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Serving
Brothers The vocation of our Brothers is the direct imitation of the Most Holy Redeemer by providing for the material needs of the monastic life and evangelisation of the most abandoned souls. On the island of Papa Stronsay and the Missions all aspects of farming, cooking, boatmanship, building, joinery, computer work, accountancy, printing, art, tailoring, cabinet-making, cheese-making and a great number of other trades are open to our Brothers that they may use their talents in the humble service of Our Lord Jesus Christ. Our Patron
St Pius X declared St Gerard Majella to be the model and patron saint of Redemptorist Serving Brothers. St Gerard is invoked under three titles, Protector of Mothers and Expectant Mothers, Patron of Serving Brothers, and Wonderworker, not necessarily in that order. It is striking that this man who gave himself to a life of humble service should in Heaven be patron of a cause which to all intents and purposes one would think should be confided to a woman saint, at least someone who was a mother. But God in His Providence has arranged that a Redemptorist Serving Brother should hold this office. This Providence betrays some very salient facts and throws light on that vocation of which our saint is patron. The times in which we live have tended to produce a generation of talented young men who sometimes mentally and physically excel former generations of Redemptorist Missionaries and yet the majority lack the spiritual capacity which it takes to be a missionary priest. On the other hand, despite the pretended egalitarianism of the age the very thought of entering the monastic life as anything but a priest is often considered a shame to young people who are naturally very talented. Why a Serving Brother? Many books tend to portray the life of the Serving Brother as something more than morbid and something less than carefree but nonetheless very meritorious for eternity. While the life of the Brother Servant is very meritorious it is also a vocation in itself and not simply something secondary to the priesthood. Some of the greatest saints of the Church never received priestly ordination and yet were the fathers of a great multitude. Who would consider St Benedict of Nursia as a layman and yet this Father of Western monasticism probably never received any ordination. In this age of personal uncertainty and often personal crisis, a young person who wishes to give his life to Christ would do very well to consider the benefits of the monastic life lived in a non-ordained state, the life of a Serving Brother. It cannot be stressed enough that one of the most urgent needs of the Church today is not necessarily armies of priests but rather good priests and an army of souls devoted to ensuring the material side of the priestly vocation so that our good Fathers are not worn out by undue and often unnecessary labours. Most traditional priests would be very relieved if they had two or three well trained, simple, obedient Serving Brothers to help them. We would thus see far fewer breakdowns than we do in priests today. One so often hears a priest exclaim: “O if only I were a Serving Brother.” The opposite is seldom heard. Once a man reaches priestly ordination he very often realizes that the priesthood is indeed a sea of burdens and cares. How many priests, whom we have know, and who have left the priesthood, would have perhaps been better counselled to give their many talents to God in the way of material service rather than spiritual? They might still be at their posts today. Finally, in an age where a majority of young fellows want to be ‘big men’, ‘achievers’, ‘world changers’ or men who make their mark, the Redemptorist Serving Brother unwittingly proves himself to be the man among the boys. Unafraid to commit himself, he gives his whole life to a regime of unending service and labour. We read in this newspaper of the desire of our Fathers to die in action - a similar desire is to be found amongst our Brothers. Unafraid to be humbled he places himself unquestioningly in the hands of the superior. His is truly, as it was for those heroes of Crimea, not to reason why, but to do and die. He is not afraid to give up the many attractions of the world: human love and affection, family and material goods, all that he was or is or could be. He is not afraid to give up his dreams for the reality of solid work done for the objective Glory of God. He in fact offers his life for those he has known and loved. The Ideal Father Thus perhaps we may see why God has glorified our patron saint as Patron of Mothers and Expectant Mothers because in the ideal Serving Brother is found every quality of the ideal father: care, selflessness, love, kindness, good husbandry, zeal for work, longsuffering, piety, tenderness, devotion, a sense of beauty and order, grave responsibility and finally a solid maturity which believes profoundly that the world does not owe him a living. As a brother he watches from his vantage point of sacrifice as his own generation, his brothers and sisters and friends grow up and marry. He, the bridegroom of the Holy Cross, remains faithful to his Spouse Whom he loves ardently and desires to spend his youth in pleasing. He watches a younger generation of Redemptorists follow him into the monastery and as a watchful father he feeds and clothes them, his example forms them in monasticism, and he works with them in the workshop or in the cheese room. He watches them grow under his eyes into worthy sons of the Congregation. His love is not selfish but rather goes out to all around him. He cares for the older confrères as a loving son. The Serving Brother is in fact the custodian of the greatest love Our Blessed Lord says is possible, the love that lays down its life for one’s friends. What We Are Not Some popular misconceptions about a Serving Brother:
Requirements to be a Redemptorist Serving Brother:
What The Congregation Offers You Advantages offered to the Serving Brother.
Br John Baptist Stiehle, C.SS.R.(1829-1899) is a shining example of a saintly Redemptorist Serving Brother. His life, as the life of every Redemptorist well lived, was one that most certainly could not be described as boring.
Br John Baptist was a saint at work. The only relaxation he allowed himself was that prescribed by the doctor at the beginning of 1885 when he had smallpox and his feet caused him a lot of suffering. He was always happy as a Redemptorist and always showed it by his exact observance of the Holy Rule. His Mission was his life and his life was for the Missions. He died on 20 January, 1899, 45 years and one day after his profession. Our Holy Father St Alphonsus, who took a vow never to waste a moment of time, must certainly have welcomed this true son of the Congregation into Heaven. †
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