BRIEF HISTORY (ORIGIN)

 
The congregation of the Sisters of the Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament (SABS) which was founded on 8th December 1908 at Champakulam in the Archdiocese of Changanacherry, Kerala, India has its origin from the deep personal experience of the Eucharistic presence of the Venerable Mar Thomas Kurialacherry (1873-1925), an ardent devotee of the Holy Eucharist. The inner call received by him was that the Lord in The Blessed Sacrament must be known, loved and adored by all, always and everywhere’. He pursued this inspiration with courage, stability and absolute trust in the Lord and founded the Adoration Congregation in 1908, with the co-operation of Servant of God Mother Mary Francesca de Chantal (Philomina Vallayil, 1880-1972), the Co-foundress. The congregation had its humble beginning with five members in a cattle shed of Servant of God Puthenparambil Thommachan, at Edathua on 29th January 1908 which was later on shifted to Vallappura St. George Church, Edathua. After a year of formation, they were given veil by the Founder on 8th December 1908. The first convent was constructed at Champakulam and on 17th October 1910 the aspirants were shifted to the new building which eventually became the Mother house of the Congregation. In 1911 by the Divine providence Fr. Thomas Kurialacherry was elevated to the titular Bishop of Pella and the Vicar Apostolic of Changanacherry. The Consecration was on 3rd December 1911 at Kandy in Sri Lanka. On 10th December, 1911 the first five aspirants were given the religious habit. On 18th March 1916, the members made their religious profession at St. Mary’s Church Parel, Changanacherry.

CHARISM

 
The charism of the congregation is, Eucharistic Devotion sprung from the Eucharistic love. (Divyakarunya Bhakthi). It was the ardent desire of our Founder that, every SABS sister is inflamed6 with this Eucharistic devotion, so that the whole universe be transformed into the Eucharist. The Founder has exhorted us: “The devotion that should predominantly shine out in you as Adoration Sisters is the devotion to the Holy Eucharist. You should be totally committed to make it flourish among you as well as in others”. The essence of this Eucharistic Devotion is a deep relationship with Jesus in the Holy Eucharist, ‘a personal attachment’ to Him. The Holy Eucharist celebrated, adored and lived every day is the source and summit of the existence of the SABS. The holy hour before the Blessed Sacrament is the most precious time in the everyday life of the SABS. The whole Congregation is taken as a single unit to have a chain Adoration, day and night, across the year. Besides, the Congregation has Perpetual Adoration Chapels in India and also abroad, in order to draw people to the Living water of Eternal Life and thus to make them experience the compassionate love and healing presence of the Eucharistic Lord. Our reference point is ‘Jesus in the Cenacle’ who washed the feet of His disciples, broke and gave Himself to them and loved them till the end. Inspired by this, we try to form a unique SABS culture of pure love and mercy reflected in our humility, simplicity and meekness. To share the Eucharistic love with our brethren and thus to draw all to the table of the Eucharistic Lord. A long with the Eucharistic apostolate SABS extends their service in the fields of education, healing, social welfare, evangelization and family apostolate.

GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT

 
To be true to the unique charism of its founder, the congregation extended its fields of apostolate to all the Syro-Malabar dioceses and 75 Latin dioceses of India and abroad. In the early stage the Congregation grew into 4 independent units under the bishops concerned and they were unified under one Superior General on 15th  September, 1963. The General Curia of the congregation is situated at Aluva since 1965. The unification paved the way for vast7 expansion of the Congregation and it was raised to Pontifical status by His Holiness Pope Paul VI on February 11, 1968. ‘Prarthana Bhavan’ (cloister) is attached to the Generalate (Cenacle) providing ample facilities for those who wish to lead a life of prayer in seclusion for a limited period. ‘Zion Vidhya Bhavan’ affiliated to the ‘Pontifical Institute’ of Aluva is also attached to Cenacle providing the facility for our scholastics from all over the country and abroad for 1 year theological studies and Common Juniorate, as an ardent preparation for their perpetual profession. The steady growth of the Congregation resulted in the increase of members and provinces. At present we have 4648 sisters in 22 provinces and 1 region sharing the Eucharistic love all over the world. The Congregation completed 115 years of blessings in glorifying the Eucharistic Lord by being a channel of peace and love to the humanity. On 8th December 2008 the SABS celebrated the centenary of the congregation. On 15th September 2013 we celebrated the Golden Jubilee of the Unification of the Congregation

REACHING OUT TO THE MISSIONS

 
Enthused by the spirit of the Congregation to make the Eucharistic Lord known, loved and adored by the whole world, the sisters extended their services to the states outside Kerala. At the request of Bishop Hubert D’Rosario, the then bishop of Dibrugarh in Assam, a group of sisters from Pala Province stepped out of Kerala to the far plunged North Eastern state of Manipur on 3rd December 1965. Thus, the first house outside Kerala was established in Hundung. It was a leap into the darkness but paved the way to open more houses in the North. In the years that followed the major provinces of Kerala opened more houses in the North, and started missionary activities to bring the good news to the people who have never heard of Jesus Christ. As the numbers of sisters and houses increased in the various missions, for the sake of development, four regions were formed in8 1986 under the four major provinces of Changanacherry, Ernakulam, Pala and Kothamangalam. The sisters were involved in the field of Eucharistic adoration, education, healing ministry, social apostolate and developmental programmes for the uplift of the people of interior villages. In 1998 the regions were raised to the status of vice provinces and in 2003 they became provinces namely, Pavitrathma Province, Jagdalpur, Corpus Chisti Province, Dimapur, Nava Jyothi Province Ujain, Christu Jyothi Province Satna, Deepti Province Raygada. Later on Jai Rani, Punjab and Divya Jyoti, Balsore were bifurcated from Raygada, and Jagdalpur respectively and erected as Provinces. The 20th general Synaxis that was held in 2022 declared St. Chantal’s Region Tamilnadu and Amal Jyothi Region Gujarat as Provinces. St Chantal’s Region, Tamilnadu is the extension of St. Thomas Province Changanacherry and Amal Jyothi Province, Gujarat is the first mission endeavor of St. Joseph Province Thalassery. Now we have 11 mission provinces viz. Pavithratma Province Jagadalpur, Nava Jyothi Province Ujjain, Jai Rani Province Punjab, Christu Jyothi Province Satna, Deepthi Province Orissa and Corpus Christy Province Dimapur, Jeevodaya Province, Andhra Pradesh, Divya Jyothi Provine, Balasore, Amal Jyothi Provice Gujarath and St. Chanal’s Province, Tamilnadu and Zion Province Africa. At present we have one mission region San Paulo Chanda, in India. Now the SABS render their services in almost all the states of India through their various apostolates. We have sisters and a good number of Candidates belonging to the different cultures, languages and countries.

GLOBAL MISSION

 
The fruitful missionary activities in India inspired us to venture into the whole world to make known the compassionate love of the Eucharistic Lord. We are fully immersed in the healing ministry and pastoral care of Germany and Italy for the past 50 years. We have started our apostolic mission in USA, UK and Switzerland.9 African mission was the long cherished desire of our Superiors over the ages. In 1995, houses were opened in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda. Sisters from different provinces took it as a challenge to work among the Africans especially among the HIV patients and the marginalized by offering their services to them. Altogether we have 22 houses and 91 sisters working in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda, engaged in Education, healing ministry, parish ministry and other activities for the uplift of the poor villagers. In 2008 East African mission was formed into a region. African region is raised to the status of an independent province in 19th General Synaxis held between 3rd to 10th December 2015. the declaration of the SION PROVINCE, AFRICA was done on 2nd April 2016. At present, Sion Province have 36 professed sisters from African soil. In line with the decision of 19th General Synaxis the decisive move of the Congregation to the challenging Latin American countries – Brazil and Ecuador in 2017 has provided added energy to the global mission work. From there in 2019 we also could make our missionary move to the neighboring country, Peru. We are able to serve the people of God through parish ministry, adoration apostolate, counseling etc. At present we have 9 sisters working in Brazil, 11 in Ecuador and 5 in Peru. The Congregation celebrated the 150th Birth anniversary of its Founder, Venerable Mar Thomas Kurialacherry on 14th January 2023 with all its solemnity and thanked the Almighty for the manifold blessings received through him. The Adoration Congregation is striving forward with its vision and dreams to meet the challenges of the new century. We hope that our sisters with renewed commitment and enthusiasm search for new pastures to extend our services where we have not yet reached and thus fulfill the missionary mandate of the congregation that “the Eucharistic Lord be known, loved and adored by all, always and everywhere”.

CORPUS CHRISTI PROVINCE, DIMAPUR (NORTH EAST)

 
The Congregation which was founded in Kerala took root in the soil of Kerala more than half a century had a steady growth and spread to all the dioceses in Kerala. Heeding to the instructions of the Lord Jesus after his resurrection “Go, then, to all the peoples everywhere and make them my disciples; baptize them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, and teach them to obey everything I have commanded you” (Mt. 28:19-20)  and the mandate given by our Founder “that our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament should always and everywhere be known, loved and adored by all”, the SABS were brave enough to step out of Kerala in the year 1965.             At the invitation of Late Most Rev. Hubert D’Rosario, the then Bishop of Dibrugarh, the challenging step was taken by Christ Raj Province Palai, sending six pioneering members to Hundung, the state of Manipur accompanied by  Rev. Fr. Sebastian Cherucherry, the Chaplain of Adoration convent Nelliani, a staunch missionary at heart. They left Kerala on 3rd Dec.1965 and reached their destination, the Promised Land on 14th Dec.1965.             The  second  house  in  the  North-east  was  opened  on  28th Feb.1967 at  Tuensang, Nagaland  at the invitation of the same Bishop and Minister Akum Imlong, the then Tuensang affairs Minister and through the instrumentality of Rev. Fr. Mathew Uzhunnalil SDB. It is worth to note that the SABS was the first indigenous Congregation of Indian origin to enter Manipur and Nagaland.             The growth of SABS in the North East was slow and steady. Under the patronage of Late Most Rev. Abraham Alangimattathil the First Bishop of Nagaland and Bishop Emeritus Most Rev. Jose Mukala the second Bishop of Nagaland, we could open convents in Tobu, Kiphire, Mokokchung, Dimapur, Jakhama, Chumukedima, Pungro, Medziphema,Tesophenyu and Tenyiphe to spread our Charism of Eucharistic Devotion. In the same way we could establish six more centers in Manipur, namely Hungpung, Ukhrul, Imphal, Chandel,Talui and T.Khullen under the guidance of Archbishop Emeritus Most. Rev. Joseph Mittathany the first Archbishop of Imphal and Most Rev. Dominic Lumon, who heads the Archdiocese of Imphal at present.             The growth of any Congregation in a particular region depends on the formation of candidates from the soil of their apostolate. Hence in 1981, formation of the Candidates began in the North East and the first batch of seven Novices made their Vestition and First profession on 29th January 1986. On this day North East mission was raised to the status of a region and was named as “Corpus Christi Region”. Rev. Mother Delphina, the then Superior General inaugurated the Region at a concelebrated Eucharistic Celebration presided over by the then Archbishop Most Rev. Joseph Mittathany of Imphal and Late Rt. Rev. Abraham Alangimattathil, the then Bishop of Kohima in the presence of many Priests and faithful. One among the newly professed was Sr. Mary Augustine the first member from the soil of Manipur. Sr. Rose Teresa was appointed as the first Regional Superior.                         At the invitation of Late Rt. Rev. Mathai Kochuparambil the then Bishop of Diphu, we opened our first house in Amkachi Village, on 19 March 1990, and the second house was opened in 2019 at the request of Rt. Rev. Paul Mattakatte ,the Bishop of Diphu in the district of Karbianglong Assam at Diphu to collaborate with MCBS fathers.             On 14th June 1998 Corpus Christi Region was declared as a Vice Province by Rev. Mother Thecla, the Superior General of the Congregation at a concelebrated Holy Eucharistic celebration presided over by Bishop Jose Mukala, the then Bishop of Kohima Diocese. Mother Jessina was elected as the Provincial Superior of the Corpus Christi Vice-Province.  It was raised to a full pledged Province in 2003. On 20th Dec. 2003 Mother Sibia and in December 2006 Mother Annie Kurichiyel,in 2013 Mother Sibia and 2018 Mother Catherine  were elected as Provincial Superiors.             At the invitation of Rt. Rev. Robert Kerketta SDB, the then Bishop of Tezpur, we established the first centre in the state of Arunachal Pradesh on 5th February 1999 at Boasimla now under Itanagar Diocese. We could open three more houses in the same Diocese at Daporijo, Banderdewa and Aalo, which is bifurcated from Tezpur Diocese. On 11th February 2000 we could open a house at Jakalabanda in the Tezpur Diocese in Assam under the guidance of Rt. Rev. Robert Kerketta SDB the then Bishop of Tezpur.             Mother Province has given us a Convent at Marangattupally for the North-East Province to accommodate the sisters during their home visits, study, treatment, and for the recruitment of Candidates. In the beginning of 2008, on 24th February we could step in to the State of Meghalaya by opening our first house at the invitation of Rt. Rev Vincent Kympat of Jowai Diocese in Umkiang Parish. At the invitation of Rt. Rev. Victor Lyngdoh, bishop of Nongstoin, we opened our first house in this diocese at Mawkhlam on 25th July 2013.             We could open a convent in the parish of Tikarburunga in the Kachar District in Assam in 2009 at the invitation of Rt. Rev. Stephen Rotluanga of Aizawl Diocese. We could also open two Convents in the State of Tripura at the invitation of Rt. Rev. Lumen Monteiro, the Bishop of Agartala and Rev. Fr. Roy Thalackan the Provincial of Holy Cross Congregation on 26th January 2011 at Tuikarmaw and Bodhjungnagar.             Corpus Christi Province is blessed with 154 perpetually professed and 48 temporary professed Sisters of which 115 Sisters are from the soil of North East. They are belonging to Adivasi, AO, Khasi, Kom, Konyak, Kuki, Lotha, Monsang, Phom, Poumai, Rabha, Rongmei, Sema, Shantali, Thangkul, Tiwa, Yimchunger, Zoute, Rengma and Khiamniungam tribes. There are 34 Convents in total, 31 in North East and one in Kerala and two in Germany.             North East comprises of 8 states with 15 Dioceses. We could render our services only in 6 states so far, namely, Agartala, Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya and Nagaland, in the Dioceses of Agartala, Aizwal, Diphu, Imphal, Itanagar, Jowai, Kohima, Tezpur and  Nongstoin. We have a long way to go. Many green pastures are awaiting us to enter in, namely the states of Mizoram and Sikkim. “Harvest is plentiful but the laborers are few” the words of the Lord are ringing in our ears. We are working in the border of neighbouring Countries like, Tibet, China, Myanmar and Bangladesh. In the long run there is every possibility to enter these countries to spread the Eucharistic love – and thus fulfill the vision of our founder that the Eucharistic Lord be known, loved and adored by all and everywhere.

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The congregation of the Sisters of the Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament (SABS) which was founded on 8th December 1908 at Champakulam in the Archdiocese of Changanacherry, Kerala, India has its origin from the deep personal experience of the Eucharistic presence of the Venerable Mar Thomas Kurialacherry (1873-1925), an ardent devotee of the Holy Eucharist.