What is a "Brother?"

A Xaverian Brother is a man who freely chooses to live religious life as a disciple of Jesus Christ. As a vowed follower of Christ, a Brother dedicates his life to God through the vows of poverty, chastity and obedience so as to give himself more fully to his relationship with God and to non-exclusive, generous love and service to God's People. He seeks to be a visible witness of the reality of God's love for the world.

Like Theodore James Ryken, Founder of the Xaverian Brothers, and St. Francis Xavier, Patron of the Congregation, a Brother desires to live his life rooted in the Good News of Jesus and to teach others about that Good News "about God and God's saving love for all people." On this pathway of selfless service to God and the People of God, a Brother is committed primarily to Christian Evangelization, to helping others know God and God's truth in all the ways it is present throughout the world. A Xaverian Brother embraces a missionary spirit following the example of Xavier and strives to be available to go wherever the Holy Spirit might lead him.

A Brother teaches, counsels, ministers in his home country and in foreign lands. He prays alone and with his community hoping to make God the center of his life. He lives in fraternal love, support and the challenge of community life. The Xaverian Fundamental Principles serve to inspire him to be of one heart and one mind with his Brothers so that he can participate in the building of the kingdom of God.

During his entire life and in all his strivings, he tries to be a Brother in Christ, a Brother to his Brothers and to all God's People. He longs for the unity and peace of God's love, inspired by the Xaverian motto: In Harmony Small Things Grow.

A Brother serves a variety of people, including minorities, the suffering and the marginalized. He tries to root all he does in a life of prayer according to his Founder's vision of a life combining contemplation and action. A Xaverian Brother calls his Brothers to embody a more contemplative stance in the world and to minister more directly to the poor and marginalized. In his life of following Christ, a Brother allows himself, therefore, to be given away, together with his Brothers, as nourishment for others and as bread that is broken.

Becoming a Brother
The Xaverian Brothers seek to serve the process of discernment of vocation and introduction into the religious life of those who desire to enter the community through a four-step process of initial formation. These stages of the initial formation program are called: the Contact Program, the Candidacy Period, the Novitiate Period and the Post-Novitiate Period. It is through these stages of gradual discernment and incorporation that the candidate to the Xaverian Brothers, with the assistance of those brothers designated to serve him in each stage of the process, can come to know if he is called to the religious life and to uniquely grow into his vocation.

The Contact Program provides the opportunity for a person who experiences within the possibility of a call to religious life to explore that possibility with the help of meetings with a brother and regular contact with a brother. The program also provides for retreat days with others who are similarly attempting to discern their vocation. During this stage of the formation program the "affiliate" continues to live and work outside of the community and is involved in spiritual direction with a trained spiritual director. It is through a growing harmonization of day to day life and a deepening dialogue and contact with the Xaverian Community that the process of discernment may deepen and illumine one's life direction.

The Candidacy Period is a residency program which is designed to provide a gradual discernment of and introduction to the call of discipleship as a Xaverian Brother in preparation for the Novitiate Period. This introductory period is to include personal spiritual direction, the experience of community living, guided ministerial involvement and opportunities for spiritual and professional study. During the first year of this period, the "candidate" is freed from full time academic or ministerial involvements in order to participate more attentively in the discernment of his vocation. The length of this period is from one to three years depending on the needs of the individual as determined in consultation with the director of formation.

The Novitiate Period is the time of preparation, which immediately preceded the act of religious profession. It is a time for the "novice" to step aside from active involvements in order to enter more intimately into communion with God who calls the "novice" to serve His people as a Xaverian Brother. The length of the Novitiate Period is one year. This period concludes with the profession of temporary vows in the Congregation.

The Post-Novitiate Period is a time of the "temporary professed brother" to grow in involvement in and in the integration of the various dimensions of his religious vocation while living in a local Xaverian Community. This period includes guided involvement in the spiritual, communal, academic, and ministerial dimension of the religious life. The length of this period is from three to six years depending on the needs of the individual brother as determined in consultation with the director of formation The Post Novitiate Period concludes with the Tertianship Program. This program is a time of special preparation of final profession in the Congregation. The length of this program is determined by the Brother General in consultation with the brother and director of formation. The Post Novitiate Period concludes with final profession.

For more information about joining the Xaverian Brothers, please contact Brother James Connolly, CFX at jconnolly@xaverianbrothers.org, or write Brother Jim at:

Vowed Religious Life Brochure

General Vocation Information

Xaverian Brothers
4409 Frederick Ave.
Baltimore, MD 21229