Udupi/M’Belle: Sr. Hilda D’Sa celebrates Golden Jubilee of her service as a nun in FMM C

By Eugene DSouza, Moodubelle
Bellevision Media Network

Udupi/M’Belle, 09 Jan 2015: Sr. Hilda D’Sa celebrated the Golden Jubilee of her service as a nun in the congregation of Franciscan Missionaries of Mary (FMM) on Friday, 9 January 2015 by thanksgiving mass in St. Lawrence Church, Moodubelle followed by a brief felicitation function at the residence of her brother, William D’Sa, popularly known as Willie Master.

The jubilee mass was concelebrated by five priests, each one representing a decade of Sr. Hilda’s service as a religious. The chief celebrant was Rev. Fr. Ranjan D’Sa(Carmelite), the nephew of Sr. Hilda who had specially come from Canada for the jubilee function. Other concelebrants include Rev. Fr. Baptist D’Souza(SVD) from Orissa, Rev. Fr. Peter D’Sa (Carmelite), another nephew of Sr. Hilda serving in Goa, Rev. Fr. Prakash Menezes(SVD) from Shirva, presently serving in Australia and Rev. Fr. Roshan D’Souza, Assistant Parish Priest of Moodubelle.

In his homily, Rev. Fr. Ranjan D’Sa said that 50 years jubilee has significant meaning in one’s life. It is the year which is to be dedicated to the Lord as one looks back and moves forward with hope and new vigour.

At the end of the jubilee mass, Sr. Hilda with the lighted candle thanked Almighty God for giving her an opportunity to serve as a nun in the Franciscan Missionaries of Mary congregation and work for the downtrodden, marginalized and destitute.

The felicitation function held at the residence of William D’Sa was ably anchored by Dr. Allwyn   D’Sa, Professor of English in St. Aloysius College, Mangalore who is also one of the nephews of Sr. Hilda.

To mark the Golden Jubilee of her service as a nun in FMM, Sr. Hilda cut the jubilee cake in the presence of her close relatives. Rev. Fr. Ranjan D’Sa who completed 12 years as a priest also cut another cake.

Raising the toast, Rev. Fr. Peter D’Sa recalled the journey of Sr. D’Sa from a simple and caring  teacher to be a religious in the FMM congregation and narrated her service at different mission centres and in prison ministry.

 

In her reply to the toast, Sr. Hilda D’Sa said that she wanted to shun any kind of celebration on the occasion of the Golden Jubilee of her service as a nun in FMM. However, on the insistence of her brother William D’Sa and her close relatives, she agreed for the thanksgiving mass and a brief function. She reverently remembered her departed brothers and sisters. She also felt sorry that many of her close relatives, especially some of  her nephews and nieces could not make it to the jubilee function.

A citation in the form of a poem composed by Dr. Allwyn D’Sa was presented to Sr. Hilda D’Sa by her close relatives.

About Sr. Hilda D’Sa:

Hilda Theresa D’Sa, born on 11 June 1941 is the last among ten children, eight sons and two daughters of late Cajetan and Remedia D’Sa. After completing her higher primary education up to eighth standard in Moodubelle, Hilda proceeded to Kundapur where she studied up to eleventh standard in St. Joseph’s Convent High School and passed the SSLC examination in 1958. As a student, Hilda was involved in church activities. She was a member of the Marian Sodality and also the parish choir. While studying in Kundapur, she was an active participant in the Seva Dal.

 

As she was keen to become a teacher, after SSLC Hilda underwent two years teachers training course (TCH) at Rosa Mystica Basic Training School at Gurpur and immediately joined teaching profession like her elder brothers, late Louis D’Sa, late Edward D’Sa and William D’Sa and taught for two years in the Church Aided Higher Primary School, Moodubelle from 1960-63.
Responding to the divine call, Hilda joined the Franciscan Missionaries of Mary (FMM) in 1963. Within two months of undergoing the English course at Kotagiri prior to joining the novitiate training, Hilda had to return home as her mother and brother William were seriously ill. As the eldest daughter had passed away when she was just fifteen years old, the parents and brothers were reluctant to send Hilda away from them. However, Hilda was determined to continue her religious life and went back to Kotagiri and completed her English course.

Having completed novitiate at Poona and taking the first vows in 1966, Sr. Hilda was appointed as a teacher at Kollegal in the Roman Catholic Mission Higher Primary School where she taught for two years. From Kollegal she was sent as a teacher in Don Bsco School at Shirva while residing in the convent at Pernal. Later she taught for two years in the Fatima School at Pernal.
After studying Theology in Bangalore for one year and spending six months in preparation, Sr. Hilda took her final profession in 1972 at Shirva following which she was transferred to Kollegal with the responsibility as the Superior of Our Lady of Assumption Convent and Headmistress of the Roman Catholic Mission Higher Primary School where she brilliantly handled both responsibilities till 1980. Coming back to Pernal in 1980 she continued as a teacher in the Fatima School till 1985. Later she went to Our Lady of Providence Convent, the Provincial House in Bangalore where she served till 1991 and then came back to Shirva.

As she was feeling stagnated in the teaching profession and wanted to work among the poor and downtrodden, Sr. Hilda availed three months leave and went to Ugginakeri village in Mundagudu Taluk of North Kanara where she worked among the Siddis which has been considered as a backward community. She tried to bring some positive changes in the community by teaching them how to read and write, giving them lessons in health awareness and promoting adult literacy.
As Sr. Hilda was not keeping good health, she took voluntary retirement from the teaching profession at the age of 55 and went back to Bangalore. She was keen to study Homeopathy and also take treatment for her ailment. For this reason she went to Bellary to meet Dr. Ajit Pai, a diocesan priest hailing from Madanthyar and an expert on Homeopathy who was working in Harappanahalli of the Bellary diocese.

While at Harappanahalli for studying Homeopathy and having treatment from Dr. Ajit Pai, Sr. Hilda gradually developed an interest in the lives of the people of the village. With her newfound experience about the conditions of the people living in backward villages, Sr. Hilda decided to devote her service to the betterment of the less fortunate people.

After returning from Bellary, Sr. Hilda went to Besagarahalli in the Mandya District for three months. Staying in the convent, she visited the village with few sisters. In this work, Sr. Hilda was greatly inspired by Fr. Jerome D’Souza, a native of Moodubelle who was working in mission centres in the Karnataka Jesuit Province. In Besagarahalli, Sr. Hilda arranged meetings of the women and began to organise them. She made them aware of the use of herbal medicine and taught them some basic trades and crafts so that they could supplement the family income. The sisters working in the village had to face the opposition from the fundamentalists. However, Sr. Hilda succeeded in convincing the local people that she was only interested in improving the social and economic conditions of the villagers and not in converting them.

After three months of work in Besagarahalli, Sr. Hilda moved back to Kollegal in 1997 and took up prison ministry for which she underwent ten days training in the Dharmaram College at Bangalore in legal aid given by a Jesuit priest who practices law at the Supreme Court of India.

While doing the prison ministry, Sr. Hilda came to know the working of the prison system. She also came to know judges, lawyers and police officers. Sr. Hilda says that she cannot tolerate any kind of injustice. Whenever she felt that there was injustice to any prisoner she did not hesitate to bring it to the notice of the prison authorities, lawyers and even the police officers. She would counsel the prisoners and their family members and even visit the houses of the accused.

Besides prison ministry, Sr. Hilda is also involved in providing counselling to young and married people who have been on the verge of separation or divorce and prevented a number of couples from breaking their marriages through counselling. Sr. Hilda has been helping the sick and destitute. There have been instances when she personally had to help out the sick and helpless people some of whom were mentally challenged from the street, sometimes with the help of police officers and take them to asylums. She had been helping poor people to get treatment in hospitals and even get employment.

Other humanitarian activities of Sr. Hilda include spreading AIDS awareness, campaign against alcoholism and evil effects of smoking, promoting self-help groups and work for the betterment of local amenities including roads for which she even meets Municipal authorities. Sr. Hilda has also developed an interest in alternate medicines such as Homeopathy, Ayurveda, Reiki, pranic healing, acupressure and magnet therapy which she recommends to needy people.

Sr. Hilda’s determination to work for the poor, unfortunate and marginalized people keeps her going. She says that it is the love of God and concern for the destitute that inspires her to continue her mission.