2: I Was A Male Nun
Basically, a Roman Catholic brother is a man who dedicates his life to God, lives in a community with other men (usually called a monastery or a brothers' house), and who takes the vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience. Some orders require other vows or promises, but these are the basic but challenging few.
The easiest way to understand this kind of a calling is to look at the life of a nun. A nun, or a sister, is very much the same as a brother or a monk, except they are women who live in a convent. Their vows are usually the same, their lives are often the same too, and they choose different ministries depending on their religious order (teaching, working with the poor and homeless, or serving in various other church ministries).
Nuns wear a religious habit, which as you may have noticed varies in style and color based on the religious order they belong to, and monks do as well. In my case, I was a Marianist brother in the Society of Mary, and by tradition, they wear a simple black suit with a white shirt and black tie, black shoes, and black belt. They are no less monk-like just because they don't wear a robe. As a teaching order, the Marianist brothers have simply found that the suit suits them best, and by all wearing the same "outfit", the monks show their unity as a community of religious men.
So yes, in a way, I was a male nun, just as a nun, in a way, is a female monk.
As Brother Sean, I was not ordained as a priest to say mass, but I was asked to give homilies once a month to my brothers, do readings, distribute Communion, and serve mass in every other way apart from consecrating the Eucharist.
I also received special training from the priests and brothers in charge of my religious formation to teach and lead others, especially the young men and women who made up the student bodies of Chaminade High School in Mineola, New York and Kellenberg Memorial High School in Uniondale, New York, which is also where we all lived. (The brothers acquired St. Martin de Poores Elementary School in Uniondale years later.)
My full name with my title was Brother Sean Patrick Brennan, S.M., but I usually went by just "Brother" or "Brother Sean". The initials S.M. stand for Society of Mary, a religious order founded in France in 1817 by Father William Joseph Chaminade. And yes, he himself was a priest who formed a religious order of brothers, priests, and laypeople. According to Wikipedia, the Society of Mary is presently made up of around 800 brothers and 400 priests worldwide.
In the many blog entries to come, you'll hear me use the words brother and monk quite a lot. The two words are interchangeable, but sometimes one term or the other feels more appropriate in a given situation. If you ever have any questions about this or anything else, please feel free to ask me. I'd be happy to respond anytime. Comments on the blog are only moderated to weed out spam, but are otherwise 100% welcome and encouraged!
Coming Up Next Week: Poverty Is Expensive
Sean, it's interesting to read this history about Chaminade and the connection to the Marianists. I don't know if I ever told you that my father taught at Chaminade in the 1950s and 1960s, (he would go on to work directly for the Diocese of Rockville Centre). In any case, my older sister's name is Marian, and I recall my mother telling me how this choice of name was influenced by my father working at Chaminade, (something my mother wasn't entirely thrilled about... she wanted to name my sister Barbara!). I never knew what the connection was, but this explains it. Thanks, and looking forward to more of your blog entries.
ReplyDeleteWow, Greg, I had no idea! I knew there was a Brother Joseph Fox which the Kellenberg Latin School is now named after, but I'm fairly certain he wasn't your father! Cool about your sister too. There are two different orders worldwide with similar names, the Marists and the Marianists, and both names are in honor of Mary, Jesus's mom. Thank you for sharing this about your family, and for your interest in my new blog!
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