The Society of the Missionaries of St. Francis Xaviers alias “The Society of Pilar’ is an indigenous Roman Catholic Organization founded in Goa in 1887 by Fr. Bento Martins. The sole aim of the Society is to share the gospel of true human well being as proclaimed by Jesus Christ. Initially, the activity of its members was confined to the boundaries of Goa and its surrounding areas. However in 1939, the Society received a new trust and vitality, and from then on its members ventured to work far and wide in different parts of India, zealously spreading the gospel values.
One of the focuses of the Society’s work has been the field of education. Today the Society of Pilar has about 60 residential units and counts about 400 members working in several parts of India from Jammu in the north to Chennai in the South, from Gujarat and Mumbai in the west to far off Andaman and Nicobar Islands in the east, and even abroad. The Society runs Schools and colleges and several hostels and orphanages, besides engaging in other social welfare activities.
The Delhi Province of the Society of Pilar, of which St. Xavier’s Senior Secondary School, Sirsa is a part, has ten residential units and about thirty five members. The Province of Delhi is one of the four Provinces of the Society of Pilar instituted on July 2004, which commits itself to the services of the Society in seven states and two union territories of North India. The Pilar Fathers have celebrated the Golden Jubilee of their presence and work in the state of Punjab and Haryana. Presently, the Delhi Province runs eight English medium Schools in Punjab and Haryana, besides several boys’ homes, dispensaries, and other social welfare projects, especially in the rural areas.