Brothers of Charity

The Brothers of Charity are a religious institute of Religious Brothers and associate members at the service of the people most in need in the field of education and health care. The institute was founded in 1807 by the Very Rev. Canon Peter Joseph Triest in Ghent, Belgium. He also founded three other religious congregations inspired by Vincentian spirituality. The congregation's patron saint is St. Vincent de Paul. Today the Brothers are present in 30 countries.

History

The constitutions were approved and confirmed by Pope Leo XIII on 4 July 1899. The pastor of the Church of St. Bavon in Ghent, on account of his services in the cause of charity, was called the Vincent de Paul of his country, and was three times decorated by royal hands with the highest civic orders of the land. After his death his countrymen erected a superb mausoleum to his honor in Brussels, the Belgian capital.

The special aim of this congregation is the sanctification of its members in the religious state by the exercise of works of charity, which in the spirit of its founder embrace every phase of moral and physical suffering and want. They consist in a special manner in tending the sick, in sheltering poor workmen, in the care of the aged and of people with a mental illness, in instructing and bringing up orphan children and young people. The services delivered by the Brothers of Charity were appreciated by the people and Government of Belgium, and in a short time they developed and expanded.

Brother

A Brother is the male offspring of one's parent.

Overview

The term brother comes from the Proto-Indo-European *bʰréh₂tēr, which becomes Latin frater, of the same meaning. Sibling warmth, or sibling affect between male siblings has been correlated to some more negative effects. In pairs of brothers higher sibling warmth is related to more risk taking behaviour although risk taking behaviour is not related to sibling warmth in any other type of sibling pair. The cause of this phenomenon in which sibling warmth is only correlated with risk taking behaviours in brother pairs still is unclear. This finding does, however, suggest that although sibling conflict is a risk factor for risk taking behaviour, sibling warmth does not serve as a protective factor. Some studies suggest that girls having an older brother delays the onset of menarche by roughly one year.

Brotherhood

Charity

Charity may refer to:

Giving

Places

Entertainment

Sports

The Brothers

The Brothers may refer to:

Media

Film

Literature

Music

Sisters of Charity

Many religious communities have the term Sisters of Charity as part of their name. While some Sisters of Charity communities refer to the Vincentian tradition, and in America to the tradition of Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton those links are by no means universal. It is important to recognize that there may be no "family" or historical relationship between groups having the phrase Sisters of Charity as part of their name. The rule of Vincent de Paul for the Daughters of Charity has been adopted and adapted by at least sixty founders of religious institutes around the world in the subsequent centuries.

History

In 1633 Vincent de Paul, a French priest and Louise de Marillac, a widow, established the Company of the Daughters of Charity as a group of women dedicated to serving the "poorest of the poor". They set up soup kitchens, organized community hospitals, established schools and homes for orphaned children, offered job training, taught the young to read and write, and improved prison conditions. Louise de Marillac and Vincent de Paul both died in 1660, and by this time there were more than forty houses of the Daughters of Charity in France, and the sick poor were cared for in their own dwellings in twenty-six parishes in Paris. The French Revolution shut down all convents, but the society was restored in 1801 and eventually spread to Austria, Australia, Hungary, Ireland, Israel, Portugal, Turkey, Britain and the Americas.