Silver Bells Chimed Again!

February 11, 2017 was a great and memorable day for all of us, Silver Jubilarians. Seven of us Dorotheans - Sr. Alphonsa Anjilimoottil, Sr. Biji Thonikuzhiyil, Sr. Jessy kunjanveedu, Sr. Lovely Padinjarel, Sr. Lissy Peppel , Sr. Rosily Arackal, Sr. Reny Eruvelikunnel and Sr. Silvy Kallidanthiyil - celebrated the Silver Jubilee of our committed Religious life. Our joy, unfortunately, did not reach up to the brim, as Sr. Jessy Kunjanveedu, who is a missionary in Africa, could not be physically present for the celebration. We bow our head to God for the call that we have received from him and His faithfulness during the last 25 years. We have every reason to celebrate because despite our shortcomings and human frailties we chose to remain with Him who had called us. Our Congregation has nurtured us and lovingly and constantly guided us as an affectionate and tender mother in order to go ahead in our religious life. Therefore, we are deeply indebted to God and to our Congregation.

As a preparation for our Jubilee Celebration, we had a meaningful spiritual preparation in the form of a retreat held at Kaladi, near Angamali, in an institution run by CST fathers. They were moments of reflection and a journey through our memory lane of 25 years of our consecrated life. We did have a golden opportunity to remember and pray for all our sisters who supported and guided us in our formation and the superiors who guided us and showed us the way. We could recollect and relive some of the precious past moments of our lives with great sense of fulfilment. We are happy to state that our spiritual preparation was very effective and fruitful.

A day before the Jubilee celebration, we gathered together at the provincial house. In the evening, our sisters conducted a meaningful and heart touching prayer service for us. We were able to recall to our mind the first day of our commitment to the Lord.

11th February 2017, the day of celebration was the most colourful and memorable day for all of us. The high point of the celebration was the solemn concelebrated Eucharistic thanksgiving at 10.00 a.m. presided over by Rev. Dr. Antony Narikulam, the Episcopal Vicar for Religious of the Archdiocese of Ernakulam-Angamali who is also a renowned Liturgist. The concelebrants were Rev. Fr. Francis Vattukulam, the Rector of Don Bosco College and Rev. Fr. Amal Padijatuvelil. Very many of our family members, relations and friends were present for the event and their presence brought immense joy. The church was well decorated and there was a melodious choir helping us in the meaningful celebration. The Eucharistic procession at the beginning was welcomed by Sr. Cloudienaliya, the Provincial Superior. She welcomed all and thanked all the Jubilarians for their valuable, joyful commitment at the service to the Lord. The homilist highlighted the value of each vocation and was very apt to the occasion.

After the holy Mass, there was a felicitation gathering arranged by our sisters with colourful cultural extravaganza. At the conclusion, Sr. Lovely thanked everyone on behalf of the jubilarians for the efforts that were taken to have a meaningful celebration for all of us. It was followed by a sumptuous lunch arranged for the jubilarians and all the participants.

At this juncture, we, jubilarians acknowledge gratefully the providence of God and the assistance of our dear sisters and the Congregation in general. We wish that the jubilee be an occasion for our renewal and an encouragement and impetus for the sisters who come after us.

1. 1. Sr. Alphonsa Anjilimutil
2. 2. Sr. Biji Thonikuzhiyil
3. 3. Sr. Jessy Kunjanveedu
4. 4. Sr. Lovely Padinjarel
5. 5. Sr. Lissy Peppel
6. 6. Sr. Reny Eruvelilkunnel
7. 7. Sr. Rosily Arackal
8. 8. Sr. Silvy Kallidanthiyil