Chennai Salesians

RM in INM Missionary Aspirantate

Posted by Dominic Matthews

The Rector Major in all his visitations, makes it a point that formation houses are his first favourite! It shows his interest in the formation of the Salesians and predilection he gives for our young formees amidst his busy schedule. The mission of Don Bosco at Perambur started in 1963 giving education for the poor or lower middle-class families. It has grown from strength to strength and at present we are catering to 1973 students out of which 90% are from poor background. In June 2012 the Chennai Province ventured into the Missionary Aspirantate at Perambur. The Aspirantate was started to show out gratitude towards the numerous missionaries who have worked tirelessly to build this Province. This house is unique in the Province of Chennai for it inculcates the missionary spirit of Don Bosco and prepares them for mission overseas.

At present there are the 20 aspirants with 8 Salesians in the Don Bosco Perambur Aspirantate community. The Aspirants are offered a strong mission Ad Gentes geared environment. The Aspirantate is open for souls seeking to serve the youth from all over Tamil Nadu. Rector Major was enthused to see all the 41 Aspirants (21 from Don Bosco Pannur) together, vibrant and bubbling with talents. The Aspirants welcomed the Rector Major with band. The community of Lourdes Shrine with its Rector Fr. Dev Joe SDB and the Rector of Pannur Fr. Jeffrey Gladstone SDB were there to welcome the Rector Major and his Secretary, together with the Regional and the INM core Council members. He was given an official welcome and a detailed description about the mission of Perambur Aspirantate by the Rector of the community Fr. Tharsius Arokiasamy SDB.

“Music in the Salesian house is like a soul to the body”. Emphasising this point of Don Bosco to the aspirants, the Rector Major himself played the guitar and sung a famous song in Spanish and made the entire community to participate. Addressing the gathering, he stressed the work and contribution of missionaries to our INM Province in particular. He also gave relevant statistics about Salesian missionaries around the world and he pointed that there are 9,500 Salesians as missionaries! He asked us to seek the grace of the Lord in accruing great honesty in facing our Salesian religious life, for fulfilling His will is the most beautiful thing that a Salesian could do. The Rector Major gave his word to keep the aspirants in his fervent prayers. The program concluded with the band playing a hymn to Don Bosco.