The Roots of Brotherhood

A special thank you to our dear friend, Brother James Curran, L.B.S.F., of Boston, Mass. for the following excerpts from his article, “Brothers: A Forgotten Vocation?”

Icon of the Mystical (Last) Supper

Today’s emphasis on apostolate and its often erroneous identification with priesthood alone leads many Catholics to view the brother’s vocation as something less than complete. Some appear to think that brothers do not become priests because they lack something of the physical, mental or moral fitness for priesthood… People often fail to recognize that brothers are first of all men called by Jesus. He calls some to be priests alone, some to be brothers (friars or monastics) alone and some to be priest-brothers. Each is a distinct vocation in itself—the priesthood and the brotherhood. In the case of Religious priests, the two vocations come together to form one call to apostolate. It is well to note,