The Compassionate Pastor - Dec 2014

REMINISCING IN
TRANQUILITY
Sr Violettes Memories of
Mgr Raymond FC Mascarenhas
REMINISCING IN
TRANQUILITY
Sr Violettes Memories of
Mgr Raymond FC Mascarenhas
Edited by
Sr Mary Naulak BS
Asian Trading Corporation

Bangalore, India
REMINISCING IN TRANQUILITY
Sr Violettes Memories of Mgr Raymond FC Mascarenhas
Copyright 2014
Congregation of the Sisters of the Little Flower of Bethany
No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by
any means - for example, electronic or mechanical, including photo copying
and recording without the prior written permission of the Superior General.
All Rights Reserved
ISBN: 978-81-7086-710-4
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CONTENTS
Foreword
vii
Preface
viii
Meet the Author
ix
PART ONE
REMINISCENCES
1.
The Purpose of Reminiscing at a Later Stage in Ones Life
15
2.
Bethany and the St Sebastians Parish
17
3.
Bethany Sisters of the Little Flower of Jesus
19
4.
Why a Womens Congregation and Not a Mens Congregation? 20
5.
A Prophetic Person or Just Ahead of His Times?
22
6.
Father Mascarenhas and His Devotions
25
7.
Love for Manual Labour
35
8.
Our Models in Manual Work
37
9.
A Pioneer in the Option for the Poor
41
10.
Spiritualizing Even Ordinary Situations
42
11.
The Mission of Father Raymond Mascarenhas
43
12.
His Training of His Sisters
46
13.
His Global Vision
48
14.
The Bethany Founder and the Passion of Our Lord
49
15.
Developing Aptitudes into Abilities
50
16.
Bethany is Maligned
54
17.
An Unforgettable Episode
56
18.
Preoccupation With and Preparation for Death
60
PART TWO
TALKS AND REFLECTIONS
19.
Why Study or Reflect on the Life of the Founder?
63
20.
His Love for Mary
69
21.
His Missionary Spirit
72
22.
On Prayer and Silence
79
23.
A Man of God and a Man for Others
81
PART THREE
MEMORIES IN A LETTER
24.
Sr Violettes Memories in a Letter
vi
91
Foreword
Reminiscing in Tranquility contains Sr Violettes memories of Servant
of God Raymond FC Mascarenhas, founder of the Congregation of the
Sisters of the Little Flower of Bethany. From the title itself, it is clear that
the content of the book comes from a relaxed mind, a mind that is at
peace with self, with history, including the painful part of the Congregations
history and that of the life of the Founder, and finally, at peace with God.
They come from the authors pen after a lifetime of mulling over her
experiences with the founder of her congregation who took real interest in
her spiritual and all round growth. Having come under his influence at the
age 13, he left an indelible mark on her personality which the author
acknowledges with gratitude. Her love for the Congregation and for the
Founder radiate through the pages of this book.
This is not the first volume written by Sr Violette on this subject. We
are not even sure whether she intended to publish these articles as a
book. However, in them, she gives us delightful glimpses of the personality
of our beloved Founder. In them, one finds the answers to the question
why he did what he did, and how he did it.
All that Mgr Raymond Francis Camillus did in his life time was motivated
by love for God that manifested itself in love for the poor and the weaker
sections of the society. A deep thirst to do something concrete for the
objects of his love, drove him to found a Congregation of women religious
amidst appreciation as well as doubt, even criticism. He trained the sisters
and brought up the Congregation in a very practical manner, using simple
means, following a simple lifestyle.
The material for this book was written by Sr Violette at different
times. They are preserved in the archives of the Congregation. I thank
Sr Mary Naulak BS for compiling and editing them. It is my hope and
prayer that those who read this book come to appreciate the person of
Servant of God Mgr RFC Mascarenhas and be enriched by his life and
teaching.
Sr Wilberta, BS
Bethany Generalate
December 8, 2014
Superior General
vii
Preface
The XIII General Chapter of Bethany Sisters held in 1998 decided to
initiate the process of Beatification and Canonisation of its founder Mgr
Raymond FC Mascarenhas. Accordingly, a committee was formed to
interview those persons who had seen or had acquaintance with the
Founder. In 2002, Sr Jyoti, BS, (Superior General from 1998-2010) called
upon several sisters who had lived with the Founder, to write down what
they remember about him. Sr Violette BS, was one of them.
What we have in Part One of this book is what Sr Violette wrote in
response to this request. It forms the bulk of the book and covers topics
ranging from the origins of Bethany to the various components of the
Founders spirituality and his teachings.
In her long life of active ministry and even after being incapacitated,
Sr Violette was often called upon to share her knowledge and experience
of the Founder with the members of the Bethany Institute. Part Two contains
some of the talks and speeches she gave to the sisters on various
occasions.They are reproduced here in the way she has put them down in
writing. Some topics that have been included in Part One are repeated in
Part Two since they were given at different times with different intent.
Part Three contains a single letter written by Sr Violette to Mother
Macrina who was Superior General from 1959 to 1977 and had lived very
closely with the Founder. Like Sr Violette, Mother Macrina too had obtained
a Masters degree from St Louis University and was elected Superior
General after her return to India. The letter contains Sr Violettes personal
sentiments and memories.
Reminiscing in Tranquility,is the title given by the author for the
material found in Part One. True to the name they are fond memories the
author had of the Founder who was to her more than a founder, but a
friend, a companion, a guide, a boss, a model, a saint, and above all, a
father. The fact that these memories are written down long after the
Founder had passed on and the writer herself was into the eighth decade
of her life, lends it vintage quality.
I am grateful to Sr Lillis BS, the Assistant Superior General and
Postulator for the Cause of SD Raymond FC Mascarenhas, and to Sr Miriam
BS, the Vice Postulator, for their guidance in compiling and editing this
book.
Sr Mary Naulak BS
viii
Meet the Author

Sr Violette DSouza, BS, was born on August 30,
1922, at Mangalore. After her early schooling at St
Margaret Marys School Bendur, she joined the Bethany
Congregation in 1935. Bethany was just 14 years old,
and one of the founding members was her own aunt.
She was professed in 1939 and thereafter completed
her B.A in St Agnes College, Mangalore, and B.T in St Anns College of
Education, Mangalore, in 1945 and 1947 respectively. Soon after her
graduation she was appointed headmistress of the Sacred Hearts High
School, Kulshekar, Mangalore where she served for a period of 10 years.
In 1953 she was elected General Councillor to the third Superior General
of the Congregation, Mother Priscilla BS.
In 1956, the Congregation sent Sr Violette abroad for higher studies.
She obtained a Masters degree in Education and Doctorate in Psychology
from St Louis University, Missouri, USA, in 1958 and 1960 respectively. On
her return to India she was sent to the newly started mission in North
India where she worked to establish Bethanys schools serving as Principal
at St Theresas School, Karnal, Haryana, and at Sacred Hearts High School,
Ludhiana, Punjab until she went back to America in 1965 to pursue a
teaching career that lasted until her retirement in 1983.
In America she served as Professor of Psychology at Marquette
University, Milwaukee, University of Illinois, USA, and Mt St Vincent
University, Canada. She was a visiting professor of Psychology at Sacred
Heart College, Belmont, North Carolina, Our Lady of Lake College, Texas,
and St Louis University, Missouri. In all the colleges and universities she
taught she made outstanding contributions and earned the love, respect
and admiration of students, faculty and the administration.
ix
In 1971, Sr Violette was awarded Grants by the National Science

Foundation (USA) to do research in Experimental Psychology. She was
listed in the 1971 edition of Outstanding Educators of America. She had
appeared on American Television several times to speak on topics related
to psychology and spirituality and the integration between psychology and
religion. She was actively engaged in giving workshops, seminars and
courses in psychology and spirituality to Christian and non-Christian groups,
directed retreats for priests, religious sisters and laity, in India and abroad.
Sr Violettes contribution to the Bethany Congregation has been
outstanding. She is the biographer of the Founder. Her literary contribution
includes: Unless the Seed Die (1985), The Vine that He Planted (1989),
Courteous Behaviour in Interpersonal Community Living (A Compilation,
1995), Charism and Spirituality of Bethany (1997), Footprints on the Sands
of Time (2000), revised and updated A Few Minutes with Mary on Saturdays
and Marian Feast Days (2000). She is the initiator of the Congregations
first newsletter The Chronicle, which she edited for over two decades.
She made utmost contribution to several General Chapters; was
instrumental in drafting the initial Formation Programme. An accomplished
musician, she compiled the Congregations hymnal and prayer manual
which are still in use. In between her busy schedule she made time to
compose plays and skits to enliven celebrations and events of the community
where she lived.
Born just a year after Bethany, she practically grew up with the
Congregation. She was a direct witness as well as participant in the throes
and woes of the Institute. She had the privilege of living in close proximity
to the Founder for years and was privy to some of his innermost thoughts
and sentiments. From the time of her entrance into the Congregation, the
insightful founder noticed in her the potential for great things and made
her his filing clerk and typist for years starting from the time she was a
postulant. One could say she got an inside knowledge of his heart and
mind through the letters she typed for him. But she also knew him through
her playful banter and candid talks with him during these frequent contacts.
Sr Violettes was a perfect blend of contemplation and action. In
spite of her multifarious activities, she was faithful to the prescribed spiritual
exercises. Even after she was incapacitated, she was regular in preparing
x
meditation points, writing the review, monthly recollection, Mass, sacrament

of reconciliation etc. Fr Frank Severin, SJ, her spiritual director and a
senior faculty member of St Louis University, attested to her deep spirituality
besides her other attributes and accomplishments.
He wrote thus to Mother Macrina on 28th September 1979: I have
served on the faculty of St Louis University for almost 40 years and Sr
Violette is probably the most intelligent student I ever taught. She learned
quickly, realized the implications of what she had learned, and was able to
communicate this clearly and accurately to others.
In the four colleges and universities Bethany loaned her for a time,
she quickly became known as the outstanding teacher on the faculty. At
Decatur Community College, she made a significant contribution to the
Church. Catholics make up a small minority of the population in this area.
Most of the students had never spoken to a religious sister and knew
nothing about religious life. Sr Violette soon became a friend of students
and faculty alike. A flattering full-page feature article in Decatur newspaper
gave evidence of how well she was accepted in both the college and
community.
Having served as her spiritual director for a number of years, I can
affirm how deeply spiritual she is and how close to the Lord. Sr Violette
has reflected glory on Bethany Congregation in the United States, in Canada
and in India.
Sr Violette passed away in 2007, leaving behind her a rich legacy
which includes solid spiritual life, fidelity in living her religious commitment,
regularity in prayer life, eagerness to serve, total commitment and single
mindedness, purity of heart, obedience and loyalty to the Church and to
the Congregation, diligence and proficiency in her field of work. And in
addition to these, the legacy of her deep love for the Founder and her
memories of him handed down to us in the pages of this book and other
books she has written.
Sr Mary Naulak BS
xi
PART ONE
REMINISCENCES OF SR VIOLETTE BS
Reminiscing in Tranquility
1. The Purpose of Reminiscing

at a Later Stage in Ones Life
Reminiscing and reviewing ones lifes events is a very useful activity to
people in their later years. This process, called Life Review was developed
and introduced by the pioneering Gerontologist, Robert N. Butler, M.D. who
became the first director of the American National Institute on Aging. The
term Life Review involves the reviewing of the events of ones life and to
see them from this later perspective, how they have fitted together and
have shaped our life.
My life story reminds me of the many blessings God has showered
on me throughout my life. It will indicate to me what I have done for God
and my fellow human beings, and in parting, how I have done each of those
things. As I review my life events and ponder over my life story I will
understand whether or not I have made a difference in my little world.
My life review will help me to recall the rough times I had, the burdens
and disappointments, sorrows and tragedies I bore, the dark spots and the
moments of enlightenment I had been through. No matter how troublesome
or serious these were, God always provided a way to live through them, and
profit by them.
As I look back on the past eighty years of my life, I am amazed at the
strength I was able to muster to live through even some severe trials and
difficulties. Among the supports and helps that God provided me, the most
significant and noteworthy was the presence of our Founder in my life from
the time I entered Bethany in 1935. Even after his death in 1960, praying to
him and reflecting on how he would have advised me in my present perplexity
has strengthened my fidelity and loyalty to the Lord to whom I have committed
my life totally.
Furthermore, our Superior General, Sister Jyoti has requested the
sisters who lived during the Founders time in the early years of the Institute,
to share with the rest of the community what they know of our Founder,
what his teachings were, and how they experienced his spirit, how he
15
influenced their life, their attitudes, their thinking and mindset. Therefore,
my life reviews major part will include the Founders influence on my life,
especially on my spiritual life.
When I joined the Bethany Institute on September 22, 1935 I was
thirteen years and 3 weeks old; Bethany, at that time was 14 years and 2
months old. So, in all truth I can say, Bethany and I grew up together and
shared each others joys and sorrows. Bethanys growing pains were also
my growing pains.
In retrospect, I see that the Founder had a special interest in my growth
and development, in particular in my vocation and spiritual development.
Later, with hindsight I have also observed that our Founder always seemed
to bear a special interest in religious, vocational and spiritual development
of anyone who joined very young. To cite a few examples, he was keen to
guide and help the spiritual development of Sisters Agnella, Theresine,
Pacifica, Esuria and Marie Therese. It is only later that I realized how much
I had benefited by his love, interest and guidance I had from him during my
early years. He nurtured carefully my spiritual life and lovingly and gently
led me on Gods path. Sharing with others my observations of his priestly
and childlike ways of helping others would give us an idea how we too, can
nurture others by being gentle and kind to them.
I owe him much in terms of spiritual advice and devotion. I will never
forget the way he guided my habit of reading - both spiritual and secular
literature. When I was hungry and thirsty for more reading, he would check
out good books on his own name from St Aloysius College or St Josephs
Seminary library and make me read them. Also he put me in charge of his
personal library which stocked quite a number of books on prayer, religious
life, spirituality and Scripture. He even tried to give me a brief course in
Latin, in which I didnt persevere. I was attending the college to get my
academic degrees, and for good measure I also functioned as his typist and
filing clerk in my freer moments.
This shows how closely I was able to associate with him. In fact all my
youth and formative years were spent under his careful supervision and I
have become the richer for it. It is my hope that sharing my memories of the
Founder would benefit a greater number of people, especially my own Bethany
Sisters.
v
16
2. Bethany and the

St Sebastians Parish
The St Sebastians Parish was only seven years old when Bethany was
born in Bendur and grew up as a child of this new parish under the paternal
care of its 46 year old pastor. The pastor of this new parish continued to
work for its progress and development. He made every effort to obtain the
Churchs approbation for his work and obtained the Decree of the Canonical
Establishment of the Institute on July 28, 1932.
A year before, in 1931, Father Mascarenhas had to leave his parish
and move to the Bishops house in Codialbail because he was made the
Vicar General of the new Bishop, Rt Rev. V. R. Fernandes. I remember quite
well the farewell given to him by the people of the St Sebastians parish,
even though I was barely nine years old. An address outlining his achievements
in Bendur was read to him. In it the parishioners pointed out that he had
made the dry and barren area of Bendur, a fertile and fruitful place where
people took pride in belonging to the parish. A car was presented to him as
a farewell gift; however, he refused to ride in it on that day and preferred to
walk with the large crowd of people all the way to Codialbail from Bendur
and the beautifully decorated car with Jasmine garland, followed. Since my
home was in Codialbail, I was happy to follow the car.
Although now he lived in the Bishops House in Codialbail he continued
his work as chaplain and director of Bethany. Every morning at 6 a.m., he
celebrated the Eucharist for the Bethany community, then after a cup of
coffee he spent some time guiding the sisters in attending to the business of
the newly established Congregation. By 9 a.m. he was back in Codialbail to
carry on his duties as the Vicar General.
The first four sisters, the founding members, were teachers in the
Parishs St Sebastians School. Although the Congregation was founded only
on July 16, 1921, he had begun to instruct them in the rudiments of religious
17
life right from 1918. Every Friday evening they would stay after class and he
shared with them the basic elements of religious life. But after July 16, 1921
the Institute was a reality because the first four members began their life
together.
As the infant Institute began to grow and develop, its growing pains
were more evident. Fr Raymond with his trust in our Blessed Mother and in
St Joseph the guardian of the Holy Family in Nazareth made every effort to
guide the small community in the development of all that was necessary.
The problems were many and varied. They had their source in unexpected
quarters; with his trust in our Blessed Mother, he tried to face each difficulty
as it appeared, and taught the sisters to do the same.
Time and time again he reminded the little group that their model was
our Blessed Mother in the mystery of the Annunciation and our Blessed Lord
in His Incarnation. The spirit of these two mysteries, namely, that of the
Annunciation and of the Incarnation, they were to make their own. He
encouraged them by word and example to grow in the attitude of the handmaid
and to desire to empty themselves of all inordinate desire for honour and
titles just as our Lord did. He taught them to reflect on the passage from
Philippians (2:6-11), Rich though he was he became poor for our sake...
Our Blessed Mothers Carmelite daughter St Therese of Lisieux, who
was yet to be beatified, was given to them as their sister and model to teach
them how to be little and to live the spirit of the Annunciation and the
Incarnation. He felt convinced that the Lord was confirming his choice when
the Church beatified St Therese in 1923, two years after Bethany was founded,
and canonized her in 1925, just four years after he had given her to them as
a model and patroness.
v
18
3. Bethany Sisters of the Little

Flower of Jesus
A persons spirituality expresses her relationship to Jesus. What was
Theresas relationship to Jesus? If we asked herself what would she say?
She is our sister, and we need to emulate her and walk in her footsteps by
cultivating an intimate relationship with Jesus.
She is our model. How? How are we to develop an intimate relationship
with Jesus as she did? She is our inspiration and she motivates us. How?
Why? Her relationship with God, manifested in her prayer- she spoke to
Him like a child to her father. Her relationship to her community sisters
they reflected to her the face of Jesus. She saw in them Jesus.
Her attitude towards her work- she worked as though the holiness of
the order depended on her. Her apostolate was based on the principle that
Jesus chose her and depended on her to make Himself known to others a matter of privilege and Gods predilection. She was convinced that sinners
depended on her for their salvation.
We depend on God to make our apostolic efforts fruitful. At the same
time we need to make bolder efforts to carry the Church, the Lords Church,
in a world that does not know him or knows him inadequately. We also
need to give a witness of evangelical simplicity and express the thrust of
our Fiat to our spiritual life in the seriousness of our self-surrender to
God.
19
4. Why a Womens Congregation

and Not a Mens Congregation?
A number of reasons could be cited for this choice of his as listed
below.
1) The spirit of the times and the temperament of Father Raymond
Mascarenhas would indicate that it would have been more appropriate for
him to found a mens Institute rather than one of women. However, he
was not seeking to take any easy line but he did what he felt would have
been for the greater glory of God and better service of his people in a
small town like Mangalore. In founding a religious Congregation he was
not looking for success and an easy way to find ready help; but he wanted
an army of generous and Christ-like workers to do the work which men
could not do for one reason or another.
2) At the turn of the century the spirit of the times was such that
men worked generally and easily with boys and men. The girls and the
women were neglected; so he tried to find a group of generous women
who would want to spend their lives for others and serve God. He was
looking for a band of women to work mainly for the spiritual, educational,
social and material development of girls and women.
3) Of course, this would be something new in a small town like
Mangalore. The existing two congregations in the town - the Apostolic
Carmel and the Sisters of Charity of Maria Bambina, had foreign affiliations.
Furthermore this native venture would have to compete with men in many
ways. Despite all this, Fr Raymond Mascarenhas accepted the challenge
for Christs cause, to look for women who would have the courage and
desire to work for others, regardless of the difficulties and challenges that
they might have to encounter especially in trespassing the male domain in
the educational field.
Father Raymond Mascarenhas knew that the best and the most
effective means of bringing out the latent powers and capacities in the
young people is education. Therefore, he looked for suitable lady teachers
20
who would devote their lives for the growth and development of children.
He opened schools especially in remote villages which were often
inaccessible for lack of transportation. At one time he was telling me about
his desire to open a school in a remote village so that he could send two or
three sisters to teach their little ones there. I asked, But, Father how will
we get to the village if it is so remote? Smilingly he replied, So you grasp
the situation! If three adult sisters cannot find a way to get there, how will
the little children, not three, perhaps thirty or three hundred find a way to
get to some school? So, let us go there and give them a school. Thus he
dotted the many villages of South Kanara with elementary and later higher
elementary schools.
Of course, through the presence of a school and its growth, a village
becomes known among the surrounding towns and villages. The presence
of a school makes the childrens parents, their families move closer to the
school. The presence of the families brings in the traders; shops are opened
to provide amenities for the school and the families who live around it.
Transportation is soon extended from the neighbouring cities and towns
and it is just a matter of time, when the hitherto greatly ignored village
becomes a beehive of activity and you can hardly recognize the place as
the same one as before. The place now humming actively with a primary
and a high school and the convent which began with three sisters may be
a busy centre when 20 to 35 sisters are busy doing Gods work for Gods
children. Soon a small chapel appears amidst them and a priest is stationed,
and there you have evangelizing activity. Father Founder may not be alive
to see the growth and development of many such places, but he had
visualized this when he planned to send the first three sisters to begin to
teach children, perhaps under the shade of a tree. Thus what began with
four determined and generous sisters desiring to spend their life for God
and Gods children is now an institution of over a thousand committed
evangelizers, generously spending their lives for the good of the people of
India, Italy, Germany, France, Mauritania, Senegal and Tanzania. God be
praised! Their strength, inspiration and courage comes from the tabernacles
honoured by the Founder in the simple chapels, with the words Behold
how he loved! inscribed by the Founder on every tabernacle door so that
the sisters will never forget for whom they work and why.
v
21
5. A Prophetic Person or
Just Ahead of His Times?
The founder of the Bethany Institute was a pioneer in many of the
things he undertook. For instance, although a man, he founded a
Congregation of women with hardly any resources available to him. His
desire was that this Congregation should be ready to welcome anyone
with a religious vocation. Lack of financial means or advanced education
was not to be an obstacle for admission. His desire was that the
Congregation should welcome anyone with a genuine religious vocation.
Therefore many of the things he did with regard to Bethany looked contrary
to the existing norms and practices of the older Congregations. However,
it is a matter of great satisfaction to know that many of the practices he
adopted or encouraged in the Bethany institute in the early twenties were
later adopted by the Second Vatican Council of 1962-1965.
Suffice it to cite a couple of examples. From the very birth of the
Congregation in 1921, the Founder wanted only one class of sisters; that
is, he did not want to make a distinction between the choir sisters and lay
sisters. There was no distinction in the dress material or colour of veils, in
the language used for prayer or in the style of footwear. There was no
separation in the dining or recreation room or anywhere else. Of course
the II Vatican Council got rid of the differences in the status of the sisters
in the congregations. Some institutes eased into the changed situation
painlessly; others had some trouble adjusting to the new status.
He also insisted that there should be no distinction in the dress of the
teaching sisters or sisters studying in the colleges and sisters doing any
type of manual work, whether it be in the kitchen, in the compound, in the
stables or elsewhere. One class of sisters only was his constant teaching.
22
In 1954 when it was decided that the sisters would change their
dress from black to white habits, there were a number of sisters who
were opposed to this change; and as the spokesperson of those who
objected the change, Mother Priscilla, the superior general at that time,
approached Father Founder and placed before him some practical
difficulties of changing the dress from black to white, especially in the case
of those who worked in the kitchen. However, the Founder was adamant
and remarked, If there is a problem of maintaining cleanliness in the case
of those working in places like the kitchen, then provide them with double
the number of dresses.
Finally, Mother Priscilla suggested that perhaps we could provide those
engaged in manual work, grey dress. Hearing this, Father Founder asked
her, When the bell rings for spiritual exercises or for meals, will those
wearing the grey dresses have adequate time to change into white before
entering the chapel or the dining room? Do you want two grades of sisters
in common places such as chapel or the dining hall? Do you want visitors
to these places to identify who are the manual workers and who are the
professional persons doing the prestigious jobs like teaching, office work
etc? Father Founder said all should be treated in the same uniform manner
regardless of the work they are engaged in. The only standard of judgment
is the one that God will be using in judging us. Mother Priscilla did not win
her argument and she never broached the subject again.
As I reminisce my past history, which parallels Bethanys history,
another point comes to my mind. From the very beginning our Constitutions
read, There will be only one class of sisters; all will address each other
as sister. The superior will be identified as sister guardian. In 1950 an
Extraordinary General Chapter was invoked to make the necessary changes
in the Constitutions to adjust to the changed situations or conditions of our
Congregation which had changed from a uni-diocesan to a pluri-diocesan
Congregation. Canonically, the Founder is not a member of any General
23
Chapter and therefore he did not participate in any of our discussions or in

forming the resolutions to be sent to Rome. However all the perpetually
professed sisters were members of the said Chapter.
A large number of capitulars were college students at that time and
expressed strongly their desire to entitle the superiors of the Congregation
as Mother Superior. Father Founder was averse to making any distinction
between superiors and non-superiors. But not being a member of the
Chapter his wishes were neither fully known by all nor adopted. The majority
of the sisters were won over by the reasoning of the small group of college
bound young sisters. As a result, the majority of the sisters accepted the
change and voted in favour of it. The rule was changed, and in no time,
the general and local administrators, ministers, novice directors were
addressed as Mother and the Superior General was called Reverend
Mother. Father Founder had nothing to do with this change.
In 1965, when the II Vatican Council asked all religious to go back to
the simplicity of life, not only in dress and manner of living, but also in the
matter of titles, all the Congregations gave up their two-class system and
all addressed each other as sister and we too switched back to our
earlier nomenclature. This seems to be so much in accord with our
spirituality, as appropriate and fitting to those who call themselves Sisters
of the Little Flower of Jesus.
v
24
6. Father Mascarenhas and

His Devotions
When Father Raymond Mascarenhas was ordained a priest of God
on March 4, 1900, his one determination was to spend his life for the God
who loved him and who had chosen him to be his son like Jesus whom He
had sent into the world to bring salvation to everyone. Those who knew
him at that time describe him as an unusually fervent young man. He felt
that this Jesus, the Son of the Eternal Father had called him to work for His
Abba. So he kept before his minds eye, Jesus, the one sent by the Father,
and from the very beginning he worked with Him, for Him, and like Him.
My close contact with Father Founder convinced me that the only
reason he did what he did was because, if Jesus was in Mangalore He
would have done so many things, borne so many hardships for us. But He
has now given us the privilege to be in His place and to do what He would
have done. He felt he could not let Him down.
Naturally, just as Jesus lived and worked as an ordinary carpenter,
and worked as a member of a working mans family, he too desired to
work hard for whatever he achieved. Although he belonged to a middle
class professional family, he valued and appreciated manual work, simplicity
of life, and lived like a poor man labouring for his daily bread, like all poor
people of India. That was the spirit that animated him and it never left him
even to his last days. Many of his problems stemmed from the fact that he
thought everyone was like him animated with a desire to work, serve, and
help others.
A. His Childlike Devotion to Our Lady
In his desire to live a simple life like Jesus, he looked for models that
he could emulate easily. He loved Mary, the Mother of Jesus very much. I
was touched and edified by his childlike and faith-filled devotion to our
Blessed Mother whom he lovingly called Mai or Mother, and I wanted very
much to imitate him. He had given Mary to the Bethany Institute as its
Queen and Mother and he was thoroughly convinced that Bethany was the
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work that Jesus, the great lover of Bethany had entrusted to her. He called
Bethany Our Blessed Mothers Garden. He reminded the sisters in season
and out of season that she is an expert gardener and she would not
tolerate any rotten plants in her garden; certainly she would weed them
out. So, his frequent advice was to listen to Mary and to do whatever she
tells you.
The tell-tale marks of his love and devotion to the Holy Mother of God
are all over Bethany. As we enter the Bethany parlour we see the statue
of our Blessed Mother ready to welcome us, and the words from his
favourite hymn Ave Maris Stella, Show Thyself a Mother. Commenting
on those words he would say often, She will show herself to be your
mother, but do you show yourself and behave as her child?
It was due to the desire to show his love for her that all the important
works of the Institute were undertaken or inaugurated on a Marian Feast
day or on a Saturday, a week-day dedicated to Mary. When he served as
Bethany Chaplain, every Marian Feast had to be celebrated with love,
devotion and due preparation. Preparations for all feasts were in the form
of Novenas or Triduums. He wished that I would remind him on the previous
day when a Novena or a Triduum would start; and he would kneel on the
altar step after Mass to join us in praying the novena prayers.
After receiving the Decree of Establishment of Bethany, the Novitiate
was inaugurated and the first batch of Novices was to be admitted to it. It
was customary at that time to change our baptismal names to some religious
names. He gave the novices- to- be, names from the Litany of Loreto,
each name being a title of our Blessed Mother. For example we had Sisters
Potence, Concilia, Stella, Aurea etc. And finally, when he ran out of the
invocations of the Litany of Loreto to choose names from, he had recourse
to the Salve Regina, and the last three sisters were called Sister Clemence,
Sister Pia and Sister Dulcise.
At the end of the Marian year 1954, he had made a long list of Marian
feasts -major and minor, well-known and little-known. He encouraged each
sister to select a Marian feast and celebrate it as if it was her own special
day. When the II Vatican Council revised the Liturgical and Sanctoral
Calendars, some of these feasts were dropped and others were moved
from their original date to another date. Nevertheless, it is still a sense of
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satisfaction for me to celebrate my own chosen feast day of Mary. It is

something between Mary, my mother, and me, her child.
Every new house of the Congregation was not only opened on Marys
Day (Saturday) or on her feast day, but was also named after some attribute
of her (Maryvale Convent), or a place made sacred by association with
Mary (Massabielle Convent, Lourdes Convent). The only exception was
the first branch house (Lisieux Convent, Puttur) which was dedicated to
the second patroness, St Therese of Lisieux, because she was to be
canonized the year it was opened (1925).
When new Marian devotions or older devotions with newer emphasis
appeared in the Church Calendar, he was sure to encourage and adopt
these devotions whenever and wherever possible. For example, he adopted
devotion to Our Lady of Fatima and devotion to the Immaculate Heart of
Mary. It was because of Our Ladys request to the three Fatima children to
say the prayer she taught them that Father Founder asked the Bethany
Sisters to repeat it after each decade of the Rosary prayer. This prayer
request by our Blessed Mother is O my God, forgive us our sins, save us
from the fires of hell, lead all souls to heaven, especially those who are in
most need of your mercy. Whatever our Blessed Mother asked of anyone,
he took it as expected of him personally and he would try to oblige her in
whatever way he could.
In order to make sure that Saturdays would remain definitely a day
consecrated to our Blessed Mother, he asked the sisters to spend a few
minutes with Mary by reading short excerpts about her from a book someone
had sent to him.
He prescribed the sisters to pray the five decades of the Rosary, but
recommended and encouraged that we pray the entire fifteen decades
whenever time permitted us. To ignite their fervour he gave them prayer
to be prayed to obtain the grace of each decade. How delighted he would
have been if he was alive to read the letter of Pope John Paul II on the
Rosary and the Five Mysteries of Light! With what delight he would have
planned and spent this year of the Rosary!
Very often he would come to the chapel on the eve of a Marian Feast
to give the sisters short exhortation on the mystery/feast we were
celebrating, just to stir their fervour.
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He installed the Via Matris (The Seven Stations to honour the seven
sorrows of our Blessed Mother) at the rear end of the chapel. On Sundays
and holidays, we the student sisters would pray these stations after the
noon Angelus and the particular examination of conscience. He would come
and join us.
His devotion to the Green Scapular of the Immaculate Heart of Mary,
and the Brown Scapular of Our Lady of Mount Carmel was well known. He
encouraged these devotions without making a fetish out of them.
The dates of the first and second Chapter of Elections were fixed by
the Bishop of our diocese, who also was its president. However, when the
Congregation was able to fix its own date, he encouraged the superiors to
make sure the election of the Superior General and her councillors would
be held on April 26, the feast of the Mother of Good Counsel. He had great
devotion to the Mother of God under this title and often made me sing the
hymn in her honour, while he quietly relaxed in his easy chair. Since the
last line of every verse says Mother, tell me what am I to do, at the end,
he would smile and say, Now dont say, `Mother, tell me what am I to
do?` and then go and do whatever you want to do.
B. His Devotion to St Joseph
In St Joseph he found another model for his devotion. Father Founders
devotion to St Joseph was very evident in all his activities. He taught the
sisters to pray to him as the Father and Protector of Bethany. It always
happened that somehow or other it was after praying to St Joseph, many
of Bethanys problems were solved and petitions granted. It was on his
feast day that the first house of the Congregation was purchased, and
after fixing it to make it livable and comfortable as a home, the four founding
members moved into it four months later, on July 16, 1921. He often said
humorously that he wanted the sisters to start living in their new home on
the feast of St Joseph, but St Joseph made us to do it on our Blessed
Mothers day, since it was her special work.
Later, when the Congregation was growing in number and expanding
its works, additional space was required. The Founder and the early sisters
prayed fervently to be able to acquire the adjacent property on which
stood an old mud hut with a thatched straw roof. In it lived an old lady with
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her grown up daughter. The old lady wanted to sell it and move to Bombay
where some of her relatives lived. But she adamantly stated that she would
never sell her property to priests and nuns. The Founder was not
discouraged. He suggested prayer to St Joseph, and also that we throw
some medals of St Joseph into the compound through the windows of our
rooms that stood close to the boundary between the two compounds.
After praying to St Joseph for some time, Bethany was able to procure the
property with the help of a friend, a former parishioner of St Sebastian. At
present, a shrine to honour St Joseph stands on the property, and the
magnificent Pushpalaya hall majestically shows the power of St Joseph,
and his goodness to those who put themselves in his power and under his
protection.
St Joseph was honoured everyday by the sisters in their morning
prayer by praying the prayer Commendation to St Joseph. Also, Father
Founder wanted us to begin our days work by invoking St Joseph, the
model of workers, to help us to develop our gifts and talents. Father taught
us to invoke St Joseph as the model of workers; and even before the
Church had declared May 1 as the Feast of St Joseph the Worker, the
Bethany Sisters had already placed themselves and their work under his
care. Every morning after breakfast, the sisters visited the chapel as a
community to begin the days work and assignments by praying to St Joseph,
the model of all workers.
C. His Devotion to St Therese of the Child Jesus
Three years before he was ordained a priest, Sister Therese of the
Child Jesus had died in Lisieux, France at the age of 24 and some months,
about the age at which he was ordained a priest on March 4, 1900.
Information about her saintly life and holy death filtered into missionary
India through our Carmelite Sisters in Kankanady where he was well known
because his family lived in the neighbourhood of this Great Carmel of
Mangalore. Through the literature and information which they passed on
to this young and fervent priest, he became much acquainted with her
saintly life. He found in her an echo of his desire to live a simple life, and
he became much devoted to this young Carmelite even though the Church
had not yet spoken about her or made any pronouncement on her holiness.
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In 1914 when he was assigned to found a new parish in Bendur he

was faced with a barren area in the outskirts of Mangalore and on his very
first visit to the place he expressed his feelings in the words of Prophet
Ezekiel Will these dry bones ever live? (Ezek 37:3). He felt how little he
could do to blow life into these dry bones; but he knew who could do it for
him. The Lord who breathed life into the nostrils of our first parents was
also available to him if he only would have faith strong enough to commend
his work first to God. Then he had recourse to this young Carmelite who
had died just about seventeen years before he came to Bendur. She had
said when she was about to die that she would spend her heaven doing
good upon earth. Well, here was her chance. He placed his work in her
hands because she was a missionary at heart and had a great love for
priests working in the mission lands. He said, I had all the qualifications to
be her protg, and prayed to her with all the fervour of my heart. She
must have inspired him also to get ready a small army of little souls like
her to work for other souls that Jesus wanted to save.
So, when Bethany became a reality on July 16, 1921, seven years
after the St Sebastians parish was a reality, he was not sure whether he
was taking the right direction. But he went ahead with his bishops blessing
and his trust in the guidance of God His Father, and Mary, his beloved
Mother. He felt quite convinced that he was doing the right thing by placing
his infant project in her hands; and in 1921 when the first four young
ladies opted to live together as a community of religious, neither he nor
they knew what turn the events would take. All the same, he placed them
under her care. At this time, Therese was not even beatified; therefore he
could not call them Sisters of St Therese or Blessed Therese. He simply
named them Sisters of the Little Flower of Jesus. And even after she was
beatified in 1923 and canonized in 1925, he desired that they continued to
call themselves, the Sisters of the Little Flower of Jesus. In describing the
special role of St Therese in the work of founding and developing Bethany,
without giving us any details, he used to say, She had helped me in a
manner most wonderful in the founding of this Institute even before she
was canonized.
In his missionary zeal and in inculcating the Bethany Sisters to work
with an ardent desire for evangelization, he says: Bethany Sisters would
30
find in her a model to inspire them in their missionary zeal, and he asked
them to invoke her as Little Sister of the Missionaries, pray of us. He
exhorted them to imitate her and he would kindle their ardour by advising
them to try to win Jesus like her by little acts of love or to try to make
Jesus smile by making little sacrifices out of love for him, and hiding your
pain from him.
His desire was that Bethany remains always poor and detached from
titles and honours like our Lord in his Incarnation. Furthermore he wanted
Bethany to be little, simple and humble like the Little Flower. This is the
crux of the Bethany spirituality, which our Institute has inherited from its
simple and poor founder.
Poverty was to be Bethanys hall mark because it is the mark of the
little ones. We were founded to help the poor to educate poor children,
often neglected by other strata of society, in and through our schools. For
about 20 years we had only elementary schools, because Father Founder
felt that that was the need of the time. Later he realized that these poor
children, at the end of the elementary studies had no way to pursue their
education; so Bethany Sisters provided for their continued education by
opening high schools and training schools in the villages, to take care of
the poor children in our orphanages.
When in the early 1940s, the newly opened Little Flower High School
in Kinnigoly was struggling to find space to accommodate the classes in
the existing available space, the then headmistress suggested to Father,
Let us close the orphanage and use the space for the high school classes.
The Founder unhesitatingly responded, You close your high school and
keep the orphanage. This sentence reveals clearly where his priorities
lay. The school exists for the poor children and not vice versa.
Furthermore, if we really believe we are founded to help the poor,
then we need to examine our living style and see if indeed we are living
poor. If not, the poor who come to us will feel out of place in our rich or
semi rich quarters.
Another point on which Father Founder insisted is that we should be
poor but not dirty. He insisted on cleanliness and neatness. He often said:
A torn and dirty dress is out of place on the person of a consecrated
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religious; but a clean and a neatly patched or mended dress is very

appropriate on a religious who has vowed to live poorly.
Humility was another characteristic for which St Therese of Lisieux
was known. It was her humility that made her think of herself as little. As
sisters of St Therese, we the Bethany Sisters are encouraged and exhorted
to imitate our models littleness. A poor and humble person has to work
for her daily sustenance and livelihood. Furthermore, they may not find
lucrative jobs and they should be willing to undertake any kind of work and
not seek only desk jobs. He insisted that we readily undertake any type
of work - manual or sedentary, whether it be sweeping, laundering of
personal or other clothes. Consequently from the very beginning there
was to be only one class of sisters (No lay sisters to do the common or
ordinary household work or any other material or manual tasks). He insisted
that we be joyful when others are preferred for the prestigious jobs and
we are assigned to do the ordinary, mundane jobs. He often insisted that
if at all we seek anything, let us seek the last place - a position that no one
wants.
All the saints possessed the virtue of humility. Many of us try to keep
our pride in check but we do not really try to attain or grow in humility. As
the Founder would say humility is not just the absence of pride: humility is
a positive virtue. True humility is detachment from self. But we are so
fond of and so close to our dear self. Many prayerful and good people
often think This is my 10th Potta retreat, I feel good, I deserve Gods
blessings more than others etc. These self-righteous and self-enhancing
attitudes reveal a lack of humility in us. We have to move from the attitudes
I want to give God everything to God gives me everything.
Humility demands that we be ready and joyful when others are
preferred to us. Humility begins when we admit that God alone is the Lord.
We are mere creatures the work of His hands.
Humility grows when we accept responsibility for our failures instead
of trying to justify ourselves. Humility reveals itself when others laugh at
us and we too laugh with them instead of getting offended.
There is a power in humility. The more we lower ourselves the higher
we will be raised up. It is by humility that the Lord allows Himself to be
conquered so that He will do all we ask of Him.
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One aspect of Thereses prayer the Founder wanted us to imitate

was prayer for priests. Speaking of the spirituality of the Little Flower
which we proudly claim to share and participate in, our Founder thought it
was befitting that like her we too pray for the sanctification of priests.
When the Church set aside the first Thursday of every month as the day to
pray for priests, he was keen on introducing this devotion in Bethany. He
faithfully celebrated the Mass of Jesus Christ Sovereign Eternal High Priest,
and at offertory we sang the Prayer for Priests. Also we were encouraged
to pray in a special manner for priests on Saturday.
D. His Devotion to the Holy Spirit
Our Founder was born in the last quarter of the 19th century and
was ordained to the priesthood at the turn of the century on March 4, 1900
and did his priestly ministry in the sixty-five years of the 20th century.
When the charismatic movement was strong in the later sixties and
seventies, he had already gone to God in heaven. Yet he was noted for his
fervent devotion to the Holy Spirit, and inculcated this devotion to the
Sisters of Bethany.
Each year, from the day following the Ascension Thursday (earlier
the Feast of Ascension was on a Thursday) until the Pentecost Sunday, he
strongly recommended that special prayers be offered to the Holy Spirit.
He exhorted us to be united to our Blessed Mother and the apostles who
had gathered together in the Cenacle to pray for the coming of the Holy
Spirit. As a tangible sign each morning after Mass we prayed to the Holy
Spirit by singing the sequence of the Pentecost Sunday (Veni Sancte
Spiritus), and all through those nine days he stayed and prayed with the
community, kneeling on the altar step after Mass. Later, he asked us to
pray or sing this Holy Spirit sequence every morning, all through the year
so that the light and guidance of the Holy Spirit will always be with us.
In his spiritual direction to us individually, he would always encourage
us to pray to the Holy Spirit. He would remind us often during the day the
little prayer Come, Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful, and kindle in
them the fire of your love. Send forth your Spirit, and we shall be created
and you will renew the face of the earth.
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Another important event that comes to my mind with respect to the

Holy Spirit is that each year on Pentecost Sunday, after breakfast, around
9 a.m., at the given signal, the entire community of the Motherhouse,
including the newly professed sisters and anyone who had come to the
Motherhouse for retreats, the renewal of vows or on any other business,
would assemble in the chapel. As the clock struck the hour of nine, the
Superior General would enter the chapel with sheets of typed papers in
her hand, stand on the steps near the communion railing and read the
assignment of each sister of the Congregation for the new academic year.
The list included the names of the houses, the names of the superiors and
the community members, their assignments and the departments in which
they would work. There was pin drop silence until the last name had been
read and the reader had left the chapel. Only then the sisters would go to
pack up their belongings and meet the superior and/or other sisters assigned
to her house, and find out when and how they were to go. On that Sunday
a sumptuous dinner was served a farewell to those who were leaving
and a welcome to those who were coming to form the Motherhouse
community.
Devotion to the Holy Spirit was evident in the way every activity was
undertaken; especially spiritual instructions and exhortations followed only
after the Holy Spirit was invoked. Every monthly recollection and every
retreat conference began with the singing of the hymn O Holy Ghost, on
us descend
Father Founders devotion to the Holy Spirit was also evident in the
spiritual direction he gave to individual sisters who came to him for guidance
regularly. He encouraged them to pray to the Holy Spirit for His light and
guidance.
v
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7. Love for Manual Labour

Why did Father Founder insist that we Bethany Sisters develop and
cultivate a love for manual labour?
It was his desire that we be like Jesus in our choices, preferences
and our manner of living. Jesus, though he was rich in every way and in
everything, became poor for our sake. He chose poverty in place of riches,
an obscure and simple life instead of being famous. As a poor person he
chose to earn his daily livelihood by the work of his hand. Thirty years out
of the thirty three years of his life were spent as a working man, as a
carpenter.
Mary and Joseph, the earthly parents of Jesus were poor though not
destitute. As a working family they lived by the labour of their hands. Our
Founder pointed them out to us, so that as a community we may model
our life after them and live by the work of our hands.
Furthermore, Father Founder would remind us time and time again
that we are persons who have vowed poverty, have promised to live as
poor people; and, of course, poor people have to work to take care of
their needs. And even if we have sufficient means to maintain ourselves in
satisfactory comfort, yet we need to work so that what we earn can be a
means to help others in their want and provide us an avenue of service to
others.
India is an economically poor country with the majority of its people
dependent on work to sustain themselves, and a sizable proportion of its
people live under poverty line. In such a situation, how can we, who are
children of a poor country with a vow to live poor, live without labouring for
our own daily bread as well as to help others to have their daily bread?
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An ostentatious way of living does not help spirituality. Poverty of

spirit and a humble manner of living helps us to grow in spirituality. Poverty
is a very good means to acquire humility and it challenges us to make a
right and proper use of the goods of the earth and to be economical and
sparing in the use of what we have.
Above all, Father Founder would point out that work is good for health.
A person who washes her clothes and rinses, wrings out the water out of
them and shakes them well and hangs them on a wash line for drying,
exercises several muscles of her body and need not go to any gym or spa.
v
Mfu!vt!ep!pvs!xpsl!gps!Hpe-!gps!fufsojuz/
Xibu!xf!dbo!ep!nbz!cf!wfsz!mjuumf/!Cvu!uibu!mjuumf!xf
tibmm!hjwf!up!Hpe!boe!Hpe!xjmm!cmftt!vt!bcvoeboumz/
- Mgr RFC Mascarenhas
36
8. Our Models in Manual Work

Jesus the Incarnate Son of God divested Himself of all the divine titles
and privileges He was entitled to, and worked as the son of an ordinary
poor carpenter. Is not this a good enough reason to follow in His footsteps
in loving to work with our hands? After the death of St Joseph, He must
have worked hard as the only earning member of the family to support
Himself and his beloved mother. How can we become true followers of a
working Jesus if we refuse or are reluctant to do manual work like Him?
Secondly, Mary of the Annunciation, the handmaid of the Lord was a
woman who was ready to serve others in their need. She spent her days
not only serving the needs of St Joseph and her son Jesus but she was
also at the beck and call of others who needed her. When she learnt from
the angel Gabriel that her cousin Elizabeth was expecting a child in her
late years, she sensed the need of an older woman in a difficult time and
undertook the long journey by foot to go and be available to her in her
need. We are told that she spent three months with Elizabeth. Those
three months were surely spent in serving Elizabeth and not in relaxation.
Mary, the handmaid of the Lord should be the inspiration to guide the
sisters in their choice of a life of poverty.
Many are the exhortations the Founder gave the sisters of the
community and to individuals in private direction to love all or any kind of
work. He wanted Bethany to be another Nazareth where Jesus, Mary, and
Joseph would feel at home in the poverty and simplicity of their life, and
where the sisters would enjoy a simple life as a result of their hard work
just as the Holy Family of Nazareth did.
The Founder taught by word and example how we sisters should be
like Jesus, Mary and Joseph in every situation, especially in their
relationships to the heavenly Father, by the manifestation of their faith and
trust in His care and providence, and also in the way they prayed, loved
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and supported each other. We often heard him say, For Bethany Sisters
manual labour, as for St Joseph, St Benedict and saints like him, is a
humble way of approaching God. He often quoted and commented on St
Paul`s first letter to the Thessalonians: But we urge you beloved...to
aspire to live quietly, to mind your own affairs, and to work with your
hands as we directed you, so that you may behave properly toward outsiders
and to be dependent on no one (I Thes 4:9-12).
He often quoted St Benedict who certainly held manual labour in high
regard. St Benedict used to say, When they live by the labour of their
hands, like the apostles, they are truly monks. The greater part of His
short time on earth, Gods own Son spent as a labourer, planing wood,
fitting parts of simple furniture, delivering orders and bringing in supplies.
Later when He began His public life, He chose mostly labourers to
form His chosen band. St Paul, though a well educated Rabbi, prided himself
on living by the labour of his own hands. The Fathers of the desert, the
first Christian monks were known to weave baskets to keep busy. More
practically they also raised grain and sent it down to the poor of Alexandria.
Father Founder often in his exhortations pointed out the many aspects
to manual labour. First of all it provides for our needs, and it offers us an
opportunity to serve others, directly and immediately or through the giving
of alms. Furthermore it frees us from idleness and it becomes the directly
chosen penance and an opportunity to make reparation for our sins. He
stressed often how work can become prayer because it is collaborating
with God in bringing His creation to its consummation. Above all, it is a call
to glorify our Creator and the maker of all.
Undoubtedly some forms of work seem to reveal one aspect and
others of another. Our own attitudes will enable us habitually or occasionally
to emphasize one or another of these dimensions. The important thing is
not to fall into a shallow or materialistic outlook, when work is just work or
has only its materialistic goals. Such work is not worthy of those who are
made in the image of God.
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We do have to make a living. Jobs do need to get done. Works of art

have their own intrinsic beauty. Ordering our work to higher goals will not
detract from all this. It will only enhance these ends, incorporate them into
the overall thrust of life, and augment our dedication to accomplishing
them, doing the work to the best of our ability.
We have our work whatever it may be. It will be meaningful for us
only if we take all the opportunities it affords us to serve and give joy to
others. If we reverence the things we work with, and are conscious that
our working with them gives them an opportunity to express themselves
at a higher level through our activity and love. If we share some of the
fruit of our labour with the less fortunate; if we do all for the love and glory
of God, knowing then that our work is part of the transformation of the
whole of creation, including and especially ourselves.
Father Founders emphasis on manual labour was often
misunderstood. The motive was not merely utilitarian. Furthermore, he
did not mean that the sisters should be employed only in household
cleanliness and kitchen work although those activities were not to be ignored.
The emphasis was much wider. For him manual labour meant anything
that is done with the use of or with the help of hands. Accordingly, our
early sisters excelled not only in cooking, gardening, laundering and such
works but also in fine and delicate and intricate workmanship with their
hands. They were experts in lace making of all varieties including pillow
laces, knitting, crocheting, machine embroidery, tatting and many other
types which I am unable to name or to describe.
As a young aspirant in 1935, I was surprised to see Sister Bertilla
and others, making simple canvas shoes for the daily wear of the novices
and others, for home wear, repairing as and when necessary. Sister
Theophila made socks and stockings on a machine; others like Sister
Bernadine made themselves experts in preparing bridal bouquets and floral
crosses and wreathes for funerals. These were only a few items that
came out of the sisters manual work.
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The weaving centre had become well known to many a Mangalorean.

The looms on which were woven towels, carpets, rolls of bandages and
other useful artifacts were praised by many. Bethany was also known for
its preparation of liturgical vestments and other items of use for the altar
and church services. We supplied vestments to the new and old churches,
such as Chasubles, Albs, Altar frontals, Tabernacle Veils. Bethany was
also a supplier of Altar Bread, and many churches of the Mangalore Diocese
were our customers.
To improve this weaving establishment and to modernize its methods,
Sisters Modesta and Rosula were sent to Madras. There they learnt the
use of power looms while living with the Sisters of Franciscan Missionaries
of Mary, at Mylapore. After they were duly trained they returned to Bethany
to be on the staff of our industrial schools in Bethany and at Rosa Mystica.
These industrial schools were recognized by the Government, after the
inspecting officers came from Madras to inspect, to advise, and to help the
sisters to do the things according to right standards. Father Founder seemed
to have a sixth sense to be aware of the direction in which our work should
proceed. I call it the sixth sense but spiritual writers would identify it as the
discernment and guidance of the Holy Spirit which enabled him to guide
the sisters and the Institute in the right direction. Some people were
charmed by the sagacity and wisdom in preparing the sisters to live in the
post Independent India and to work in a post II Vatican Council Church.
Others criticized him for making the religious sisters to be employed in
work which was hardly appropriate for women, much less for religious
women.
The Founder was delighted when sisters brought home medals and
certificates of merit in recognition of their outstanding performance; and
he never forgot to remind them that these were only the means through
which we give glory to God. During the Eucharistic Congress celebrated by
the Diocese of Mangalore in 1938 on Nehru Maidan, an exhibition was held
of all the handmade sacred and liturgical objects. Bethany, of course, won
many gold and silver medals.
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40
9. A Pioneer in the
Option for the Poor
Father Founder was one of the first to send women religious to the
villages, to open schools and orphanages, industrial schools, and
agricultural farms. So much so, often when workers were needed for
such works, people concerned looked for Bethany Sisters. But now in the
post II Vatican Council days, going to the villages is the style; it is the thing
to do. All that we have to do is to rechristen our activity with a modern
name preferential option for the poor. Dr Ramakrishna Achar, a science
teacher in one of our institutions chose to become the headmaster of a
Board School in some village of South Kanara. He often used to reiterate
in his talks to the public, If education in this century has become widespread
especially in the villages of South Kanara, we have to give credit to Father
Raymond Mascarenhas, who founded the Congregation of the Bethany
Sisters, and through them radiated the light of education to remote villages
of India. We are indeed doing the work. However we need to ask ourselves
why we are doing it. As Father Kolvenbach, the former Superior General
of the Jesuits used to say: In the Ignatian spirit of the Spiritual Exercises,
let us ask, not What am I doing for Christ?, but Why am I doing whatever
I am doing for Christ?
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10. Spiritualizing
Even Ordinary Situations
One morning I told Father that I would have to go to the doctor, so I
would not be available for an hour or so. However, I returned much later
than I expected to. Father Founder asked me why I was so late. I told him
that there was a large crowd of patients waiting to see the doctor, and I
had to wait for a long time to take my turn. He asked me what I did while
I waited. I said, I just waited. He asked me what I did when I had to wait.
I replied, I just waited, waited and waited. He suggested that when I
have to wait for something or someone, I must think of something or
someone waiting. The holy souls waiting to see the face of God, for
instance, or Our Blessed Mother waiting for Jesus to be born after the
angel Gabriel had announced it to her. Think of our Lord waiting for you to
turn your thoughts to Him; think of the many elderly persons, bed- ridden
patients waiting for someone to visit or help them, he said.
Father Founder had taught me so well about spiritualizing ordinary
things, that as I grew up I saw other aspects of similar things. About
spiritualizing waiting, I learnt further from others, especially later and
younger writers in the USA I was ready for more teaching and newer
ideas on the spirituality of waiting. Reflecting on the spirituality of waiting,
Henri Nouwen suggests that we think our waiting for God and the waiting
of God for us. In our personal lives, waiting is not a very popular practice.
Hence Father Founders suggestions have helped me much.
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11. The Mission of Father

Raymond Mascarenhas
Father Mascarenhas had said that the love of Christ impelled him,
urged him to undertake this difficult task. Again, he told his Bishop in
speaking of what he was being urged to do, that he felt obsessed with the
project of God. It was an obsession that he could not shake off.
What is this project of God that he was obsessed with, so much so
that he was restless until he could find a way? He prayed to be enlightened,
to be guided, and he consulted his Jesuit Bishop.
What is this obsession? The only way he could fulfil himself as a
priest, is to accept Gods plan or project for himself and for Gods people.
So he prayed again and again for the light of the Holy Spirit to clarify for
him Gods plan given to him. God had placed him already in a couple of
different parishes - as an assistant pastor for short period and then as
pastor of Udyavar and Agrar. He gained a lot of priestly experience and he
did a lot of good in these rural areas. And obedience to his bishop brought
him to Bendur - a barren, undeveloped outlying area outside the Mangalore
town. If in 1914 anyone asked him on his arrival at Bendur What do you
intend to do here, Father? or What are your plans for this undeveloped
area? What would have been his reply? He lived from one day at a time
searching for Gods will for that particular day.
From the time he entered the seminary with a desire to be a priest of
God, his one aim was to be like Jesus who had shown him the way and
who must have constantly inspired him with His constant Come follow
me. As a seminarian and as a priest he must have reflected again and
again on the life and mission of Jesus and made it his own. We can hear
him saying, if not in words, but by his actions: The Spirit of the Lord is
upon me because he has anointed me and made me his priest and
minister......to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim
liberty to the captives, and recovery of sight to the blind and freedom to
the oppressed.
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This was his mission statement.

Here was the fourfold program of Jesus and now it was going to be
his, because he wanted to walk the way of the Lord:
(1)
To bring good news to the poor
(2)
To proclaim liberty to the captives
(3)
To give sight to the blind
(4)
To free the oppressed

The poor are those who lack everything:
* Goods of this world
* Love of significant people
* Dignity of person
In his life as an active priest, and even after his retirement, he worked
towards this. He proclaimed liberty to the captives- the freedom of the
Spirit.
He enlightened the minds of those who needed to be enlightened. He
provided food, education, material things and enlightenment.
He freed people from what fettered them. As a priest he worked
hard for achieving his mission plan. This was the reason for his total option
for the poor - to help them to free themselves from the bonds of poverty,
ignorance and dependence on others, so that they could live as free children
of God. He opened their eyes to the goodness of God and His marvellous
creation. He opened schools to enlighten their minds and set them free
from ignorance. He was touched by oppression of women and the poor
who were voiceless to determine their own future. So he heard the cry of
the poor not only of those who are poor in the goods of this earth, but also
those who are poor in knowledge and are not able to help themselves,
those who are poor in health i.e., the sick; those who are poor because
they are aged and as such marginalized because they are not contributing
members as before.
To bring glad tidings to the poor, Jesus looked with compassion on
the economically poor and also the socially poor. At times, the poor are
also the downtrodden, the oppressed, the afflicted, the forgotten, the
neglected; and it is they who readily accept Jesus` message of salvation.
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Many of these poor are also oppressed directly or indirectly because they
cannot fend for themselves.
Father Founder brought Good News not only to the poor in his parish
but he also set an example for us, Bethany Sisters. First of all he made it
clear that Bethany would not refuse to accept a candidate with a genuine
vocation because of poverty. He wanted his sisters to alleviate poverty
wherever they could and by using any means at their disposal. He sets us
an example of always seeking the lowest place because that is what belongs
to the poor, not to seek prestigious jobs and offices which the poor will
never get, and to seek out those who are left to fend for themselves. He
wants us to champion their cause, fight with them their battles and help
them to win justice, freedom, and love. He himself was on the side of the
poor. He led us and taught us how to go into areas where no one would
want to go, because they are poor areas. He has set us an example of
preference for the poor, fighting for their rights and often getting hurt in
the struggles. And now he tells us, I have shown you the way to do the
work of the Father, like Jesus, for which I was anointed by the Spirit.
If we were to ask Father Founder how we can continue his work now
in the 3rd millennium, perhaps he will answer us in the words of St Paul to
the Philippians: Make me completely happy by having the same thoughts,
sharing the same love and being one in soul and mind. Dont do anything
from selfish ambition or from cheap desire to boast, but be humble towards
one another, always considering others better than yourselves (Phil 2:2-3).
He also was never tired to point out to the sisters, that of all the
sermons that we shall preach, the easiest to understand is the sermon of
good example. It is an ongoing sermon. We cannot always speak, but we
can always witness to the Gospel by our lives. He often quoted St John
Chrysostom who placed the power of example above the power of miracles
and says The conversion of the world took place not so much because of
the miracles of the apostles as because of the holiness of their lives. The
same is true of the Little Flower and many others. Emerson says, What
you are thunders so loud that what you say, I cannot hear. Jesus Himself
appealed to His own example, Learn of me for I am meek, or I have
given you an example; what I have done to you, so you also do. St Paul
encouraged the Christians: Be imitators of me as I am of Christ.
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12. His Training of His Sisters

Father Found gave a solid, practical training for his sisters in dealing
with the inevitable day-to-day problems of community living. The following
are just a sample.
1. If a sister went to the Father in distress and told him that someone
had informed the superior some negative things about her and that she
would like to find out who it was that was destroying her peace of mind, his
primary way of helping the sister was: Dont tell me what has been reported
to the superior about you. Tell me only one thing. Is what is repeated about
you true? If it is true and you are at fault, even if only to some extent, ask
Gods pardon. And if the situation calls for an apology, do it. But dont worry
about who has told the superior or anyone else about it. His favourite frequent
rejoinder was Let the devil himself tell her; that is immaterial. What is
important is if the accusation is correct. Then correct it. If the accusation is
incorrect, let the other be concerned about making a false accusation.
2. In a particular community of our Institute which was somewhat
large, with several departments, there was room for jealousy and there
seemed to have been more than usual amount of speaking ill of others.
Father took an opportunity to visit the community on the eve of its titular
feast. He gave the community an exhortation during which he informed the
community that he had brought a feast day gift which he would present to
the community through the superior. It was a set of four large charts, which
the superior was to hang on the four sides of the recreation room. They
were to remain on the walls until the end of the current school year. The
second part of the gift was his request to the community in remembrance of
this titular feast. He demanded that the community should read each evening
for an entire month as table reading, the third chapter of St James (3:118).The superior hung the four charts on the four walls and the sisters were
curious to read what was written thereon. So after night prayer, sisters
read the words from St Johns Gospel: Let her who is without sin, be the
first one to throw a stone at the other (Jn 8:7).
46
3. From the very beginning, Father created in me a great love for

reading the Sacred Scriptures. Very often when he wanted to express
something, he would do it in the words of the Scripture. If we did not know
how these words applied to any given situation, he would make us look up
the quote in the context and help us to understand its full meaning. Once
when I was a novice Father Founder saw that my habit was badly mended
and not neatly patched or darned. Father pointed out to me that I need to do
a better job at mending my dress. I explained to him that I was not good at
using the needle and thread. My companion and fellow novice Sr Floscula
told Father, Dont believe her, Father. Last year she got distinction in
needlework and a proficiency prize at the end of the year. Fathers comment
was, Is Saul also among the prophets? Since I was not sure of the context
in which this was said, he made me look it up; and I found it in I Sam 10:11.
4. In the early 1940s Father Founder was away in Alwaye, to give a
retreat to the Carmelite Fathers teaching in their seminary. It was September
and we the juniors were about to face the first Terminal Examination at the
college. We wrote a common letter to our Father Founder at Alwaye, almost
an S.O.S, to pray for our success in the Examinations. Promptly came the
Founders reply - an open postcard with a single line on it: I have asked our
Blessed Mother to remind Jesus that `they have no wine.
5. One time, as junior sisters, Sisters Floscula and I were doing some
filing work and cleaning the shelves for Father, all through the morning since
breakfast. Over that week-end Father Faustine de Souza, the Founder of
Sisters of the Holy Family of Nazareth of Sancoale, Goa, was Fathers guest.
He often visited Mangalore and stayed with Founder. It was the time when
his sisters were undergoing novitiate with our sisters. He used to visit them.
About mid-day, Father Founder came out to the hall where we were working
and gave us something to eat. Seeing this, Father Faustine was surprised
and remarked, Dont you think you are spoiling these young sisters. Shouldnt
they learn mortification of the appetite? Quick came Father Founders reply
in the words of St Mathew: How can the guests of the bridegroom mourn
while he is with them? The time will come when the bridegroom will be
taken from them, then they will fast (Mt. 9:15).
v
47
13. His Global Vision

Sometime after convents were opened in Belgaum Mission - at
Santibastwad, Madanbhavi, Balekundri, Chechadi, Nandgad and others,
the sister who was put in over-all charge of all the mission houses wrote
to the Motherhouse informing her that the missionary Father at Belgaum
requests a couple of sisters more to carry on the work. Since in the
middle of the academic year, the Superior General could not find anyone
except two junior sisters - one a Goan and the other a Keralite, she sent
the duo. On their arrival in Belgaum, the sister in charge of the missions
sent an open post card to the missionary priest informing him in Konkani
that two sisters have arrived and that they were complete ignoramuses.
In a day or two the missionary arrived to see and judge for himself what
these sisters could do. After learning that both did not know Kannada,
Hindi or Marathi, and that one was from Goa with hardly any schooling and
the other a Keralite, he contemptuously asked, Could your superiors not
find a Tamilian too, to come with you?
About a week later Father Founder was visiting these missions; and
he was told of this incident as though it was a joke. He was absolutely
dumbfounded that sisters who have chosen Gods service were received
in that manner. He called these junior sisters and with his arms around
them said, These are Gods children; what they know or do not know is
immaterial. They are here to do Gods work. They are Gods children, and
therefore, they are mine. The sisters accepted them without a comment.
Later, these two sisters began visiting the sick in their homes which
were barely huts, giving them bath and feeding them, while the other
sisters who were already missioned there for work were struggling to
open schools for small children, to teach them to read and write and to
catechize them and so on. The poor people who were so grateful to these
two sisters for their kind and charitable services shared with them their
little produce which the sisters took to their community to feed the other
sisters who were already on the mission.
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14. The Bethany Founder and the

Passion of our Lord
Our Father Founder advocated the praying of the Way of the Cross. If
he happened to be in the chapel while we prayed the stations, he joined
us as one of us.
At 3 p.m. each day, with a couple of strokes of the bell, we were
reminded of the dying Jesus, and those who were in the house prayed a
short prayer: We adore your O Christ and we bless you, because by your
Holy Cross you have redeemed the world. Then a short invocation was
made for the well being of the Holy Father: Shield O Lord, our Holy Father
the Pope..
The Passion Triduum (from Holy Thursday to Easter Vigil on Holy
Saturday) was observed with strict silence, recollection and prayer.
Invariably he gave us a conference on the Passion or some other aspects
of the sufferings of our Lord. But most frequently he gave us his reflections
on Popule Meus which was plaintively sung on Good Friday at the Veneration
of the Cross. His reflections were very touching, that even to this day, the
words of the Popule Meus whether they are sung on Good Friday or at any
other time moves me to devotion as nothing else does.
v
Xifo!tvggfsjoh!jt!pvs!mpu-!mfu!vt!tff!uif!iboe!pg
Hpe-!gps!ju!sfrvjsft!hsfbufs!fggpsu!up!tbz
Uiz!xjmm!cf!epof!uibo!up!tbz!J!uibol!zpv/
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15. Developing
Aptitudes into Abilities
Manual labour was not the only area in which the Founder encouraged
the Sisters to develop their skills and be proficient in the cultivation and
use of their gifts. He was keenly observant of the sisters talents and made
whatever arrangement he could to help them develop them. For example
when Sister Remegia from Kerala joined Bethany he lost no time in finding
out that she had a talent for art. He tried to find an art teacher to train her
along with Sisters Agnella and Vida. However, with commitment to college
education, the sisters did not persevere in going too far in their cultivation
of artistic abilities.
Father Founder also arranged with Dr L. P. Fernandes, the C.M.O. of
Father Mullers Hospital, his personal friend and an accomplished musician
to train the Bethany Sisters in reading music notation and to develop and
organize a choir in four voices. He did, and did it expertly. Consequently
Bethany Choir was invited to sing in other places, such as the Cloistered
Carmel for their special feasts. Father Founder also arranged a well-known
musician from St Aloysius College Band to come over to Bethany twice a
week and train Sisters Anysia, Mida and Rosaline to play the violin, and
Sisters Floscula and Violette to play the organ and piano. During the
Founders time Bethany was known for its music.
If he noticed that a young candidate had an aptitude or interest in
any special line, he would encourage her to develop that skill further, and
he would see that whatever help needed was provided for her. I do
remember how he took the trouble to sit patiently at his old Remington
typewriter and taught me, a young aspirant, to type, insisting that I use
the correct fingering from the very start.
Among the many memories, two are particularly etched very deeply
because, I guess they were painful and emotional at that time. They certainly
50
made me go against my easy-going nature. The first may be dated May

1946, a year after I had made my Perpetual Vows. I was barely 23 years
old then.
During the last week of April 1946, as usual, an eight-day retreat
was scheduled for several young sisters. For some this was a retreat to
get ready for their entrance into the Novitiate; for the novices, this retreat
was in preparation for the perpetual profession; for the 6th year junior
sisters, this was to be in preparation for their perpetual profession. In
addition, there were several others who for one reason or another had
missed their annual retreat and had now here at the Motherhouse to make
their retreat. Father Cyril Pereira, SJ, was requested to be the retreat
director and he had agreed.
But to our disappointment and dismay he got ill a couple of days
before the retreat was to start and needed to have emergency surgery. He
informed the superiors immediately that he wont be available to give the
retreat during the first five days, but that he could manage the last three
days. Substitutes were not available since it was during the summer
holidays and the priests from the Seminary and the College were out,
giving retreats or on holidays. Usually in such situations Father Founder
himself would fill in for the absentee. But this time he seemed to be
indisposed or for some other reason was planning for a substitute.
I will never forget the day before the retreat was to begin. He sent
for me at about 4 p.m. and told me that he had a difficulty in finding a
substitute retreat director for Fr Cyril Pereira, SJ, who was hospitalized.
So, he was going to ask me for a favour. He handed over to me a dozen
note books and asked me to write in detail the conferences for the opening
day and three conferences for each of the first five days of the retreat. I
was shocked and frightened and I did all I could to dissuade Father from
giving me such an assignment. However, I have learnt that it was impossible
to make Father Founder change his mind once he had made it up.
His clear directions were that I was to sit in the study hall, close the
doors, not talk to anyone, and write. In the evening of each day, I should
51
give the three written conferences to Sister Celine, our local superior at
that time. She would read each conference at the appropriate time to the
retreatants in the chapel, as though she was giving the retreat. There
was nothing that I could say or do that would change Father Founders
mind; and I obeyed, praying that the Holy Spirit would supply for my
deficiencies and immaturity. Nobody knew about my dilemma. Neither do
they know to this day that I was the author of those retreat conferences.
On the evening of the 5th day, Father Cyril Pereira came over to meet
Father Founder and I was sent for to come with all the note books in which
I had written all the conferences. I did. He thumbed through them and told
me encouragingly that he would have told the retreatants the same things.
He thanked me and said that he would continue the retreat from that
evening.
My second experience of Fathers different assignment was about
eight or nine years later. I was about 32 years old and at the time one of
the councillors to Mother Priscilla, the Superior General. I was spending
the year at the Motherhouse working as her Secretary General and also in
the Founders office. It was a difficult year for me in every way; and I was
finding it difficult to cope, even though hardly anyone knew about how I
felt.
One Sunday evening around tea time, Father Founder sent for me
and asked me, My child will you do me a favour? I dont think anyone
would have the courage to say no to our Founder in those days even if
one was wondering whether what he was going to demand of you was
within your ability to do. He said that he was supposed to go and give a
conference to the community at 5 p.m., but he was unable to go, and so
he was asking me to do it. Then he took out a piece of paper from his
breviary (about 3"x5") on which he had typed the following words from
the Gospel of St John: When you were young you used to dress yourself
and go where you wanted, but when you are old you will stretch out your
hands and someone else will dress you and lead you where you do not
wish to go (Jn 21:18). I was dumbfounded, and thought to myself, How
52
can Father Founder ask me to do such a thing. Im young and inexperienced

in religious life compared to most of them! How can I address a group that
is made up of the Superior General, the founding members and so many
other senior sisters? Bethany was a large community made up of so many
groups including the postulants, student sisters, sisters working in the
looms etc. Fathers mind was made up and nothing that I would say would
make a difference.
I accepted my assignment with great difficulty and went straight to
the chapel, knelt behind the pillar in front of the Sacred Heart statue with
the piece of paper in my hand and wept before the Lord. There was no
time to prepare for anything. So I asked the Lord and His Blessed Mother
(and mine too) to speak for me and through me. When the bell rang the
community crowded into the conference hall. When it was time I went to
the hall and stood before the community like a criminal before its judges.
With the little piece of paper in my hand I spoke for about 40 to 45 minutes
and at 5.45 p.m., I bolted back to the chapel, knelt in the same place again
and wept profusely. Nobody made any comment. Only one person came
after me Sister Clare, the second founding member of Bethany. She put
her arms around me as I knelt there and said comfortingly, in a maternal
tone, You did all right, child; you told us some beautiful things!
This is how Father Founder trained us in obedience and humility. A
few years later, when in the USA, I was invited to direct group and individual
retreats on week-ends and on holidays, one of the Jesuits of the Theology
Department of the St Louis University asked me who had taught me to give
retreats, prayer workshops, and speak on religious and other topics. I told
him how our Founder did not hesitate to put one through the mill. He
smiled and said, He must have been a tough man and he must have
known you were tough to take it. You must have found it difficult to submit!
Then he questioned me, Did we at the University teach you anything new
at all? When I meet him in heaven, I will have to ask him about this.
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16. Bethany is Maligned

Bethany had to suffer a lot from evil talk of others lay men and
women, priests and nuns; most of the time for no reason at all. This fact
that much unnecessary suffering was caused and bad example was
evidenced came home to me when I was a young junior sister barely
nineteen years old. Sister Dulcise Rego hailing from a well known family of
Kadri, Bendur Parish was the first headmistress of St Michaels School in
West Hill, Calicut. She had come to Bethany, Mangalore for a short business
visit, and before she returned, she obtained permission to visit her priest
uncle, Father P. Saldanha who was just transferred to Kuloor Church as
pastor.
I was sent as her companion. It was before the time of city buses
and autorickshaws. We had our lunch early and walked all the way to
Kuloor and arrived there at 3 p.m. The heat of mid-May was just too much
for us, and we were glad to climb the hill that leads to Kuloor Church and
enter the comfortable shade of the parochial house. On our arrival, we
were greeted by a young assistant parish priest. He gave us the disappointing
news that the new pastor, Father Saldanha was only expected to arrive in
a short while to take charge of the Kuloor parish. We could sit down for a
couple of hours and wait for his arrival. Since we had come all the way
from Bendur on foot, we were exhausted, and the shade of the parochial
house and the chairs on the veranda looked comfortable and inviting.
Furthermore, Sister Dulcise had to leave Mangalore the next morning and
she would not be able to meet him for at least another three or four years.
We sat down, and our host, the Assistant Pastor sat down opposite to us
and began to speak about Bethany in none too complimentary terms. For
54
a while, Sister Dulcise tried to speak in defence of our Beloved Bethany,

while I just tried to encourage her by my silent nods. As the time passed
by, we could hear the band playing on the boats sailing the Kuloor River
accompanying Fr Saldanha to his new parish. But the diatribe against
Bethany from the young curate sitting opposite to us, with his legs stretched
on the table in front of him, was louder. I dont remember much of the
negative things he said about Bethany; but I do remember snatches of a
few sentences of his: Bethany will go to the dogs when Fr Mascarenhas
dies. Bethany can never grow and succeed as an institution with only
uneducated servant girls as its members... He was speaking to Sister
Dulcise who had completed her school in St Agnes School, the daughter of
Isidore Rego of Bendur Parish who had given as dowry for this daughter
what had then become Rosa Mystica Convent and the land surrounding it.
He said the Bethany Sisters would end up as paupers when Father
Mascarenhas dies. The only crime of Bethany, according to him, seemed
to be that it was poor; and he did not approve of our Founder who came
from a middle class family trying to model his life as a priest of the poor
Christ.
Luckily for us, Fr Saldanha arrived with the procession of his friends
coming to wish him goodbye. We were saved from further condemnation
of the young priest As soon as Father Saldanha heard that we were
waiting he came over and spoke to us, especially his niece and also to me,
and apologized for the young priests behaviour.
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55
17. An Unforgettable Episode

A short time after he had settled down in his retired position, and he
continued to be the director and chaplain of the Bethany Motherhouse,
something of an unforgettable nature occurred. It was around the time I
must have been a second or third year junior sister, perhaps 19 or 20
years old: I dont remember the exact date. One morning, as was usual
when there was a lot of work to be done, I hurried to the Founders cottage
right after breakfast and morning visit to the Chapel, hoping to type some
of the material at least for an hour from 8.00 a.m. to 9.00 a.m., before
leaving for college. As I entered the Founders house through the main
door, I could see Father Founder having breakfast. However, he could not
see me entering since he sat with his back to the door. Sister Magdalene,
the Minister General was on the right side of the table serving him coffee.
She saw me entering by the main door. I greeted her with a good morning
and moved to the type writer table in the main hall. Sister responded to
my greeting and signaled to me with her hand that I may get on with my
work. Seeing her wave, Father Founder asked her who had come in. Sister
Magdalene told him that it was I. He asked her to call me in. I moved into
the dining room and stood close to Father Founder on his left side. Holding
my hand in his and looking at Sister Magdalene, he asked her as though
continuing their conversation, What do you think? Do you think this child
will fail me? Which side, do you think she will be on? Sister Magdalene
looked at me intently and replied, Oh, no; I dont think she will turn against
you! At this point I was puzzled and I inquired curiously, What are you
talking about? Sister Magdalene replied, Nothing serious or important.
Dont worry. Go now and carry on with your work. I went back to what I
was supposed to do. However, that little episode intruded into my mind all
through the day, and I needed to seek a good opportunity to ask Sister
Magdalene what was meant by what they had said. I knew my opportunity
would come, if not earlier, at least by the end of the day.
56
When there was a lot of typing to be done, I used to go over to

Founders house, during the night recreation time, and use 8 p.m. to 10
p.m. to finish whatever was urgent. Father usually had his supper at 8
p.m. and by 8.45 p.m. retired to his bedroom, bolt his door from inside so
that he was not available to anyone unless it was an emergency. Sister
Magdalene would then relax by sitting on the floor close to my typing
table, with her legs stretched out and read her mail or keep herself busy
doing one thing or another. If she didnt have to wait for me, she would go
over to the convent right away. But while I was working there, she was
careful to wait for me so that I would not have to go alone across to the
convent through the tunnel.
On this particular night, as we were about to leave Fathers house I
caught hold of Sister Magdalene and asked her what was meant by the
mornings conversation. Since she tried to dodge my questions, I asked
her pointedly what Father meant when he asked if I would be on his side.
At first she tried to change the topic, but when she saw that I was adamant
and kept insisting on knowing, she told me, I am not sure what had
happened to Father last night. He seemed to have had a dream or a vision
of some sort; I am not really sure what it is. But he was clearly given to
understand that he would have to suffer much, and lots of disgrace; that
he would be called insane, he would be stripped of all his titles and treated
with much contempt and indignity. He was also given a clear understanding
that there would be division among the sisters, and only a very few would
be on his side. But he seemed to have felt very tangibly our Blessed Mothers
presence. He felt she was giving him courage while saying: Stay with me
at the foot of the Cross of my Son. I will help you. I will give you courage
and strength. However, before you die, I will set right everything, and I
myself will come to take you, and you will die in peace.
I said to Sister Magdalene, I hope Ill be dead before that. As events
turned out I was far away, across the oceans and continents, studying in
the USA when Father died on December 23, 1960. Sister Magdalene had
already gone to God on April 7, 1947 about 7 a.m.
57
During 1946 1947, I was studying for my B.Ed. at St Anns Training

College, and in the first week of April, I was busy answering my public
examinations. On April the 6th, Sunday, late in the evening, a dying Sister
Magdalene sent for me. With great difficulty and gasping for breath, she
took my hand in her feverish hand and reminded me of our conversation
some four or five years previously. With great difficulty, the almost dying
Sister asked me to be kind to Father and be on Fathers side at all times.
After that I tried to forget about that conversation with Magdalene. Looking
back, perhaps I did not believe all that was going to happen.
However, I was reminded of all this later, sometimes towards the end
of 1959, when I received a couple of letters from India written to me in the
USA, by some priests of Mangalore, priests who were strangers to me. In
their short letters they tried to advise me not to have any contact with our
Founder by letter or any other way. They informed me that he was a
disgraced priest, and soon our Congregation which he had founded was
going to be closed. I was deeply pained and shocked to hear such news
from priests who were strangers to me. I prayed about these letters and
finally decided to show them to my Jesuit Spiritual Director at the University.
He comforted me and assured me that nothing was going to happen to our
Congregation. It is Gods work and He has given it birth so that it would
bring him glory. He asked me to put him in contact with a Jesuit Father in
Mangalore, so that he could find out what was going on there. I gave him
the name and address of an elderly well-known Jesuit teaching in the
Seminary. He wrote to him and learnt about the real situation of our Father
Founder. He encouraged me to write to Father Founder at least through
that Jesuit Father. His words were: All Founders have to suffer, sometimes
grievously. Jesus had to hang on the Cross; believe in your Founder and
pray for him and write to him and comfort him.
So I wrote to Father sometime at the end of 1959, almost a year
before his death, expressing my grief and anguish at what he was going
through, and I wondered if he would be there, still alive when I returned to
India after my graduation in 1960. He replied to me through the same
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Jesuit Father who visited Bethany frequently during the week to be with
Father Founder.
In this last letter of Father Founder to me which he had written in the
last week of 1959 but which I received in early January 1960, he said,
Dont worry that I am suffering. I am not alone. Our Blessed Mother is
with me and is helping me. She has promised to be with me till the end. It
is true I am at the foot of the cross, on Calvary. Please do not hesitate to
stay with us at the foot of the Cross. She has promised to be with me till
the end. She has assured me that finally I would die in peace, and she
herself would come to take me.
He also answered my question if I would have a chance to see him
alive, that is, would he be there when I return? In this last letter of his
written at the end of 1959 he wrote, If you come home at the beginning
of 1960 you will see me; but if you come after 1960 you will not see me.
Our Blessed Mother has assured me that I would see the beginning of
1960 but I would not see its close. So he died on December 23, 1960 at
4.30 a.m.
When I returned to Bethany after Father Founders death, the Jesuit
Father from St Josephs Seminary who had been the Founders friend and
his confessor in the last years of his life came to see me. He told me a
good deal about the edifying manner in which Father Founder had spent
the last days of his life. After relating to me the different edifying incidents
of the holy mans life, he sadly commented: The tragic thing was that his
own spiritual daughters had deserted him when he needed them most.
Sister Stella, the community infirmarian who had spent hours at his side
towards the end gave me a lot of information about his last days and
especially about his last hours. Some of them I have related in my book
Unless the Seed Die. From all that I heard from outsiders and the
community sisters, I was able to see that indeed there were people for
him and people against him.
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59
18. Preoccupation with and

Preparation for Death
After the dream or the vision that he had experienced sometime
between 1941 and 1942, he began to be more and more preoccupied with
getting ready for his death. One day he asked me to type something of a
personal nature adding that I was not to mention it until the due time
comes. The text I was asked to type was a list of directives, What to do
after my death! I grumbled at him and said that I didnt like to type such
things. He called me closer to him and said in a gentle tone, Listen to me
my child: After I die, you will be busy crying and will wonder what is to be
done. So, I am doing my little bit to help you all.
In addition to the directives about what to do after his death, he also
wrote his Last Will and Testament, dated March 28, 1942. A copy of it is
attached to the end of my book Unless the Seed Die.
A third thing he did as preparation for death was the building of a
tomb on the right side of the Grotto of our Lady of Lourdes in Bethany. I
reminded him that the people of St Sebastians parish would never let us
bury him in Bethany. When they bade you goodbye in 1931 they had
expressed their desire to bury you in their Church which you had built; and
in response you had said you too wished to be buried at the feet of St
Sebastian, so that you could be part of the parish even after your death.
Humorously he answered, St Sebastians feet astride covers the entire
area from the Bethany Grotto to St Sebastians Church.
After these events he often asked me when I was alone with him,
After my death, please dont forget to pray for me. On one occasion I
replied him, You will not need any of my sinful prayers; you will be joining
the company of Jesus and Mary right away. He said quietly, That is exactly
what I am afraid you would say. To one who has been given much, much
will be required from him. Need I say that much has been given to me, and
much is expected of me? I need the support of your prayers, not only now,
but also, and especially after I die. Dont forget me. He was really comforted
when I promised that I would always remember him in my prayers.
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60
PART TWO
TALKS AND REFLECTIONS GIVEN BY
SR VIOLETTE BS TO THE MEMBERS OF
HER CONGREGATION
19. Why Study or Reflect on the

Life of the Founder?
God our loving Father, when He wished to redeem mankind and work
out our salvation, sent His own beloved Son, Jesus. So Jesus became our
way to God, our loving Father. He told us how much God our heavenly
Father loves us; how readily He forgives our weaknesses; and how eager
He is to see us back in our loving Fathers arms - in his own home. Just so,
when God wanted to sanctify us in a special way or make us holy, He
chose not only a special way for us, the way of religious life, but a still
more special way- the Bethany way. To make sure that we would not miss
the way, He decided to give us a guide, someone to show us the way. That
someone is our Father Founder.
In order to make sure that he would guide us according to His will
and desire, He gave him special gifts or charisms. That is, the spirit of God
took possession of him in a special way and anointed him as His own.
The Founder could have ignored those gifts of grace or the gifts of
the Spirit and not be faithful to Gods call for a special task. But as we have
seen or heard, our Founder did not refuse to comply with or respond to
our heavenly Father with fidelity, as further and further God called him.
Once he put his life in his heavenly Fathers hands to be used by Him for
His own purposes, there was no turning back. Gods calls were incessantly
inviting him, beckoning him to be his instrument, to be available to do his
work. Once he had said, yes he couldnt retract it.
When God calls a person for a project, He doesnt show him the
whole plan at once. When you say yes to the first step and do what He
asks of you, He is pleased to call you to the next step. Let`s take the
example of Our Blessed Mother. When Mary said yes to the angel at the
Annunciation, she did not have the slightest idea what that yes would
63
involve. Therefore, a person moves to fulfill Gods project step by step;

thats what happened to our Father Founder.
Within six or seven years of his coming to Bendur, he had done a lot
of good things for the benefit of the people. He established the St
Sebastians School, the sodality for altar boys, mens and womens sodalities
etc. He still felt God was tugging at his heart to do something for another
segment of society- women and children, especially the girls.
In prayer and by being open to his superiors, he discerned the pressing
needs of his time. First of all he felt that the pressing need of the day was
Catholic education for the poorer classes, especially the girls who were
not provided this education even at the elementary level. Through his
deep spiritual insight and consuming zeal he also discerned another
important need - opportunities for young women desirous of dedicating
themselves to God and His service, to cultivate their religious vocation,
and to be trained for religious life; to foster in them the necessary qualities
and desire to dedicate themselves to God and His service. His sensibility
and responsiveness to Gods grace and to the call of the Holy Spirit, led
him to read the signs of the times and Gods challenges to him.
The will of God seemed to be clear but the way to fulfill it was not
easy. There were a lot of hurdles and obstacles to do what he wanted to
do; and following his inspiration and the guidance of his superiors namely
the Bishop, he took the bold step of laying the foundation of the Bethany
Institute on the first four pillars of the courageous and faith-filled women
who became the founding members of the Institute, on July 16, 1921. The
problems and difficulties did not disappear with the taking of this bold
decision; rather they increased.
The way to God and to the fulfillment of His will seemed to be steeper
and steeper; yet he kept going on, walking along courageously yet painfully
on the road as it was manifested to him by the will of God in prayer and his
superiors directions. What moved him to undertake such a burdensome
task? What made him persevere, despite all the odds stacked against his
progress? I couldnt fathom and I often wondered. He has loved me and
still loves so much that I feel urged to do something for him.
64
One day I questioned him, Even if you have to fight your battles all
alone, even if others, especially your brother priests do not support you?
Yes, the only approval and support I am seeking is from my heavenly
Father and His Incarnate Son, Our Lord Jesus Christ whom I am called to
follow. Then, he took my hand into his, looked into my eyes, and asked
me, Do I have your support? I muttered in embarrassment, What support
can I give you, Father? and turned away from him, feeling helpless, and
started to do the work he gave me.
The words of St Paul which he had made his own have entered into
my mind many a times. Recently I have made it a habit to pray on them:
The love of Christ impels me, urges me, compels me.... And I have
asked myself whether these words are also the basic inspiration of my life
as they were of our Founders. Where did my reflections lead me? First
of all, to say that the love of Christ urges or impels me, I have to experience
this deep love of Jesus in a very personal way. So it is good to ask oneself
the following basic questions:
w
Am I really convinced that God did this out of love for mepersonally, even if I were all alone? How deeply do I feel this
love?
And why did He die? So that I may live no longer for myself but
for Him, who for my sake died and was raised.
As a result I am expected to become a new person, with a new

vision, with a new outlook so that Ill not regard them from a
worldly point of view but as God looks at them; which means, I
look at them not with the question What can I get out of them;
how useful is this friendship, this community to me etc., but
solely to look at everyone as Jesus would look at them with love.
This is what happened to our Founder, and this has to happen to me

if I am a genuine follower of this Founder.
On another occasion, sometime later I asked him, Father, if you
knew that starting a congregation means so many problems, so much
65
trouble and suffering, why have you undertaken this founding work? His
reply was, No, if I knew beforehand such would be the painful
consequences, I might not have had the courage to go through this work.
God doesnt show us the future. He only shows us in whose hands our
future is. He gives us one day at a time. But whatever be the cross He
gives, He will measure us for the cross. He will not try beyond our strength.
God never abandons us. Our Blessed Mother and the saints whose protection
we seek - St Joseph, the Little Flower, the saints of Bethany, will always
be there to help and to support us. What we need is deep faith to believe
that absolute unshaken trust that they will help us.
Another reason why we should know and reflect on our Founders
life is because the founding of the Congregation is not over. He laid the
foundation but the total project is of God which is yet to be over. The
founding sisters cooperated with him; they helped him to build on the
foundation by living their daily life in accordance with what the Founder
taught them. The early pioneering sisters carried on the work of founding
or tried to build on the foundation laid by being faithful to the blue print or
plan of the architect, the Holy Spirit and the Founder who was entrusted
with this work.
In the year 1932, on July 28, the Church, through the Representative
Bishop V. R. Fernandes issued a Decree of Canonical Establishment of
Bethany. By granting this approbation the Church declared that this is the
work of God, and it is proceeding according to the holy will of God. It was
not a declaration that the work was finished. No wonder it made the Founder
and the early pioneering sisters very happy. Bethany became a Religious
Congregation according to the Churchs law. Four months later, on
November 21, 1932, on the feast of the Presentation of Our Lady, the
Founder presented each sister with a printed copy of the Constitutions.
The novitiate was opened on May 15, 1933.
Generations of sisters have contributed to the building of the structure
and the development of this project of God, so that it has been moving on.
The founding of our Congregation is not over. But the workers are different.
66
New workers are stepping in to continue the work of the founding, year
after year, month after month, day after day, just like the Olympic Torch
that has to be passed on from one given team of sister to the next.
To do this well and successfully we need to know:
w
What was the plan of God in choosing our Founder to start this
work?
How does he show us the way to respond rightly and promptly to

the Holy Spirit?
What were the supports and helps he has given/offered to us

and what were the hindrances and troubled spots he encountered
in carrying on his work?
What were the means he used?
His prayers and devotions
His patron who supported him
His characteristic way of handling situations which were helpful

or were hindrances
The pluses and the minuses
In other words, we have to know him well, and through and through.
How do we get to know him?
By studying his life, which includes studying:
1.
His techniques, the means he offers and by accepting his suggestions.
2.
How he trained and prepared the early sisters to carry on this work.
3.
What he taught.
4.
How he taught.
67
The Church says, we should go back to the founding charism, so that

we can continue this work just as he would like us to do it. How did he do
it? Why did he do it? The Church tells us through the II Vatican Council, to
renew our Institute, that we must go back to the spirit of our Founder and
to learn from it how to go about.
By professing vows to God in this Congregation we are proclaiming
publicly:
w
That we believe in this Congregation and believe in its Founder;

and we know he will lead us to the Lord who called us.
That by living this life we are choosing a way - a way to holiness.
That we accept the means offered to us by this Congregation,

not only to attain our own salvation and sanctification, but also to
help others to attain theirs.
By studying and reflecting on the Founder and his life, we will

know how he worked, how he prayed and made this Congregation
an instrument of salvation and sanctification to many. We want
to do the same.
In these words we want to be the founding members in this

period of the millennium, and we want to learn from him what
helped him in his founding journey.
Finally, why should we know our Father Founder?

The II Vatican Council tells us that we should get back to our roots if
we want to renew our Institute and renew ourselves. The primary thing in
renewal is to learn why he ever founded at all. Who would be in a better
position to tell about it, if not our Founder?
v
68
20. His Love for Mary

A servant of Mary shall never perish, says the mellifluous doctor of
the Church, St Bernard. If there was one unique characteristic that was
striking to the onlooker of the spiritual life of Father Mascarenhas, it was
certainly his devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary whom he lovingly addressed
as Our Mother. His filial devotion to her was manifested not in this or that
particular devotion but in any devotion that was in any way related to her.
Nevertheless, he was always seen praying the Rosary; especially
after his retirement, it was a familiar sight to see this aging old man sitting
in his arm chair with his Rosary in hand praying to her day in and day out.
He never tired too, of encouraging others to pray the Rosary. In particular,
those Sisters of Bethany who were not fortunate enough to have sufficient
education to go to the Scriptures for their mental prayer, he would
encourage them to follow the life, death, passion and the resurrection of
the Lord through the mysteries of the Rosary. He wanted to make sure
that other people would enjoy the Rosary as much as he did; therefore he
set the fifteen mysteries to music in the Konkani language and he loved to
hear the sisters and the children sing them while praying the Rosary.
All her feasts were days of special graces to him. Painstakingly did
he prepared himself for each and every one of them; and also encouraged
others to do so. He never forgot the novena days of the most important
feasts and even in advanced age he needed no reminder for this. He was
very delighted when the sisters prepared the liturgical celebrations with
suitable hymns and made these feast days to stand out among the week
days.
There was nothing he would not do to honour our Blessed Mother. To
popularize devotion to the Mother of God among the people of God he
69
translated the Little Office of the Blessed Virgin Mary, and the Little Office
of the Immaculate into the Konkani language and made it available to

them at a very nominal price. To spread her knowledge and to develop
love for her in all people he also translated into Konkani A Few Minutes
with Mary on Saturdays and Imitation of Mary. He also popularized several

hymns in her honour by translating them into the vernacular. The following
are among them: Naman Aunkuar Moriy, Aunkuar Rani Dabajechi, Eiya
Thor Anjano, May Moje Bhov Mogal, Aichea Disa May Bhov Sobit, Ha!
Deest Sobit, Sokkod Sangatha Melliam, Dees Raat Ga Tum Atmea Moja,
Moriy May Mogal, Sorgim Pata Thaun, Ha! Kosol Val Dukachm, Porja
Hi Bontoni, Kalja Moriychea y Kotavin Kalja, Soglea Soktin Tujea, Gupt
Gulobha Kursa Fula, Ostri Boladhik y Tum Bochaavechea.
When the Congregation of Bethany was founded on July 16, 1921, he
consecrated the entire project to the Blessed Virgin Mary and made her
the primary patroness of the Institute. The feast of Annunciation was made
the principal feast of the Congregation and the words of our Blessed Mother
Ecce Ancilla Domini were given to the sisters as their motto and inspiration
in the service of God and neighbour.
After the Congregation was officially recognized by Rome as a religious
Institute, the first group of novices, 17 of them, were all given the religious
names in honour of the Blessed Virgin Mary. They were all taken from the
different invocations to the great Mother of God.
It was a familiar sight even in his later years to see the old man
hurrying towards the Grotto of our Blessed Mother at the Motherhouse
with a letter in his hand. Those who knew his habits could usually predict
that he had received very happy or very distressing news. In either case
he wanted to accept it from her hands and thank her for it.
He introduced different ways of honouring our Blessed Mother among
the Bethany Sisters, so that there was something for everyone, and to suit
the various temperaments. There was the devotion to the Mother of
Sorrows, First Saturday devotions to the Immaculate Heart of Mary, A
70
Few Minutes with Mary on every Saturday, the Seven Stations of the Seven
Dolours, the Stabat Mater and so on. There were candlelight processions
and outdoor Masses at the Grotto of our Lady on the Feasts of the
Immaculate Conception and Our Lady of Lourdes. The October devotion to
the Rosary and the May devotions with the praying of the Rosary and the
singing of the Litany of Loreto was something that he looked forward to.
His love for our Blessed Mother was not confined only to external
practices. Rather these external practices were the expression of his interior
dispositions. Many are the sisters, who have approached him for spiritual
consolation in one or other difficulties of life, when, among other things he
would ask them: Will you refuse to be at Calvary with our Blessed Mother?
You may suffer, but you wont be alone. You will be with Jesus and His
Mother.
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21. His Missionary Spirit

On March 4, 1900 Father Raymond Mascarenhas was ordained priest
of God and from the very start of his priesthood, he understood that his
primary task was to spread the word of God and work for His Kingdom,
wherever he was to be sent.
During the first three years after his ordination he served as assistant
pastor in a couple of parishes. Then in 1903 at the early age of 28 he was
appointed pastor of the Udyavar Parish. The thing that awed him most
was not the responsibilities placed upon him but the fact that his lips could
now speak divine words of absolution, his hands could be extended over
others in the act of blessing, and that he could preach the word of God
with authority, and could enkindle the fire of love in the hearts of his hearers.
He was completely unaware, however of the lofty plans God had for
him. The angel of the Lord must have said at his birth: And you little child,
you shall be a prophet of God, Most High; you shall go ahead of the Lord to
prepare his ways before him.
The parishes, to which he was sent as assistant pastor, or as the
pastor with full charge as of the Udyavar parish, were very poor. However
his zeal found enough scope so that already in the second year of his
priest-hood he had started two sodalities, one for boys and the other for
girls both of which became the nurseries for many vocations to priestly
and religious life.
The poor people of the Udyavar parish to which he was sent as a
pastor remember him and remark that the young and enthusiastic Father
Mascarenhas devoted himself to the service of the poor and ignorant people.
His activities in this parish included the building of a church to accommodate
not only the people of Udyavar but also of Udupi who had no church of
their own, visiting the sick and the sorrowing in their homes in fair weather
or foul, in rain or sunshine. He was especially concerned about the poor
72
farmers living along the river side, whose huts got washed away during
the monsoon rains.
His zeal for souls was outstanding. It was an essential ingredient of
Father Mascarenhas spirituality. He was never tired of working for the
extension of the Kingdom of God. So deep was his concern to make Jesus
Christ known and loved, that he spared no effort even at the expense of
his own health and well-being. Every problem he encountered every need
he saw, whether it was the construction of a church or the establishing of
a lay association, was considered from the vantage point of the souls to be
saved. He knew how to speak of religion simply to the simple people who
were touched by his words. At the same time, there was no lack of vitality,
or originality or witticism in his eloquent sermons. A man who heard him
preach several times remarked: Here is a saintly priest full of love of God
and divine wisdom. He possessed the energy and zeal of a true apostle in
whom the love of Christ burned brightly.
As a youngster, he was asked one day why he wanted to be a priest.
His prompt answer was, To be good and to teach others to love God.
Even then it was quite clear to him why he must become holy. This was no
easy task for him, for he was a quick-tempered and a strong-willed boy.
For the sake of souls and for the love of God he practised self-discipline
and mortification. For the sake of souls he imitated the virtues and
dispositions of his models Jesus and Mary, St John Bosco, St Therese of
Lisieux and St Francis Xavier.
However, his unrelenting work, even when it was for souls was not a
nervous, arbitrary compulsion, driving him into a ceaseless whirl of activity.
He recognized the value of work as a powerful weapon against useless
and empty thoughts, but work was more than a defense or an end in itself.
He did not build schools or chapels for the sake of exhibiting his building
genius or just to have great architectural plants. These were only the
external means of bringing souls to God. He was not dismayed if some of
his plans failed, or if buildings collapsed or if creditors hounded him for
payments. A man driven by compulsions or ambition would easily become
agitated, lose his temper, or become arrogant when crowded in on all
73
sides by the presence of so many undertakings, and the necessity of finding

means to execute them. But our Founder worked for God; so he remained
calm.
When God chooses a person for a special mission he confers upon
him special gifts to achieve that mission. He not only chooses, but sets
apart and dedicates the person to himself. Furthermore, he engages the
person in his own work.
Consecration inevitably implies Mission. These are two facts of the
same reality. When God chose Raymond Mascarenhas to draw others to
him, and sent him to do his work, He set him apart by choosing him to be
a priest so that he could be sent to lead others to God and to attain holiness.
Father Raymond as a priest of God was deeply committed to the mission
of Christ. Like Jesus Himself he was called for others. He seemed to have
understood his mission clearly by the time he was in his mid-thirties, and
as a fervent priest, he immersed himself in the work of the salvation of the
world with the Incarnate son of the Father.
Father Raymond was a firm believer in Alfred Tennysons couplet:
More things are wrought by prayer than this world dreams of. Therefore
he cultivated the habit of prayer and prayerfulness as every disciple of
Jesus should. While travelling, during his free moments, or while taking
walks, he was accustomed to pray the Rosary or his Breviary. A special
characteristic of his personal love of Christ was an ardent devotion to the
Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Holy Eucharist. His letters were usually
signed with some reference to the Sacred Heart of Jesus or the Immaculate
Heart of Mary, such as I leave you in the Heart of Jesus or I commend
you to the care of our Immaculate Mother.
The depth of his interior life which nourished his apostolic life, was
reflected in his attitude to and at prayer. He was frequently observed to be
on the choir loft of the Motherhouse chapel absorbed in prayer or sitting
on the verandah of his house, Rosary in hand, head bowed down, deep in
recollection. He was speaking out of his own personal experience when he
advised his directees: Our ordinary everyday life should supply our interior
74
life with constant nourishment. External things, happenings, and

circumstances, should serve not to break down rather to build up the
union of the soul with God and to act as so many opportunities for virtue
rather than for weakness or imperfection. Or as he advised a sister principal
of a high school: In doing good, never seek applause from the world or
approbation from superiors and companions, but do it solely and exclusively
for God.
Before all else, he was of God as all true disciples of Jesus are. His
entire priestly ministry to others was an overflow of his own inner spirit of
love and dedication to Jesus Christ who had called him to be his disciple
and work in his vineyard. He drew strength for his work from a life of
prayer chiefly centred on devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, the Holy
Eucharist and Blessed Virgin Mary.
After he retired from the busy life of a Vicar General one could find
him praying for a long time after Mass in the sacristy and on the evenings
either on the choir or in the sacristy. In his later years when he could no
longer climb the steps leading to the chapel, he would sit on the verandah
of his house facing the chapel window through which he could see the
tabernacle light.
It was his deep spirit of prayer which prompted him to urge the
Bethany Sisters to have the perpetual adoration of the Blessed Sacrament
both day and night. It is due to his training and example that the Bethany
Sisters never leave the house or return to it without first paying a visit to
Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament, the true head of the Bethany family. Another
practice he inspired in his children is to stop at the chapel for a short visit
after a meal or coffee/tea break.
Devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus was one of the offshoots of his
devotion to the Holy Eucharist. As a boy he was enrolled in the Apostleship
of Prayer and the Confraternity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. This devotion
became more tender and profound as he matured in years.
As a priest, he was a tireless promoter of the devotion to the Sacred
Heart of Jesus, recommending the observance of the First Fridays of the
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month in his honour, the Holy Hour of Reparation, the Litany of the Sacred
Heart and the Act of Consecration. He encouraged the practice of the
enthronement of the Sacred Heart of Jesus in all the homes in his parish.
Immediately after the foundation of Bethany the Sacred Heart of Jesus
was enthroned in their modest home. At his urgent recommendation an
act of consecration to the Sacred Heart of Jesus was made in every house
of the Congregation on all the major feasts of our Lord and on the
anniversary of the Bethany Foundation. The love and mercy of the Sacred
Heart of Jesus was the dominant theme in his daily conversations, his
spiritual guidance and in many sermons and conferences.
Our Founder was not born poor by Indian standards, but following
his Lord and Master, he made himself poor in order to identify himself with
the people Jesus loved most. Just like Jesus, our Founder could say I have
come to preach the Gospel to the poor. The target group of his mission
activity was the poor and that is what he wanted the Bethany Sisters to do
to make the poor, the target of their apostolic activity.
In his conferences to the Bethany Sisters he would wax eloquent in
cataloguing the blessings of poverty how it is the highest expression of
humility. Poverty he would say is the first class ticket to the heart of the
Lord. But he insisted that poverty was not penury.
He was very detached from material possessions. He had very few
things for his use and they were old. As a parish priest he made it his
habit to visit the poor in their homes. He offered them comfort and
consolation and acquainted himself with their needs, so that he could help
them in any way he could. Sometimes he tried to get others interested in
the poor families, when he himself could not provide them the necessary
help.
His compassionate charity knew how to help a person without
humiliating them. He paid the rent of the families who were poor, who
were about to be evicted by their landlords; he sought work for the
unemployed; found homes for the children of indigent families, and when
no schools were willing to receive these children, he himself opened new
schools and orphanages; and as we know when he could not find teachers
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to teach these children, he founded the Bethany Congregation, so that he

would have teachers to teach them and care for them in orphanages.
During his later years when he had retired from all works, it was
difficult for him to help the people still coming to him for help. He simply
had no means to help them. Often he asked the superior of Bethany to
help them as much as possible if not with cash at least by providing them
with some work as a means to earn their livelihood. Often he wrote to his
friends and begged on the poor persons behalf to provide work for them.
Pope Paul VI speaking of the preachers of the Gospel said, Our age
is thirsting for sincerity and honesty. Young people in particular have a
horror of falsity and hypocrisy, and they seek above all, truth and clarity.
Further he adds, The world expects and demands of us a life of simplicity,
the habit of prayer, charity towards all especially children and the poor. It
expects obedience and humility, forgetfulness of self and abnegation. If
these signs of sanctity are wanting, our words will not reach the hearts of
men and women of our time. Father Founder lived this mandate several
years before they were spoken.
As is expected of a priest, Father Mascarenhas was a true preacher
of the Gospel in word and deed. He was a disciple of truth. As a preacher
of the Gospel he learnt to be forgetful of self even at the cost of great
personal sacrifice. He lived true to his convictions even if it meant suffering
for what he believed. He sought to preach the truth even after he retired,
by translating into the vernacular, the Scriptures, the office of the Blessed
Virgin Mary, devotional hymns etc. He did all he could even in his old age
to bring the people to God and God to his people.
Among all his evangelical works none can surpass his founding the
Congregation of the Sisters of the Little Flower of Bethany. His apostolic
ministry and evangelical activity would be perpetually assured. No wonder
he often said, Bethany is my crown and glory. Of course, there is no
crown without the cross; so Bethany became the arena for much of his
suffering. It was for and because of Bethany he found his crosses and
tribulations.
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In Redemptoris Missio our Holy Father John Paul II says that the Holy
Spirit is the principal agent of any mission activity. Therefore, our Founder
always listened to that Spirit and allowed Gods Holy Spirit to mould him
into a fit instrument for the work of Christ.
Missionary spirituality also demands that you live the mystery of Christ,
the one who was sent by the Father. Such a life demands a deep intimacy
with Christ. The missionary follows the same path on which Christ walked,
so that finally you end up doing what he did. The mystery of the Incarnation
and redemption which is a total self-emptying and which led Christ to
experience fully his human condition and to accept totally the Fathers plan
was the model constantly before him.
Therefore it is required of a disciple of Christ to strip himself of any
attachment to authority, leadership positions, friends etc. The self-emptying
and poverty made him a fit man for the Fathers mission, very much like
Christ.
Because Fr Mascarenhas was always convinced that he was sent
by the Father for a task to be done, and because he was assured Do not
be afraidfor I am with you, he persevered in Gods mission to the end.
A deep love of God, the God who loved him so much that he became
Incarnate and became his way, the truth and the life, was his passionate
love. It was this deep love in him for his Lord that helped him undergo any
pain, any humiliation or face any cross. When asked why he wanted to do
this or that when it brought so much pain and suffering, he would reply in
St Pauls words Caritas Christi Urget Nos (the love of Christ impels me).
He experienced so deeply the profound love of Jesus for him that he wanted
to do something in return. No missionary can survive the demands and
requirements of the mission unless he is passionately in love with Him
whose disciple he or she is.
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22. On Prayer and Silence

A life of prayer in his opinion was not a life in which you said many
prayers. For him a life of ongoing prayerfulness was more important than
reciting an abundance of prayer formulas. However a life of prayerfulness
demands a person be recollected and there should be an atmosphere of
quiet and silence about the person.
He did not mean that noise and speaking is sinful; neither did he
intend to imply that all silence is virtuous. However, I think he was of the
opinion that a lot of disturbing noise in the convent, whether it be the
banging of doors or blaring of Televisions, Radios or just talking loud, can
be traced to a lot of confusion and turmoil. Apart from the disquieting
effect noise has on the nervous system, there is a still more serious effect
on how the soul cannot hear the still, small voice within; nor can it recollect
itself in the midst of the bedlam of its own mind.
Of course it is true that it is possible, despite the external noise, to
listen and hear God in the silence of ones heart but it is not easy. In our
ministry and apostolate we have to learn to become oblivious of the turmoil.
We may have to rise above the turbulent restlessness of created things
and spend some time each day in silent prayer.
But he wanted the community to provide for an atmosphere of quiet
and silent recollection and draw down the strength and nourishment their
souls require. This is where, the sisters who feel the need of silence,
peace and quiet can rest like Mary of Bethany rested at the feet of the
master, eager to hear all he has to whisper to them and be strengthened
for another day of ministry in the apostolic field.
And so, he was insistent that silence be observed in places and times
assigned for it because silence was the means to prayerfulness. It was
because of this he also insisted that all be present for recreations and that
recreation can be a help to keeping interior silence at other times.
He often pointed out in his conferences that the one thing needed to
reform any religious house that has fallen into lukewarmness is to enforce
strictly the rule of silence. Lack of silence and failing to control ones tongue
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can ruin a community life in short order. Charity quickly diminishes and
recollection and fervour decline. If any person offends not in word, the
same is a perfect person, says St James. So, once a religious sister has
become mistress of her tongue, she has advanced a long way on the road
to perfection.
Silence is not an end in itself; it is a means to being recollected- an
aid to concentration and to love. To be recollected ordinarily means that
one is silent, and one must be recollected in order to pray. It is interior
silence that matters most. The imagination, the emotions, the memory,
and most of all the desires can speak also and unless they are silenced,
there is no real recollection.
Father would speak of the silence of the eyes and explain about the
disturbances caused in the soul by the confusing and useless images that
enter through these windows of the soul. Silence of the imagination was
another of his pet themes. He would say guard against those interior
fantasies and feelings that destroy your recollection and take possession
of the heart.
Silence is a lonely thing, and if it can exist anywhere in our noisy
world it certainly has to exist in the religious homes and we must do all we
can to cultivate it. Silence of the tongue and heart and mind all are
absolutely necessary for our life of prayer and contemplation to be Mary
of Bethany. Our Blessed Lord advanced in wisdom and in grace in the
silent hidden obscurity of Nazareth.
To remain recollected one must cultivate and grow in interior silence.
One must retain a silence of judgment avoiding being critical. One must
guard the silence of ones mind, never uselessly dwelling on vain or worldly
thoughts. One must keep the silence of her will wishing for nothing but the
accomplishment of Gods will. Like Mary of Bethany, we should listen silently
and let the Holy Spirit breathe into us so that we may experience the
peace and quiet joy of His silence.
He pointed out that the Bethany Sister would find a model of silence,
recollection and prayerfulness in Mary. Our Mother would teach us how to
treasure the sacred secrets of her Divine Son in the holy silence of a
tranquil soul. He often quoted St Gregory who said: A person given to
much talk will never make any great progress in virtue.
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23. A Man of God and a

Man for Others
A hundred years ago today, a young man of 25, was ordained a priest
of God. For the next 60 years he tried to live this identity to the hilt. He
impressed those who came in contact with him as an exemplary and fervent
minister of God. He executed his day to day services to others in a godly and
godlike manner. We, his Bethany daughters are naturally proud of him, and
have no hesitation to look upon him as a man of God. But how did he impress
his contemporaries- his superiors, fellow priests and others?
Sometime in the 1940s, when he was no longer the Vicar General of
the Diocese, the rector of the Alwaye Carmelite Seminary wrote to the then
Bishop of Mangalore requesting him to send them a priest- a genuine man
of God, to preach a retreat to their faculty. The Bishop and his consultors
had no difficulty in finding a man of God in their diocese; they sent Father
Mascarenhas off to Alwaye to preach the retreat to the holy Carmelites.
Four decades later on December 23, 1985, I had been to the Bishops
house with a copy of the biography of our Founder which I had written. It
was released on that morning after the celebration of the Eucharist to mark
the 25th anniversary of his death. After the introductory remarks, the Bishop
wanted to know about our celebrations that morning. Knowing that he was
referring to the Silver Anniversary of our Founders death, I replied, It is 25
years since our Founder died and we had a beautiful liturgy and a sumptuous
buffet breakfast. Today, it is also the 20th anniversary of the promulgation of
the Decree on the Renewal of Religious life which asked all religious to
return to the spirit of their founder. Quite seriously he asked me if I had
written our Founders life. When I said yes, he wanted to know whose
names I had mentioned in it and what I had written about them. I told him,
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that in addition to our Founders name I had mentioned Bishop Victors

name. He was eager to know what I had said about him. I replied that I said,
Both Fr Mascarenhas and Bishop Victor were very holy men of God, but
both were stubborn as mules. He smiled and said, Yes, thats true!
Then I asked him, Do you believe that our Founder was a good and
holy man? Yes, indeed. Do you think he suffered much and his suffering
was redemptive? He said, Very much. Thats all I have written. At the
time of his death in 1960, Bethany Sisters numbered around 450/500. Now
in 1985, they number 850/900. There are more than 400 sisters who have
not seen the founder or experienced his love or holiness. Dont you think we
the older members of the community have an obligation to share with them
what we know of our Founderthat he was a man of God, and how he
spent himself in Gods service? Thats all I have written. Then I gave him a
copy of my book beautifully wrapped as a Christmas gift.
Not only do we have the testimony of the Bishops but also of all those
whose lives he had touched in one way or another. As the news of his death
on December 23, 1960 spread through the city, exclamations could be heard
that a holy priest was dead, a man of God was dead.
As a man of God he lived by faith. It was a much tested faith. For
example, the decision to found, direct and organize a group of women religious
must have raised many questions and doubts in his mind. Will these first
four persevere? Do they have faith in my dream? Will they prove strong
pillars of rock or piles of sand which the waters of tribulation would wash
away? Will their faith in God and in him be strong enough to withstand the
problems that accompany such a venture?
Furthermore, he lacked physical, material or financial resources. Also,
he could hear discouraging and adverse comments from all around him.
Many of the lay folk and even some of the clerics were doubtful if his work
would last, and openly commented that Bethany would not last beyond Father
Mascarenhas life time.
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When I was writing a short history of Bethanys growth and

development, I had mentioned in it how the public did not believe that this
work would last. One of my American Jesuit friends a historian of much
acclaim was interested in reading my manuscript. At the end he remarked
to me: Sister, you cannot blame those who doubted this work. Not every
day do you hear of an ordinary parish priest starting a religious Congregation
from scratch. This is an unusual grace of God and it was received and used
with a lot of faith.
His faith was nourished and strengthened by his profound spirit of prayer.
When people speak of the achievements of the Bethany founder they generally
enumerate and expatiate upon the wonderful things he said and did for God
and his people. Of course what he did was tremendous and praiseworthy. But
more important is to know who he was especially in his relation to God.
He was a man of prayer and he spent quite a bit of time communing
with God despite his heavy parochial obligations and training the members
of his future congregation. Those acquainted with him point out that he
spent much time before the Blessed Sacrament in addition to praying the
Rosary and the Breviary. He celebrated the Eucharist very devoutly and spent
a very long time after Mass in thanksgiving. It was evident that the celebration
of the Holy Mass was special to him. When he traveled he maintained the 24
hour fast as required at that time, in order that he might offer Mass on his
arrival. Even in his advanced years he was used to spending long hours
before the Blessed Sacrament completely unaware of what was happening
around him.
He demanded fasting and penance from himself but not from his sisters.
He wanted them to be the sisters of the Little Flower and encouraged them
to live a life of simplicity. He encouraged the sisters to develop a contemplative
attitude and guided them toward such prayer. However he did not discourage
those who found fruit in a lot of vocal prayer.
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His prayer was practical and it blossomed into many devotions. The
Blessed Virgin Mary was mother to him. Whatever he undertook, he did only
after seeking Gods will and her good pleasure.
His devotion to St Joseph and St Therese too was exceptional. He
loved and prayed to St Therese even before the cause of her beatification
was introduced in the Church. He committed the Congregation he was about
to start to her care and gave her to the sisters as their model and patroness
even before she was beatified.
His love and respect for priesthood was outstanding. He encouraged
the sisters to pray for priests and introduced the practice of Priests Thursday
- the first Thursday of every month when a special Mass and prayers were
offered for the sanctification of priests.
He valued his priestly vocation and appreciated the dignity of priesthood
in every way. When he was sick and hospitalized he asked the sisters attending
on him, Please remember Im a priest of God and keep me covered properly
if I am not able to do so.
He was a man with a mission and a message. He was obsessed with
the desire to establish Gods kingdom of love, truth, and justice in the heart
of every person he came in contact with and in each person who became
his collaborator as a Sister of Bethany. And in this work, his one model and
exemplar was Jesus, the Son of God who became man and went about
spreading Gods kingdom of love on earth. Naturally he studied his life and
tried to learn from him and emulate him in every way.
He was moved by the Incarnation of the Son of Godhow He gave up
His divinity to become like us. His love for Jesus in the Eucharist was also
responsible for his ardent desire to have the perpetual adoration of the
Blessed Sacrament in the Institute. He wanted some sisters to fulfill the role
of Mary of Bethany sitting at the feet of Jesus while others were busy like
Martha serving the Lord in their fellow human beings.
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Like Jesus he tried to spread Gods kingdom of love. Like Jesus he

wanted to tell all, especially his parishioners and his Bethany daughters how
much and how profoundly God loved them; and therefore he led them to
the Gospels. He was concerned too, that the people could not participate
effectively in liturgical services because the Latin language was unintelligible
even to the educated class in India. He did his level best to explain the
services to the people beforehand or while they actually took place. In his
later years, he translated the daily Missal and the Holy Bible into Konkani so
that people could participate in a more personal way.
The exhortations and conferences to the Bethany Sisters were mainly
based on the Scriptures. His only aid in giving the conferences was a Missal
or the Bible. His letters always carried many quotes from Scriptures.
Like Jesus he was a man of sorrows. He had his share of suffering. In
addition to the usual suffering that accompanies the daily living of any priest,
he was called upon to share in the Paschal Mystery of Jesus in other ways.
The work of founding and establishing a Congregation of religious
women in addition to the establishment of a new parish, and its three schools
was not an easy task. But to do all this with limited means and hardly any
outside help was certainly a miraculous venture. Someone once remarked,
The distinguishing feature of the Congregation founded by Father
Mascarenhas is that it is purely Indian: the work of an Indian priest, with
purely Indian materials and Indian means. While this can be a matter of
consolation and gratitude, it was also a source of a lot of anxieties and
deprivations.
As tensions between the Bishop and his vicar general developed and
increased, he was asked to choose between being the director of Bethany
and the vicar general of the Diocese. By being director of Bethany he had to
be content with suffering, loneliness, a quiet and hidden life in the cottage
on the Bethany Motherhouse grounds where he lived the last 20 years of his
life in obscurity. A friend of his from Bombay while visiting him remarked,
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Monsignor, you are wasting your life on these sisters, to which he replied,
Ill not only waste my life for them, Ill lay down my life for them.
His suffering towards the end of his life became very painful. Bethany
too was growing and expanding as an institution and it became necessary
that he gave up more and more control over the institution. The last three
years of his life were lonesome and desolate. God permitted that he be
stripped of everything material possession, status and power, and personal
affection. A well known Jesuit who used to visit him regularly, remarked
about this period of his life: His greatest suffering came from his own
spiritual daughters who, to all purposes had deserted him. And he added:
Thats how Jesus too suffered: his beloved disciples on whom he had pinned
all his future hopes abandoned him; the greatest suffering indeed!
The amazing thing about him is that even at this time he never
complained or blamed anyone. His love for God and Gods people was tested
and tried so that it could be purified.
He loved not only God but also Gods people. He was a priest of God
and a priest to minister to and serve others. All his life, as a parish priest, as
the founder of Bethany and as a retired priest his concern was the welfare
of others. His basic principle of life was What can I do for you? Whether it
is a sister, a lay person, a poor man looking for help or work, he never sent
anyone away empty handed. When he could not provide work for them
through the superiors of Bethany, his good old stand-bys were the Jesuit
Fathers, especially the directors of the St Josephs Asylum workshop in Jeppu
to whom he could give a letter begging work on behalf of the poor man
before him.
When he was pastor of the outlying village parishes he would make
the children and the women of the parish stay back after Sunday Mass for a
while and teach them to read the Konkani language. For this purpose he
had written and printed a couple of booklets. One of them was Poilem Pustak.
Recently one of our sisters was relating that her aged mother is very grateful
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to Father Mascarenhas who taught her to read the Konkani language with
the help of his books so that in her advanced age she was able to enjoy the
weekly Raknno.
It was his initiative and forethought that led to the opening of so many
schools in the villages which at the time were non-existent and the remote
villages were inaccessible for lack of transportation.
Our time is short and it is impossible to do justice to the person and
works of a versatile personality such as Mgr RFC Mascarenhas. Suffice it to
say, that:
*
Wherever he saw a wrong, he tried to right it.
Wherever he saw a need, he tried to meet it.
Wherever he saw some hurt or pain he tried to heal it.
Wherever he saw hatred, he tried to overcome it with love.
Wherever he saw rejection, he tried to give acceptance.
Wherever he saw ignorance, he tried to provide knowledge.

He loved God as a Father and Mary as a Mother; and he wanted to tell
everyone that we dont have to feel orphaned as long as we love God and
our Blessed Mother Mary. This is our Founder, a man who loved God and
who loved Gods people.
Thanks, Eternal Father, for the gift of our Founder.
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PART THREE
SR VIOLETTES LETTER TO
MOTHER MACRINA BS
(SUPERIOR GENERAL FROM 1959-1977)
24. Sr Violettes Memories

in a Letter
Sacred Heart College
Belmont, NC 28012
July 10, 1970
My dearest Rev. Mother,

You have asked me to write some of my memories of our dear Father
Founder. I have started to do so ever so many times since your letter
arrived last week; but before I have finished a paragraph I have broken
down and wept and have been unable to proceed. Today I am bent upon
sending you at least some of my thoughts.
In my memory Father Founder is someone who is very much alive for that is how I saw him last on the day I left for the USA for the first time
in August 1956. As I turned back to catch a last glimpse of him before
boarding the aircraft at Bajpe on that August afternoon, I caught the sight
of him that will always be alive in me. There he stood with his right hand
raised to bless both of us who were on our way to an unfamiliar land to be
among unfamiliar people. That will be my picture of him always until I see
him in heaven - a very enthusiastic man sending his spiritual daughters on
new ventures on behalf of the Church, but he himself ready to beg Gods
blessings on their undertakings.
I had a premonition that I would never see him again; so on the eve
of our departure to the USA, I had been to him to ask him for a souvenir.
I told him that I would like to have something that belonged to him,
something that he had used for a good while, something small enough
that I could carry with me. With his usual good humour he replied that he
knew something that would meet all those requirements and that he would
like to give me. He continued that years ago, when he was a young pastor
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at the Agrar parish, he used to use heavy leather boots in the rainy season
to cross the fields. He had used them for a long time, and he thought they
were small enough to be carried. I was exasperated at his humour and
said to him that my request was a serious one and that boots would be
cumbersome to be carried to the USA, and besides, I may not be allowed
to keep them with me. He continued to joke and said: Why not? I will
write it in my will that you should be allowed to keep these boots. Finally
I gave up arguing and said, What I want is something small like a little
medal or a torn handkerchief. At that he remarked, All right; we shall see
what can be found. Late in the evening he came over to the convent from
the grotto area to look for me. He had brought me his favourite medal, the
medal that the Holy Father had given him during his first visit to Rome as
the Vicar General of Mangalore and which he never ceased to wear on his
watch chain. On one side of it was the picture of the Holy Father, Pope Pius
XI, and on the other side was that of Don Bosco, his favourite saint, at
whose canonization process he had been present in Rome.
Father Founder was more than a founder to me. He was a friend to
confide in, a companion to converse with, a guide to seek counsel from, a
boss to work for, a model to imitate, a saint to draw inspiration from, and
above all, a father to love and by whom to be loved. During my years at
Bethany or at Santa Cruz, hardly a week passed by when I did not see him
either for work or just to talk to him. The year just prior to leaving for the
USA (1955-1956) was spent at Bethany during which I worked for him and
saw him every day. Many were the hours I had spent talking to him or
hearing him talk. From the very beginning of my life in Bethany, there was
no question, however silly or insignificant, that I would hesitate to ask him,
since I was quite aware, Father Founder considered no question beneath
his dignity to be asked of him.
On one occasion, when I had just finished typing some letters for
him, I made bold to clarify some rumours I had heard from those senior to
me in the Juniorate. Many were the versions of the stories going round
about how Father Founder had seen our Blessed Mother, and how she had
dictated the Rule of our Congregation to him. Skeptic that I was, I needed
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to know the true version. Our conversation went something like this:
Sister Violette: Father, if I ask you a question, will you give a true
answer?
Father Founder: (playfully) You ask the question, and if it deserves
an answer, I will give it to you.
Sister Violette: Yes, I have a good question and I know it deserves
the answer; may I ask?
Father Founder: Yes, what is it?
Sister Violette: Some Sisters say you have seen our Blessed Mother;
is it true?
Father Founder: (seriously) What difference does it make whether I
have seen or not? You still love her, dont you?
Sister Violette: Yes, but I would like to know how she looks, and you
can tell me about her. They say she told you what to write in the Rule; is
that true?
Father Founder: Will it help you in any way to know that she made
known her will to me?
Sister Violette: So, you heard her voice, but you did not see her as
a person; is that it?
Father Founder: What is important is faith and trust in her not her
person or her voice!
Frequently, Father used to take along the late Sr Floscula and me
with him to Rosa Mystica when he went over to supervise some of the
constructions there. On one such occasion, it was raining very hard, and
we could not get outside the house. Father was resting in his armchair and
we were sitting on either side of him. For a change, all three of us were
very quiet watching the huge rain drops coming down in such quick
succession. After a while, seeing him in a pensive mood, I asked him,
Father what are you thinking of? Quick came the answer, without any
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hesitation, I am thinking how to love God more in my children, and how to

love my children more in God.. Then he looked at the torrents of rain
water falling down the corner of the roof, and said, The rush of water like
that should remind you of the torrents of Gods graces that are given to
you each day. This water flows from here all down those fields and makes
a great deal of vegetation grow. In the same manner, that rush of grace
can make you grow in many virtues.
One morning at the end of the Mass, he sent for me into the sacristy,
and asked me to come to his cottage right after breakfast because he
wanted me to type some urgent letters. Accordingly I was there before
8.00 a.m., waiting for him in the main hall reading the MADRAS MAIL.
Actually when he came from behind, I did not notice him. His first question,
therefore, came to me by surprise: What are you thinking of right now?
I said, I dont know. He inquired further, Are you thinking of the Holy
Communion you received about an hour ago and making your thanksgiving?
I replied, I always find it very difficult to make thanksgiving after Communion,
day after day, without any distractions. He immediately pointed out that it
should pose no problem if we use different means at our disposal. For
example, he said, Take the prayer: `Behold O kind and most sweet Jesus.`
In faith, believe you are in the presence of God and tell him to behold you
there. He always could make prayer so practical and within the reach of
anyone.
Many were the times when I had the privilege of travelling with him.
He was always thoughtful and considerate of those with him. On one
occasion Sister Bertha and I were travelling with him to Madras. Mother
Priscilla, the then local superior of Bethany had given us directions about
taking care of the old Fathers needs. As we approached Cannanore, I
opened the thermos and asked him if he would like to have a cup of
coffee. He jokingly remarked that I must be pretty thirsty and must be
needing a drink of coffee and insisted that we take that coffee and the
refreshments, adding that young people needed more food than do the
older ones.
94
I could go on and on speaking about Father Founder and my memories

of him. But economy of time and postal charges will bid me otherwise.
Indeed, he loved Bethany and its members dearly; but I was privileged to
share his unique paternal affection. Perhaps it was my human weakness
and limitation, perhaps it was my youth, or it could have been my stupidity
that made him love me as no one else could, with that tender spiritual
solicitude that I will never find again in any other person. In the midst of
many a youthful fears, his was an encouraging voice to me. His abiding
faith compensated for my doubts and hesitations. His unshaken confidence
supported my uncertain groping, and his profound love taught me how to
be cheerful and generous in sacrifice.
In the years that I had to spend away from my own Congregation,
my sisters, my family, my country, and from all that was dear and familiar
to me, I have always felt close to him; he has been close to me through his
letters up to 1960, and closer still by his spirit after that. In facing difficulties
alone in this distant land, his words of advice often whispered to me when
I was a beginner and junior, has been my counsel: If our Blessed Mother
was willing to stay on Calvary with our Lord on the Cross, would you
refuse to be there? And while you are there, if some of his precious blood
trickles down on you, dont you think you should consider yourself
privileged?
Therefore, Father Founder of Bethany is not dead. Mgr RFC
Mascarenhas body may lie buried in the Church of St Sebastian, at Bendur;
but he is truly alive to those who have faith. He is alive in Bethany in all the
sisters who live his spirit and carry on the work he had begun. I seem to
see him everywhere in Bethany, in what he has done, what and for what
he has suffered, in those whom he loved, in those who made him suffer.
Long live our Father Founder in Bethany and through Bethany for the
glory of God and the extension of His kingdom of love to the four corners of
the globe.
I remain,
Truly a grateful member of Bethany
Sister M. Violette, BS
95
Eucharistic Celebration at St Sebastians Church, Bendur, Mangalore, on the occasion of the

Recognition of Mgr Raymond FC Mascarenhas as Servant of God, June 16, 2008.
A photo taken on the occasion of Opening of the Diocesan Board of Inquiry-Cause of

Beatification and Canonisation of SD Raymond FC Mascarenhas, August 17, 2008.
Most Rev. Aloysius Paul DSouza, Bishop of Mangalore, addresses the gathering on the occasion of the
5oth Death Anniversary of SD Raymond FC Mascarenhas, in St Sebastian Platinum Jubilee Hall, Bendur, Mangalore.
The Mortal Remains of SD Raymond FC Mascarenhas were exhumed and transferred to a new tomb
in the new extension of St Sebastians Church, Bendur, Mangalore, on December 16, 2013.
People pray at the new tomb on the occasion.
The interior of St Sebastian`s Church, Bendur, built by Mgr Raymond FC Mascarenhas.

People attend the Eucharistic Celebration on the occasion of his 49th Death Anniversary.
His Eminence the Late Cardinal Lourdusamy inaugurated the Memorial of Mgr RFC Mascarenhas
on July 16 1996 at Bethany Generalate premises, Mangalore.
From Left to Right : Most Rev. Aloysius Paul D`Souza, Most Rev. Basil S D`Souza, His Eminence Cardinal Lourdusamy,
Rev. Sr Agnella BS, the 7th Superior General of Bethany.
A Grotto of Our Lady at Bethany Motherhouse, built by Mgr Raymond FC Mascarenhas.
1. Bethany Convent (Motherhouse) Mangalore, built by

Mgr Raymond FC Mascarenhas.
2. A portion of the new Convent building,
built after the death of the Founder.

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REMINISCING IN

Asian Trading Corporation

All Rights Reserved

Published by Brenda Fernandes for Asian Trading Corporation,

Meet the Author

The Purpose of Reminiscing at a Later Stage in Ones Life

Bethany and the St Sebastians Parish

Bethany Sisters of the Little Flower of Jesus

Why a Womens Congregation and Not a Mens Congregation? 20

A Prophetic Person or Just Ahead of His Times?

Father Mascarenhas and His Devotions

Love for Manual Labour

Our Models in Manual Work

A Pioneer in the Option for the Poor

Spiritualizing Even Ordinary Situations

The Mission of Father Raymond Mascarenhas

His Training of His Sisters

His Global Vision

The Bethany Founder and the Passion of Our Lord

Developing Aptitudes into Abilities

Preoccupation With and Preparation for Death

Why Study or Reflect on the Life of the Founder?

His Love for Mary

His Missionary Spirit

On Prayer and Silence

A Man of God and a Man for Others

Sr Violettes Memories in a Letter

Meet the Author

In 1971, Sr Violette was awarded Grants by the National Science

meditation points, writing the review, monthly recollection, Mass, sacrament

1. The Purpose of Reminiscing

2. Bethany and the

3. Bethany Sisters of the Little

4. Why a Womens Congregation

Chapter and therefore he did not participate in any of our discussions or in

6. Father Mascarenhas and

satisfaction for me to celebrate my own chosen feast day of Mary. It is

In 1914 when he was assigned to found a new parish in Bendur he

religious; but a clean and a neatly patched or mended dress is very

One aspect of Thereses prayer the Founder wanted us to imitate

Another important event that comes to my mind with respect to the

7. Love for Manual Labour

An ostentatious way of living does not help spirituality. Poverty of

8. Our Models in Manual Work

We do have to make a living. Jobs do need to get done. Works of art

The weaving centre had become well known to many a Mangalorean.

11. The Mission of Father

This was his mission statement.

To bring good news to the poor

To proclaim liberty to the captives

To give sight to the blind

To free the oppressed

12. His Training of His Sisters

3. From the very beginning, Father created in me a great love for

13. His Global Vision

14. The Bethany Founder and the

- Mgr RFC Mascarenhas

made me go against my easy-going nature. The first may be dated May

can Father Founder ask me to do such a thing. Im young and inexperienced

16. Bethany is Maligned

a while, Sister Dulcise tried to speak in defence of our Beloved Bethany,

17. An Unforgettable Episode

When there was a lot of typing to be done, I used to go over to