By Sr. Ritha Dora Thomas,
Provincial, INB Province –
“I don’t know if I have to say that I am from Turin or India, because I was born in Turin, but half a century of my life in India also claims its rights!”
This is how Sister Nicolina describes herself in one of her autobiographical writings, which should be read in its entirety to feel her missionary ardour and her youthful vitality even in the last years of her life. She is grateful that she had received “a beautiful Christian family” as a gift.
Born in Turin on May 28, 1926, Sister Nicolina Viano was professed in Casanova di Carmagnola (Turin) on 5 August 1948 and she belonged to the Piedmontese Province of “Mary Help of Christians” – Italy. On 11 November 2020, from the house of “San Giuseppe” in Turin, our dear Sister Nicolina was called to meet the Lord of Life.
In her writings, she notes, “Dad was a man of solid faith and great charity. He was, in fact, the initiator of the St Vincent de Paul group in the parish and made our house available for all the meetings”. From him, Nicolina, from an early age, inherited concrete attention to the poor. During the Second World War, in her early youth, she worked during the day as a clerk in a company and at night she went to the farms around to buy some food for her family as she was the eldest of the four children.
She writes: “On Sundays I attended the oratory of the FMA in the shadow of the Basilica, with a large group of my friends”. Here she met other people who cultivated the good seed that was sown by the family. Among them she mentions Mother Melchiorrina Biancardi, Sister Matilde Mattalìa, the Salesian confessor Don Giorgio Serié, and Sister Adele Reynaud who had been a missionary in Japan. She says, “How was it possible not to catch fire with all those messages from the Lord?” At the age of 20, she entered the postulancy in Turin and from the very beginning her desire was to leave for the missions of India. She continued with the Novitiate in Casanova, where she made her first profession.
Inserted in the Generalate House of Turin “Mary Help of Christians” from 1948 to 1951, she attended the courses of study to obtain a Diploma in teaching at pre-primary level and the diploma in Nursing at the Cottolengo hospital. She writes, “In 1950 Mother General proposed me to go as a missionary to India and my happiness skyrocketed”. She obtained the consent of her father, but her mother was not as convinced. With Nicolina’s departure, the family had lost the financial help, and so it was another struggle to accept her departure to a distant land. Sr. Nicolina recalls, “And so, although feeling very deeply the detachment from my loved ones, I left. I was 24 and, after a month of sailing, I arrived with the other young Sisters in Bombay; from there, by train, we arrived in Madras, and finally in Pallikonda, a poor village not very far from Madras. I was in Tamil Nadu, the southernmost state of India, where, in 1922, the first (Daughters of Mary Help of Christians (Latin: Figlie di Maria Ausiliatrice; abbreviated FMA) ) had arrived, called by the Salesians who had already been working there for many years “.
Sr. Nicolina Viano is one of the valiant missionaries that India received who has left indelible imprints wherever she was sent. Professed in 1948, she came to Madras India in 1951 and her preparation in Nursing helped her in handling bravely all kinds of emergencies with manly courage and maternal concern. From 1950 to 1965, she worked in the dispensaries of Pallikonda, Polur and Arni, in the poorest district of North Arcot attending to lepers and orphans, a ministry that marked her missionary life for the rest of the years.
In 1964, when she was at Arni, she was instrumental in extending the little dispensary meant for the lepers by building an entire new wing and a community hall for the lepers. People in Arni still narrate how during a cholera epidemic she saved many lives by tirelessly carrying children in her arms and giving them intravenous drips. From 1965 to 1977 she was the Animator of the communities of Arni and Vysarpadi. At Vysarpadi, she bravely and lovingly looked after the children of the lepers, and attended to an infirmary for the destitute. In the 1970s, it was indeed a curious sight to see a nun driving a motor-bike as she went around the by-lanes of the city of Madras visiting the poor or picking up the destitute fallen by the road-side. Her work and her daring spirit were much appreciated by the Salesians with whom she worked in partnership at Vysarpadi. From 1977 – 78, she had the good fortune of doing a course in missiology in Rome.
From 1978 – 1981, she was the Animator of the novitiate community in Bangalore and in-charge of the newly inaugurated hostel for the poor working girls. In 1981, she was transferred to Nashik in Bombay as a pioneer of a new foundation. Under her visionary leadership, Maria Vihar Youth Centre was started in 1982 with a hostel for poor working girls, typing and tailoring classes, a Nursery, Oratories in the slums, adult literacy classes, Evening study classes and parish ministry, laying the foundation of a very fruitful apostolate. She also oversaw the construction of the new novitiate and the chapel of the newly erected province of St. Mary Mazzarello Bombay. When she finished her term in 1988, she was asked to lead the pioneering work of another mission station – Ahmednagar. Here too, she started a boarding for the poor and orphan children, village ministry, and laid the foundation of a flourishing school. After that, in 1995, she was sent to Keshnand Pune to begin another unique apostolate – a house for the children of sex workers. It was the dream project of Sr. Nicolina. She bought a fairly large piece of and after setting up this apostolate on a firm footing, due to health concerns, in 2003, Sr. Nicolina returned to Italy.
India has been truly fortunate to have had the blessing of a missionary of the calibre of Sr. Nicolina Viano. Perhaps knowing full well her daring spirit and her resourcefulness, she was always entrusted with a number of pioneering projects and Sr. Nicolina did not disappoint anyone. The poor orphans, the destitute, the lepers and those most in need were the chosen portion of Sr. Nicolina’s mission. Quite frequently, she would literally pick up someone fallen by the road side and provide for them whatever was needed. By nature, she was strong, enterprising, courageous and straight-forward, never afraid to call spade a spade, yet, kind and most gentle towards the poor and the needy. She truly lived to the full Don Bosco’s maxim of vado io! When needed, she would even forego her own food, to be able to provide for the poor and the hungry children. The many Salesians who worked with her, often recall her typical gestures of kindness. If she found anyone weak or sick, she would personally make some special food like soup or zabaglione to nourish them. All though her life she personally nurtured a number of orphans with the dedication of a mother.
The source of all this tremendous work for the kingdom was her personal devotion to the Blessed Sacrament and her love for the Blessed Mother. After the day is done, it was a familiar sight to see Sr. Nicolina praying for long hours sitting in the chapel, even late into the night.
Dear Sr. Nicolina, even after your earthly departure we believe that you still hold India and its people close to your heart. We almost hear you singing to us, “I will never forget you my people. I have carved on the palm of my hand. I will never forget you, I will never leave you orphaned, I will never forget you my own!”
May the Lord grant you dear Sr. Nicolina Viano a hundredfold reward of a good and faithful servant!