Every year a dozen or more male students choose to live in Old College and
explore the possibility of becoming a priest.
Now there's a place where students can go to begin thinking
seriously about becoming a religious brother.
The Bessette House of Discernment opened in January 2005 inside
Columba Hall, the Holy Cross Brothers' residence hall on the west
bank of Saint Joseph's Lake. The program began with six students
but currently has only one.
Bessette House -- named for the CSCs' Blessed Brother Andre
Bessette -- differs from Old College (the house-like structure
near the Grotto) in that Old College residents have already demonstrated
a serious proclivity to become a priest or brother (almost always
a priest), they've entered a candidacy program and they now want
to immerse themselves in Holy Cross community life.
Those who choose to live in Bessette House are at an earlier
stage of discernment, according to Brother Philip Smith, CSC,
director of the program and vocation director for the Midwest
province of Holy Cross Brothers.
"There are four different choices [of lifestyle for a Catholic]:
life in a married state, priesthood, a single lay person or the
consecrated sacred life (brotherhood)," the vocation director
says. "The purpose of the house is to enable a clear understanding
to which of the four lifestyles they are called."
The difference between being a priest and a brother is priests
can say Mass and exercise sacramental ministry while brotherhood
is a company of clerical and lay religious men devoted to a mission
of service. Both priests and brothers take vows of poverty and
celibacy.
The residents of Bessette House are offered the option of taking
celibacy and poverty vows, but none in the initial group of six
chose to do so; in fact, three even had girlfriends. Participants
pay $300 a month to live in Columba, meals included. They have
their own bedrooms, and they share a communal kitchen, dining
area and a small chapel.
Residents are expected to participate in community service,
ideally at least once a week, and make every effort to attend
daily Mass. They gather for evening supper and on Wednesday nights
read from Scripture and discuss their beliefs.
The decline in priestly vocations in the United States in recent
decades has been well-documented, but the situation is even more
dire among religious brothers. Currently there are 180 Holy Cross
Brothers in the order's Midwest province. That total includes
20 in Ghana in western Africa. In the past year about 10 brothers
have died. The average age of remaining members is nearing 70,
according to Brother Robert Fillmore, CSC. In the past 15 years,
some U.S. men have shown interest in joining, but only two have
taken vows.
Bessette House is about as close as the brotherhood has to a
recruitment center. It's too soon to tell if the initiative will
succeed, but the early returns aren't promising. Of the original
six, all have dropped out, and only one new member joined this
past fall.
Neumann Jones, who lived at the house while a sophomore at Holy
Cross College, the Brothers-run institution adjacent to Saint
Mary's College, said living at Bessette House filled him with
a new energy, and he was more disciplined and consistent with
his meditation. "It . . . even improved my social life. I have
a greater awareness of myself," he said. Yet he opted out at the
end of the 2005 spring semester.
"I just felt like the brotherhood wasn't a fit for me," he said.
"I didn't feel this yearning inside to continue it." He said he
is considering becoming a monk instead.
Although only one student, also from Holy Cross, was living
at Bessette House fall semester, at least one former resident
comes by once a week for spiritual direction, Brother Smith said.
* * *
(April 2006)
