ALFRED – Throughout the year, the Brothers of Christian Instruction who live at Notre Dame on Shaker Hill in Alfred are marking the 200th anniversary of the founding of their order in France.
As part of the celebrations, Bishop Robert P. Deeley will serve as main celebrant at the Anniversary Mass, to be held in Our Lady of Perpetual Help Chapel at the Notre Dame Spiritual Center on Shaker Hill at 10:30 a.m. Sunday. All are welcome.
And while the 11 brothers in the Alfred location of the order are retired, their teaching mission lives on. Through fundraising, the brothers help support a mission school in South Sudan. The school, which has both day pupils and boarding students, was built over time, beginning around 2013, and now educates 260 girls and 207 boys in six grades.
The latest project at Our Lady of Assumption Riimenze School in South Sudan is the building of a kitchen, said Brother Jerome Lessard, so it seems somewhat fitting that one way the brothers in Alfred intend to help is through a public supper. They will host a Southwestern BBQ, from 5 to 7 p.m. on the Notre Dame Campus on Shaker Hill on Aug. 31.
There have been a number of fundraisers, and the order, he noted, has some generous benefactors, who have contributed.
“They don’t have the money” to build a kitchen, said Brother Jerome of the order in South Sudan. “We can help.”
Providing help to others has been part of the mission of the brothers since its inception on June 6, 1819.
At that time, The Rev. Jean Marie de la Mennais, capitular vicar of Saint-Brieuc, and The Rev. Gabriel Deshayes, pastor at Auray and vicar-general of Vannes, in France, signed an agreement uniting their efforts “to provide children of the working class, especially those of the Breton countryside, teachers of solid piety,” according to a history of the order.
The Brothers of Christian Instruction is now present in 25 countries and number about 760, according to the Clarion, the Brothers newsletter. In The United States, the Notre Dame Province is located in Alfred and Walsh University in North Canton, Ohio. In North America, 110 of the brothers are in 10 communities in Canada; with the remaining 15 brothers in Maine and in Ohio.
In a 2015 presentation, Brother Daniel Caron said that the order came to Plattsburg, New York, in 1903 from Canada, and located in several communities, including Biddeford, Sanford, Waterville and Fall River, Massachusetts. The brothers looked to form an English-speaking center in northern New England and, with a recommendation from a priest in Springvale, took a look at the Shaker Hill property, which was being sold by the United Society of Believers in Christ’s Second Appearing, commonly called Shakers, after 185 years.
When the Brothers of Christian Instruction purchased the Alfred location in 1931, they established high school and university programs and also operated a boarding school for boys for many years .
Brother Jerome was one of the students. A native of Waterville, he had attended a religious school until was 14, he said on Tuesday, but there was no Catholic high school in his hometown, so he came to school at the Brothers in Alfred. After graduation, he began a year of study before taking his first vows to enter the order. Perpetual vows, he noted, are usually made after five years. Brother Jerome began university at Le Mennais College, also operated by the Brothers of Christian Instruction on Shaker Hill, then transferred to the Ohio campus of Walsh University in 1960.
Later, Brother Jerome returned to Alfred and taught math, English and religion at Notre Dame. He has previously served as the provincial superior and now serves as the local superior in Alfred.
The school closed around 1980. A year later, the brothers opened the Notre Dame Spiritual Center atop Shaker Hill, offering a peaceful and comfortable setting for groups to hold retreats, meetings, or other events. The center is now operated by York County Shelter Programs.
The brothers previously taught classes at St. Louis High School in Biddeford and St. Ignatius High School in Sanford.
As well, at one time, they operated a self-sustaining commercial dairy, raised cattle, grew apples and operated a bakery.
Brother Henry Monday, who looks after the more infirm brothers, arrived in Alfred from the African province of the Brothers of Christian Instruction eight years ago.
He talked briefly about what he liked best about being in the community.
“The people,” said Brother Henry. “Especially the spirit of welcome and generosity.”
— Senior Staff Writer Tammy Wells can be contacted at 780-9016 or twells@journaltribune.com.
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