Pioneers: First members of SD
Venerable Fr. Varghese Payapilly was deeply moved by the deplorable condition of those poor people in Kerala and got inspiration and enlightenment from the Words “As you did it to one of the least of these my brethren, you did it to me” (Mt.25:40). It prompted him to found a Congregation that can care for the destitute. He prayed and discerned the will of God and consulted the hierarchy, His Grace Mar Augustine Kandathil, the late Archbishop of Ernakulum and asked for suggestions, looked for possibilities and waited patiently till the will of God was revealed.
At this point a providential coincidence took place. Five young women (Kalamparambil Thresia, Kizhakambalam, Kuppiyil Idakala Ouseph Thresia, Kizhakambalam (Sr. Josephina), Madathiparambil Antony Eliswa, Pazhanganad (Sr. Cicily), Mazhuvancherry Antony Rosa, Kizhakambalam (Sr. Gertrude) and Ootancherry Antony Thresia, Chunangamvely (Sr. Kochuthresia) happened to meet together and shared their ardent desire to serve the poor and destitute in a new congregation. They expressed their desire to the Archbishop Mar Augustine Kandathil. But they too had to wait for discernment of the will of God. Finally, convinced of their interior call, the Archbishop directed them to Fr. Payapilly. This providential encounter was a significant event. It is with these young women as pioneers that Fr. Payapilly founded the Congregation of the Sisters of the Destitute. A new chapter began in the social and religious history of Kerala when a home for aged and infirm for the poor and destitute was inaugurated on the same day.