Sister Mary Vinita 

Sister Mary Vinita             ND 5580          PDF Download

Aleykutty Thomas Arangathukuzhiyil

Our Lady of the Assumption Province, Patna

Date and Place of Birth               February 07, 1935       Ettumanoor, Kerala
Date and Place of Profession    January 06, 1962        Jamalpur, Bihar, India
Date and Place of Death             February 17, 2020       Provincial House, Patna
Date and place of funeral           February 20, 2020       Provincial House, Patna
Date and place of burial              February 20, 2020       Provincial House Cemetery, Patna

Sister Mary Vinita was born as the eldest of the six children of Thomas Arangathukuzhiyil and Mariam Devasia. She was baptized at St. Mary’s Church, Athirampuzha on February 11^th, 1935. She received First Holy Communion on December 8^th, at the age of 7.

Sister attended the Government primary and middle school and then St. Mary’s High School run by the Adoration Sisters. The attention and care she received from the Sisters and the daily Catechism classes by the parish priest had great formative influence on her life and her determination to become a missionary Sister. In 1958, Aleykutty met two Sisters of Notre Dame who had gone to Kerala for vocation promotion and was accepted by them as an aspirant. The travel from Kerala to Jamalpur in those days took four days, and she arrived in Jamalpur on July 13^th. Sister writes in her autobiography, “Here I am practicing how to live in the Notre Dame way. I am very very happy.” These words of hers are very significant, because this is how Sister Mary Vinita was all her religious life: A happy person, very appreciative of her superiors and co-Sisters as well has her students and collaborators, ever wanting to give little surprises to bring joy to others.

Sister Mary Vinita and her three companions made their first profession on January 6^th, 1962. As was the practice at that time, at the end of her Juniorate she was sent to Rome for her tertianship. She made her perpetual vows in the Motherhouse on December 8^th, 1967.

Sister Mary Vinita attended the Government Teacher Training School in Munger and received her Teacher Training Certificate in 1970. Later she was sent to Nirmala College in Ranchi, where she successfully completed her B.A. studies.

She was directly engaged in the ministry of education for 31 years. St. Joseph’s School, Jamalpur, St. Ann’s School, Sasaram, Hartmann Primary School, Patna, Maria Ashram, Sheikhpura, Chenari, and Somnahalli. For three years Sister was in charge of the kitchen at Sophia, Bangalore. Sister Mary Vinita was a pastoral person in the community and enthusiastically involved in the pastoral activities of the parish. In Sister Mary Vinita’s own words, “I am doing all these for the love of my Divine Master.”

In 2016, Sister Mary Vinita was brought to the provincial house infirmary. With her walker she managed to get around and attend community gatherings without any hospitalization almost to the end of her life. She was admitted to Kurji Holy Family Hospital on January 20^th, 2020 following a bout of abdominal pain which was diagnosed as a case of cancer. She underwent surgery. There were satisfactory signs of recovery. Sister Mary Vinita was discharged from the hospital on February 17^th and brought to the Provincial House infirmary for continued rest and recuperation. However, little did we grasp that God’s eternal plan was to take her all the way back to her Heavenly Home. Sister quietly passed away at 3:10 pm on February 17, 2020.

The Sisters from most of our affiliations managed to find their way to Patna to pay their respects to our dear Sister Mary Vinita and to get her blessings. The Resurrection Mass on February 20^th, 2020, was concelebrated by Bishop Sebastian Kallupura, the Coadjutor Bishop of Patna and a large number of priests in the presence of the sisters and few relatives of the sisters and she was buried the same evening in the provincial house cemetery, Patna.