Andhra Pradesh, India. On 18 February 2018, His Lordship DD. Chinnabathini Bhagyaiah, bishop of Guntur, opened and blessed St. Claret Dhyanashram, a residential Retreat Centre, at our Bhattiprolu mission in Andhra Pradesh. On the same day, during the solemn Eucharist, 46 faithful were conferred the Sacrament of Confirmation.
The Claretian Missionaries are inspired by the Charism of being “Servants of the WORD” and are committed to the ‘Service of the WORD’ using all possible means. “St. Claret Dhyanashram” is a fresh initiative in our province of Bangalore in response to this call following the style of St. Anthony Mary Claret, the apostolic missionary. Our constitution reminds us that “In the various areas of ministry such as governing, sanctifying and evangelizing, our chief duty as missionaries is to collaborate in the evangelization of the people” (CC 50). For this we have initiated two new ministries called St. Claret Dhyana Brundham (St. Claret Preaching Team), a preaching team going to different parishes and evangelizing through preaching ministry, and St. Claret Dhyanashram, a residential Retreat Centre. Evangelization by “St. Claret Dhyana Brundham” and evangelization at St. Claret Dhyanashram are a very creative and innovative ventures as far as its newness in our ministries is concerned. Since many years the province was looking for a new way of reaching out to the poor. This team has really opened a new door in the province efforts. Our main motto is “To preach the Word of God as the Apostles did, in the style of our founder St. Antony Mary Claret forming and strengthening the Christian Communities aiming the salvation of all”. At present three priests are actively rendering their service in this ministry: Frs. Santhosh Kariammakil, Martin Tappeta and Mamudhu Chinnanna.
Two Important Areas of Ministries focused
The two important areas of ministries focused by St. Claret Dhyana Brundham and at St. Claret Dhyanashram are Evangelization and Social Awareness. Evangelization includes faith formation and revitalization of faith; and social awareness of the social issues and concerns that are existing in many places. Due to lack of education among the poor, there exists a lack of social awareness on many issues like Child Marriage, Child abuse, Abortion, Dowry, Alcoholism, Drug Abuse, Corruption, Prostitution, Poor Hygiene, Negligence of girl child, Poverty, Unemployment, lack of knowledge on Rights, Value education, etc. Therefore inorder to do Evangelization through preaching ministry and to give Social Awareness to the people, St. Claret Dhyana Brundham (St. Claret Preaching Team) officially started functioning from 8 June 2014, on the feast of Pentecost. And recently on 18 February 2018 at Bhattiprolu, Andhra Pradesh, we have started St. Claret Dhyanashram opened and blessed by His Lordship DD. Chinnabathini Bhagyaiah, bishop of Guntur.
By following its motto to preach the Word of God as the Apostles did, in the style of our Founder, St. Anthony Mary Claret, forming and strengthening the Christian Communities aiming at the salvation of all, St. Claret Dhyana Brundham is trying its best to reach out to people by organizing Charismatic Retreats in different Parishes of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana and aims to do the same at St. Claret Dhyanashram at Bhattiprolu.
