Mary is usually depicted as serene and calm in her demeanor. After getting the good news from the Angel that her cousin Elizabeth, has conceived in her old age, Mary makes haste to visit Elizabeth, to be of service to her and gives her time for three months in loving companionship to her, in her hour of need.
When Jesus looked at Zaccheus on the tree, and informed him that he will pay visit to his house, Zaccheus made haste and came running down the tree, full of excitement that the Wonderworker – Jesus, was coming to his house.
The vast Mary Hill campus now divided into Maryhill Convent, Vijaymari and Bal Yesu Nilaya, had lot of grass in the compound. In the months of February - March this grass was dry, full of fire hazards. Once there was a terrific fire near the cemetery. Sister Virgilia, the Superior of Maryhill was alarmed. But the novices, sisters and boys of the Infant Jesus School, sisters and students of Vijaymari, all rushed in haste to the spot and saved the situation, by quenching the fire with water and branches of green leaves.
Since there is a lot vegetation at Maryhill, there are also poisonous snakes living on the campus. The workers have their residence at the end of the compound. One night, when the boy took his tiffin from the convent to the workers’ residence, he was bitten by a snake. The boy had the presence of mind to come running to the convent and inform the sisters. Fearing that it may be a poisonous snake, he was rushed with haste to Father Muller Hospital. With quick experiments it was discovered that the snake bite was a poisonous one. It was confirmed on the next day by the presence of a dead viper near the stable. Due to quick diagnosis and treatment by the doctor and nurses the young boy’s life was saved, though he had to be hospitalized for some days. Praise the Lord!
Some years ago when I was at Vijaymari, we used to wash our clothes in common. Sister Miriam Clare was in charge of the laundry. She had extracted her tooth on the previous day. The next day she felt better and saw to the boiling of clothes before washing. It meant staying near the firewood range, lit with fire. At night she started bleeding and it did not stop. We hired a taxi and took her to the dentist- Dr. Saldanha at his residence on the Lighthouse Hill Road. Dr. Saldanha attended to her immediately. Sisters waited there till the bleeding stopped. The doctor said that if we had delayed by half an hour she would have collapsed. We thank God for saving the life of our sister.
When I was a Provincial Councillor during the time of Sister Noelle as the Provincial Superior we organized a mission camp at Wada, Gardolli. We had to go through the forest in order to reach the two villages occupied by the Siddhi tribe who were Catholics. It was a job to teach Catechism to the children during the day and adults at night. They were also trained in performing dances and dramas as a means of strengthening their faith. The Gurkar of the Ward thanked us on the last day saying, “You came to live among us in this jungle and helped us to grow in the love of God. Thank you”. Later on, at the next camp they requested us to act out the Life of Christ and we were happy to train them. Some years later I wanted to see my friends at Wada. God gave me the companionship of a social worker, a young girl working in that village. So with zeal we dared to walk across the forest, on the trodden ground. On the way we heard the sound of some men talking. But they were villagers returning from Haliyal. The people were thrilled to see me. I felt like St. Paul, visiting his fellow Christians in the early church.
When our sisters were living in Yadoga, Sister Fides took me to a remote village Ramapura. She narrated an incident in which a villager was followed by a tiger and to save his life, he dropped a mackerel and ran. When the tiger was still following he dropped another mackerel, thus continuing this process till he reached the village. God saved us from tigers and gave us the joy of meeting the Christians in the village. Inspired by Christ the Evangelist, we made haste to reach out to the people and God saved us from all harm.
During my stay at Stella Maris convent a boy of our Kannada Primary School, met with an accident outside our campus. The people around the place came to the rescue and shifted the boy to a hospital in Mangalore. On hearing of the sad incident the sisters of the school rushed to the hospital. With prayers and proper treatment by the doctors and nurses the boy recovered. Meanwhile the students and staff offered earnest prayers to God and through self sacrifices collected the money to pay the hospital bills. Mary Star of the Sea gave new hope and life to the student of Stella Maris Higher Primary School.
Our parishioner Mrs. Nancy D’Souza a highly diabetic person, had to go for dialysis every week. Our community showed concern towards this lady through prayer and contribution from the sacrifices made by the community. She died suddenly as she was starting to go to the hospital for dialysis. The neighbours and sisters rose to the occasion. The sisters and novices joined hands in giving Mrs. Nancy a decent and meaningful final farewell.
When Jesus comes to call me to heaven, I have to make haste and be ready to go “Here I am Lord, since you called me.”
Sister M. Rosetta A.C.
Stella Maris Convent