Dear Faculty members, support staff and my dear beloved students,
Peace of Christ be with you all! “ONE STEP ENOUGH FOR ME!”
As you begin the new academic year (2023-2024), I feel immensely delighted to welcome you all and pray for God’s choicest blessings upon you throughout this year! In the name of the management, faculty, staff and students, I introduce and welcome our new Principal, Rev. Dr. Angelo Joseph SDB and our new Vice Principal, Rev. Dr. Bharathi Bernardsha SDB into the great academic portals of Don Bosco College, Dharmapuri! We wish them all the best for their services for the young people of the college!
To have a dream is the first step to the realisation of one’s goal in life. So, dream on! Our Father and Fried of Youth, Don Bosco, was indeed such a dreamer in his life. His dreams inspired and urged him on to realise his prolific achievements for the well-being of youth! His unstinted hard work, creative initiatives, clear establishments for the welfare of the body, mind and soul of the young people of Valdocco, Turin, Italy gave them much needed edge over the other lads for employment and advantage in choosing their career and occupation. His preventive system of education contained within it the spirituality of citizenship of both the earthly and heavenly states. May all of you merit this twin rewards in bliss!
As you step into the academic studies and programmes, you need to keep in mind the college motto: Mens sana, in copore sano – A healthy mind in a healthy body! For this effort and effect, I wish to outline for you the spirit of John Henry Newman in his immortal lyrics of the hymn “Lead Kindly Light” written in 1833 as a poem titled “The Pillar and the Cloud.”
Lead, kindly light, amid the encircling gloom,
lead thou me on;
the night is dark, and I am far from home;
lead thou me on.
Keep thou my feet; I do not ask to see
the distant scene; one step enough for me.
I was not ever thus, nor prayed that thou
should lead me on;
I loved to choose and see my path; but now
lead thou me on.
I loved the garish day, and, spite of fears,
pride ruled my will: remember not past years.
So long thy power has blest me, sure it still
will lead me on,
o'er moor and fen, o'er crag and torrent, till
the night is gone,
and with the morn those angel faces smile,
which I have loved long since, and lost awhile.
My prayerful wish is this: “Keep thou my feet, I do not ask to see the distant scene, ONE STEP ENOUHG FOR ME……So long thy power has blest me, sure it will lead me on!” May this academic year be a year of growth, one step at a time, towards “”Excellence and Empowerment!
Yours in Don Bosco,
Rev. Fr.P Robert Ramesh Babu SDB
Rector / Secretary
