In the troubled period following the French Revolution, Basil Anthony
Moreau, a priest of the diocese of Le Mans, France, gathered a group
of auxiliary priests and founded the Congregation of Holy Cross in 1835
in response to the need for education and the evangelization of the devastated
Church throughout the countryside.
Days after this group was assembled, Father Moreau accepted responsibility for the Brothers of St. Joseph, who had been founded 15 years earlier by Fr. James Dujarie, a priest of the same diocese. The Brothers were zealous laymen who had been meeting the need for elementary education in villages of the region. Father Moreau eventually united these two groups in 1837. Priests and Brothers were joined within a single congregation to minister to the pastoral and educational needs of the French Church. Holy Cross soon spread beyond France to other countries of Europe, to Africa, to Asia and to North America.
In 1841, six Brothers and Fr. Edward Sorin were invited as educators to the diocese of Vincennes in Indiana. A year later, Fr. Sorin and several brothers founded the University of Notre Dame near South Bend, Indiana.
In the nine decades that followed, the Priests and Brothers of Holy Cross devoted their greatest efforts to educational ministries in the United States, Canada and France. These years were a time of rapid growth in numbers and the diversification of ministries. The international character of the community began to evolve extensively. Men went overseas to assist indigenous Churches to develop.
Today, the Brothers of Holy Cross uphold a proud and purposeful tradition with an expanded mission and many ministries. As brothers, we are religious who profess vows of poverty, celibacy and obedience, committing ourselves to a life of ministry and prayer within community.
