SISTERS OF THE ADORATION OF THE BLESSED SACRAMENT (SABS)
The Congregation of the Sisters of the Adoration of the
Blessed Sacrament (SABS) was founded officially on 8th December 1908, when the
first members received the religious veil at St. George’s Church Edathua. It
had its origin in the personal experience of the Eucharistic love and presence
of the Venerable Mar Thomas Kurialacherry (1873-1925) the first bishop of
Changanacherry and Rev. Mother Francisca de Chantal (1880 – 1972), the first
member of the congregation. The community life of the members for the SABS
congregation has begun at the Cattle shed at Edathua of the Servant of God
Puthenparambil Thommachen, who was known as ‘Kerala Assisi’. The beginning of
the first convent was on Dec.10, 1908 at Champakulam in the district of
Alappuzha in Kerala state in South India.
Mar Thomas Kurialacherry, even from his childhood earnestly
desired to have a group of people to adore Holy Eucharist, the supreme
expression of the love of God to mankind. The long hours spent before the
Blessed Sacrament in the Perpetual Adoration chapels instilled in him a deep
personal relationship with Jesus in the Eucharist and an ardent desire that the
Holy Eucharist be known, loved and adored by all, always and everywhere. He was
attracted and influenced by the word of God “I am come to cast fire on earth;
and what will I, if it be already kindled?” (Lk.12, 49). He wanted to bring all
the people to the true faith and adoration which he considered would bring
victory over the ignorance, faithlessness and adultery prevailing in his home
land Kerala and in India.
Following his ordination on 27 May 1899 Fr. Thomas
Kurialacherry returned to Kerala as an enthusiastic young priest with the
desire to begin the congregation. During a Sermon on “Devotion to the Sacred
Heart” in his own parish of Kalloorkad church in Champakulam, a young widow,
Philomina Vallayil experienced an unusual kind of joy and peace within her.
After the sermon she met the priest and expressed her desire to accept
religious life to adore the Lord. He in his turn hoped that she would be the
right person to work with him to establish the new congregation that he had
visualized. He enthusiastically blessed her saying “You have come to me today
like a Chantal going to Francis de Sales and a Clare going to Francis of Assisi
and your aims and intentions could be materialized only by Almighty God and His
blessed Mother". (Autobiography of Mother Chantal)
Father Thomas, well aware of the risks and challenges
involved in the founding of a new religious congregation, with a unique
charism, placed himself totally into the arms of God with absolute trust and
gave spiritual directions to Philomena and other girls who wished to join the
congregation. When he was the Vicar of Edathua, a neighbouring parish, he
accommodated them in a cow shed of Puthenparambil Thommachan on 29 January
1908. It was their first abode, so that they may grow in a spirit of poverty
and humility from the very beginning. Indeed, the congregation is fortunate
enough to have its origin in surroundings similar to that in Bethlehem, that
they felt privileged to imitate Jesus, the poor of Yahweh so closely.
On 8th December 1908, the first six members
were given the religious veil as a sign of aspirants formally accepted in to
religious life, thus marking the birth of the congregation. On 10th December
1908 the aspirants were shifted to the first convent at Champakulam. Amidst the
preliminary hardships, he built a temporary shed for the convent and school
there. In 1911, by the divine providence Father Thomas was appointed as the new
bishop of Changanacherry and thus was able to conduct the vestition of the
first five aspirants of the congregation on 10th December 1911 as his first
official function. Hence the new congregation was recognized and accepted by
the founder himself. On 18th March 1916, the members made the religious
profession at the Parel Church, Changanacherry.
The mustard seed that was planted in 1908, sprouted and
flourished and the members grew in spirit and strength under the guidance and
patronage of Bishop Thomas Kurialacherry. He was called to his eternal reward
on 2nd June, 1925 at the time of his visit to Rome. At the time of his death,
the congregation had nine convents, seventy-three professed sisters, sixty-one
novices and thirty-five aspirants.
The growth of the congregation was being fast and steady; the
sisters were thrilled to reach out to all parts of Kerala to make known Jesus
in the Eucharist. Later Rev. Fr. Francis Sales CMI was appointed as the
President of the Unification process to help the congregation in the tedious
job of amalgamation. It became a reality on 15th September 1963 when Mother
Espirith was elected as the first Mother General of the Unified SABS
Congregation. Thus, the long-cherished desire to be united into one was
fulfilled. Cenacle, the Generalate at Aluva was blessed on 18th March 1969 by
His Eminence Cardinal Joseph Parekattil, the Archbishop of Ernakulam and is
rightly called the powerhouse of the congregation, the force that binds all the
sisters together.
A day to be written in golden letters in the history of the
congregation is 11th February 1968. Holy Mother the Church officially accepted
the constitution of the congregation and raised her to the Pontifical status.
His Eminence Cardinal Furstuinburg, the prefect of the sacred congregation of
the eastern rites did the proclamation of it at a solemn function in Cenacle,
attended by dignitaries like His Eminence Cardinal Parekattil, Rt. Rev. Joseph
Caprio, the Internuncio, Msgr. Rici, Msgr. Duprex, several Bishops, numerous
Priests and Sisters. Thus, SABS became a pontifical congregation and the
revised constitution of the congregation was approved on an experimental basis.
It was rather a turning point in the history of the
congregation to move out to other parts of India to extend God’s kingdom and to
make known the Eucharistic Lord. At the request of Bishop Hubert D’Rosario, the
then bishop of Dibrugarh in Assam, a group of sisters from Pala Province
stepped out of Kerala to the far plunged North Eastern state of Manipur on 3rd
December 1965. Thus, the first house outside Kerala was established at Hundung
in Manipur. It was a leap into the darkness but paved the way to open more
houses in the North.
Now by 2017, we have 11 Provinces in Kerala
and 7 mission provinces and 3 regions outside Kerala in India. The fruitful
missionary activities in India inspired us to venture into the whole world to
make known the compassionate love of the Eucharistic Lord. Thus, we have
missionaries in Germany, Italy, USA, Switzerland, England, Nepal and in East
Africa. In 2016 the mission region in East Africa became a province with 89
sisters in 22 convents distributed in Kenya, Tansania and Uganda.
Today about 5000 SABS are the witnesses and
transmitters of the Eucharistic Love throughout the world in 10 countries,
drawing everyone to the Holy Eucharist. To make Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament
known, loved and adored, we are engaged in different apostolic activities like
Eucharistic, Education, Healing, Social and Family apostolates. The vision of
the Founder and the Co-Foundress is still continued to ignite many a mind and
is sure to shine on in the years to come.
The Process of Beatification and Canonization of the Founder
of SABS Mar Thomas Kurialacherry was initiated in 1983 and the ‘Position’ on
his Heroic Virtues was submitted for the approval of the Sacred Congregation of
the Canonization of Saints in 1996. It was studied by a team consisting of 8
Theologians and a Promoter of Faith and he was officially declared Venerable on
Aril 2, 2011 by Pope Benedict XVI. The tomb of Venerable Mar Thomas
Kurialacherry at the Cathedral church Changanacherry is a pilgrim centre where
the people of God pray fervently the prayer of intercession. Now we are
prayerfully waiting for two first class miracles through his intercession to be
accepted and acknowledged by the Congregation of the Saints.