The Congregation of Holy Cross

ABOUT FR. MOREAU

Fr. Basil Moreau was born near LeMans, France on February 11, 1799, during the closing months of the French Revolution. He was schooled in LeMans and ordained a priest in 1821. His early years in the ministry were spent in teaching. In 1835 he was requested to take over the direction of the Brothers of St. Joseph who were primarily educators. In 1837 he organized the Congregation of Holy Cross, an association of priests and brothers, and later, in 1841, he founded the Marionite Sisters of Holy Cross. The Congregation got its name from the small town of Sainte Croix (Holy Cross), eighty miles south of Paris, near Moreau's birthplace. From the beginning, the primary role of the priests, brothers, and sisters was in education and their philosophy was, as it remains today, to promote the education of the whole person -- spiritual, intellectual, artistic, physical, and social.

Father Moreau's congregation flourished and expanded into other countries from their headquarters in France. A young Holy Cross Priest, Edward Sorin, was sent to the United States in 1840, with him came six brothers and help him found the University of Notre Dame in northern Indiana. The sisters of Holy Cross followed the priests and brothers to the United States a short time later. The Congregation in America grew, and, in 1872, Holy Cross Schools. In 1881 they founded St. Edward's University in Austin. Santa Cruz Parish in Buda was built by Father Alfred Mendez, a Holy Cross priest, in 1941. About the same times, six other missions in the Austin area were built and staffed by Holy Cross priests at the request of the Archbishop of San Antonio.

At the age of seventy-four, Basil Moreau died in France on January 20, 1873. However, his Congregation continued to grow and to expand their teaching around the world. Today, approximately 3,000 Congregation of Holy Cross members are providing education to more than 50,000 students in France, Italy, the United States, Canada, Brazil, Chile, Haiti, Ghana, Uganda, India, Pakistan, and Mexico. They continue to provide the "excellence" in education which was a major motive of Father Moreau's in founding the Congregation over one hundred and fifty years ago.



ABOUT THE CONGREGATION OF HOLY CROSS Father Basil Anthony Moreau, a priest of the diocese of Le Mans in France, founded the Congregation of Holy Cross in 1837 through the union of two groups under his direction: an association of Auxiliary Priests that he had formed to assist diocesan clergy by preaching parish missions, and the Brothers of Saint Joseph, originally founded in 1820 by Father James Dujarie to serve as educators in village schools. A year later Father Moreau gave a rule of life to a small band of dedicated laywomen, the first sisters of Holy Cross. The congregation is named after Sainte-Croix, a suburb of Le Mans, where it was founded. The priests, brothers and sisters became known respectively as the Salvatorists, the Josephites and the Marianites of Holy Cross, and the founder's wish was that they be united in their lives and work as a visible imitation of the Holy Family. The congregation's principle feast is that of Our Lady of Sorrows, September 15. Though Father Moreau first intended his community to serve the renewal of the church in the devastated parishes and rural schools of post-revolutionary France, he was eager to respond to the urgent needs for personnel in the church's international mission as well. Within sixteen years of its founding, Holy Cross had stretched its mission beyond the borders of France to four different countries: Algeria 1841, United States 1842, Canada 1843, and Bengal, India 1853. There are now 1,670 Holy Cross Priests and Brothers and 1,710 Holy Cross Sisters that live and work in 16 countries on four continents. We have worked in schools, hospitals and parishes from the beginning and still serve everywhere as educators in the faith, wanting to reach out in a preferential way to the poor and the oppressed in a wide variety of ministerial contexts. Wherever we work, we try to help people develop their own gifts - and to discover the deepest longing in their lives. We come not just as servants, but also as neighbors, to be with the people and of them. Service to the international mission of the church continues to characterize Holy Cross today, when over 750 Holy Cross religious seek to be "people with hope to bring" in some of the world's poorest countries. The large majority of Holy Cross religious now serving in these places of overwhelming need are young Asian, African and Latin American men and women of deep faith and zeal for ministry. Holy Cross rejoices in the blessing and challenge of our rich and diverse internationality. Our mission sends us across borders of every sort. Often we must make ourselves at home among more than one people or culture, reminding us again that the farther we go in giving, the more we stand to receive. (Constitutions, Congregation of Holy Cross).
ABOUT FR. MOREAU Fr. Basil Moreau was born near LeMans, France on February 11, 1799, during the closing months of the French Revolution. He was schooled in LeMans and ordained a priest in 1821. His early years in the ministry were spent in teaching. In 1835 he was requested to take over the direction of the Brothers of St. Joseph who were primarily educators. In 1837 he organized the Congregation of Holy Cross, an association of priests and brothers, and later, in 1841, he founded the Marionite Sisters of Holy Cross. The Congregation got its name from the small town of Sainte Croix (Holy Cross), eighty miles south of Paris, near Moreau's birthplace. From the beginning, the primary role of the priests, brothers, and sisters was in education and their philosophy was, as it remains today, to promote the education of the whole person -- spiritual, intellectual, artistic, physical, and social. Father Moreau's congregation flourished and expanded into other countries from their headquarters in France. A young Holy Cross Priest, Edward Sorin, was sent to the United States in 1840, with him came six brothers and help him found the University of Notre Dame in northern Indiana. The sisters of Holy Cross followed the priests and brothers to the United States a short time later. The Congregation in America grew, and, in 1872, Holy Cross Schools. In 1881 they founded St. Edward's University in Austin. Santa Cruz Parish in Buda was built by Father Alfred Mendez, a Holy Cross priest, in 1941. About the same times, six other missions in the Austin area were built and staffed by Holy Cross priests at the request of the Archbishop of San Antonio. At the age of seventy-four, Basil Moreau died in France on January 20, 1873. However, his Congregation continued to grow and to expand their teaching around the world. Today, approximately 3,000 Congregation of Holy Cross members are providing education to more than 50,000 students in France, Italy, the United States, Canada, Brazil, Chile, Haiti, Ghana, Uganda, India, Pakistan, and Mexico. They continue to provide the "excellence" in education which was a major motive of Father Moreau's in founding the Congregation over one hundred and fifty years ago.
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