Our Lady of Mercy Provincialate

In the year 1989, during the IV General Chapter, it was decided to organise the Congregation into Regions for smooth administration. Thus two regions North and South Regions came into existence. The Southern Province was named Our Lady of Mercy Province comprising States of Karnataka, Kerala and Tamilnadu and the Northern Province was named Sacred Heart Province, comprising States of Andra Pradesh, Orissa, Madhya Pradesh and Maharastra.
Since the Congregation could not construct a new Regional house due to financial constrains and also as no existing house was conducive to function as the Regional House, the General Government decided to use the Senior Sisters home on temporary basis as the Regional House. This house was opened and blessed on 19th March 1991 by P.T. Thomas SDB. The senior sisters who moved to this house from Miller’s Road were: Srs. Gerard, Joana, Good Shepherd, Euphresia, Josepha, later Srs. Antonio and Laetitia Mary also joined. Sr. Imelda was taking care of them. They were getting meals from the Novitiate community in the beginning. This house served initially as the Senior Sisters Home as well as Regional house. During the V General Chapter in the year 1995, the Chapter decided to raise the Regions into Provinces. Thus, in 1996, Our Lady of Mercy Region became Our Lady of Mercy Province. Even then the senior sisters’ home continued to function as the OLM Provincialate until 2013.
As the house was too small for both the community and the administration of the Province, all the common functions and meetings were held in the Studentate hall. The Province was growing in number, and this house was not able to meet all the needs of the present and the future. Therefore, Sr. Alphonse, the then Provincial (2007-2014) sought for permission from the Superior General to build a new building. On obtaining the permission, the foundation stone was blessed by Fr. Joy V.C. on 2nd September 2010 and laid in the field little behind the Novitiate building. The new building has two floors with two wings besides the ground floor. The Grotto garden of Our Lady is a sight to see. It took three long years to complete the building. The new Provincialate was thus blessed on 1st May, 2013 by Rt. Rev. Bernard Moras, the Archbishop of Bengaluru. Since then the administration of the Province is carried on from this house called OLM Provincialate.