The Congregation of the Sisters of Our Lad Fatima is and Indian Congregation of Women Religious. This Congregation was founded in 1896 in Karnataka in South India, by a Dutch Mill Hill Missionary of St. Joseph, Rev. Msgr. Francis Xavier Kroot, MHM.
Our Founder & His vision for Mission
Msgr. Francis Kroot was born in Zwolle in 1854 in the north-east of Holland, joined Mill Hill Society and was ordained priest in June 1878. When he was appointed to the South Indian Mission, he was determined to be a missionary like St. Francis Xavier, his patron saint. A man with great foresight and vision, Fr. Kroot knew that only education could help to empower the poor and improve their lot in life. He started and Indian Congregation of Religious Women now known as the Sisters of Our Lady of Fatima.
From 1896 to this day, the Sisters of Our Lady of Fatima are working for the uplift of women and children, especially girls, who are socially and economically backward. The spirit of service to the downtrodden and marginalized of the society has made these Sisters to move out to remote rural areas, involve themselves in the lives of the ordinary people, and work for their development.
The Bangalore Province of Sisters of Our Lady of Fatima
- The Fatima sisters of the Bangalore Province are working in the Southern states if India, Kerala, Karnataka,Tamilnadu and Andra Pradesh.
- We live a contemplative life with active works of charity in imitation Jesus and Mary. Our Spirituality of Prayer and Penance enables us to humble ourselves and live in solidarity with the poor and less fortunate brothers and sisters.
- We run schools for children and offer them not only good academic education but strive to inculcate in them good moral, ethical and social values.
- We run free Boarding Homes for children from remote villages and help them get educated.
- We work for the socio-economic development of the poor in the villages, especially women and girls, through self-financing programmes and encouraging them to take up leadership roles in the villages. The Fatima Social Service Trust is a registered Society that works for the uplift of the women and children.
- We offer primary health care to the poor through our village dispensaries.
- We shelter and care for Women in Distress who have no one to care for and are left to themselves on the streets and we rehabilitate them.
- We offer care for the Aged in our Homes for the Aged.
It was a long waited dream of people in Byndoor that they should have convent here and the sisters who can work in the parish for betterment and for the spiritual growth of the parish peoples. We Sisters of Our Lady Fatima here invited to Byndoor in 1984. There after sisters were encouraged supported by Rev. Fr. Furtado and started a Holy Cross Convent in 1984, May 27. The sisters rendered their services through various fields. Further we firmly settled in Byndoor in 1988 on wards rendering our generous services. As the years passed the strength in the began to decrease. Since there are many English medium school here opened. We with permission of Bishop, Parish Priest and of the people we started boarding home who are poor and under privileged in 2006. We are glad and feel at ease to serve these children at Snehalaya. People in byndoor are very kind and helpful. Yet we found it very hard to manage financially to support and maintain these children.
Having seen our struggle, our provincial superior decided to close down this Convent and withdraw the Sisters from here. However at our insistence she has allowed us to continue in Byndoor. We love our people and we would like to stay here and service them. In an attempt to help us out of our struggle our Parish Priest Rev. Fr. Francis Cornelio has given us permission to run a Kindergarten school in Convent premises, on our own. Thus we started k.g. class in June 2012. At present we have 16 children studying in this school.
Holy Cross Snehalaya Boarding home privilege to care for 45 poor children in our Covent –cum-Boarding Home. Sr. Jyothi is taking care of the Holy Cross K.G. school. Sr. Antonyyamma the animator of the community is teaching in the school and taking care of the Holy Cross Higher Primary School, Thus we are few in number God has blessed us abundantly to serve the people of Byndoor.