Mariagiri Convent  - Kuppepadavu

A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE MISSIONARY SISTERS OF THE ‘QUEEN OF APOSTLES’ (SRA)

The Congregation of the Missionary Sisters of the Queen of the Apostles (SRA) is a Roman-Catholic Missionary Congregation founded in Vienna, Austria, on July 1, 1923, by Fr. Antonius Maria Bodewig, a German Jesuit missionary. The Congregation& #39;s mission is to uplift women, youth, and widows, and its apostolate is uniquely culture-specific and need-based. The Congregation has its Mother House in Vienna and has over 950 sisters serving in India, Austria, Germany, Italy, Slovakia, the Philippines, and Uganda. 

Inspired by the vision and dreams of our Founder, Fr. Antonius Maria Bodewig, and our Co-Founders, we are committed to proclaiming the compassionate love of God and empowering individuals to break free from the shackles of poverty, injustice, and oppression. Through various ministries, including pastoral care, education, social development initiatives, and healthcare, our members reach out to people of all backgrounds, regardless of caste, creed, or race, in seven countries: Austria, Germany, Italy, Slovakia, India, the Philippines, and Uganda. 

Our sisters are actively engaged in medical care, social work, education, formation, pastoral ministry, and catechetical activities. Family apostolate is our primary focus, guiding the faithful towards Christ. Our sisters provide services in pastoral ministry, social development, healthcare, education, schools for the visually impaired, deaf, and mute, and hostels for marginalized students, and healthcare centers for the most impoverished communities, particularly in tribal areas. Committed to holistic societal transformation, our sisters are involved in diverse ministries. 

We have six provinces in India: Mangalore, Mumbai, Kerala, Ranchi, Varanasi, and Lucknow. We also have missions in Africa, the Philippines, Germany, and Slovakia. Each province carries out its own activities. The upliftment of women and children is of paramount importance in our work. Sisters belonging to the SRA Mangalore Province are part of a registered society known as Dharma Jyothi Charitable Society. 

VISION: Our vision is Christ centered of an integrated human society living in Freedom, Justice, and Peace and in Harmony with Creation.

MISSION: “Our Mission is to witness and to proclaim the compassionate love of God to all especially the women, the marginalized and the vulnerable people in the society, empowering them to create a new world order”.

OUR SPIRITUALITY

Our Spirituality is essentially the spirit of the Gospel as interpreted, lived and conveyed to us by Fr. Bodewig and the pioneers. It is fully devoted to the proclamation of the Word of God and the manifestation of his compassionate love. “ Who ever comes to us considers that he/she is the disciple of the Lord, who wherever He went carried the fire of love and goodness and who wanted ‘that it should burn.’ Accordingly we strive to be one in spirit and heart with Him, who said “ I have compassion on the crowd…” who in His compassion fed the crowds with the bread of life, which is the Word of God, and even with the bread of the body.”

OUR CHARISM

Our Charism is the direct proclamation of the compassionate love of God with burning zeal, to people and groups, where the message of Christ is not yet known or not sufficiently known. It is to be drawn from the life and mission of Jesus with a special option for the poor and marginalized. In order to proclaim the Good news we will identify ourselves with the people among whom we work, especially those who suffer want and live in need. This will result in a change of lifestyle and apostolic works and it will make our message credible to those who come in contact with us.