Coming together
Our three Founders, who had the spark of the same inner call but grew up and were formed in different life situations, were brought together by Divine Providence at Sehion in the year 2007. This get-together was helpful for the three to dive deeper into their inner call. They foresaw with their long vision the disastrous effects of the spirit of apostasy that would make the people of God and the chosen ones deviate from their path, raging into the Church of Kerala, enriched with faith, and then gradually into the Church of India, after sowing destruction inside the Eastern Church, as prophesied by the Lord. They understood Jesus’ heartbreak that ‘when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?’ and found a way to soothe Jesus’ pain in the Word of God to ‘glean the remnant of Israel as thoroughly as a vine; pass your hand over the branches again, like one gathering grapes’ (cf. Jer. 6:9). The ASJM monastery is their faithful response to God’s call to empower the chosen ones through evangelization founded on asceticism, acts of penance and deliverance ministries, and to build up the Church by seeking and finding the people of God scattered across the world and deepening them in faith before spiritual darkness covers the earth and the thick darkness of apostasy covers the peoples (cf. Is. 60:2).
The Lord chose the Eparchy of Palghat, which includes the Sehion Retreat Centre, as the birthplace of the ASJM monastery. The pastor He found for the fulfillment of this Divine plan was His Excellency Bishop Mar Jacob Manathodath, the Bishop of the Eparchy of Palghat. His Excellency, who always works zealously to build up and protect the inner call and inspirations of the Holy Spirit given by God to His pastors, was willing to fulfill God’s will about ASJM no matter what the cost. By considering the Founders’ request, after several days of prayerful discernment to test the fruitfulness of a new lifestyle, His Excellency permitted, along with the permission of the CMC Superior General, seven CMC sisters with the same inner call under the leadership of Rev. Sr. Amy Emmanuel, to come together and form a small community near the Sehion Retreat Centre on the Feast of Divine Mercy on 11 April 2010.
By seeing the powerful anointing of the Holy Spirit and the salvation of souls flowing through this community, under the spiritual guidance of Rev. Fr. Vattayil and Rev. Fr. Binoy, many religious of other religious communities came forward with the desire to embrace this lifestyle. Their life was according to the draft of the Typicon offered during the Eucharistic celebration on 15 August 2009. Together, they strengthened the life of penance, asceticism, contemplation, and the preaching of the Word of God. The Lord’s works and the visible presence of the power of the Holy Spirit through this community quickly spread at home and abroad. God opened up many religious communities, seminaries, and parishes for their ministries. Many youths, attracted by their lifestyle, came forward with the desire to become sisters. Realizing the work of the Holy Spirit, His Excellency Mar Jacob Manathodath let these aspirants join and gave the community permission to begin a pious union to be raised as monastery sui iuris in the future. Thus, ASJM Monastery was born as a pious union on 8 September 2014.
A few of the religious who lived for years in the community with Sr. Amy let the Founders know their desire to join the monastery of Abhishekagni Sisters. When His Beatitude Cardinal Mar George Alencherry came to the monastery with 12 other bishops on 2 August 2017, the good God allowed them to say that our charism and lifestyle are inevitable at this time. Rev. Fr. Vattayil, Rev. Fr. Binoy, and Rev. Sr. Amy let His Beatitude know their inner call. On realizing God’s intervention and plan, Cardinal Mar Alencherry and Bishop Mar Manathodath permitted them to move forward with this inner call.
Six sisters who had been with Sr. Amy told the Bishops their desire to be a part of this plan of God. His Beatitude did not push aside the Sisters’ petition, but by keeping for more discernment and consultation for its possibility according to the Canon law, He took a favorable stand to fulfill the duty entrusted to him by the Church. Following this, on writing the petitions to Rome, when the instructions they received became favorable, all six sisters with Sr. Amy met with their respective superiors and asked for permission to follow their inner call. Even though this was a very painful decision, the authorities permitted all seven sisters without standing as an obstacle to the will of God.
His Excellency Mar Jacob Manathodath raised the community of Abhishekagni Sisters as a monastery sui iuris (Autonomous) on 14 December 2017, the Feast of St. John of the Cross, who reached the heights of spirituality being enflamed by the fire of God’s love through a life of asceticism and penance. Rev. Sr. Amy did her perpetual profession by receiving the name of Sr. Amy Emmanuel of the Holy Spirit and the Immaculate Heart of Mother Mary, and the six other sisters received their monastic habit in the presence of His Excellency Mar Manathodath. His Excellency appointed Rev. Fr. Xavier Khan Vattayil and Rev. Fr. Binoy Karimaruthinkal as the directors and Rev. Sr. Amy Emmanuel as the Superior of the monastery.
The Lord who is always faithful in His promises, abundantly blessed the ASJM monastery to be people, a name, a praise, a glory that clings to God (cf. Jer. 13:11). Six senior sisters did their perpetual profession, and seven novices of the first batch Novitiate did their first profession on 3 January 2019, the Feast of St. Chavara Kuriakose Elias. In the following years, the Lord has been bringing lots of vocations to live ‘for Christ and His Church’.