Sister Mary Usha   

Sister  Mary  Usha                  ND 5578                  PDF Download

Mariakutty Varghese Pattacherry

Our Lady of the Visitation Province, Bangalore, Karnataka, India

Date and Place of Birth:              February 21, 1938       Shertally, Kerala, India
Date and Place of Profession:    January 6, 1961            Jamalpur, Bihar, India
Date and Place of Death:            July 9, 2023                  Provincial House, Bangalore
Date and Place of Burial:            July 10, 2023                Convent Cemetery, Hinkal, Mysore

Mariakutty Varghese Pattacherry was the first child of a very devout Catholic couple, Varghese and Aleykutty Pattacherry. She was baptized and christened as Mariakutty on February 27, 1938. She received the first Holy Communion in 1945 and her Confirmation on March 12, 1947. Being the eldest in a family of 10 children Mariakutty learned to be a responsible and helpful young girl. She joined the convent after her 12^th grade on June 27, 1957. She began her novitiate on December 8, 1958. Her perpetual profession was on December 25, 1965, held in Rome, Italy.

Among her six sisters, two others became religious and one of them is our own Sister Mary Nisha SND in the Assumption Province, Patna. Sr. Jolly George belongs to the Congregation of the Franciscan Clarist Sisters.

Sister Mary Usha was trained to be a Montessori teacher, to be a counsellor and catechist to be involved in the pastoral ministry. Sister Mary Usha was blessed with the grace of being a pioneer in several places like Campus School in Pantnagar, U.P. and pastoral services in the Daltanganj diocese. She was one of the first missionaries who came to Mysore in 1969 from Notre Dame, Patna. She spent her youthful years ministering to the little children of the Montessori school.

The ministry she loved most was offering retreats for Inner Healing & Counselling for the past 35 years. She gave leadership to the charismatic movement in North India through her involvement which meant much travel and adjustment. She was sought after as an international retreat preacher for inner healing. Amidst all her retreat preaching, she found time to write several books on healing like “Hidden Springs to Healing”, “Forgiveness is Divine”, “Time for Healing” to help the growing mission of Notre Dame in India.

With her failing health, Sister Mary Usha entered into the ministry of “Prayer and Presence” in the Provincial House, Bangalore. Her health began to deteriorate from July 7, 2023 and she was admitted in St. Martha’s Hospital. She peacefully gave her life back to her Creator and went to her eternal home on July 9, 2023. May she rest in peace.

She will remain a powerful intercessor in heaven for all of us. We, the Sisters of Notre Dame graciously and gratefully acknowledge the services given by Sister Mary Usha during the past 66 years of her life and mission in Notre Dame.