Despite the Pandemic, the senior Catholic students of classes IX-XII had the luxury of attending the Ash Wednesday Service in our school parish church, St Mary's Church on 17th February, 2020 at 8:30 a.m.

The attendance was low because of the situation but we were blessed to begin our Lenten journey as we usually do every year.

On 22nd August, 2020, the Catholic girls of classes IX and X had attended an online retreat on the theme of ‘The Spiritual Life of Students During this Pandemic’. The preacher for IX and X was Father Patrick Lepcha (S.D.B) who had guided us through this retreat.

The retreat consisted of three sessions which began with a payer and a hymn by the students. Fr. Lepcha began the session by reminding the students of the significance of the day- the Feast of Queenship of Mary. He used a ppt and umpteen videos to impart to us the qualities of a good retreatant, how to be more of a disciple and how to be a doer rather than a dreamer as a Christian. Father also spoke about the power of the subconscious mind and how we can control our mind with our own willpower. He conveyed Pope Francis’ message on "Paths of Young People as Seekers” to us.

The retreat concluded with a vote of thanks and with the presentation of an e-card to the preachers as a token of appreciation on behalf of Loreto, Elliot Road. We are grateful to Sr. Marilla for her concern for our spiritual well- being and for bringing us closer to God in these trying times.

The catholic girls of classes 5 and 6 attended their first ever Retreat on the 10th of September, 2020 of course experiencing it on a virtual platform. The theme for the retreat was ‘The Spirituality of Students during this pandemic’. The resource person, Sr. Priyanka IBVM created the right atmosphere for the girls by first having a preparatory session with them the previous evening, breaking the ice and sharing with them certain questions to reflect upon so that the retreat would be a fruitful one; and indeed it was!

It began with a prayer to invoke the presence of God. As instructed earlier the girls were seated at a table / desk arranged with a Cross, a Bible and a rosary or any one of these to make them feel the presence of God all through the retreat. Sr. Priyanka had already developed a rapport with them the previous day so the girls were very comfortable with herandresponded very well to her sessions of sharing and reflection.

In a simple and yet effective way, Sister expressed to them the main purpose of their lives on this earth as Christians. She then gradually led them to appreciate how God has created them and the need to use and multiply the talents that God has blessed them with. She allowed them to share what blocked them from being and doing good, to which they responded with absolutely no fear or inhibitions whatsoever.

Since the purpose of the retreat was to help the children maintain their spirituality and closeness with God during this pandemic, at the end of the last session, keeping in mind the difficulties and fears of the children during these trying times, Sister asked them to share petitions that they would like their friends to pray for. This exercise made them feel united in prayer with each other in these difficult times. It ended at 12:30 pm after which the girls joined classes 7 and 8 in a prayer Service for healing and strength conducted by Fr. Rodney Borneo from 12:45pm to 1:45pm. Thiswas a beautiful way to end their spiritual experience for the day.

Our heartfelt gratitude to Sr. Priyanka for her creative and inspiring sessions; to Fr. Borneo for the beautiful healing Service; to the teachers involved in organizing this retreat and last but not the least to our dear Principal Sr. Marilla for her support, guidance and encouragement.

On the 10th of September, Loreto Elliot Road organised an online retreat for classes VII and VIII on the theme ‘The spiritual Life of Ourstudents During this Pandemic’. The retreat was conducted by Fr. Rodney Borneo, a priest of the Archdiocese of Calcutta and the Principal of Loyola High School who is forever inspiring the youth.

In the first session of the retreat Fr. Borneo spoke about our relationship with God. He explained to us the importance of prayer and told us that it is more of a conversation with God. He also told us why it is important to go to church and quoted a line which said “When I enter a church I enter to be blessed and to worship.” He narrated some interesting stories which motivated us to pray.

In the second session, Brother Jacques spoke to us about the essence of having a relationship with God. Some lines that he quoted from the Bible that made an impact on me were, “Jesus’ love is deeper than the ocean”, “God speaks in the silence of our heart”, “Make something new in my life oh, Lord.” The retreat concluded with a prayer service for healing and strength where we prayed for our intentions.

I would like to thank our Principal, Sr. Marilla and our teachers for organising this retreat for us which made us realize the importance of prayer and the importance of having a relationship with God.

On 3rd December, LoretoDay School,Elliot Road had organized a virtual ReconciliationService for the Catholic girls of both the junior and senior section.Both the sessionswere conducted by Fr Remesh Cherian S.B.D, the Director of the Auxilium Renewal Centre as well as the Director of the CCCRS.

The session began with a short prayer followed by a hymn.Fr.RemeshCherian through his preaching helped us understand what reconciliationis through examples from the Bible itself. As we have entered the season of Advent, we need to prepare ourselves by purifying our hearts and our minds through the act of confession in order to celebrate our Lord’s Birth.Therefore, this session has helped us to know more about our faith in Christ and the gift of reconciliation.A session between 3:30- 5:30 p.m. was organized especially for the parents of Loreto Elliot Road which was livestreamed on YouTube.On the behalf of all the students, we would like to thank Fr.Ramesh Cherian for conductingsuch an enriching and fruitful virtual sessionalong with Sir Dominic. At the same time we are grateful to Sr.Marilla D’Souza, our Principal, for scheduling this session for us to become closer to God in these difficult times.

Gloria Gomes
12 C

“God is the only one who can make the valley of trouble a door of HOPE”– Hosea 2: 15

We may be in the midst of a global pandemic and it is our HOPE for better times that helps us survive.

It is this HOPE that inspired us and brought us together this year too to celebrate the Advent Mass and present the Nativity Play virtually on Saturday 12th December,2020 from 3:00pm to 5:30pm.

Before the programme could begin, our Principal Sr. Marilla D’Souza delivered her Advent message to the audience. Sister helped us look at the good side of this pandemic. She said this would be the best time to find the gifts of love, joy, peace and hope that Jesus wishes to give us because there are lesser distractions this year.

The Mass was celebrated by Fr. Remesh Cherian SDB –Director of Auxilium Retreat Centre, Kolkata. Fr. Remesh, in his homily made the viewers aware of the need to torecite the ‘Our Father’ in a meaningful way with great faith and patience; to be willing to take up our crosses of suffering and follow Christ and to face humiliation with joy because humiliation is a sign that God truly loves us. Father also asked us to build a crib in a unique way during the remaining days of Advent by putting twigs or any material required to make a crib in a bowl every time we do small good deeds.

Immediately after the Mass,the Nativity Play, titled ‘The Stable in the Starlit Sky’was presented which was a pre-recorded video enacted by our children in their homes. It depicted the story of Christmas in a short and simple way and was beautifully presented. The Mass, the Christmas story and carol singing which are usually performed on stage now being viewed on screens in our homes, made us feel nostalgic.

Since the programme was live streamed on YouTube, it was possible for us to reach out to a larger audience. Sisters, teachers, parents, childrenand well-wishers who viewed it surely had much to learn and remember from this celebration.

An Advent Recollection was organised virtually on 14th December, 2020 for the Christian Staff members of Loreto Day School, Elliot Road from 12noon to 2:00p.m.The Recollection Service was conducted by Fr. Lawrence Maniyar S.J.

The session began with a song ‘You Raise Me Up’ sung by Sir Dominic Saldanha. Sr. Clara, our Vice Principal then addressed the staff and Mrs. Rocha introduced Fr. Lawrence Maniyar to them. Thereafter, a meaningful Prayer of Repentance with Biblical readings was read out by many teachers.

This was followed by an enriching talk by Fr. L. Maniyar. The topic was very apt and reflected the need of the hour. Father expressed the need to surrender to God just like our Blessed Mother did, no matter how difficult the times might be and to continue loving our neighbours even more than before. He also reminded us of the fact that God still loves the world although things might not be going according to His Holy will. Father ended his session with an emotional video highlighting the value of living life to the fullest with positivity and inner strength.

The teachers were then encouraged to share what they had grasped from this Recollection Service.

The session ended with Sir Dominic making the staff feel the spirit of Christmas by singing ‘Joy to the World’ and ‘Feliz Navidad’.

First Communion of LER Students

On behalf of the Sr. Marilla, Sr. Clara and the entire Loreto Elliot Road family, we take this opportunity to congratulate and shower our blessings on 7 of our students who made their First Communion from St. Mary's Parish on 31st of January, 2021.

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The year 2020 had been a fallow one, a time of temporary stillness. It has been mentally, if not physically, exhausting for most. Therefore, as we move into this new year, we are filled with gratitude for everything that we have endured which has made us stronger and wiser. Loreto Day School, Elliot Road, continues with the recitation of the Holy Rosary which takes place on Fridays and on Saturdays by the senior school and the junior school respectively. With the blessings of our Mother Mary, we hope 2021 brings us all new opportunities and chances.

A TALK BY FR. MOURLIN K. SJ.

On 8th February 2021, the students of class XII were provided with the opportunity to be a part of an enriching session by Dr. Father Mourlin. K. The session commenced with a prayer which set the atmosphere for the calm and motivating talk. Before Father began his talk, he asked the students what it was that they learnt from their years in school and what they would take with them as they move on to higher institutions in future. Stressing on various virtues and morals they had learnt over the years, the students were enthusiastic in their responses and were thoroughly engaged in the interactive session. He then shared various anecdotes about real-life heroes who rose above all challenges and transcended themselves to become successful. The narration of these real-life stories and Father's own life were truly moving since they were stories of ordinary people who did something extraordinary with whatever little they had. Father also spoke about the importance of emulating the virtues of sincerity, passion, perseverance, determination and confidence in one’s life to unlock one’s own true potential. Providing the students with the example of a pencil sharpener, he asked students to sharpen and hone themselves instead of being pulled back by their failures and vices.

The session was absolutely enriching and was conducive in inspiring everyone present to better themselves as they are about to cross the threshold of the school

We’re grateful to Sister Marilla and Sister Clara for providing us with the privilege of being a part of such a motivating session and Mrs. Sharma, Mrs. Gomes and Miss Majumdar for guiding us throughout.

- Alisha Khan
XII Humanities

The Corpus Christi Procession took place at St. Xavier’s' Collegiate School (Autonomous) on 24th November, 2019 wherein all Catholic teachers, sisters and students from classes VII to XII participated. All present walked in the procession to and from the college by singing hymns and praying the rosary. It was filled with feelings of immense joy and love for the Lord, Jesus Christ on His Feast Day. The day ended with the solemn Rite of Eucharistic Exposition and Benediction.

On the 23rd October 2019, the Catholic girls of class XI from our school were given the golden opportunity to visit the nuns residing at Loreto Entally. Since the month of October 2019 is declared as the Extraordinary Mission month by Pope Francis, our principal, Sr. Marilla D'Souza gave us the opportunity to visit the Loreto missionaries; our Loreto nuns.
Two Catholic teachers from our school, Mrs. Govindraj and Mrs. Rocha accompanied us to the place where our Loreto sisters reside. Our principal had suggested making cards for the sisters and our teachers helped us in doing so.
On reaching the place, we began with a short prayer service, followed by the presentation of the cards to the sisters.
We interacted with the sisters there. All the sisters present there were old and were very experienced.
On interacting with them, we got to know that most of the sisters present were in their eighties and nineties. Many of them had been seen our school since its foundation.

They regaled us with stories as to how they spend their entire day. In the end we sang hymns for them. They joined us in the renditions as well. We requested the sisters to pray for us.
It was a wonderful experience being there .To be given this opportunity to be able to spend time with such important pillars of the Institution was indeed a humbling experience.
Thank you is too small a word to express our heartfelt gratitude towards our principal for giving us the golden opportunity to go there. It was an experience which we will not forget in a hurry.

Sanjana Mondal
XI ( C )

A Quiz based on the Gospel of Saint Matthew was held in Saint Mary's Church premises on 18th August 2019. There were 13 participating teams, all from various action groups from the church. Among them, were our girls who participated in the LER JUNIOR GROUP (the youngest group) consisting of
1. Gracy Hembrom
2. Neelakshi Sarkar
3. Kate Rao
4. Hailey Caszo
The SENIOR GROUP with
1. Kelsey Joseph
2. Shae-lynn Samuel
3. Clement Okonkwo
4. Elena Das
and in the four members ALTAR SERVERS GROUP were two of our girls
Kaushaliya Rao
Angela Mashuque
I had represented the SUNDAY SCHOOL TEACHERS.
The quiz was conducted by the CAB MEMBERS of our Parish. It was indeed a great experience and platform for our children who participated and answered so well. The quiz master was Mr. Sameer Baptist from Our Lady of Vailankanni Church, Picnic Garden.
While all the participants were awarded Participation Certificates, the First Place was bagged by The Elliot Road Residents' Group, Second Place for the Sunday School Teachers and the SCC Members were awarded the Third place. Each group member was awarded with a trophy and certificate.
We would like to thank Sister Marilla D' Souza for her support and presence which certainly make a difference and was a boost to all who participated.

Written by -
PRISCILLA CASZO
Teacher of LER (Junior School)
AND team member of the Sunday School Teachers' Group

A two day Catechism workshop was organised on 21st and 22nd June, 2019 for the Junior School Catechism teachers at Loreto House. Ms Grace David, who is a teacher in St. Columba's School, was the resource person for both the days. The day began with a prayer service organised by the Loreto Darjeeling teachers, invoking God's blessings on each of us. Mrs. Kaveri Dutt, the Province Education Coordinator welcomed our Resource person for taking time off from her busy schedule to conduct a workshop for the teachers. Ms. David organised an interesting activity through which the teachers introduced themselves. The quotes from the Holy Bible made us realise that the Lord had chosen each of us to be present that day. This was certainly inspiring. The next session was conducted by Sr. Agnes. We were reminded of the Loreto core values and how important it is to instil those values in the children. Using a Power Point Presentation, the resource person briefed the teachers on the four aspects of teaching Catechism - who is a catechist, Quality Faith Formation, the content of Faith Education and the methodology of teaching Catechism. A lot of action songs were used by her to break the monotony. Numerous group activities, which can be implemented in our classrooms, were conducted. Many questions were put before us which we needed to reflect upon and we did so. This introspection was much required. On the second day, the teachers were allotted three Loreto schools namely Loreto House, Loreto Dharamtala and Loreto Sealdah for an Immersion visit to the Rainbow Homes. In three different groups, the teachers dispersed to their respective Rainbow Homes. We spent an hour or so with the Rainbow children, interacting with them, singing and dancing along with them. We returned back and shared our views and thoughts in an interactive session. Ms Grace David gently reminded us of our call - to proclaim God's words to our children as Catechism teachers. Each one of us enjoyed the two day session with our resource person. It was truly an enlightening session for all the teachers. Each of us had so many takeaways to share in our respective schools. Sr. Phyllis thanked and appreciated Ms Grace David and urged all the teachers to put into use what was shared with us during this session.

Dates - 3rd and 4th May 2019
Venue - Auxilium Church, Gobra

A two- day retreat was organised for the Catholic teachers of Loreto, Elliot Road on 3rd and 4th May, 2019 at Auxilium Parish, Gobra. It was a breath of fresh air from their mundane routine and the teachers welcomed it with great enthusiasm and a positive attitude. Fr. Ramesh SDB led fourteen of our teachers into a journey of spiritual self realisation and self introspection. Sessions on the ‘Types of sins’ , ‘ The Ten Commandments ‘ and the ‘Sacrament of Reconciliation ‘ were eye openers. Father organised a session where the teachers were led into reconciling with each other which was a very emotional moment for them. The much awaited inner healing session in front of the Blessed Sacrament was indeed a fruitful experience where many of them felt the healing touch of the Holy Spirit. The teachers left the retreat centre all renewed and filled with the gifts of the Holy Spirit. They expressed the need for such retreats to be organised for them on a regular basis as teachers require spiritual renewals to give life a new meaning. A big ‘thank you‘ to our Principal, Sr. Marilla, for taking up the initiative of organising this retreat for us. We are most grateful to Father for this spiritual renewal and awakening.

On the 21st of June, the Catholic students of classes X and XII went to Auxilliam Parish Gobra at 7:30 am and the session started at 8:30 am.
The first day started in an amazing way with father Ramesh's preaching us the word of God with a short break of 15 minutes when we were given some snacks. We were in prayer session till 1pm after which we had a sumptuous lunch and a break for half an hour.
We resumed with our session till we got our evening snack which was again a 15 min break.
Thereafter, we had adoration which was holy and powerful. We cried our hearts out to the Lord and left all the frustration, stress, worries, and sadness out of our body. It lasted for an hour and a half.
Post dinner, we had a small session /kind of meeting in which we prayed for our personal needs and also prayed the Rosary before going to sleep..
We were divided into two different dormitories..On the second day, we woke at 5:30 am in the morning and we cleaned up by 6 am and started with the 6:30 am session with some actions songs, after which, we had breakfast.
We followed the same routine as on the first day while on the third day, we had Mass and ended up with adoration.
While our principal, Sr. Marilla gifted us a beautiful Rosary, Father Ramesh who was with us throughout the retreat also presented us with a holy picture.
Experience over there was unforgettable and it will stay with us forever.. None of us wanted to come back from there.. I, on behalf of the rest of us, really thank Sister to giving us this opportunity to go there.. I went closer to God and we came back changed.
- Mercy Pillai (X-i)

A feedback session on the Catechism workshop attended by two junior school teachers – Mrs. R Ireland and Ms. S Florian, was conducted on 28th June for the junior school Catholic teachers in the presence of Sr. Phyllis. Using a Power Point presentation, they briefed the teachers on who is a catechist, the qualities of a Faith Former, the content of Faith Education and the methodology of teaching Catechism. It was an effective session involving the teachers. Each teacher found the session helpful. Sr. Phyllis thanked and appreciated Mrs. Ireland and Ms Florian and urged the teachers to put into action what was shared with them in this two hours session.

St. Mary's Church had organized a day of adoration for its parishioners on 11 th April, 2019. This adoration was arranged for us to pray for the success of the Chrism Mass. Catholic children from all classes were asked to attend the Adoration from 6.45- 7.45 a.m., which was our slot. At this adoration children prayed, sang and recited a decade of the Rosary. There were periods of silent prayers during this hour. The children were escorted back to school with their teachers to begin their normal school for the day.

The XXVII World Day of the Sick, was solemnly celebrated on 10th February 2019 in Kolkata this year at St. Xavier's College grounds. The Pontifical Holy Mass where the anointing of the sick took place was celebrated by Cardinal Patrick D'Rozario, Archbishop of Dhaka who was appointed as envoy to Kolkata by Pope Francis. Cardinals and Bishops from all over the world were in attendance. The theme was, “You received without payment; give without payment” (Mt 10:8). During the Mass , a special Anointing of the Sick took place. The Mass was attended by all Catholic teachers and students from class III upwards from Loreto Elliot road as well as from other schools, colleges, and parishes.

On the 15th of November, the YCS girls of Loreto Day School, Elliot Road of Class 10 had gone for a pilgrimage to BANDEL church. We were accompanied by Mrs.Rocha, Mrs.Partridge and Mrs.Govindraj. We had to reach Howrah station at 8:15 am. We boarded the train at 9:00 am. We reached Bandel station at about 9:45 am. After we reached the church we went to the top of the church and recited the rosary. Visited the statue to pray the Rosary. We prayed over there and burnt candles. Then we had attended the Sunday Mass at 11:00 am. After that we had lunch which was provided to us by the YCS Community. Then at 2:00 pm we left Bandel Church to board the train for our return where our parents were waiting for us. This was a spiritually enriching experience for us.

The Catholic girls from class 7-12 had attended the Corpus Christi procession on Sunday 22nd November 2015. This day marks d feast of Christ d king and it is d last ordinary Sunday of the year as it brings in d festive season of advent. During the procession we see so many people from different schools and parishes walking for the same reason. The procession starts from St. Xavier's college and ends at the same. It’s wonderful to see so many of our Catholic brothers’ and sisters walking together in procession. It was a wonderful experience and it was amazing to be a part of this celebration. I would like to thank all the Catholic teachers for accompanying us.

The Catholic Get-Together was held in the Junior School Hall on 31st October 2015 from 5:30 pm to 6:30 pm. The invitees were the Catholic ex students of batches 2013, 2014 and 2015 and the hosts were the catholic girls of class 12. The evening began with a short prayer service based on the readings from Holy Bible “I can the true vine”. After a short coffee break, a game Make my Mission was conducted by the hosts. After this invigorating game, an interactive session between the ex students and the present class 12 batch inspired all present. The invitee’s words of advice to our students were “work hard and success will come to you”. The evening came to an end with our Principal Sr. Nirmala speaking on career guidance she enlightened the girls on the plus points of taking up teaching as a career. The vote of thanks was given by Mrs. S.Govindraj Senior school coordinator. She specifically thanked the organizers Mrs. P.Quadra and Mrs. S.Gomes for making the event a successful one.

On 2nd October, 2015 the Catholic girls of classes ten and twelve attended a retreat organized by the school and conducted by the Jesus Youth. The theme was ‘‘God’s Love’’. The retreat began with a short prayer then an ice breaking session was conducted. The girls were engaged in various activities like action songs, skits, and input sessions. At 3’o clock, adoration was conducted by the Jesus Youth for over an hour followed by the Mass.

On 25th August’ 15 , the Anglo Indian girls put up a small programme and celebrated the Anglo – Indian Day which was on the 2nd August. We started with a poem written by one of the girls followed by introduction, a prayer and the news. This was followed by an entertainment session which included two powerpoint presentations followed by a short skit. We then ended a programme with a bang with a dance programme and a medley of famous Anglo – Indian Songs. We brought the programme to a close with the Anglo Indian way of Vande Mataram.

This commitment day was held on 1ST May and was organized by YCS’ers of different schools. We were a group of 350 students from 12 different schools. We had a short seminar at our schools. We had another seminar in which we saw an inspiring movie and danced to action songs. In spite of the heat, we all were patient listener and came to know that being an YCS’er takes a lot of pride and it changes our lives completely.

ZINIA CHANEL

9-ii

A two-day seminar for Catechists’ was organized on the 10th and 11th of May, 2014 at Christ the King Church, Park Circus. It was organized by the Catechetical Commission of the Archdiocese of Calcutta. The resource persons were Sr. Bernadette IBVM, Fr. Robin Gomes SDB, Mrs. Pamela Ryan and Mrs. Lynette (teachers of Loreto Dharmatalla), Mrs. Grace Williams (teachers of Loreto Entally) and Mr. Danny D’Souza an active church member.

The aim of this seminar was to make those present, aware of the aims, syllabus, books and methods of teaching involved in the process of teaching catechesian in parishes and schools.

On the first day of the seminar, the Catechists’ were made aware of the concept of a) Faith b) Expressions of Faith and c) Sharing of Faith. Later on in the day there were panel discussions on the aims of Catechists’ and techniques to be used by them while teaching Catechism. After which, the teachers were introduced to the various source books{ Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC), Compendium Catechism of the Catholic church (CCCC) and the YOUCAT(for the youth)}, text books(Faith quest series etc) and the syllabus to be covered for certain age groups . The Sunday Catechism teachers were introduced to the book: In His Footsteps- Cycles A, B and C

The second day dealt with methods of teaching and Lesson Planning. Three distinction parts to a lesson plan were stressed upon 1) Human and personal experience 2) Word of god and 3) Children’s Response. There was a special session on the teaching of Sacraments which was indeed unique and interesting. Now and then, in between sessions, the particulars were made to take part in action soap which they could in turn be used in their classrooms.

The roll of media, a very contemporary aspect of classroom teaching today was also dealt with closely. After the sessions, as a part of evaluation, three questions were posed to the participants and they were encouraged to give their suggestions if any. The seminar ended solemnly with the Holy Eucharist held in the church.

It was indeed a much required Seminar for Catechists’ and was just the beginning. Refresher sources would be organized by the commission in a bid to equip our teacher with a better foundation. Better Catechists’ would produce better Catholics and this thought would serve as the crux of all organized by the Commission.

All in all it as a wonderful experience for our teachers who attended this Seminar- Mrs. A. Rocha, Mrs. S. Govindraj , Mrs. P. Quadra, Mrs. M. Patridge, Sr, Banisha , Mrs. N. Biswas, Mrs. R. Ireland and Mrs. A. Mondal.

Vocation camp: On 12th April, Sr. Nirmala had arranged a Vocation camp for classes 9 to 12. Sr. Banisha, Sr. Gretta and Sr.Parveen organized this camp which started at 9:00 am. It was a wonderful experience as the Loreto Sisters had organized games, action songs and presentations. There were many questions put before us which were concerned about our future vocations. We were guided as to how we should choose our vocation and how should we follow the were provided with snacks, lunch and tea. The memorable camp ended at 4:00 p, with the distribution of bookmarks as souvenirs.

Cherie Stephen

X-2