Flowers in the Desert
Servi Domini Orphanage 2000-2025
“You can really see the grace grow in them.”
—Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre
Introduction
In the year 2000, a young lady gave up the world to establish an orphanage and old people’s home in her native Kadapa, Andhra Pradesh, in southeast India. The Orphanage was established formally as the Society of Servi Domini—Society of the Servants of the Lord. It soon became a wonderful work of charity, but then Swarna discovered both the Tridentine Mass and her religious vocation thanks to her cousin, a member of the small group of faithful of the Society of Saint Pius X in India. Having discerned in the Mass a pearl of great price, and desirous of answering the call to the religious life, she effectively gave herself fully to a Divine Plan of drawing all souls to Our Blessed Lord by loving the least of them with the greatest supernatural charity.
Her first sacrifice was to sell the land acquired for her work in Andhra Pradesh to move her entire orphanage 400km south to Palayamkottai, Tamil Nadu. She wanted to be near the only priory of the Society of Saint Pius X in India so that she and her charges might assist at daily Mass. The move was not easy. Not only was there opposition from many close to her, but about half of the eighty-three orphans and old people stayed in Andhra Pradesh to be looked after by others. Also, moving to Tamil Nadu was like moving to another country: it had a different language, different alphabet even, different food, different culture, different history, and all the people were strangers.
Fr. Daniel Couture, District Superior in Asia at the time, and Fr. Patrick Summers, Prior of the Most Holy Trinity Priory at Palayamkottai, welcomed Swarna and her sixteen girls, eighteen boys, six old ladies, and two old men with great joy on January 18th, 2006. In her, and in her work, they saw the potential for a marvellous blossoming of the apostolate in the predominantly Hindu subcontinent of India.
Consoling Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus
Almost a year before Swarna made the brave decision to move her orphanage to Palayamkottai, she visited two religious congregations in Europe with two intentions in mind. The first intention was to find a congregation that would accept her as a postulant; the second was to have the same congregation adopt her orphanage as part of their apostolate. This was a great thing to ask of any community, but the readiness of the Consoling Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus to embrace both Swarna and her orphanage is a testament to the ardent charity of their congregation; it was also a sign of Providence and an answer to Swarna’s prayers.
The Consoling Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus is a religious society with public vows dedicated to promoting devotion to the Sacred Heart and the Christian formation of girls and women. The sisters had placed themselves under the spiritual and temporal guidance of Fr. Emmanuel du Chalard of the Society of Saint Pius X after the death of their founder, Padre Basilio Rosati in 1996, and they gave themselves to help the Society in whichever way they could. The motherhouse is in Vigne, about one hour north of Rome. In 2005, when Swarna knocked on their door, it was the only house of the community of just eight professed sisters and one novice.
Sr. Maria Immaculata
In June of 2007, one and a half years after the Servi Domini Orphanage had arrived in Palayamkottai, Swarna boarded an airplane for Italy to begin her postulancy with the Consoling Sisters. She left the orphanage in the capable hands of another postulant, Miss Marie-Blanche Herault of France, together with three new Indian postulants who were the first fruits of the new foundation at Palayamkottai.
The year passed quickly enough: Swarna was accepted as a novice, taking the name of Sr. Maria Immaculata, and was professed on July 3rd, 2008. With great haste, she boarded another flight to return to her tearfully jubilant orphans.
For months before, the children had been counting down the days with growing excitement. If any of the classes at school seemed a bit dull, one simply had to ask, “How many days until Auntie comes?” and the sleepy class would be instantly transformed into a bright-eyed, chattering mêlée—overflowing with excitement in anticipation of the great day. If only it were possible to describe the tearful joy of the girls and boys on that day! Sister, however, being of a phlegmatic temperament, betrayed little more than a placid smile.
Fr. Couture came especially for the event; he had to be there, for it marked the close of one chapter, and the opening of another in the continuing story of what can only be described as a beautiful work of Divine Providence.
First Fruits
Shortly after Sr. Maria Immaculata’s arrival, two of the Indian postulants, Rosilda and Rosalind—“the Two Roses”—departed for the motherhouse in Italy for their novitiate, to return two years later as Srs. Maria Celina and Maria Theresa. Since then, a modest number of young ladies have followed in their courageous footsteps so that, in 2025, there are now nine professed Indian sisters, three postulants, and two aspirants.
The New Orphanage
Vocations were not the only flowers that bloomed in this unlikely garden; the generosity of many benefactors permitted the construction of a new orphanage on new land outside the noisy town of Palayamkottai. Fr. du Chalard blessed the first stone of the first building on November 29th, 2008 and returned on the feast of the Immaculate Conception in 2009 to bless the completed edifice.
Fairer by far than concrete flowers, however, are the blossoms of virtue which charm all who visit the orphanage. The children, young ladies and elderly ladies—from infancy to more than eighty years old—form a community defined by the bonds of supernatural charity. When one sees a young girl patiently feeding a “grandma,” as they affectionately call them, or another supporting her as she totters in the cloister, or when one hears the beautiful singing of the choir or surprises a soul deep in prayer in the chapel, one senses the action of sanctifying grace at work. “You can really see the grace growing in them,” said Archbishop Lefebvre when speaking of his experience of the mission in Gabon; he would say the same here too.
On September 23rd, 2010, Fr. Couture blessed the first stone of the much larger second building which was finally blessed on August 15th, 2013 by Fr. du Chalard. The first building became the convent, and the second the home for a maximum of sixty children and thirty elderly. When they moved into this building, there were twenty-eight orphan girls and seven grandmas. Now numbers have increased to forty-five girls and fifteen grandmas.
A future project envisages the construction of a large church, but the sisters await another sign of Divine Providence before they begin.
Veritas Academy
When the Servi Domini Orphanage arrived in Palayamkottai in 2006, Fr. Summers was obliged to turn his priory into a boys’ orphanage and school.
Veritas Academy had been an unrealised dream of the priests at Palayamkottai for many years, but it was only with the arrival of so many children that the critical mass was achieved to found what is the condition sine qua non of any long-term apostolate—a school to teach the faith to the next generation. The school moved three times before the start of the 2014–15 academic year when it numbered sixty-eight pupils—both orphans and local faithful—in a rented property equidistant from the priory and girls’ orphanage. Regrettably in 2018 the school was obliged to close its doors because government inspectors denied it legal recognition. Hope remains, however, and plans for a new school are being prepared.
Volunteers
The influence of Servi Domini was not just confined to the southeast corner of India. A generous response to appeals for teachers and supervisors saw some 120 volunteers give their time to teach at the school or to labour at the orphanage or priory from 2007 to 2018. They came from every inhabited continent, and almost all returned home with happy memories that will never be effaced. Daily Mass, working and playing with the children, bearing with a challenging climate, and experiencing a culture and landscape so far removed from any other, left most of the volunteers enriched with grace and virtue—as well as a desire to return.
If there is one memory they cherish fondly, it is that of the (relative) innocence of the children. The children at the orphanage had no television, mobile phones, computer games, internet, tasteless music or ugly fashion, but found wholesome joy in the innocent pursuits of childhood.
Sadly, in 2018, that doleful year, the strict enforcement of visa rules closed this avenue of apostolate to generous souls. Temporal regimes come and go, and in patience we must possess our souls.
The Future
The causa finalis (ultimate purpose) of the Servi Domini Orphanage in India, is that of the Consoling Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus: to love and make loved Our Blessed Lord. It does this by caring for the least of souls in society. It works alongside that of the Society of Saint Pius X to lay the foundations for a Catholic community—a Catholic caste—with a Catholic culture in which Catholic families and vocations are formed and nourished and souls are ultimately saved.
Substantially, there is little left of the 2000-year-old church established by St. Thomas the Apostle or that of the Portuguese colonies of 500 years ago. The ravages of the Second Vatican Council have broken the golden chain that spanned many centuries; the physical structures remain, but they have mostly lost their meaning. Enculturation, religious ignorance, and materialism have been the hammer blows that have broken successive links of this chain. Servi Domini is busy reforging them anew, soul by soul.
Over thirty souls have been born into grace because of the Consoling Sisters’ apostolate, and perhaps ten “grandmas” and a handicapped girl have died fortified by the rites of the Church. Sr. Maria Immaculata is encouraging her girls to continue their academic education and helps them to acquire the virtues of Catholic motherhood, if not those of a religious or teaching vocation. Ten orphan girls are now married young ladies and Sister is now a “grandmother” many times over. Two girls are aspiring to religious vocations with the Consoling Sisters.
Over the same period, as an overflowing of grace, the Consoling Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus have experienced what seems to be a miraculous tidal wave of vocations. From just eight professed sisters in 2007 when Swarna knocked on their door, now—in 2025—there are ninety-five professed sisters and fifteen novices. It is not hyperbolic to suggest that many of these vocations were encouraged by the experience or, at least, the inspiration of the Servi Domini orphanage in India.
Further evidence that supernatural charity has no borders and cannot contain itself is the fact that, at the last count, seventeen volunteers went on to try a priestly or religious vocation—moved, either wholly or in part, by the graces received in India.
Final Thoughts
Over the last twenty-five years, the work of the Society of Servi Domini has been blessed. So many souls have been baptised and have died in the sacraments because of its work in India. So many religious and even priestly vocations have been awakened throughout the world because of its call to charity. So many more souls have been touched by the grace occasioned by its example. Among these souls, I am happy to count my own.
Arriving into what seemed a parallel universe in 2007 as a “young” priest of three years, I had the singular privilege of witnessing, participating in, and being the beneficiary of, the supernatural goodness of which this work of Providence was a spring.
Ten years have passed since I was called away, and barely a day goes by without happy memories of the orphans, the grandmas, the sisters, my confrères, the faithful and volunteers, the smiles and laughter, the colours and sunshine, the heat and dust, the sounds, sights and fragrance of this exotic land. India is a land in colour while the rest of the world is in black and white and grey. India fills the senses, and the apostolate there incites to virtue.
Prayers of thanks are offered for all those who have helped the orphanage and the Indian mission. Know that you too have had a part in this wonderful work. Charity has watered the desert and the flowers that now grow there are as miraculous as they are beautiful. May God be praised, may His mother continue to shower graces upon us, and may you all be blessed.
Rev. Robert Brucciani
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