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| Tuesday, 12 October 2004 |
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It's Gold for Sri Lankan Dominican nuns by a correspondent St. Dominic stands tall among the saints of the Catholic Church for his devotion to Mother Mary and the holy rules which he framed that have guided and moulded many men and women to holiness in religious life. The Congregation of the Dominican Sisters of Malta which was founded by Carolina Cauchi owes its inspiration, guidance and continuous protection to St. Dominic and his holy rules. Carolina born on December 25, 1824 to Nicolo Cauchi and Therese Galea was their only child. She was drawn and filled with a great desire to consecrate her life to God as a cloistered nun of the Dominican order but the path carved out for her by God was different. Her way to holiness and fulfilment of God's will was through what appeared to be a lesser one in the eyes of men: to be a member of the Third Order now known as the lay Dominicans. She was closely associated with a Dominican priest, Fr. Peter Pace, who later became the Bishop of the newly formed diocese of Gogo. Her desire to serve in the new diocese under Bishop Peter Pace sowed the seeds for the birth of the Dominian Congregation in Malta on October 7th 1889. Dominican sisters arrived in Sri Lanka on October 7th 1954. Way back in 1889 it was on October 7th that the congregation was founded and it is the day the church celebrates the Feast of the Holy Rosary, a very significant day it was. Cardinal Thomas Cooray welcomed very warmly the four sisters, Clelia Blye, Andrew Sultana, Therese Fenech and Dosithee Fero. Their mission in Sri Lanka started at Thimbirigasyaya, where they took charge of the creche which was run by the voluntary Inter Community Service. Fr. Hyacinth Frendo, a Dominican who was at the Thimbirigasyaya parish, was a tower of strength to the nuns during their period of acclimatization. The first convent in Sri Lanka was named after St. Martin de Porres. That was on July 22nd 1955. God blessed the nuns with the local vocation on the very first year of their apostolate here. Cilinic Nanayakkara took on the name Hyacinth at the robing ceremony was their first vocation. God's way of working is inexplicable. A young girl from a completely Buddhist background was chosen to be the first Dominican nun from Sri Lanka. A year later, two more young girls received the call. They are Sister Miriam Fernand and Sister Alice Forbes. They made their novitiate in Gogo, Malta. In 1961 the new novitiate built at Tewatta was blessed by the then Vicar General of Colombo Very Rev. Fr. Anthony de Sarem. There were five postulants to begin the novitiate in the new building. A bold from the blue came in 1965. The government issued marching orders to all the foreign missionaries. The Dominican nuns were in the horns of dilemma. Should they move out with the local nuns to carry on the work begun so earnestly and carried out so successfully or leave the local nuns to fend for themselves. It was finally decided to take the local nuns along with the foreigners as they gelt they were too young, in religious life and inexperienced in their social and missionary work to be left to themselves. They took up their work in Pakistan, USA, Rome and Malta. "My ways are not your ways," says the Holy Scripture. So it was. It was His divine will that the Dominican sisters should return to Sri Lanka. And so they did, but without the foreign nuns. Their missions abroad had given them the necessary experience, training and spiritual advancement that would stand firm. With the desire to be associated more with the regional ideals and aspirations, a request to merge into the Asian Dominican group of the Sisters of St. Catherine of Sienna was made by a group of Sri Lankan nuns and it was acceded to. So the return of the first group took place in 1974. However, few other nuns opted to remain with the original Maltese nuns. Both groups are now in Sri Lanka engaged in various religious, social and educational activities in number of dioceses. As they chalk up fifty golden years, they visualize the tremendous work that lies ahead and their prayer to the Lord is to send more rkers to work in his vineyard for another fifty golden years and more. |
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