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What is a
Brother?
A Brother is a
man who has
dedicated
himself to God
and the Church
by deciding to
join a group of
men who have the
same goals as he
does. When a
Brother joins a
Congregation of
Brothers he
takes the vows
of Poverty,
Celibacy and
Obedience. By
doing so he is a
vowed, lay man
called to
Brotherhood for
the mission of
the Church.
There are many
different groups
of Brothers in
the United
States. Right
here, in Bergen
County, there
are a number of
different
Congregations:
the Brothers of
the Christian
Schools who
taught at
Paramus Catholic
Boys' High
School, the
Xaverian
Brothers teach
at St. Joseph's,
in Montvale, and
the Congregation
of Christian
Brothers teach
here at Bergen
Catholic High
School. |
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But teaching is not the
only thing that Brothers
do in the United States.
Some serve in hospitals,
orphanages, AIDS
patients or Social
Services. The common
denominator for all
Brothers, however, is
that they serve the
people of God wherever
they are found.
A Brother is unlike a
Priest as he does not
serve in a Parish nor
does he receive the
Sacrament of Holy
Orders. A Brother is not
a "cleric", but rather
is considered a "lay
man" by the Church since
he does not receive Holy
Orders.
Who are the Christian
Brothers?
The Congregation of
Christian Brothers
serves here at Bergen
Catholic High School.
But this is not the only
place in New Jersey
where the Brothers work.
They are also in charge
of Essex Catholic High
School in East Orange.
The Brothers who serve
at both Bergen Catholic
and Essex Catholic are
part of what is called a
Province. A Province
usually serves a special
area. For example, the
province in which Bergen
Catholic is located is
known as the Eastern
American Province. From
this you can tell that
it serves in the eastern
part of the United
States. In this Eastern
American Province there
are a number of
communities, or places
where Brothers live and
work. In this province
we have many communities
of Brothers. These
communities are located
in the following areas:
Rhode Island - 1;
Massachusetts - 1; New
York - 17; New Jersey -
2; Florida - 4; and Peru
- 5. You are probably
asking yourself: Peru is
not part of the Eastern
United States, so why
are the Brothers there?
A number of years ago
the Holy Father, Pope
Paul VI, asked all
Religious Congregations
(of both men and women)
to send members of their
communities to Mission
areas of the world. We
decided that there was a
need for the presence of
the Brothers in Peru and
have been working in
that country since 1967.
Presently there are 350
communities of Christian
Brothers working in 13
different Provinces
throughout the world
working in different
ministries in the
following countries:
Argentina, Australia,
Canada, Cook Islands,
England, Fiji Islands,
Gambia, India, Ireland,
Ireland, Italy, Ivory
Coast, Liberia, New
Guinea, New Zealand,
Paraguay, Peru, Republic
of South America, Sierra
Leone, Sudan, Tanzania,
United States, Uruguay,
West Indies and Zambia.
How did the Christian
Brothers come to Bergen
Catholic?
In 1954, The Most
Reverend Thomas A.
Boland, STD, DD,
Archbishop of Newark,
invited the Christian
Brothers into this
Archdiocese to open and
staff Bergen Catholic.
Where were the
Christian Brothers
founded?
The Congregation of
Christian Brothers was
founded in Ireland in
1802, although the work
of education was started
by Edmund, and his
associates, in the
latter part of the 18th
century.
Who was the founder
of the Congregation of
Christian Brothers?
Edmund Rice
A Glimpse at His
Life
Merchant to
Teacher to Blessed
Adapted from an
Article by William
O’Donnell, C.F.C.
Introduction
On October 6, 1996,
Brother Edmund Ignatius
Rice, founder of the
Christian Brothers and
the Presentation
Brothers, was beatified
in Rome by Pope John
Paul II.
This
recognition of Edmund’s
sanctity provides a
model for married
couples with their many
responsibilities and
worries; for parents
with children who are
challenged in any way;
for Christian teachers
everywhere, who are
encountering ever
greater difficulty in
imparting the Christian
message; as well as for
contemporary business
people who are striving
in our secularized,
money minded society, to
reconcile the possession
of great wealth and
power with Christian
living.
Edmund Rice
was born on June 1, 1762
to Robert and Margaret
Rice, who were
prosperous tenant
farmers in the little
town of Callan, in
Southern Ireland. By
the time of his birth,
many of the harsher
penal laws which had
been imposed on the bulk
of the Irish population
began to be relaxed.
This new leniency and
the ruling class
attitude of looking down
on trade and commerce
allowed a minority of
enterprising Catholics
to improve their
position. Some leased
large farms from
amenable landlords.
Others became traders,
merchants and
shopkeepers. Though
small, this new Catholic
middle class held out
the hope that upward
mobility was possible.
The majority of
Catholics, however,
continued to be
illiterate, unskilled
workers.
Unless we
have a thorough
knowledge of the
poverty-stricken and
demoralizing social
status of the Irish
Catholics in the 18th
century, we can never
appreciate the magnitude
of the task confronting
Edmund Rice in his
efforts to provide an
acceptable Catholic
education for the poor,
and his genius in
transforming his dreams
into reality. He
refused to be cowed into
immobility, like so many
others, when confronted
with grave injustices of
long-standing duration;
but, trusting in Divine
Providence and his own
God-given gifts, he
chose rather to follow
that inspirational
battle-cry of all great
reformers:
Some see things as
they are and say Why? I
dream of things that
never were and say Why
not!
Early Years
Edmund
received an education
that was denied to a
majority of Catholics.
First attending a “hedge
school” – an illegal
for-profit school set up
by traveling teachers
for parents who could
afford to pay the fees -
Edmund went on to attend
a commercial academy in
Kilkenny. Here he
received a business and
classical education.
This background would be
extremely helpful to
him, not only in his
merchant profession but
also in his future role
as founder of schools
for poor boys.
At the age
of eighteen, Edmund
became an apprentice to
his uncle, Michael Rice,
who owned a prosperous
business as a ship
supplier in Waterford.
As Michael’s own sons
were not interested in
the business, he grew to
rely on Edmund and
indeed signed over the
business to him when
Edmund was only
twenty-four.
Edmund was
soon a well-known and
much liked figure in
Waterford. He fell in
love with Mary Elliott
and after a brief
courtship they were
married. Soon their
many friends rejoiced
with the popular young
couple at the prospect
of a child to complete
their happiness.
Reflective Years
Then came
the cross. Mary died in
childbirth when the baby
daughter, also called
Mary, was born
prematurely. The young
Mary was of very frail
health and was to need
nursing care for the
rest of her life. Years
afterward, Edmund
referred to this period
of his life as “the
dregs of misery and
misfortune,” but he
added, “God gives and
God takes away, so
blessed be God’s name
forever.”
During the
twelve years following
his wife’s death, Edmund
engaged in much
soul-searching trying to
discover the future
direction of his life.
He had to care for his
daughter with the help
of his stepsister,
Joan. In spite of the
many demands on him,
Edmund attended daily
Mass, and spent much
time each day in prayer
and reading the
Scriptures. He was ever
mindful of his
obligation to the poor
in the city of Waterford
as there was no legal
provision for their
care.
Edmund was
concerned about the
plight of the poor. It
was said of him that ‘his
wonderful sympathy for
God’s poor was one of
his most distinctive
characteristics.”
Out of the abundance of
his wealth he was
generous in his
financial assistance to
the poor, sick,
homeless, widows,
alcoholics, prisoners,
beggars and the young
street kids of
Waterford. He saw the
utter destitution, the
de-humanization and the
ever worsening situation
of the growing
population of Catholic
people. Edmund became
increasingly troubled by
the growing
consciousness of the
ever widening gap
between the way of life
of prosperous, educated
Catholics like himself
and that of the poor,
sunk in deprivation
without any hope of
self-advancement.
Edmund’s
particular concern was
for the poor young who,
without help, were
destined to grow up in
ignorance, delinquency
and vice. As early as
1793 he would contact
the wild and uncared for
boys who roamed the
streets and wharf of
Waterford. After some
resistance he was able
to convince some of them
to attend school at his
home in the evenings.
He carried on this work
in the evenings while
attending to his
business during the
day. Edmund grew more
and more convinced that
the cure for the
spiritual and social
ills of his day lay in
the apostolate of
Christian education that
he had already
undertaken.
Merchant to Religious
Teacher
Finally, in
1802, after much
thought, prayer and
advice, he took his
first courageous steps
toward the achievement
of his noble ambitions,
convinced that this was
God’s will for him.
Having provided for his
teenage daughter, he
sold his business and
determined to use his
accumulated wealth for
the Catholic education
of poor boys. He rented
an unused stable in
fashionable New Street
and began his first
school. In doing this,
he risked his reputation
for good and sense and
practical business
dealings. He stirred
the animosity of the
wealthier citizens of
New Street who saw their
street and their houses
devalued by the daily
influx of the dirty and
the dreadful from beyond
the adjacent city walls.
The demands
of attempting to teach
such unruly boys led to
the early departure of
Edmund’s two paid
assistants. However, he
persevered in the effort
and was eventually
joined by two men who
not only assisted him in
teaching but also formed
the nucleus of a new
religious community.
The three shared the
space above the stable
and began to follow a
daily routine of prayer
and common life. And so
the first Christian
Brothers’ community was
born.
With the
money from the sale of
his business, Edmund
built his first school
on a hill overlooking
the city of Waterford
and named it Mount Sion.
There were no fees, and
books were provided free
of charge. A bakery and
tailor shop were added
to provide food and
clothing for the very
poor. He set up a
lending library and
encouraged the young
persons to bring home
books to read to their
parents. In the early
days of the school the
emphasis was placed on
eradicating illiteracy;
but as the youngsters
progressed a more
broad-based curriculum
was presented. Course
in such areas as
Navigation and
Bookkeeping were taught
so as to better prepare
the young men for the
future. It is most
remarkable to read
reports of public
inspectors which praise
the work being done by
this person whose
background was not that
of education.
The place of
prayer and Religious
Education was prominent
in the schools founded
by Edmund. He was not
content to simply
prepare the youth for a
solid economic life but
was utterly convinced of
the need for a solid
education in the
Christian life. Nothing
was to stand in the way
of ensuring that the
young men were
thoroughly instructed in
the faith. So strong
was his belief in this
objective that Edmund
refused to permit his
schools to become part
of the National School
system which would have
given financial security
but would have demanded
a strict separation of
religious and secular
education.
Death to Glory
Edmund died
on August 29, 1844. He
had given so generously
of his resources that a
close friend of his paid
for the expenses of his
burial as a tribute of
friendship and esteem
for Edmund. A
journalist who attended
the funeral summed up
his feelings thus:
“Why are
you so sorrowful? Why
are you sad? Mr. Rice
is not dead! He lives!
Yes, he lives in the
highest, noblest and
greatest life. He lives
in the noble band of
Christian followers to
whom he has bequeathed
his spirit and his
work.”
The
direction of Edmund’s
long life is best summed
up in an extract from
one of his letters,
written to the
architect, Bryan Bolger:
“Let us
do ever so little for
God, we will be sure God
will never forget it,
nor let it pass
unrewarded. How many of
our actions are lost for
want of applying them to
this end. Were we to
know the merit of only
going from one street to
another to serve a
neighbor for love of
God, we would prize it
more than gold or
silver. One thing you
may be sure of, that
whilst you work for God,
whether you succeed or
not, God will amply
reward you.”
Biographer Desmond Rushe
wrote of Edmund:
“Edmund
was a man for all times,
at once a contemplative
and a man of action, a
visionary and a realist,
a person who could blend
to the ultimate degree a
mystical love of God
with a practical love of
humanity. Such a type
comes seldom.”
Edmund
Rice Prayer
O God, we thank you for
the life of Edmund Rice.
He opened his heart
to Christ present in
those oppressed by
poverty and
injustice. May we follow
his example of faith and
generosity. Grant us the
courage and compassion
of Edmund as we seek to
live lives of love and
service. We ask
this through Christ our
Lord. Amen.
Prayers
for the Canonization and
the Intercession of
Blessed Edmund Rice
Heavenly Father,
through the inspiration
of your Holy Spirit and
because of your love for
your family, You chose
Edmund Rice to be a
husband, father, and
religious brother; to
work with the poor, to
teach the uneducated; to
help those in suffering;
to comfort the sick and
to establish new
families of Religious
Brothers in your
Church. Look favorably
on his life, we ask you
and if it by for your
glory, hear our prayers
that he may soon be
declared a Saint. This
we ask, as we ask all
our prayers, through
Christ Our Lord. Amen.
Prayer
for a Special Favor
Lord God, who through
the Holy Spirit inspired
Edmund Rice to glorify
you by the true
Christian example of his
life, grant through his
intercession the
petition I now make (…)
and so hasten the day
when his name shall be
honored among those of
your Saints. I ask this
through Christ our
Lord. Amen.
Download this Brief
Biography of Edmund Rice
(PDF)
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