The Apostolic Carmel Congregation is celebrating 150 years of its existence in 2018. Mother Veronica had a preferential love for the poor, the needy and the homeless. Following the example of the Foundress, the Congregation wishes to commemorate the Sesquicentennial years of its existence in a unique manner by constructing 150 houses for the poor and the less privileged people of the society. To realize this project St. Agnes Convent and all its Institutions, Mangaluru – a unit of the Apostolic Carmel Congregation will organize a mega event — “Agno Ashray Fete’—‘Home for the Homeless’, which will be held on 5 and 6 December 2015 at St Agnes College grounds from 10am-8pm both days. This is a very significant event for all to collaborate in this fruitful mission. It is a collective effort of all the sisters, staff, students, parents, Alumni, friends, benefactors and well wishers.
Mangaluru: Venerable Mother Veronica of the Passion, neé Sophie Leeves, was an Anglican by birth, a catholic by conviction and a religious by choice. She was born in 1823 in a pious, educated, English Anglican family. She was gifted with a singular talent of mind and heart which were nurtured by sound education and wide experience. At the age of seventeen she experienced a direct communion with Christ who blessed her with His Peace. Thus her search for the True Faith led her to Catholicism and her resolve to live a life close to Christ made her break off her engagement to a naval officer whom she loved and then responded generously to the call to Religious life. She entered the congregation of the Sisters of St. Joseph of the Apparition in 1851, taking the name, Sister Mary Veronica of the Passion.
Mother Veronica was ardent and full of zeal to work for the mission in India, when she was sent to found a house of the congregation at Calicut in 1862, she hearkened to the inner voice of God “I want you in Carmel” to found a Carmel for the Missions at the west coast of Malabar, India. After receiving the required permission from Rome, Mother Veronica painfully left her Congregation to enter the Carmel of Pau, France in 1867. On completion of her novitiate and First Profession, she left Pau and founded the Apostolic Carmel at Bayonne, France in 1868, after facing many hardships in her relentless search for God’s will.
In 1870 the Apostolic Carmel Congregation was transplanted to India and established at St. Ann’s Convent, Mangaluru. Today the congregation is spread all over India, Sri Lanka and East Africa. A hundred and forty seven years have passed. Today her work stands because it was built on rock. It lives in the 214 houses of the Congregation she founded, its schools, colleges, orphanages, health care centers and works of charity. It lives in the 1600 sisters who serve God and people all over the country and abroad; it lives in their prayer and their dedication.
Mother Veronica’s heroic obedience to the will of God, her life of profound faith and prayer, her wholehearted commitment to the Cross, her outstanding humility and zeal for the Missions remain an inspiration to all those who, following the footsteps of Christ, seek to offer their lives in loving service of humanity, specially the poor and the less privileged.
The Congregation is celebrating 150 years of its existence in 2018. Mother Veronica had a preferential love for the poor, the needy and the homeless. Following the example of the Foundress, the Congregation wishes to commemorate the Sesquicentennial years of its existence in a unique manner by constructing 150 houses for the poor and the less privileged people of the society. To realize this project St. Agnes Convent and all its Institutions, Mangaluru – a unit of the Apostolic Carmel Congregation have organized a mega event — “Agno Ashray Fete’—‘Home for the Homeless’. This is a very significant event for all to collaborate in this fruitful mission. It is a collective effort of all the sisters, staff, students, parents, Alumni, friends, benefactors and well wishers.
The ‘Agno Ashray Fete’ will be held on 5 & 6 December 2015 from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. at St. Agnes College Grounds, which will comprise of Games Bazaar, Wheel of Fortune, Dazzling Games, Attractive Bumper Prizes, Housie Housie, Food Bazar, Auction, Dj and live entertainment, and much more. On both the days, there will be variety Entertainment Programme from 6pm-8pm. Come join in the fun and frolic, and at the same time support a project aimed for a good cause.
Jacintha Vijay Alfred-Mayor, Mangaluru City Corporation will inaugurate the Fete, while Naveen D’Souza, Corporator and K Narendranath Kamath, DGM, Syndicate Bank, R.O., Mangaluru will be the Guests of Honour. The organizers cordially invite you for the inaugural ceremony on Saturday, Dec. 5, 2015 at 10:00 a.m.