May 1

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Religious Brothers Day is held annually on May 1, the feast of Saint Joseph the Worker. All religious brothers are recognized during this international event. Prayer services and reflections for celebrating this day are available at ReligiousBrothers.org

Mark your calendars for a virtual celebration from 12:30 - 1:30 pm on May 1 hosted by the Brothers Think Tank composed of NRVC, RBC, CMSM, and RFC members. Register for the Zoom link here.

Some other ways to celebrate Religious Brothers Day are:

Choose a community from the list below to learn more about the vocation of Brother.
Write a note of gratitude for Brothers to post on your social media and/or mail to a Brother.
Ask to pray with the Brothers at one of their many ministries.
Watch several videos about Brothers and share them with friends.
Learn more about the contributions Brothers have made over the years.
Invite someone to consider learning more about Brothers and to consider discerning their vocation as a Brother.
Reach out to a vocation director who is a Brother and ask for some promotional materials to include in your own table of resources.

Quotes from the NRVC Focus groups of newer entrants
who entered religious life from 2003-2018

"The laughter, the prayer, age was never an issue for me. The one thing that was consistent was the relationships and the mentorships. And that real sense of just being Brother. Centered in Christ, first and foremost, and then with the community life, being able to take it to the apostolate and to give witness, as a community, was probably the best thing" (about being a Brother).

"To see these men, priests and brothers, working together on a project that seemed worth doing. They were very, very much individuals, unique, bringing very different things to the work, bringing different gifts to a work that seemed desperately in need of being well done."

"I did not know religious life where I was growing up because there was no religious around the area. It wasn't until later in life that I found out that there was religious, and there were also religious Brothers. That's really what attracted me to the community was more of the sense of family, the sense of prayer, and a sense of equality."

Additional Resources

The NRVC has published a series of Abundant Hope videos which includes Brothers. The following videos are publicly available to share for Religious Brothers Day and at other events to promote the vocation of Brother:

Religious Brothers Day

May 1

Quotes from the NRVC Focus groups of newer entrants who entered religious life from 2003-2018

Additional Resources

Links to Religious Institutes of Brothers

Links to Religious Institutes of Brothers and Priests

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Quotes from the NRVC Focus groups of newer entrants
who entered religious life from 2003-2018