Kevin Dobbyn FMS, a Marist Brother, reflects on the unique vocation of Religious Brothers and Sisters in the Church. Drawing on personal experience and the story of St Marcellin Champagnat, he invites us to consider the role of brothers and sisters in religious life and how all vocations contribute to the holiness of the Church.
When I joined the Marist Brothers, many of my relatives who were cradle Catholics asked me when I was going to be ordained. They were confused when I told them that being brother was what my whole vocation was about. Despite their efforts to convince me that I should go “the whole way” and become a priest, they were still confused. To compound the situation still further when in the Pacific I was told I was “intelligent enough to be ordained.” Sadly, such viewpoints are the result of a clericalized church, which has been so for the best part of 1700 years.
Such thinking has meant that those who are neither ordained, nor living vowed religious life, have not claimed their own baptismal vocation, equal but different, in living the holiness the whole People of God are called to express each in their own way. Thanks be to God, in the events of Vatican II and its renewed fire through what is now magisterial doctrine on Synodality, each and all of us contribute to the holiness of the Church in a variety of ways.
Brothers and Sisters (when named together are referred to as ‘Religious’) used to and sometimes even now, wear distinctive dress (uniforms) called ‘habits’. They were never a very practical form of dress for the work most brothers did teaching. However, many founders simply adopted the dress of the day. Mother Frances Cabrini – you may have seen the film – wore the dress of an Italian widow, which she was, and her first sisters followed suit. Francis of Assisi wore the clothes of the poor – his habit on display in Assisi is nothing but patches sown together.
More commonly today in this 21st century, many wear a badge, a stylised cross, as pendant or necklace unique to the order or congregation they belong to.
As Marist Brothers our original name, embossed on our international cross, is Petits Frères de Marie, (Little Brothers of Mary); the French is richer in meaning, implying humility and simplicity. Our founder, St Marcellin Champagnat, set up his group to renew the Church but with a focus on educating young people, initially as teachers. He was inspired by Jean-Baptiste de La Salle and his teaching methods, while drawing on the wisdom of our greater Catholic Tradition. Not far from L’Hermitage de Notre Dame where Marcellin established the Brothers, was the Cistercian Abbey of Valbenoîte. Champagnat wanted his brothers likewise to have a deep interiority. When the Brothers moved out of France to the Pacific and beyond, they gained a reputation for being hard workers. But the founder reminded us that in whatever circumstances we find ourselves we were to be men of a rich interior life and brothers to all, especially to young people, all the while making Jesus known and loved, as did his mother, Mary.
Religious Brothers (and Sisters) have a prophetic role in the Church, no matter what tasks they do; it is to remind the Church (especially when it slides backwards), that we are all brothers and sisters in our common baptism, pilgrims of hope in a future we may not see.
In our very secular world, with ideas like those mentioned above, I often introduce myself as a monk. Most people have a concept of what a monk is, more frequently associated with the Dalai Lama and the orange robes of Buddhist monks. Some do know of the Cistercian monks of Southern Star Abbey in Hawkes Bay. In a nutshell, monks are men on the search for God, living in community with other seekers, which in turn spills out into compassion for others in hospitality and service. For Marist Brothers that means we are ‘alongsiders’ with priests, singles, women and children and families in our efforts to love while making Jesus known and loved. A growing number of Christians from a variety of vocations are also discovering their own spirituality and its ‘fit’ with the Spirit’s gift to Champagnat, becoming themselves ‘alongsiders’ with Mary in following Jesus.
Please note: The reflections and opinions expressed in this piece are those of the author and are shared in the spirit of personal faith and contemplation. They do not necessarily reflect the official views of the Diocese of Palmerston North.