Mission & Spirituality
Our mission today in the Congregation of Holy Cross is not substantively different from the mission that we accepted from our founder, Blessed Basil Anthony Moreau, C.S.C., when he first assembled a group of brothers and a group of “auxiliary priests” in France 1837.
C.S.C. History
In the aftermath of the French Revolution, the Catholic Church had lost its priests and its property. Parishioners, and especially their children, were hungry for education in matters of faith.
Rev. Jacques Dujarie responded by assembling a group of men who could go out to parishes and offer some religious education under the auspices of pastors. This group became the Brothers of St. Joseph. As Father Dujarie’s health declined, he passed along the leadership of the Brothers to Father Moreau, who had assembled his auxiliary priests for a similar educational mission.
Moreau’s Faith & Vision
Father Moreau, a theology and philosophy professor who possessed a deep faith and a broad spiritual formation, inspired his group of “educators in the faith” with a zeal to make God known, loved, and served. Moreau also encouraged his spiritual children with circular letters that went out to these bold missionaries who soon were teaching far and wide, and these letters amplified his own bold trust in Divine Providence, his embrace of Christ’s Cross as the guarantee of hope based on God’s limitless love and the power of shared sacrifice.
Family Model and Patrons
Furthermore, he supported them in their work by building up their own sense of familial solidarity. Indeed, he entrusted them to the Holy Family through the patronal love of the pure heart of St. Joseph, the Immaculate Heart of Mary, and the Sacred Heart of Jesus.
C.S.C. into the 2000s
The zeal of the Congregation of Holy Cross advanced into the 20th century, accompanied by deep love and trust that act as conduits for God’s grace, allowing many accomplishments. Blessed Brother Andre Bessette brought the power of his love for St. Joseph to the sick and poor of Montreal, leading to construction of the magnificent Oratory of St. Joseph. Servant of God Rev. Patrick Peyton, C.S.C., founded the Holy Cross Family Ministries, with its Family Rosary apostolate and its Family Theater outreach through film and other media.
Dynamic Spiritual Life
The spiritual life of the Congregation of Holy Cross includes trust in Divine Providence, a familial spirit, an embrace of community that reaches both inwardly within the order and outwardly toward those whom we serve, a eucharistic and sacramental faith, an apostolic zeal that incorporates education of the heart and the mind, and a trust in Christ’s Cross as our ultimate hope, grounded in the limitless love of God that can grow in us and be shared in the world.
Spirituality for You?
You may feel called to discern whether this spirituality and life of service within the Congregation of Holy Cross may be the means by which you should respond fully to God’s graces and to the needs of the people of God. Vocations to Holy Cross are addressed in personal ways and procedural ways that align with each discerning individual’s own special character and with the rules and structures of the local Holy Cross community as well as those of the Catholic Church more broadly.
