“Our Mission is an overflowing of Love….”

Fr. Vilallonga S J, the Ecclesiastical Superior of Ahmedabad Mission used to visit the Leprosy Asylum at Kagdapith which was managed by the Government of Bombay. He felt sorry at the condition of the Patients.

Looking at these miserable conditions of the Leprosy Patients, Fr.Vilallonga invited the SMMI sisters from the Leprosy Hospital, Kumbhakonam to come and care for the Patients at Ahmedabad. The Sisters from Nagpur gladly accepted the invitation. On 7th October 1949 three of our Sisters- Sr. Yvonne, Sr. Leoni, and Sr.Marie Juliet accompanied by Mother Noemi- the, then Provincial Superior of Nagpur arrived. They were warmly welcomed at Ahmedabad Junction by Rt. Rev. Bishop Edwin Pinto S J & Fr. Anthony Lobo along with some leading citizens and were later introduced to the inmates of the Leprosy Asylum at Kagdapith. The members dedicated themselves from the very beginning to the service of the poorest and the sick.

Initially we were under the Society of ‘Nagpur Houses of Mary Immaculate trust’. In the year 1979 on 17th April we were registered as ‘GUJARAT HOUSES OF MARY IMMACULATE’ (GHMI) registered under the Bombay Public Trust Act, XXIX of 1950, at the Public Trusts Registration Office. Registration Number is F-691 (Ahmedabad) signed by the Deputy Charity Commissioner, Ahmedabad Region, Ahmedabad.

The Religious Institute, Salesian Missionaries of Mary Immaculate constitutes the Missionary Branch of the Society of the Daughters of St. Francis de Sales. This Society was founded by Fr. Henri Chaumont, a priest of the diocese of Paris and Mme Carre de Malberg on 15th October 1872. The members of the Society were women of all walks of life, single or married or widows. Rome granted the Society the final approbation on 26th April 1911.

The diocese of Nagpur was bifurcated from the diocese of Visakapatanam and was entrusted to the Missionaries of St. Francis de Sales. Fr. Joseph Tissot, the Superior General of the Missionaries of St. Francis de Sales was a great friend of Fr. Chaumont. It was through Fr. Tissot that the Bishop of Nagpur had invited the new missionaries.

Several members who were free from family obligations resolved to dedicate their lives entirely to the service of the people. These members were given a specific formation in addition to their formation as Daughters of St Francis de Sales. Four of them Mother Marie Gertrude, Mother Marie de Kostka, Sr. Madaleine and Sr. Joseph were chosen to be the first missionaries. At the request of the Bishop of Nagpur, they left for India on 12th October 1889.

Our first missionaries led by Mother Marie Gertrude were very happy to work with the Missionaries of St. Francis de Sales having the same spirituality. Our sisters were called as Catechist Missionaries of Mary Immaculate. Gifted with exceptional talents and burning faith, Mother Marie Gertrude had already an important responsibility of formation in the Society. With the solid formation that she had from the Founders in person, she was the best suited person to lead the band of new Catechist Missionaries in India. They reached Nagpur on 2nd November 1889 and were accommodated temporarily with the Sisters of St. Joseph in the Old Palace at Tulsibag, put at the disposal of the diocese by the Rajah of Nagpur.

The first few months were spent in learning the language of the place. When they were able to speak a little Marathi, they started a dispensary at Untkhana, ‘the Poor House’ which was an asylum for the incurable and the handicapped given to their charge by the Bishop of Nagpur.

Later the CMMI (Catechist Missionaries of Mary Immaculate) were shifted to a bungalow offered by the Bishop. Thus the Convent of Mary Immaculate was started on 25th March 1890. At the request of the Bishop they took up the Marathi School which was a very good means to have contact with women and to uplift them. Gradually their activities spread rapidly in various fields like medical, education, social works etc. In March 1900, Mother Marie Gertrude was called to Tamilnadu under providential and unexpected circumstances, to establish a mission in the newly erected diocese of Kumbakonam. In the course of time several houses sprang up in North and South of India. The name ‘Catechist Missionaries of Mary Immaculate’ was changed int ‘Salesian Missionaries of Mary Immaculate’ during the General Chapter 1954.