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512 BENEDICT VADAKKEKARA towards the revamping of the house; and later from Aden he sent a yet further amount of Rs 4,000 32 . As the Novitiate began its course without a hitch, everything appeared to hold out much hope that the project would in fact deliver the goods 33 • The first contretemps arrived with the summer heatwave which took its toll on the friars too. While Fr Arsenius left for Naini Tal for a change of air Fr Albert had to be shifted to Mussoorie to convalesce. After three months the Master of Novices informed the General that there were three novices and three postulants 34 • Despite the many requests from the part of the diocesan priests to join the Capuchins, no one is seen actually entering the Order at this stage. In October 1922 there were five novices and three postulants. At the turn of the year Fr General had, therefore, every reason to be optimistic about the Novitiate in India35_ 32 Cf. AGCap G 68, II, Noviziato e Stud.to, Fr General to Fr Christopher of Castel de! Pi– ano (Prov. Tuscany), Aden 29 March 1922. Fr Christopher was the First Councillor to the Regular Superior of Agra. 33 APCapBologna Classe III, Serie 8, B, 4, Fr General to Fr Provincial of Bologna, Aden 29 March 1922: "Sano contento di aver potuto aprire il S. Noviziato; comincia con pochi novizi, ma si spera che non tarderanno a venire altri giovani e che il pusil!us grex crescera". AGCap G 68, II,Noviziato eStudto, Fr Christopher to Fr General, Agra 19 April 1922: "Ho ricevuto due nuovi postulanti purl Irlandesi che si fanno laici; un altro postulante arrived fra giorni da Lahore". 34 AGCap G 68, II, Novizjato e Stud.to, Fr Master to Fr General, Sardhana 28 June 1922: ''Next August another well educated young man will join us from Lahore, and many more applications, chiefly from secular Indian priests, reach us from down country.... In the Novitiate things are going on very well as far as novices and postulants are concerned. All of them are very promising boys and I am sure much good will come out of them". 35 AGCap G 68, II, Noviziato e Stud.to, Fr Master to Fr General, Sardhana 24 October 1922: "I am afraid we might soon run short of accommodation, if we do not take the necessary steps at once to increase the number of cells. I am going to propose to V.R. Father Christopher to divide each of the actual cells into two parts. This would give us 15 or 16 cells". AGCap G 68, II, Novizjato e Stud.to, Fr Christopher to Fr General, Agra 8 November 1922: "Abbiamo avuto due vocazioni che hanno fatto grande impressione nel popolo, ii Professore Noronha e il Segretario General delle Associaiioni Cattoliche de! Punjab. Anche un alunno de! Seminario di Mangalore vesti le sacre lane a Sardhana il giorno dell'Assunta.... La mente gode bearsi in rosee visioni de! future, quando questi pionieri Cappuccini de! Sud dell'India ritomeranno a fondare dei conventi fra la loro gente dove le vocazioni abbonderanno". AGCap G 68, II, Novizjato e Stud.to, Fr General to Provincials of Paris, Belgium and England, Rome 31 1922: "L'avenir ne peut etre plus sourient, et tout nous autorise a l'envisager avec une confiance Bans bornes...".