☼ DON BOSCO BARODA

History

September 14, 1972 marked the birth of the Makarpura parish with Fr. Thomas D’Souza as the first parish priest. This was in response to the spiritual needs of the people in and around Pratapnagar. Priests from the Bishop’s House or the nearby Rosary Church used to celebrate Mass in private homes but more had to be done to meet the needs of the parishioners. In the same year, a public trust under the name of Divine Child Seva Kendra was also formed. However, there was an urgent need for a Catholic school and a Church. The late Bishop of Baroda, Ignatius D’Souza, invited the Salesians of the Bombay province, to adopt the infant parish. Thus Fr. Roque Fernandes was sent to take charge as parish priest on May 24, 1974. Immediately upon his arrival plans were drawn up to establish a full fledged parish and a plot of land was purchased on August 1, 1974 where the present Don Bosco institution is located.

Fr. P. I. Jacob took over the charge as the Parish Priest on June 14, 1975. He initiated and completed the construction of the Parish House on June 26, 1977 and the Don Bosco School. On October 31, 1976 the work on the Parish House was started and was completed and blessed on June 26, 1977. Simultaneously the work on the School Building was also started with the blessing of the foundation stone by the Late Bishop, Rev. Ignatius D'souza, on May 1, 1977. July 4, 1977 will go down in the history of Don Bosco in Baroda as one of the most memorable days when the Don Bosco School opened with the commencement of the Nursery, Junior and Senior K. G. Classes. The large number of applications for admission was a positive proof of the high esteem in which Don Bosco institutions are held elsewhere in India and abroad. The Salesian Sisters initially took charge of the running of the school. In June 1978 the first phase of the construction of the School building was completed and the first four primary classes were started. The School was blessed on December 10, 1978. Since then, it was a systematic growth of the School with one class added each succeeding year. On June 24, 1981, the Auxilium Convent School was opened and the girls moved to the convent school. In 1985 the first batch of the boys of the S. S. C. came out with cent percent pass with a number of distinctions and first classes. Again in 1987, the first batch of Don Bosco students of HSC passed out with flying colours.

However, the cherished dream of the Parishioners and their longing for a Church was yet to be realized. With Fr. Salvador D'souza assuming charge as Parish Priest, this dream started taking shape. On October 4, 1986, the foundation stone of the Church was blessed by Fr. P. C. Thomas, Salesian Regional Superior of Asia. The Church was blessed and dedicated to St. John Bosco by Rt. Rev. Francis Braganza S. J., Bishop of Baroda on January 22, 1988. Yet another hall-mark of the Don Bosco Parish was the blessing of the Vocation Centre on June 29, 1989. All these projects, viz. Parish House, School, Church, Vocation Centre, etc. took shape due to the generosity of many well wishers and benefactors, near and far, in particular Fr. A. Maschio.

It was the desire of the late Bishop, Rt. Rev. Ignatius to have a temple of knowledge, temple of service and sacrifice and a temple of prayer, all in close vicinity. His desire was accomplished with the opening of Auxilium Convent School for imparting knowledge; Mother Teresa's Sisters started the Convent as ‘Sisters of Charity' to serve the poor and down trodden and establishment of the Carmelite Convent, the sisters dedicated in prayer for the welfare of humanity. All these three Convents are in Don Bosco Parish.

Though the Don Bosco Parish has grown into a full fledged parish, its quest for further development, service and unity goes on.

Present Activities

PARISH

The people of the parish are a vibrant multilingual community of about five hundred families, eighty five of whom are Gujaratis. Traditional activities like music ministry, altar servers, youth group, Sunday school, novenas, etc. are encouraged. The Faith Formation Team comprises of well-motivated parishioners who provide religious education for all children from Std. I to Std XI with the completion of Christian initiation into the Church through the Sacrament of Confirmation in Std. XI. After Std. X, the youngsters are initiated into a Discipleship programme. The programme seeks to make the young Christian familiar with and contextualize the Scriptures through Personal & Group study and to foster an awareness of one's social responsibility as a Christian. We also have a Liturgy Group which animates the parish liturgical activities. The parish is divided into twenty four Small Christian Communities with a leader. These leaders are called for monthly meetings and form the Parish Council. The people’s participation in the running of the parish is commendable.

ROSHNI PROJECT aims at providing basic education to slum children who are in the age group of 6 to 14, most of whom have never been to school or have dropped out of school. There are 15 such schools in the vicinity of Don Bosco School/Parish catering to approximately 30 children in each school.

NCLP (National Child Labour Project) is a project to rehabilitate child labourers since child labour has been banned in the country. The children receive education, a monthly stipend and mid-day meals. They are thus prepared to insert themselves in the regular school system after an initial follow up.

OUR LADY’S SODALITY

Our Lady's Sodality is a spiritual and social group for women of the parish. Members meet twice a month on Saturdays at 5.30 p.m. to share their experiences and discuss the week's activity. Seeking to follow Mary, our Mother in her generosity and service, the sodality members are the invisible angels present in every Church activity- assuming responsibility for the care of the altar linen and sanctuary furnishings, collecting funds or even serving refreshments for parish fellowship programs. There are approximately 20 members.

YOUTH GROUPS: The Jesus Youth Group of about 15 members meet every Wednesday for Praise and worship and organize retreats for the youth and children during the year.

The Parish Youth Group of about 70 members divided into various committees of responsibility

SCHOOL & JUNIOR COLLEGE

Don Bosco High School, Vadodara is an English Medium School recognized by the Department of Education of Gujarat State. The school caters primarily to the Catholic minority community and is conducted under minority rights. However, it offers its services to all, without distinction of caste or creed. Its educators consider it their duty to show due respect to the religious feelings and the freedom of conscience of the students of other faiths. Catholic students are given a suitable course of religious instruction. Students of other faiths receive Value Education, which is a course in their fundamental duties to God, to their fellowmen and to themselves.

Don Bosco High School prepares its students to qualify for the Secondary School Certificate and the Higher Secondary School Certificate Examinations (Science and Commerce streams). In addition to academic excellence, the integral development of the student is given high priority. The school aims at imparting sound education and instilling praiseworthy character. Through graded responsibility, personal guidance and social awareness, its students are nurtured to blossom into good citizens, capable of assuming responsibility, and ready to face the challenges of the modern world.

Our Collaborators

Parish Pastoral Council members

School Teachers and staff

Social Workers and Roshni Project Teachers

Salesian Cooperators

Support Staff

Our Ladies Sodality members

Contact Information

Don Bosco

Makarpura Road,

Vadodara 390 009

Gujarat

Telephone Numbers

Rector (0265) 264 86 55

PP (0265) 264 86 55

Residence (0265) 263 08 48

School (0265) 265 54 55

Email: dbcbaroda@gmail.com