Church of Our Lady of Guadalupe
Established: 1898
Catholics: 200
Catholic Church
Dussaiya
Bettiah P.O.845438
West Champaran District, Bihar
Tel: (06254) 231324
Pilgrimage Centre: Marian Shrine
Mass Centers: Lalgarh, Fakirana
History:
The king of Bettiah had donated two hundred bighas of land to the missionaries at Bettiah for their use. After the famine of 1897 a number of people sought help from the priests in Bettiah and some of these were settled on this land in Dussaiya. The church, dedicated to the Mother of the Divine Shepherd was blessed by the Prefect Apostolic, Fr. Hilarion, on May 8,1898.
In the 1980’s Fr. Robert Stegman, S.J. had a picture of Our Lady of Guadalupe painted and installed in the church which he enlarged by incorporating the sacristy into the main body of the church. The sacristy was shifted to another building.
The Diocesan Social Service Society was operating in rented in Quarters in Bettiah. As this was not very convenient, a new building was constructed in Dussaiya where training programmes for large numbers of people can conveniently be conducted.
In 1995 Monsignor Joachim Osta, the parish priest of Bettiah began the construction of the shrine in honour of the Blessed Virgin Mary. This was blessed by Bishop Victor Henry Thakur on October 7,1999.
In 2005 a minor seminary, St. Peter’s Seminary, was built in Dussaiya and blessed by Bishop Victor Henry Thakur on February 26, 2006.
When the care of the orphans in Bettiah became too difficult, land was purchased in Fakirana, about three kilometers from the Bettiah Church, and the orphanage was shifted there. The old women whom he Holy Cross Sisters cared for were also accommodated there. The work continues to this day.
As time went on the orphanage was closed and other work was begun. At present there is a residential school for hearing impaired children. There is also a residential programme of about nine months each for village girls who are given some basic education and training in various skills.
At present the Postulants for the Holy Cross Sisters are also residing in Fakirana.
The Holy Cross Sisters had some farm land a few kilometers from Dussaiya in a place called Lal Garh. In the late 1970’s they began to take care of some elderly and handicapped women there and a small school was started in bamboo huts. Now the school is well established in a large building and caters to the needs of the neighbouring villages
Also in Fakirana is the novitiate of the Sisters of the Sacred Heart. The sisters’ convent in Fakirana for many years was also the residence of the Superior General.
The sisters help the poor in a flourishing dispensary which treats patients from far and near. They also conduct a Hindi Medium high school which serves the people of the villages around Fakirana.
The sisters are engaged in many social service projects and their work is very much appreciated by the government which often seeks their help, especially for the care of disadvantaged and ill treated women. Also for such women there is a “Help Line” and a short stay home for those in transition. The sisters are very active in education on prevention of HIV/AIDS and the care of such patients.
History of Our Lady Guadalupe Shrine:
Dussaiya is a small village five Kms. away from Bettiah town. Here we have a Marian Shrine and it is the only shrine in whole of North Bihar. A foreign Missionary who worked in the area seeing deep Marian devotion among the Catholics and even non-Christians got a beautiful picture of Our Lady of Guadalupe framed and put it in the small village Chapel of Dussaiya. People began visiting and many claim to have received favours.
According to some elderly Catholics living here, the Chapel was built by Capuchin priests in 1901 to help devotees to grow in Marian piety. Gradually, their neighbours from other faiths started visiting the Chapel, and they might have brought their own customs and traditions with them, like offering human hair as a sign of thanksgiving for the gift of a child to the childless parents.
Now hundreds of devotees, many of them from other religions, throng the shrine throughout the year. They come either to seek favors from Dussaiya Maiya (Mother of Dussaiya) or to give thanks for blessings already received.
This prompted then Bishop (present Archbishop of Raipur) Rt. Rev. Victor Henry Thakur along with Rt. Rev. J.B. Thakur SJ, Bishop of Muzafferpur and Rt. Rev. Benedict J. Osta, SJ, the Archbishop of Patna Archdiocese, to declare jointly this Chapel as a Shrine in the year October 7 1999. A new Shrine church, under the guidance of Monsignor Joachim Osta, was built to commemorate this historical event.
The shrine attracts the largest crowd for its annual feast in December which is celebrated on the nearest Sunday to December 12.
People who received favours through the intercession of Our Lady of Dussaiya (Guadalupe) show their gratitude by offering various items at the shrine. They also light candles before a Marian picture. For the gift of a son, however, the main offering is some of the child´s hair. For Hindus, the first haircut of a boy is a solemn ritual and occurs when the child is at least 5 years old and before he is 8. They take him to a temple to perform the “baal charahi” (hair offering) ritual.
At the feast grateful women carried the picture of the Blessed Mother on their shoulders in a cradle-like wooden frame decorated with marigold flowers. Other devotees scrambled to pick flowers from the “palki” (palanquin) after they are offered to the Blessed Mother. People take home the flower as a holy relic and treat each petal as “prasad” (sanctified gift).
Padri Dussaiya Mission was handed over to the Dominicans (Order of Preachers) by the then Bishop of Bettiah and the present Archbishop of Raipur Rt. Rev. Victor Henry Thakur in 2013 with the main purpose of developing the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe and also to take care of the pastoral needs of the parish community which has about 186 Catholic families.
Religious Congregations
1. Dominican Fathers (O.P.)
Catholic Church
Dussaiya
Bettiah – 845 438
West Champaran Dt., Bihar
2. Sisters of Mercy of the Holy Cross (SCSC)
a. Holy Cross Convent
Sewa Sadan, Lalgarh
Bettiah P.O. 845438
West Champaran District, Bihar
Tel: (06254) 269303
b. St. Mary’s Home, Fakirana
Bettiah P.O. 845438
West Champaran District, Bihar
Tel: (06254) 242750
3. Sisters of the Sacred Heart (SSH)
Sacred Heart Convent and Novitiate
Banuchapar, Bettiah 845438
West Champaran District, Bihar
Tel: (06254) 232594