The history of ASMI begins on April 2, 1949, yet it would be impossible to recount that history without mentioning the life of Servant of God Joseph Kandathil.
He was born on October 27, 1904 in a place called Edyazham (Kottayam Dt. Kerala) Ever since childhood, he had always been disciplined, devout and compassionate to the underprivileged. He frequently set aside time while attending seminary to go to the nearby leprosy hospital to help the patients and learn the fundamentals of therapy. Prophetically, this exposure during priestly formation greatly influenced how he would navigate his priestly ministry.
Soon after his priestly ordination, he was appointed as the Assistant Priest of St. Mary’s forane church, Cherthala. He didn’t want to limit his priestly ministry to the pastoral necessities of parish life, though. He set out to find the destitute and the needy. His attention was drawn to the poor living conditions and dreadful circumstances of leprosy patients. He desperately wanted to do something to address their plight.
A generous man donated a few acres of vacant property close to a public cemetery. Fr. Joseph began a shelter for the leprosy patients there. In caring for these outcasts of society, Fr. Joseph had to tread the path of hardships, humiliation and public apathy and rejection of his work. Nevertheless, he didn’t hesitate to go begging from place to place, person to person to run this shelter. In the early days of his ministry, religious sisters from various congregations assisted Fr. Joseph. However, this source of assistance became unreliable as the sisters were often called back into other forms of ministries run by their own communities. Thus, with the permission of Archbishop Mar. Augustine Kandathil, Fr. Joseph established a society of pious ladies to continue the ministry to the people with leprosy.
Assisi Sisters of Mary Immaculate (ASMI) is the name given to this group of women who dedicate their lives to Christ under the charism of St. Francis of Assisi’s and embodying the purity of the Mary Immaculate. Ever since their inception, the Assisi Sisters have remained steadfast in their ministry of healing to individuals who are afflicted with leprosy, HIV/AIDS, and cancer, as well as those who are deaf, blind, and intellectually handicapped. The congregation is also engaged in the works of evangelization through missionary outreach and parish pastoral activities.
The ASMI congregation was raised to pontifical status on 28th April 1986. The congregation has expanded into four provinces: St. Joseph Province , Ernakulam(1987), Sacred Heart Province , Nagpur (1987), Nirmal Matha Province , Bhopal (2005) and Little flower province , Warangal(2011). St. Joseph Province has three regions: St. Francis Region, Germany (2008), Mary Matha Region, Tamil Nadu (2009) and St. Alphonse Region, Karnataka(2009). Our beloved founder Msgr. Joseph Kandathil was called to eternal life on the 12th of December 1991. Pope Francis declared Fr. Joseph a Servant of God on December 24th, 2019, for humility and dedication in his ministry to the poor.
Let us be grateful of our founder’s legacy, our congregation, and the gift of one another that this way of life provides. We are fortunate to have sisters among us today from all around India and the world. Let us commit our lives to intense prayer, community life and apostolate and reach together to our goal- The Perfect Love – Cross.