As Father Basil Moreau taught his religious in his own unmistakable manner and style, ‘our community and our schools should be formed in the image of the Trinity. In God there is a community of persons but all form but one being…
–Bishop Daniel Jenky, C.S.C.
Diocese of Peoria, Ill.
Community
The community of Holy Cross priests and brothers at Notre Dame is a large population of individual thinkers, unique talents, different perspectives, and deeply personal spiritualities. Yet we all see the value of working and praying together, sharing companionship and meals, and energizing each other in our faith and in the life of the mind. Our Congregation has always appreciated the value of community living as a source of encouragement and good example and as a shield against feeling overwhelmed or discouraged.
Congregation of Holy Cross community group photo.
We hope that our engagement with life as a mutually supportive group helps us to be other-centered, geared for service, and effective in seeking and spreading truth. We want our community life and tradition to be a resource for the whole Notre Dame community, including alumni, benefactors, and friends, as well as students, staff, and faculty. We also stand in solidarity with the whole Catholic Church and with the global human community. We want to learn from any and all cultures, even as we offer them what truth we know.
We can share the lessons we learn and the graces we receive from community life when we minister to students who are experiencing new challenges in their residence halls. These young people may be beset by the tedium of semester routine or by new academic or social challenges that seem daunting. They may be anxious about achieving success, and even confused about what success is. We can help them to experience the real strengths of the Notre Dame family, which include sharing in the joys and sorrows of each individual and helping to capture the full potential of each person—while finding new possibilities in community.
If you are thinking about joining the Congregation of Holy Cross, please visit our Vocations website.
By participating in the everyday life of the Notre Dame family, you are likely to get to know Holy Cross not only as a community that does many things together, but as a set of individuals who are no less unique and unpredictable than the original band of Notre Dame pioneers. Each of us Holy Cross priests and brothers brings his personal traits and talents to the mix. Our community has artists, scientists, historians, philosophers, theologians, literary giants, international analysts and activists—all sorts of people whom God has called to use their gifts in service to His people. We are blessed with new vocations, being discerned by young men who also reflect diversity and share our responsiveness to the calling of Holy Cross.
The Congregation of Holy Cross, whose patroness is Mary under the title of Our Lady of Sorrows, keeps alive the shield’s words of perseverance and expectancy on campus. The sentiments are shared day and night by tens of thousands of visitors to a simple, seminal place of devotion and reflection. It is the Grotto of Our Lady of Lourdes, a replica of the grotto at Lourdes, France, as commissioned by Father Edward Sorin, C.S.C., and still owned and maintained today by his successor priests and brothers of Holy Cross. Candles burn brightly there, entrusting prayers to Notre Dame, Our Mother, whose “yes” to truth and love resounds forever.
