It seems that the parents send their children to
hostel because they find it difficult to control
them or give proper guidance. When we visit the
families we do not find the children there, except
the babies. Even the parents do not know where
their children are wandering, what they are doing
and the children do not heed to their parents.
Families of Sagalee parish used to invite the priests
and sisters to visit their houses and pray for them
especially when some one is sick, or when they
have a problem. Even in the prayer time we do not
Sagalee mission station is around 80 kms away
from the Bishop’s house, Itanagar. It takes more
than 4 hours by jeep to reach this place. There is
no bus or train to Sagalee. It is one of the oldest
missions of Arunachal Pradesh. There is a church,
a secondary school and hostels for boys and girls.
Besides, there are 24 villages or substations under
this mission. Fr Kulirany is a committed missionary
and works hard to run and develop the mission
station coordinating the various activities there.
One regent brother and Sacred Heart Sisters of
Assam Province assist him in various ways.
Since some of the teachers of the school had
gone home to write university exams, I was asked
to teach English, Moral Science and General
Knowledge in classes IV, V and VI. Some 30 years
before I began my priestly ministry in Jai Amala
Mission, Harsodan, Ujjain by being a class teacher
in class I. There were 145 students in the hostel
and to maintain discipline there and to make the
students study is a herculean task. The students,
in general, do not have any motivation to study.
usually see children above the age of ten – boys
or girls; they may not be there or they may be
playing outside. Similarly we do not see them in
the Church for Sunday Mass. When we go for such
prayer in the houses, we used to sing hymns, pray
some prescribed prayers, Divine Mercy Rosary, etc.
Usually before the prayer, the head of the family
will narrate the problem or the intentions for
prayer. They will place some rice and some money
SANTHOME MISSION
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