DE LA SALLE BROTHERS

         On the invitation of the Bishop of Tuticorin and the parish priest of our Lady of Snows, Rev. Fr. D’Almaida, the De La Salle Brothers accepted to extend their apostolate in the Diocese of Tuticorin. Bro. Xavier along with the first three postulants landed at Tuticorin on January 3^rd, 1964.

The De La Salle House community was officially started in Tuticorin on 1^st June, 1964. The first Director of the De La Salle community was Bro. Lawrence Robless. After a long service at various Institutions in Malaysia, at the age of 63, he came to India to work with the Brothers on Indian soil. He was ably assisted by his valiant communitarians namely Bro. Cassian Pappu from Penang and Bro. Yesudhasan. These three Brothers were excellent teachers. Bro. Lawrence was known for his excellence in administration. Bro. Lawrence, with the help of his friends in Malaysia, improved the living quarters of the Brothers. He collected a large number of books for the community library. He was a very cheerful, active and dynamic personality. Doubtless, he permeated and pervaded the whole school with his meticulous presence. It was he who improved the living quarters of the Brothers with the generous assistance of his friends in Malaysia. After 3 years of relentless service to the Indian Region especially to the P.M.O-La Salle School, he went back to the Penang District, where he died in the year 1974.

Bro. Cassian Pappu (RIP) also returned to Penang because of ill-health. He stayed in Tuticorin for five years. During these years he served the Region well as vocation Promoter and teacher. The most remarkable thing was his school-band, which earned a good name in and around the town. With his sound musical skills, he shaped the school choir as well; it became very popular and was invited for church services. After his recovery from illness he started working in Penang District and still, he is very active and energetic.

Brother Yesudhasan was one of the pioneers who had worked very well in uplifting the standard of the P.M. Ornellas School. He was the first Brother headmaster of the school and he worked hard to bring the school standards up. He was very firm while teaching games on the grounds, kind while teaching subjects in the class room and very hospitable and sympathetic towards the poor who visited him. It was in the year 1969 under the able guidance of Bro. Yesudhasan that the school won the state football championship.

In 1967 Bro. Thomas Xavier, a son of the soil, succeeded Rev. Bro. Lawrence as the Director of the community and the newly organized the Juniorate. Bro. William Abel who was the Sub-director of the community assisted him.  The Brothers’ quarters were upstairs in the mission house. Life was not easy there rather as it was crowded and lacked every basic amenity. The amenities of life were lacking and yet the Brothers had to rough out with these inconveniences till later when more commodious quarters were found for them elsewhere.

            Bro. William became the Director of the community and the Juniorate in 1968. The Brothers shifted their living quarters in 1969 from the Mission House to Rattakalakam (which was a weaving centre 25 years earlier). The living conditions were not only unhygienic but also primitive and not conducive to relaxation or even the minimum of comfort. In true Lasallian style our Brothers took up the challenge and with grim determination faced the problems one by one.

In 1973, Bro. Emiliano succeeded Bro. William as Director of the community and the Juniorate He appealed to the Superiors to get help for the Brothers’ quarters. Bro. James then acting as Regional Chairman wrote to the Propaganda Fide for help and they donated Rs. 39,000 for the Brothers’ Quarters. Bro. Emiliano left India and went to Spain for higher studies. The new community residence site consisted of about 75 cents (0.75 acre) of land, and was donated by the Tuticorin Diocese. The change of location in no way yielded any comfort for the Brothers. It was not only unhygienic but also primitive. Yet the Brothers lived happily in the true Lasallian spirit and encountered all the challenges that came their way.

Bro. Arulsamy was appointed the Director of the community and Juniorate in the year 1974. He was the first Indian Brother from the second arrival of the De La Salle Brothers in India. With the generous assistance from Bro. Superior General, the Brother Visitor of Belgium and Bro. James Kimpton, the Brothers modified the Rattakalaham (the weaving centre) into fairly comfortable living quarters for the Brothers and juniors.  During his tenure of office, Bro. Arulsamy toiled hard to have a new building erected for the Brothers and Juniors. Many objections were raised to any building being erected in such an unhygienic place. Many endeavors were made to find a more suitable spot but to no avail. The Regional Council finally gave Brother Arulsamy consent to go ahead with his plan for a new building, which was financed by Propaganda Fide and supplemented by the Superior General of De La Salle Brothers. Ultimately, in the 1982, the imposing, functional building which is the present La Salle community house became a reality. It certainly provided a more congenial atmosphere for the stay and study of the juniors. In 1981 Bro. Antony became the Director of the community and he made the De La Salle community residence greener by planting many trees around it. In 1986 after Bro. Antony was appointed Headmaster of PMO La Salle Higher Secondary School and Bro. S. James succeeded him as the director of the community and prefect of Juniors for a short period of 3 months. Later that same year Bro. Patrick Minus succeeded Bro. S. James as Director of the community and was also appointed prefect of Juniors. He remained Director of the community and was also appointed correspondent of the school in the year 1990.  Bro. Thomas Michael (1992) became the Director of the De La Salle community and he also taught in the school.

Since the Muthuchippi hostellers did not have a dining Hall, Bro. Thomas Michael constructed the La Salle dining hall and modified the compound wall. It was during his tenure that the Brothers extended their apostolate to the neighbouring village namely Alangarathattu, and built a community hall there for the people with the help of the Spanish volunteers.

In 1995, Bro. Divianathan joined the staff of P.M.O-LaSalle and became the Director of the community in 1996. He helped to construct a community hall at Silverpuram, which helped to young ladies to earn their livelihood. Bro. Alfred succeeded him as Director of the community in the year 1998 and in 2000 Bro. Thomas Michael once again became the Director of the community of six Brothers comprising Brothers Ignaci, Arockiasamy, Christopher, Sekar and Arulsamy.

P.M. ORNELLAS – LA SALLE HR. SEC. SCHOOL, TUTICORIN:

P.M. stands for “Portuguese Mission”. Which indicates that the school was started long ago by the Portuguese Missionaries who came here during the time of St. Francis Xavier? For a long time it was only a primary school attached to the Parish of Our Lady of Snows, just by the sea, in Tuticorin. In 1964, it was upgraded into a High School when the De La Salle Brothers were asked to take charge of it. Rev. Brothers Lawrence Robless, Cassian and Yesudhasan were the pioneers, who like all pioneers had to overcome numerous difficulties when charged with taking over responsibility for the direction of this school. But with perfect trust in Providence they succeeded. The strength in numbers at that time was only 180 pupils. The class rooms were dark and ill-ventilated. They pupils were mostly the children of the poor fishermen. The school then did not have a high reputation for academic achievement, for it was made up mostly of the left-overs and drop-outs. As a result, much hard work had to be put into the building up of standards in most fields. Bro. Yesudhasan then deserves great credit for his constant and valiant efforts during the first five years of his service there. Great effort, sacrifice and courage were needed to cope with the low-standards of the students to encourage them to improve and gain greater achievements. The pioneer Brothers especially Bro. Yesudhasan worked hard to raise the standard of education and the general tone of the school.

Seeing the dire necessity for a bigger and more modern school in keeping with the needs of the students and the development of the parish, the Brothers decided to build a good school. The Bishop of Tuticorin generously offered the Brothers two acres of land to build the school. A generous benefactor Chevalier C.I.R. Machado put up the first six class rooms on the new site at a cost of Rs. 70,000 and with all the initial expenses, including leveling the ground and clearing of the site.

The new Headmaster was Bro. Yesudhasan, B.Sc., who had just completed his B.Ed. at the Thiagaraja College, Madurai. He had been teaching as a lay-man in several schools in Sri Lanka, before moving to the De La Salle Brothers in their school of St. Xavier’s in Nuwara Eliya and it was there he decided to become a De La Salle Brother and was sent to India. Bro. William was appointed correspondent of the school for a short time in Jan 1969. Although he was the only teaching Brother in the school, he worked very hard to raise the standard of the school in all aspects.

In 1969, Bro. Yesudhasan was transferred to Madurai and Mr. Bruno, one of the senior teachers, became the headmaster of the school for one year. During his tenure the school won the state football championship tournament in Tamil Nadu State. In 1970 Mr. Esrone was appointed headmaster of the school and In 1971 Bro. William was made the Correspondent, and Mr. Esrone worked very hard to improve the standard of the school.

In 1971, with Bro. William remaining on as the Correspondent the Brothers once more, took complete charge of the school. The German agency, “Misereor” agreed to put up a new Science Block together with the administration section but wanted the Brothers to contribute a share: about Rs: 75,000 equal to one fourth of the cost of the building. They were able to get donations from local donors for about Rs. 25,000 only. Bro. William begged from Brothers abroad and from other agencies and completed the construction of the new block.

In 1973, Bro. Arulsamy succeeded Bro. William as the correspondent and he was the only Brother teaching in the school for two years. In 1975, Bro. Yesudhasan once more joined the staff and he became the headmaster again the following year 1976. He remained headmaster till his retirement in 1981. He had toiled hard to raise the standard of the school but it was only during Bro. Arulsamy’s stewardship that the school obtained a high percentage of successes in the S.S.L.C. Examination. As a consequence, the strength of the school grew considerably. To accommodate the additional pupils, Bro. Arulsamy built on four additional classrooms.

The poor students from the neighbouring places required a hostel facility. In 1976 Bro. Arulsamy started a home for the destitute and in it he accommodated 100 poor children. He also built a hostel for others who could afford to pay for boarding and lodging and with the help of the Central Govt. as Director of the home for the destitute he obtained a grant to construct this facility for poor children in the year 1984. With the generous assistance of the benefactors and donors, he then constructed Pius X Hostel within the school premises. In 1986 he was transferred to the newly started St. James High School, Suranam as Director, Headmaster and Correspondent.

Bro. Antony who was   an assistant at P.M.O-LASALLE SCHOOL succeeded Bro. Arulsamy as Headmaster and correspondent. During his tenure the school secured great laurels in sports and extra-curricular activities. In 1987 Bro. Arockiasamy became the correspondent of the school. The year 1989 was the Silver Jubilee year of the school. In 1990 Bro. Patrick Minus succeeded Bro. Arockiasamy as correspondent of the school and Bro. Arockiasamy became the Headmaster. Bro. Arockiasamy built four additional classrooms on the first floor of the building. He also built an upstairs in Pius X Cottage to accommodate the increasing number of students. Bro. John succeeded him as Headmaster and also became correspondent of the school in the year 1992.He showed a keen interest in improving the school in every area. He was the one who introduced Higher Secondary courses in the school in 1995.  With the help of the Basque Government, Spain, Bro. John Fernando constructed six additional classrooms for Higher Secondary students. He also renovated the school library and weaving room.

In the year 1996, Bro. Arulsamy who had been the principal of Bishop Joseph Thumma Junior College, Keesara, Vijayawada Diocese was transferred once again to take charge of the administration of P.M.O-LaSalle Hr. Sec. School. Since he knew many of the members of the staff from his previous administration, he started off very well with the esteem of the administration. In 1998 with his untiring work and the strong support of his team of P.G. teachers, secured a high pass rate even securing a 100% success pass in the Higher Secondary Examination. He also carried out a lot of structural developments in the campus and with the generous assistance of the Basque Government, Spain; he constructed four classrooms on the first floor of the Higher Secondary (LaSalle Block) of classrooms. Annexed to this block he also built two spacious classrooms with air-conditioning and refrigeration, to accommodate the drop-outs and educationally weaker individuals to pursue studies in keeping with their intellectual achievements. This programme is described in more detail later. Also in response to this timely call in addressing the needs specific to students the Brothers started an English-medium parallel sections programme for children from VI Standard onwards in the same school premises in the 1998-99 academic year. Computer courses were also included in the curriculum having become necessary for obtaining jobs in all walks of life.

LA SALLE COMPUTER ACADEMY:

A spacious well-equipped air-conditioned computer laboratory was constructed in the school campus in 1996 to provide a conducive atmosphere and for better computer education. Besides academic education the students were enriched with religious, social and physical education, irrespective of caste or religion. In the computer centre 3 months, 6 months and one year courses were offered also to outsiders. Special computer courses were also started for adults who hadn’t had the opportunity to undertake those courses earlier in life. The successful candidates were given Government approved certificates on completion of the respective courses. Bro. Christopher was the first person in charge of the computer courses having obtained the necessary qualifications and he ably delivered the programmes. The courses were very much appreciated and many enrolled in them.

Due to the overcrowding of the boarders of Pius X Hostel caused by the increased intake in students, they were constrained to having to dine on the verandah of the hostel. This was a very unsatisfactory situation and Bro. Arulsamy found funds to enable him to construct a dining hall for these boarders behind the Pius X Hostel. He also modified the existing building and repaired the southern wall of the school.

BASKETBALL COURT:

A Spacious concrete basket-ball court was constructed at the dawn of the third millennium and it became without doubt the best basketball court in the district at the time. A bus was also purchased for the school to transport Junior Novices and other students to the school.

LASALLIAN FORMATION PROGRAMMES

DE LA SALLE JUNIORATES:

After their foundation on Indian soil in 1961, the Brothers wanted to recruit local people to continue their work and Bro. Cassian Pappu was the first recruiter who laboured hard to recruit Indian candidates. Since the De LaSalle Brothers were almost unknown at that time in India vocations were very few in the early years. Bro. Cassian Pappu and the early Brothers made constant efforts all over Tamil Nadu to recruit candidates. After two years of hard work, four candidates showed a willingness to join the Brothers. A temporary Aspirancy programme was started for them in Madurai in 1963 and after six months of training they went to Mangalagiri on 8^th March, 1964, to start their Postulancy under the directorship of Bro. Austin the gentle Englishman veteran who came to India after 35 years of apostolate in Sri Lanka. In July, 1964, the Juniorate was officially opened in Tuticorin in the presbytery of our Lady of Snows Church and Bro. Lawrence became the first Director of the newly started Juniorate. He had been director of many famous schools in Malaysia and made every effort to provide a suitable training for the juniors. He was always cheerful and thorough in all his training. After three years of useful service in the Juniorate he returned to his native Malaysia.

In July, 1967, Bro. Thomas Xavier became the next director of the Juniorate. By that time the Junior Novices had increased to 30. The quality of formation however, was not of the best quality and only a few reached the novitiate. Since Bro. Xavier was not in good health, Bro. William Abel became Director of Juniorate in 1969.

The Juniorate was shifted to Rattahalagam, near the school campus in 1969 and the Brothers made alterations to the building to accommodate the Brothers and Junior Novices. After five years of initial formation 4 Junior novices were sent to Mangalagiri to make their novitiate. One of these Junior Novices was Bro. Joseph Fernando, the first fruit of the hard labour rendered after officially establishing the Juniorate.

In 1970 the Brothers thought that Tuticorin was not suitable for the formation of Juniors for health reasons and it was shifted to Madurai. The Brothers bought a small piece of property near Boys’ Town and built a fine Juniorate known as Benildus Juniorate. There were 12 Juniors under the Directorship of Bro. Joachim, a Spanish missionary. The Juniors went to school in Nagamalai, Pudukottai by bicycle. This was difficult and tiring as they could not find a good school nearer to Boys’ Town. They stayed only three years in Benildus House but there were four Directors namely Joachim, Austin, Patrick and Emiliano. This unsuitability of location and the frequent change of directors did not help the perseverance of the juniors. In 1973 the Juniorate was shifted back to Tuticorin. Bro. Emiliano became the vocation promoter and went all over Tamil Nadu to recruit candidates. The recruitment drive was done systematically and yearly vocation camps were conducted and good candidates were selected. Under the leadership of Bro. Emiliano the Juniorate training programme improved. The living conditions however were not suitable for a good formation. Bro. Emiliano appealed to the superiors and Rs. 30,000 was sent to modify Rattahalagam to make it a more suitable place in which to live. Bro. Emiliano had to leave to pursue higher studies and Bro. Arulsamy succeeded him as Director of the Juniorate. At the time there were 30 Juniors studying from IX Std to X Std in P.M. Ornellas High School and in P.U.C. in Kamaraj College, Tuticorin. The Juniors had to stay in Rattakalam for the 6 years with very limited comforts.  The superiors in Rome realized the need for a better infra-structure and to provide a suitable Juniorate they generously contributed 3 lakhs of rupees and a fine building was built with all necessary facilities for the Juniors in 1981.

In 1981 Bro. Antony succeeded Bro. Arulsamy as the Director of the Junior novices. In 1983 Bro. Sebastian took the dual responsibility of vocation promoter and prefect of Junior novices. Since the kitchen was in a bad condition, Bro. Sebastian built a fine and spacious kitchen for the Juniorate. With his recruiting ability and good formation    he was able to send more candidates to the novitiate. In 1986 Bro. S. James was director of Juniors for just three months and he was succeeded by Bro. Patrick.

In 1988 there was another Juniorate at Suranam on temporary basis for three years and Bro. Alfred and Arul Joseph looked after it. After three years of experiment it was closed down and there was only one Juniorate in Tuticorin. Bro. Patrick was the Director of Juniors till 1991. In 1992 the Juniorate was shifted to Mangalagiri under the direction of Bro. Gerald and the Juniors attended Pudukottai school for their studies for four years.