“First Religious Profession “
“To Serve him Gladly” With these motivating words and a humble attitude our novices on a very special day of the Solemnity of the Visitation of Blessed Virgin Mary professed their Vows and entered the Guanellian Institute as Religious with great joy and enthusiasm. The 12 months of Novitiate under the guidance of Fr. Adaikalam was definitely a time to introspect their call and as Samuel heard the voice of God and answered “Here Iam Lord”, today our Brothers have said ‘yes’ to the call. In the august presence of our most Rev Fr.SoosaiRathinam,the Provincial, his Councilors , Guanellian Fathers & Brothers from other community, religious from other congregation, Guanellian Cooperators & Laity, Parents & families of the professed Brothers had a solemn Mass praying for these five. The purity shone on the faces of these five, giving them an angelic look as they wore their white Cassock. The Joy radiated while the Parents of these Brother stood by offering their Sons for the holy ministry of God. They are truly blessed. Fr. SoosaiRathinam in his message to the Brothers concluded that God alone will be by your side in this journey. The community hosted the guests and shared sumptuous food.
Promise Renewal – Guanellian Cooperators
It takes a second for God to touch, few days to realize the call, a blessed moment that draws you close to what God wants and a life time to Sanctify one’s Soul. If not for this we will not have our 8 Cooperators being with us for 8-10 yrs from being benefactors, Lay members and finally saying yes with Promise to follow the life as a Guanellian. This is the 3rd year of renewal and by the grace of God the flock has stayed together, grown in Guanellian spirit and today stand with an experience to share with the aspirants. The World offers beautiful things, there are struggles in their lives, each one is busy doing some work but God has called them to serve his people. Today these 8 have renewed their Promise to continue as Cooperators and join hands with the Congregation to support in ways possible by them. They promise to be like yeast among the world and setting example to live a life of goodness and as good Catholics. The members made sure they prepare themselves for this big day through a day of recollection with Adoration, Reflections, Holy Mass & Confession. Fr. Adaikalam the Delegate who has formed them looked with great pride and joy. The Renewal was done during the Holy mass amidst the Religious and the Laity. The Holy mass was celebrated by our Provincial Fr. SoosaiRathinam, Con-celebrated by his council members Fr. Visuvasam, Fr. Kulandai, Guanellian Fathers and joined by Brothers, Sisters from other community, Laity from around the community. This was indeed a memorable day for our congregation.
Pledge Renewal by GLM
Our Founder trusted in joining hands with the Laity and making them part of the mission for he understood that we can go those extra miles with Laity and this will spread the Charity among many where the religious cannot reach. The dream of our founder has been accomplished while we saw 20 Members making their pledge, out of them 14 members renewed and 6 were added. The GLM has no boundary with caste, race or religion. The only thing we need is the heart to serve the needy. The members have been instrumental in many ways helping the Community and the congregation. They actively take part in the mission activities and thirst to grow in the Charism of our Founder. The members under the guidance of Fr. Adaikalam were formed & have prepared to make their pledge. This day was a very memorable with a grand mass celebrated by our Provincial Fr. Soosai Rathinam. This was a witness to other Laity who will be motivated to join the good works of Charity.
Inauguration of the Tent of Love
“It is God who does”, these are the words our Founder clung to. It all began with a thought to provide shelter to the needy, to have activities like evening school for needy children, open house ministry, activities for children, place of payer and much more. This is why we call it a Tent of Love where we could have many activities to glorify God. It gives the community a great joy to have this Tent blessed and inaugurated by our Provincial Most Rev. Fr. SoosaiRathinam. The joy was added when his councilors Fr. Visuvasam, Fr. Kulandai, Guanellian Fathers from other community, Guanellian Brothers, Guanellian Sisters, Religious from other Congregation, Guanellian Cooperators, Guanellian Lay Movement Members, Benefactors, Beneficiaries and well-wishers joined and prayed together. It definitely was not our plan but the will of God as we have seen the hands of Providence that worked through a lot of generous hearts and the toil of our Guanellian Brothers who have been playing different roles as Carpenters, Engineers, painters etc. Fr. Gnanaraj the superior was the backbone for planning, mobilizing and realizing this dream project. It was a beautiful experience for the community since they started this with no financial support from the Congregation but God took them through and helped them to accomplish his will. There were times of distress and they were lost but God stood by and provided for them. They are very happy today that they have a Multi-purpose hall which can host around 300 people. The good works of the Guanellians will continue.
