The members of the Congregation of Holy Cross celebrate their Patronal feast on September 15. It would be appropriate to explain why the members celebrate the feast of Our Lady of Sorrows as the Patronal feast while the Congregation is known as Holy Cross Congregation. The Congregation of Holy Cross or Congregatio a Sancta Cruce (CSC) was founded on March 1 in 1837 by Blessed Basil Anthony Marie Moreau in Le Mans, a small town in France. He was beatified by order of Pope Benedict XVI, on September 15, 2007. After the French revolution, the church was devastated in France in many ways – the de-Christianization of rural areas of France, religious ignorance, lack of general instructions and shortage of priests. Father Moreau, who was ordained in 1821, organized some clerics as Auxiliary Priests. These Auxiliary Priests were trained to assist the diocese by preaching parish missions and by instructing youth as Father Moreau himself was a professor teaching philosophy and theology then. Meanwhile, the pastor of Ruille-sur, Fr James Francis Dujarié, gathered some brothers who were known as the Brothers of Saint Joseph. They were trained to meet the needs of the elementary education in rural areas. Since the auxiliary priests and the Brothers were entrusted with common task of instructing and educating the rural people, Father Moreau joined the brothers of Saint Joseph and Auxiliary priests on March 1, 1837 in the fundamental act of union. The newly established Association of Holy Cross took its name from the Sainte-Croix (Holy Cross) suburb of Le Mans, in which it was formed. Later on the 4th August, 1841 Father Moreau founded the community of women who were known as the Marianites of Holy Cross or Holy Cross Sisters. The founder’s original vision was that the Congregation of Holy Cross be one community of brothers, priests and sisters, living and working together in imitation of the Holy Family. In most of the countries, the congregation succeeded in following it except in India. Till today, the brothers and priests remained together as the Congregation of Holy Cross with Superior General being the Priest. The Sisters of the Marianties of Holy Cross was approved as the new women congregation with their own Mother superior general.Patroness of Holy Cross (subhead)Interestingly, Blessed Father Moreau placed the entire Congregation under the patronage of Our Lady of Sorrows. It is because Father Moreau firmly believed that one who finds hope in the Cross of Christ is the patroness of Holy Cross, Our Lady of Sorrows. At no other point in her life was her pain and her hope deeper than at the foot of the Cross of her Son. This is where the Congregation identifies itself in the life of Christ: with Mary, at the foot of the Cross. It is through the eyes of Mary that we can learn to see the Cross not as an obstacle to hope, but as the deepest source of our hope. And so, the feast of Our Lady of sorrows became the Patronal feast of the congregation of Holy Cross.Holy Cross motto (subhead)The Holy Cross motto is “Ave Crux, Spes Unica” — “Hail the Cross, Our Only Hope”. The motto reflects the idea of seeing the members of Holy Cross standing at the foot of the cross alongside Our Sorrowful Mother. Father Moreau believed that crosses are part of our life. He said every cross that we bear willingly in our life has the power to produce fruit, just as the Cross of Christ produced the greatest fruit of all: redemption. The Congregation of Holy Cross today has various ministry set-ups, such as parishes, rehabilitation centres, media centres, family counseling centres, schools, colleges, universities etc. in 16 different countries on five continents. One of the universities that belong to Holy Cross is the University of Notre Dame, Indiana in the USA. Apostolate in India (subhead)The first group of Holy Cross community comprising priests, brothers, sisters and a seminarian arrived in Calcutta, India in 1853. Soon Chittagong became the headquarters for the congregation and the missionary activities were spread in the region of Agartala and Sylhet. Today the Holy Cross brothers, priests and sisters work in different states especially Northeast states in India. In Goa, we have two ministry centres, St Sebastian Church at Loliem and the Holy Cross Formation house (minor seminary) at Kirbhat, Nuvem.
