by Cleric John Kennedy Philip for BISMumbai

Salesians of Don Bosco General Councillor for Formation, Father Ivo Coelho, visited Salesian Training Institute [STI] at Nashik on 24 February 2021. The visit of a major superior, as traditionally believed, brings twice the amount of blessings and God's grace to the community. This was such an occasion for the MumbaiSalesians' Novitiate community, which welcomed Father Coelho and felicitated him ceremoniously.

MumbaiSalesians' Novice Master and Rector of STI, Father Wyman Gonsalves, welcomed Father Coelho, while the other staff and the novices

staged a short cultural programme, that included a song in Italian. Father Coelho then addressed the community and imparted the 'blessing of Mary Help of Christians, since it was the 24th of the month.

Father Coelho spent time in patient listening to the vocation stories of each of the young novices. Thereafter he invited the novices to "focus on the three pillars of religious life: consecration, communion and mission. As article 60 of the Salesian Constitutions mandates us, I urge you to the radical following of Jesus Christ." He also responded to and clarified various questions raised by the novices, during the interaction.