At the end of November, together with Fr Provincial Patrick Magro, I visited the mission of the Maltese Jesuits in India, which was founded in 1925.

I also visited the Monastery of the Poor Clares in Dumka, which was founded by Fr Anton Savona, SJ, in 1978. These cloistered Poor Clare nuns, who are from local tribes, have no bank deposits or any fixed income. They depend on charity. However, they also work to help themselves. They stitch vestments and other objects for parishes in the Dumka diocese and work in fields to grow vegetables for their meals. They do not eat meat and sometimes eat fish caught from rivers or ponds.

Now they wish to start preparing Communion hosts for parishes. So they need to buy an oven and two other machines to cut large and small hosts. The oven costs 45,000 rupees (€619.20); the machine to cut the large hosts costs 8,000 rupees (€110.08), and the one for small hosts costs 7,000 rupees (€ 96.32). The total amounts to €825.60.

On behalf of the Clarist Sisters in Dumka I am making this appeal to help them acquire these machines.

Please send your offering to me at Loyola House, 38, Marquis Scicluna Street, Naxxar NXR 2069 (7941 2606).

The Poor Clare Sisters promise to pray for benefactors every day.

Thank you for your generosity.