A saloon in the Seminary!

On the feast day of Sts Peter and Paul, the make-shift saloon was blessed and inaugurated by Fr Maliekal, the Rector. This was an initiative of the third course Brothers as a means of collecting some fund for the poor of the locality.  It has been assembled with whatever could be mustered without incurring too much cost in the room under the main water tank in the D block.

 So anyone coming in to the Seminary can avail themselves of a hair cut for a mere Rs 10/- (of course, a tip is always welcome!).

Here's a photo of the three volunteer barbers (L to R): K. Satish, T. Santhosh and V. Subin! 

Article in Indian Currents

An article written by one of our second year students, Allam Manoj, from the diocese of Guntur, has been published in the Indian Currents (3-9 June 2013) Vol. XXV Issue no. 23.  The article titled, "Be a Nature Lover" (p. 17-18) is about ecology and love for nature, based on the method of St Francis. He had submitted the same in February, with a little help from Fr T. V. Jose who was on the staff last year.

Congrats to Manoj and trust others will be inspired to write and send their articles and poems to various publications. 

Inauguration of the academic year 2013-2014

"Formation is a period to grow through and not to go through," was the chief message of Fr Kuthanapallil Sebastian (K.M. Sebastian), the president of the Inaugural Mass and ceremony, on June 12, 2013. During the Inaugural Mass of the academic year 2013-2014, Fr K. M. Sebastian, a former Rector of the Seminary himself, challenged the students basing himself on the theme of the 'call of the twelve apostles' during the Mass. Later, during the inaugural address, he invited the students to make right choices in life and vocation.

Fr Jose Maliekal, the Rector, in his words of welcome, offered the community triggers for reflection and living, from the words of Pope Francis' imagery of the shepherd. He stated that the Priest is one who ought to be able to smell his sheep and that the people must be able to smell their shepherd.  He also exhorted the Brothers to make Christ, and the Spirit, the foundation of all that we undertake this academic year.

Fr Wilson Jose, the principal presented the highlights and achievements of the previous academic year in his annual report.  The meritorious work of students who scored highest marks during the last academic year was appreciated through prizes.  Brs M. Bhanu, A. Rakesh and P. Ravi Teja from the III course and Brs A. Manoj, P. Avinash and Y. Rajasekhar from the II course were felicitated for the same.

The message of the president of the inaugural ceremony, Fr K. M. Sebastian, was however the most memorable part of the day.  He emphasized the need of growing in freedom and making right choices. He encouraged the students to give their best in everything, especially in their studies. "A good priest is a blessing for the people, when he is competent and available," he added.  He reiterated his point asking the students to love everything, not because we have to, but because we choose to.

[Br M. Bhanu]

New arrivals and new year

The Brothers arrived on Sunday... all 62 of them. So that makes the total of 66 in the community; 62 students and 4 staff members.  Add to that the 13 OCDs attending the classes from Pendurthi and the college strength for this academic year is 75 (students only).

On the evening of their arrival, we had Mass at 6.30 and a short introductory round of names in the refectory just before our supper. There are 27 resident first years, 15 second years and 20 third year students.