Memories of moments of my life and services in the community and mission.

The pilgrimage of my life’s journey commenced on the 16^th of January, 1942, in the family of Mr. Mani Philip Gnavally-Puthenpurayil and Mariamma Kuruvila in the parish of Sacred Heart Church, Karoor, Palai, in the state of Kerala. I am the second child of my parents. My siblings are late G.P Sebastian, Father Emmanuel Gnavally, a priest of Congregation of Mary Immaculate (CMI), George Philip and Rosamma Benny.

I grew up in a joint family with my parents and grandparents, and uncles and aunties. Till my youngest uncle married, my parents stayed in our ancestral home and took care of everybody and of all household matters. After that, we moved out to our present home. Though my father, grandparents, uncles and aunties have influenced my Catholic faith and religious values, it is my mother who has influenced me the most. My mother was very caring and loving towards everyone, especially the workers at home, and she had a special love for the poor. She was a very religious minded woman and brought me up in the Catholic faith and religious values as well as in the traditions of our family. She insisted that we participate in the daily Eucharistic service in the parish church. She taught us to be simple, sincere, generous and respectful.

Sister Anne Philip with her family

My family has given many generations of priests and religious to the Catholic Church. My elders respected priests and religious in general, and especially cared for the ones who were our relatives. I remember going with my parents to visit them with gifts on special occasions.

So, I never thought that my parents would react negatively about my vocation. My mother, who encouraged me to read books on the lives of the saints and about missionary activities in North India, was the one who stood most strongly against my vocation. According to her advice I waited for a year. Even after that, my parents had not changed their minds. I knew they all loved me, but at that time I felt all alone and misunderstood. They suggested that I join any local congregation, even a contemplative order, in Kerala itself. They continued to oppose my desire to join a missionary congregation. But I could not give up my desire to become a religious and a missionary. It was as if nothing could stop me from following my vocation. My paternal grandparents told my parents that if they did not allow me to follow my vocation, I would be unhappy always. Their own daughter is a Carmelite nun. So, under compulsion, my parents reluctantly allowed me to join the SCNs.

Sister Anne Philip Gnavally

When I came to Mokama in 1961 I expected a very poor setting in which to minister. One day I told our Candidate Director, Sister Patricia Mary Kelly, about it. I told her that I would like to work with the Missionaries of Charity Sisters in Calcutta. She responded by saying that I might find many good qualities in other congregations, but I could bring all those qualities into our congregation also. With such interior struggles, I made my first vows in June 1965. I was able to actualize my desire to work with the extremely poor in the years between 1977 and 1982 during my life and work among the Santhal tribal communities in the forests of Hazaribagh and Gomia.

When we opened our convent in Chatra in 1969, I was one of the pioneers along with Sister Ann Roberta Powers and Rosemarie Lakra. Though there were physical hardships, it was there that I felt that it was for this that I left Kerala. Being in Chatra opened my heart and mind to the vast missionary activities of Hazaribagh District. It resonated with what I had in my mind when I joined the SCNs. I felt called to this and prayed about it for many years. It was Sister Teresa Rose Nabholz who encouraged me and supported me in actualizing this dream.

It was providential that I studied in the College of Social Sciences in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh, from 1972 to 1975, and got my bachelor’s degree in social work. Those three years in Bhopal were golden years. My world expanded having had the opportunities to interact with both students and professors who opened my eyes to the wide possibilities in the field of social work. I enhanced my skills in human relationships which helped me later in all my life and work. Immediately after my college studies I returned to Chatra to teach in the school, but I continued to look for opportunities to do whatever outreach programmes available there.

Having been equipped with sufficient knowledge and skills, in 1977, I was missioned to work with Deen Seva Dal (DSD), a team working for the development of the Santhal tribal communities in Hazaribagh District. The team consisted of lay volunteers of men and women, priests, sisters and brothers. The team met together for three days every month for the purpose of praying, sharing and planning together. In the beginning I had some adjustment problems. I had to learn to adjust to the physical hardships such as not having proper food and shelter, and I had to cope with the life of loneliness, fears and insecurities. It was during those days in the villages that the passages of the Bible became very real to me. The protection I experienced during my stay in the villages and during my travels though the deep forests of Hazaribagh area helped me to trust in God’s Providence. My faith in God deepened as I had to depend on God totally. The generosity of the people in the villages and their spirit of sharing helped me to understand the vow of poverty. Even though the forests of the area were filled with wild animals and reptiles, not once had I to face the ordeal of confronting any one of them. I knew God was carrying me in Her arms every moment of my life in the forests of Hazaribagh. During those days my monthly visits to the Chatra community were a big source of strength and support.

My work there was to teach the children who were looking after cows and goats. After some time, some of them were able to go for formal education. Later, when I felt more confident with the local language (Santhali), I began catechetical work also. This helped me to understand God’s work in the hearts of each one. The simple people there were able to understand much more what I was able to give or grasp. God reveals deep mysteries in the hearts of simple people. They were part of my God experience, my spiritual growth.

During the six years of my life in Hazaribagh, I moved out to different villages, like Gondwar, Harli, Dukree and Mangurmachwa. In all these villages I prepared the children for schools in Hazaribagh, Gomia and Kuju. Personally, these years between 1977 and 1983 were the richest, most fruitful and grace filled years of my life. I feel I have received much more than what I gave. I thank God for His gracious gifts.

My life after leaving the villages of Hazaribagh was a sort of re-visiting those experiences, and re-energizing myself on those memories. Wherever I lived or whatever I did later was building up on those foundational experiences of mine. From 1983 to 1985, I was in Bethel, Gomoh, an institute managed by the Jamshedpur Jesuits under the name of D’Britto School. The school catered to the children of the leprosy patients, and there was also a hostel for the children of the leprosy patients. Leprosy was a dreaded disease, and those affected by the disease, and their families, were ostracized by the rest of the village. Sisters of Charity of Nazareth were working in collaboration with the Damien Social Welfare (DSW) Centre in Dhanbad. D’Britto School and Hostel were under the management of DSW. While there, I identified a few Santhal leprosy patients. Having obtained some information about the patients and their families I visited a Santhal village with the help of a volunteer Sukarmuni. In that village I conducted some non-formal education classes since the children there had no opportunity to go to any formal school. Later some of them were able to get admission in the D’Britto School in Gomoh run by the Jesuits. During my life in Gomoh, I was able to make use of my past experiences. Because of my fluency in the Santhali language, and my familiarity with the customs and culture of the Santhal tribal communities, some of the staff of DSW thought I was a native Santhal. I felt proud to be seen as that because I realized how I was able to identify myself with the Santhal communities.

My next mission was at Nazareth Pre School, adjacent to Nazareth Academy, Gaya. Since I was a professionally trained Montessori teacher, this was a natural call assigned to me. But to my delight I was once again sent to another Santhal village, Jamtara from 1987 to 1990. Here too my identification with the Santhals earlier was an asset.

Sister Anne Philip Gnavally, November 1987

Destiny called me to Nazareth Academy, Gaya, from 1990 to 1995. There I was an Office Assistant, and was trusted with many of the office matters. I also used to attend to the sick students of Nazareth Academy during those years.

In 1995, I was back in Jamtara, this time for a short duration of six months, to teach in the school there. An urgent need for a teacher in Christ Jyoti School, Hilsa, was my next move. This too, was a short-term experience of six months, from January to June 1996.

All those years away from Deen Seva Dal in Hazaribagh, I kept longing to go back to my favourite people there. After thirteen years that desire was again fulfilled in 1996, when I went back to DSD, although, much to my disappointment, it was for a short term of six months – from July 1996 to January 1997. I stayed in Charki Tungri Village. Most of the children in the village used to go to graze cattle and goats. I used to teach those cowherds and shepherds during their time of rest under the trees. I made use of the skills learnt during my Montessori training. I made use of natural things like sticks and stones to teach the three R’s. With such a head start programme, some of those children were able to go to regular schools in Gomia.

In early 1997, I developed typhoid, but I did not understand the seriousness of the sickness. I got a relapse of it several times, and I became too weak to continue my work in the villages. I felt quite sad to leave the village and the Santhal sisters and brothers of mine. However, I reconciled myself to this situation, and was glad my Congregation had allowed me to try this type of life and ministry the second time. If I had not gotten an opportunity to go back to the villages, I perhaps would have lived with feelings of discontent and unhappiness for a long time. Here, I was able to bring a closure to my longings, and accept my poor health conditions to move away from such trying life styles. I am grateful to my Congregation for allowing me to bring such a pleasant, although motivated by the circumstances, conclusion to my village life and mission. The village experiences had enriched me, and I was ready to go to any place, and do any work after that.

Sister Anne Philip Gnavally

Again, a short stint of life was spent in Rajgir in 1997, but at the end of that year, I was placed in Shapur in the Madhepura District of Bihar till 2000. Much to my delight, here again the people were Santhals and I was able to converse with them fluently. I believe that to some extent my heart still remains with the Santhals.

In 2000, much to my surprise, the call was to go to South India which I had left over a quarter of a century earlier. I taught in St. Vincent Matriculation School, Trichy, Tamilnadu, from 2000 to 2012. Hindi is almost unknown to the people of Tamilnadu, but my life in Bihar and Jharkhand for many years had made me quite conversant with Hindi. Besides, I had a diploma in “Hindi Viduan”, a course in Hindi available in Kerala. I taught Hindi to the whole school all those years. This enabled me to come to know every child in the school, and to a large extent almost all the parents. I used to spend much time at the beginning and end of the school day meeting children and parents as they came to the school to bring or take the children from the school, thereby befriending myself with them, and being a wisdom figure in the school and neighbourhood.

In 2012, I moved to Nazareth School, Banakal. Here in the cool climate and beautiful surroundings, I was able to spend much time in introspection and reminiscing of my life as a whole. I had the opportunity to read and reflect on many books, and I wrote some of my memoirs there. Since I did not have many responsibilities in the school, that was a time of contemplation and reflection.

Since January, 2015 I am at Nazareth Convent, Anakkampoil, Kerala. Like most of our SCN Sisters from Kerala, it took me some time to get back to being comfortable with the life style of Kerala, because in our life style, customs and cultures, we had identified ourselves with Bihar or Jharkhand. When we joined the SCN Congregation, we never fathomed that we would ever be in life and mission back in our own state, Kerala. Hence it was a re-learning of the social life, liturgical life and culture of my own state. I had to re-learn my own mother tongue Malayalam as we had lost fluency with the language completely, having been totally immersed in the life, language and culture of North India. Gradually, I began to adjust myself to my own original language, culture, customs and liturgical practices. Now I thoroughly enjoy the place. I love spending time with the home-bound people, nourishing myself spiritually by reading some of the finest books written in Malayalam on spirituality and history of North Kerala. I have to come to understand, appreciate and admire the struggles and short comings of the original settlers of North Kerala, and how they have re-established themselves economically, socially, educationally and politically over the years. I spend a lot of time visiting nearby families. Although I cannot walk to far away corners of our parish, people are kind and generous enough to accompany me or assist me with their available conveyances. I love the people and I am confident that they love me. It is a rich reward of God’s love being poured on me through the simple people of Anakkampoil.

Sister Anne Philip Gnavally

Being a member of a school community, I spend a lot of time in Marian English Medium School, especially with the children of the preschool and primary classes, just giving them my presence, and assisting the teachers in their teaching practice. As in Trichy, I meet some of the parents in the mornings and afternoons as they come to attend to their children in the school.

As I look at my life into the future, I am fascinated by the goodness within myself and others. I recognize the goodness of God reflected in my life and in others’. I know that in spite of the many difficulties, negative aspects of life all around us, there is abundant goodness in the world to withstand all these negativities. I am satisfied within myself now, and I want to share a sense of peace and contentment with everyone.

My desire for our Congregation is to trust in God, and move forward, being like the people of the early Church. They recognized the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on each of them, and they lived a sincere and simple communal life. No difficulties deterred them from preaching the word of God and praying. I desire such a faith in our communities.

The world needs peace, and peace will come when all the differences are set aside and we look at ourselves as children of God, and members of the human community. We are all sisters and brothers, and may have our different personalities and cultures, but in God’s eyes we are one. That’s my dream.

I am proud of being an SCN, and because of my vocation I am empowered to be who I am today, a person of confidence and love, not just a shy, frightened person that I was as a young girl. May God be praised, and may our Congregation continue to grow.

Interested in reading more Marie Menard Committee stories?
Click here: https://nazareth.org/tag/marie-menard/