Iona College - ICANN Yearbook (New Rochelle, NY)

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THE EXTENT AND DEVELOPMENT OF THE CHRISTIAN BROTHERS OF IRELAND A r !n of Mustard Saint M r » ■■■ Dul.I in. I lie nerve renter ol the Iri.h Chmti.m Brother. ('ongrec.ition. Mount Sion Shool nl Waterford. the first liiunilutlon ol Irish ( hriiliori Brother. h

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On the second of June. 19 0. Iona was proud to present an honorary degree of Doctor of l aws to one of the most illustrious spiritual sons of Brother I'.dmund Ignatius Rice — Reverend Brother Ivlward Icrdinaml Clam y. In dedicating this publication to him the staff feels it can do no heller than to quote a portion of the it.ition whit li states that the degree was conferrer! for his life long devoted service to the ( hurt li; his outstanding ability as an edurator ami administrator: his zeal in furthering the reputation of the Congregation on every continent, and to mark the esteem of the American Province of the Brothers for his great qualities of mind and heart.’’ I lie citation also made reference to his great work for the Church in Rome as secretory to the Cardinal in charge of audiences w ith the Rope and as a staff member of the Vatican Secretariat of State. I

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Statuo ol Brollirr l'. lniurnl l mdiu Rko. (oumlrr ol tin- Bcollvrr . r« y|r t .» o ntomorial «I Iu grccil oJi in CnlLm. Irrl.ind. F.dmund Rice. a surmsful I )ul lin merchant. at the age of forty, fonml a mission in life. In 1801 In dec ided to s| en«l Itis life bringing Christian Doctrine and learning to tlie poor waifs of Itis homeland and secured ecclesiastical | ermission to initiate his gre.it work. Joined by two zealous youthful companions. Mr. Rice officially ojtened the Mount Sion House at Waterford, on May I. 1801. Young under privileged Catholics Hoiked to the school in droves. On the feast of the Assumption in I80S. seven companions took lcm| ornry vows of poverty, «hastily and obedience. In 1822 there were thirty-five brothers present at the first general chapter of the llrolhi •rs id the (‘hristi an Sc bools of Ireland. At this time, the rules and regulations of the new congregation were drawn up. perpetual vows were subs rihe«l to. and Brother I-.. Ignatius Rice was elected Superior Ocneral. C onditions in the early s« hools were not always condin ive to su « cssful effort. I here were as many as two hundred eighty pupils under the care of a single brother and no memlrer of the community had less than one hundred fifty under his supervision. As late as ISIt) there were seven hundred pupils under two brothers at the Francis Street .school. In addi lion to its ordinary teaching work, the C ongregation conduc ted night sc hools and even begged for the Irenefit of the orphans of Limerick. With all these obstacles, the Brothers’ pupils received such a superior education that they captured an overlarge percentage of the annual govern- ment awards for sc holarships. I he national school hoard raised its stand arcls to give the classical schools a chance, and the following year the percentage of Brothers students securing passes, exhibitions and medals increased ever further. Realizing the vast field open to him. Brother Rice always sought to extend his holy work throughout Ireland, throughout F.uropc. throughout the World. In spile of numerous obstacles placed in their path by the British government, by Irish Protestants and by the exigenc ies of finance, the Brothers always extended their labors as far as | os ihle. Before the death of Brother Rice in 1841. the C hrislian Brothers had twenty-four establishments stretc hing from all points of Ireland, to Gibraltar, to Eng land, and even to Australia. Brother Rice’ s work was like a pchhlc dropped in a hike, wliic h caused ripples to spread to the shores of the lake and up its tributary streams. I he twenty-four establishments, seventy brothers and eight thousand pupils under the Congregation when the Founder died have since increased to two hundred forty houses with more than two thousand brothers teaching over one hundred thousand young men on every inhabited continent. What began as a tiny mustard seed continues to grow and hear good fruit. ?! ’ ecotneth a irec i i i