory of God.

I would like to share with you some of the salient characters of Fr. K.O. which has personally inspired me and taught me great lessons for life.

1. An exuberant and joyful Salesian: Father KO Louis was a happy person, bubbling with joy all the time. His voice can always be heard whenever he was around and particularly in the presence of Salesians. He used to tease the superiors by his joviality and kindness. He practiced the words of Don Bosco, “Let nothing upset you.” Anyone could approach him and talk to him about various issues. He had a heart for everyone and he loved to be in the company of Salesians and community members. I remember him telling me after his one year of stay at Poondi Matha Basilica, “My dear father, I like everything here; the Marian shrine and all the works related to it. But I am missing my Salesian community life. Hence, kindly place me in a Salesian community.” Such was his desire to live in a Salesian community. Even during the last days, he missed his community life. He disliked quarantine during COVID-19. He could not stay in a room separately given to him in the first floor. After a few days he came down to the ground floor and expressed his desire to be close to the confreres.

We could hardly see him sad and with a long face. It is true that he was suffering from pain but he was always saying, “I am alright and I am getting better.” I was inspired by his fatherliness and love in Thanjavur when we were aspirants. He took pride when we all said, “Father was our first Rector.” Jovially he used to add, “and the best Rector.” He had no inhibitions of any kind. He was an open book. He used to pass on remarks about everyone, even about the superiors but with great humour and familiarity. So, no one used to get offended. On the contrary, they used to pull his leg and he always enjoyed such arguments and sentiments of love.

2. A zealous pastor and seeker of souls: Fr. Louis was a pastor all his life. Except the years when he was the Economer of the undivided Chennai province, he was always in parishes, amidst the people, whom he loved very much. He kept in touch with the families and parish people of all the parishes. He was an assistant parish priest in Lourdes Shrine Madurai in 70s and again as a Parish Priest later in 90s. He knows some the families there by name and remained close to them. Whenever I wanted to know the history of the events that took place there or about some buildings how they were built etc., he was the right man to give the correct details. His heart was always in Vallavizha as he used to name the parish of Vallavilai. He was greatly upset and could not

PROVINCIAL CIRCULAR (December/2020) – (4p.cir13/Dec) SALESIAN PROVINCE of TIRUCHY Page | 5 be reconciled with the fact that the parish was given back by Salesians for whatever reasons they may be. Such was his attachment to the people there. He took pride in preaching for the first of mass of the Salesians from Vallavilai. He was loved by the people so much and he was the only person to continue in that parish for so many years despite many problems that popped up from time to time.

Second place that he used to speak of was Mathakottai. He used to visit the parish when he was the first Rector at Don Bosco in 80s. As an aspirant I have seen his eagerness to go to the parish for mass because I received my Sacrament of Confirmation there. He knew the people, and the people accepted him and the children lovingly called him ‘thatha,’ (Grandfather). He always enjoyed his pastoral work of visiting the families and organizing the various animations for anbiams (Basic Christian Community) and other pious associations. The third parish was Therespuram and all of us know that he did not have a good time there. Even when he was not very happy with the incidents at Therespuram, he only talked much about the events but never was discouraged or gave up his zeal for souls.

3. A pioneer and a builder: Fr. Louis was a pioneer in many places or pioneered many works. He was the first Salesian to be sent to Thanjavur in 1979 together with Fr. Camillus. He became the first Rector and we are enjoying the fruits of his hard work. The entire place was a forest full of cashew trees and hard stones but now we witness a township there. He was chosen to be the Economer when Fr. Varghese Chazhloor died. He was in office for 10 years. There were so many buildings under construction in his time. He worked hard to supervise all the works and established name and fame to the glorious province of Chennai. When he was in Vallavilai, he executed many projects; the renovation of the Church, the new market place, the post office, the compound wall around the cemetery and the like. He built an adoration chapel and the community hall with the local resources in Madhakottai. The grotto to our lady stands as a monument in Therespuram. He cannot but build and whenever he had a chance, he plunged himself into construction works. He was truly a builder all his life.

4. Passionate lover and supporter of young Salesians: Fr. KO Louis was a vibrant Salesian and youthful all his life. May be because he was always a passionate lover of young Salesians, specially the clerics under his care. He not only loved them but supported them in their religious vocation. He always asked for clerics to be placed in his communities. He used to laugh with them, fool them and have lots of fun. Even when they were in difficulty, he helped them and encouraged them. I remember recently when a cleric had vocational crisis, he spoke in favour of him to me, and wanted me to save his vocation by all means. Such was his love for the clerics. I also remember him speaking about

PROVINCIAL CIRCULAR (December/2020) – (4p.cir13/Dec) SALESIAN PROVINCE of TIRUCHY Page | 6 the clerics so positively to the boys and aspirants in Thanjavur. He used to ask the clerics to rest on Sundays and he would assist us the aspirants in the study hall and during bath etc. I am sure many clerics have enjoyed his fatherliness, love and affection.

5. Great devotee of Blessed Mother and Believer of Divine Providence: Fr. KO Louis was an ardent devotee of our Blessed Mother, Mary help of Christians. He always spoke about this devotion in all his talks and animations. He repeated the words of Don Bosco, “She did it all,” with great fervour. He believed it and shared miraculous interventions of our Blessed Mother. He never forgot the feasts of our Blessed Mother. He encouraged the Salesians to have filial devotion to her. He spent lots of money for the decorations of the statue or to erect a new statue or a grotto.

Second devotion was the Divine Providence. His good nights used to be about the divine providence all the time. He narrated with vivid memory so many incidents where the divine providence rescued him from financial burdens. His face used to brighten up on such narrations. No wonder he was able to put up many buildings and start new construction works.

CONCLUSION: My dear confreres, I can go on narrating many more characters of Fr. K O Louis and his Salesian identity. We have lost one of the good Salesians of our province. He cannot be replaced by anyone else. I am certain that he is enjoying his beatific vision in the presence of the almighty and in the company of the Salesian saints. Let’s pray that he may intercede for all of us. May the Lord grant him eternal reward and may he continue to lead all of us in the path of holiness and zeal for souls.

WISH YOU ALL IN ADVANCE Happy feast of the Immaculate Conception Merry Christmas Joy and Hope-filled 2021.

Prayerful Best wishes to all in the Family, Yours Affectionately in Don Bosco

Fr. Agilan Sarprasadam SDB Provincial – Salesian Province of Tiruchy, INT

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