Auxilum Convent
St. Marys Hill
Kurseong
West Bengal 734220
In the year 1990, the Bishop of Darjeeling Rt. Rev. Bishop Eric Benjamin, invited the FMA sisters of Calcutta province to share the parish apostolate of St. John Bechman parish, St. Mary Hill, Kurseong. He offered the plot of land measuring 1.70 acres, amounting Rs. 1,00,000/-
The provincial Sr. Genevieve Battigelli and the councilors decided and agreed upon the proposal to build a Novitiate for the province house. So on 1st June 1992 the required sum of money was paid to the Diocese of Darjeeling and the land was bought. At the end of the year 1993 the work of the boundary wall began and it was completed in the year 1994.
On 8th Sep. 1995, the Provincial Sr. Annie Thervarkunnel, Provincial Bursar Sr. Gemma Libralesso and a few sisters from Auxilium Convent New Chumta accompanied three sisters to form new community at Kurseong, they were Sr. Alice Olikal as Animator, Sr. Aquila Phawa as Economer and Sr. Emerciana Bara as incharge of parish apostolate.
The plot of land purchased for building the Novitiate had to change its purpose due to its distance from the Provincial House and the difficulty to get to it. The following works were proposed:
At the beginning of the establishment of the house, the Sisters acquainted with the needs of the locality and the apostolate of the parish. They concentrated mostly on the works of the building. They started reaching out to the young people of the parish and the neighborhood through youth groups, animation of the liturgy and catechesis on every Sunday. Two Sisters also visited the families daily in order to become more familiar with them and to know them better. They used to distribute communion to the sick and aged every Sunday and on first Fridays. In the evening Sisters gave free coaching to the needy children of the surroundings.