On the feast day of St. Joseph the Worker, May 1, the Catholic Church recognizes and celebrates men who live a vowed religious life and are known by the title “brother.”
While men in religious life may be called brother during their years of formation on the road to the priesthood, May 1 particularly commemorates vowed religious men whose vocation is a life of non-sacramental service and the immense gift they are to the universal Church.
Brothers, sometimes referred to as lay religious men, are called to live a consecrated life which is witnessed through their public profession of the vows of poverty, celibate chastity and obedience. They live in community with their brothers, or confreres, in the charism, mission and values of their particular congregation. These congregations may solely consist of brothers or communities may have both professed brothers and ordained priests, which are commonly referred to as mixed communities.
Religious brothers embody a wide variety of charisms and forms of service which include serving in healthcare, teaching and presiding over colleges and universities, running homeless shelters and soup kitchens and caring for monasteries, among others. In the United States there are currently 28 congregations of religious brothers, and those who reside in the Diocese of Phoenix either work in parishes or are living out their retirement.
The joy, peace and service lived by religious brothers through their ongoing ministry and commitment are an impactful witness to the Gospel, making May 1 an appropriate day to pray for an increase in vocations to consecrated religious life.
