Mangaluru to celebrate canonization of Carmelite nun

Bellevision Media Network

 

Mangaluru, 12 May 2015: The coastal city will also rejoice on Sunday, as Pope Francis canonizes Blessed Mariam Baouardy at the Vatican.

 

Sister Baouardy, also called the Mary of Jesus Crucified, worked extensively in Mangaluru and established monasteries.

 

The nun of the Discalced Carmelite co-established its Kankanady chapter. Pope John Paul II had beatified her on November 13, 1983. The Discalced Carmelites dedicate themselves to a life of prayer and follow a contemplative life.

 

Fr Ravi Santosh Kamath from Fatima Retreat House, said that the event will be celebrated with a Triduum (a religious observance lasting three days). It will begin on Thursday and end on Saturday at Cloistered Carmel, Kankanady, along with Eucharistic celebrations and novena.

 

Apart from this, a symposium for priests and nuns to take inspiration from the saint will be held at St Ann’s College of Education on Saturday at 3 pm.

 

Fr James D’Souza, parish priest, Valencia, said that Most Rev Aloysius Paul D’Souza, bishop of Mangalore, will lead the Eucharistic celebrations at the Cloistered Carmel at 4.30pm. This will be followed by a light and sound programme on the life of Mariam Baouardy. A play written by Bannu Fernandes and directed by Corrine Rasquinha of White Doves will be staged at the entrance ground of Fr Muller Hospital at 6.15pm.

 

The celebrations have been organized by sisters of cloistered Carmel, Apostolic Carmel, Carmelite fathers and Sacred Heart Fathers of Betharram.

 

Sisters of Apostolic Carmel Shalini, Olivia and Lizeria said Mariam played an important role in identifying the Biblical Emmaus, following a private revelation in April 1878. She died of cancer on August 26, 1878 in Bethlehem at age of 33.

 

Mariam was the first Carmelite to arrive in India in 1870. Three years after her death, India’s first Cloistered Carmel was established in Kankanady by a French philanthropist. The country now has 34 such institutions. Bishop Marie Ephrem, too, played a jey role in founding the Kankanady chapter.

 

Shedding light on the Kankanady institution, they said a batch of six nuns came along with three Apostolic Carmelites, However, three died on the way. They were accommodated at St Ann’s Convent near Holy Rosary Cathedral, where they lived for 12 years. It was here that Mariam manifested her paranormal phenomenon of levitation and prophecy. Unable to rightly interpret these signs, she was asked by the authorities to return to France. The Karnataka-Goa Province of Carmelites owes much to this Carmel, which in its 142 years of existence, has given birth to Trichy, Shembaganur and Hassan units.