Ministry of Religious Formation and Priestly Training

    Getting proper candidates and giving them appropriate formation is a great concern. The vocation promotion is carried out by the members of the community, especially the vocation promoters of the province. Yuvodaya, started in 2007 engages in this promoting ministry. It is a movement for promoting ministry among the youth and children.

    Initial formation in the province was carried out in two aspirants’ houses and one novitiate house: St. Joseph’s CMI Bhavan, Palakkad, St. Thomas Ashram Kozhinjampara, Arul Malar Illam, Saravanampatty and Little Flower Minor Seminary Saibaba Colony (later it was shifted to Kaundampalayam) were the formation houses where our first year aspirants studied in different periods. Now the first year aspirancy is conducted at St. Thomas Ashram where aspirants are given an orientation course along with language studies. Candidates are taught Tamil, the language of the place and English. In different periods, the seminaries at Kozhinjampara, Saibaba Colony and Kaundampalayam served as formation houses for the second and third year aspirants. For the last 30 years, they attend the plus two courses at St. Thomas Higher Secondary School, K.K.Pudur. In 2009, as part of the longstanding desire of the province to give quality education and formation in our own charism to our aspirants, Little Flower Seminary was shifted to Pollachi. From 1982 Preshitha College, later Arul Malar Illam at Saravanampatty served as our Novitiate House. In 2006 the novitiate house was shifted to Arul Illam, Velanthavalam. From 2003 the novitiate formation is twinned with that of Devamatha Province, Thrissur. To assist the provincial and to coordinate and harmonize the formation programme, a formation coordinator is appointed.

    The thrust given to learning Tamil and pastoral ministry among Tamil people is a distinctive mark of our province. The decisions to send our students to Deepaham, Madurai, for their college studies and to Santhome Home, Chennai, for theology and our fathers working in Tamil parishes are some of the concreat expression of this thrust.

    Our mission to empower the poor and the marginalized through PSS, ASSO and frontier ministries have influenced the members of the province especially the younger generation and their formation. We know, for several years students from Dharmaram had their live-in experience in Pollachi and Attappadi.

    The present challenge of the province is a timely formation of the younger members. They should be ready to “launch into deep” (Lk. 5: 4), into the depth of their vocation and of the social reality to which they are sent. Imbibing the charism of the Founding Fathers of our congregation who combined a life of profound prayer and availability to the people they should constantly learn from the life-style of Jesus who was always in union with the Father through prayer and close to the people in their needs.

    Endowed with a charism and trained in skills some of our members are remembered for their service in formation. Fr. Dunston, was an icon in this regard and a great source of inspiration for all. Fr. Antony Puthanangady was the director of the Institute for Formators – Vinaya Sadhana, at DVK, Bangalore. Through systematic planning and hard work of his team, it has developed into the status of giving M. A. in Counseling and Psychology. Many of our members render their invaluable services at Dharmaram in the formation of scholastics. Fr. Eymard Uruvath had rendered services in the field of formation to the women congregations like CMC, FCC, CHF, OP and CSM for many years. The names of Frs. Egidius Chirayath and Martin Kidangan are also worth mentioning in this regard.