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Father
Basil Anthony Moreau, C.S.C. - Man with a Vision
Basil Moreau was a man with a vision. His vision of
serving others was forged from the time of his birth in France in 1799 and during the years which followed the French Revolution. The needs were great and the needs were everywhere and he chose to respond. At the
age of 22 he was ordained a priest for the diocese of Le Mans, France. He became a teacher at the seminary and there his vision began to unfold. He organized a group of priests and seminarians who named themselves
Auxiliary Priests. They helped to rebuild a church and society devastated by years of civil war. And they reflected Father Moreau’s own desire to preach and teach and become a missionary.
In
1835, at the bishop's request, he took direction of the Brothers
of Saint Joseph, founded fifteen years earlier by another priest
of the diocese, Father Jacques Dujarie. The vision continued to
unfold. Two years later, in 1837, the Auxiliary Priests and the
Brothers of St. Joseph united to form the Association of Holy
Cross, named after the small suburb of Le Mans where Father Moreau
established his headquarters. When the group was officially approved
by the church it came to be called, as it is today, the Congregation
of Holy Cross.
The
vision was to unfold even more. In 1841, eager in his desire to
respond to other needs which were emerging, Father Moreau founded
the Holy Cross Sisters. Today the sisters form three distinct
religious congregations: Marianites of Holy Cross, Sisters of
the Holy Cross, and Sisters of Holy Cross. The vision of Holy
Cross initiated by Basil Moreau included men and women, lay and
ordained, together as community and family, placing themselves
at the service of God’s people in a variety of ways and in many
lands.
Father
Moreau’s vision carried the women and men of Holy Cross far beyond
the borders of France and Africa and the United States in 1841,
Canada in 1847, Italy in 1850, and India in 1853. Though Father
Moreau resigned as the chief administrator of Holy Cross in 1866,
he continued to serve others through preaching and retreats until
his death on January 20, 1873. Today many men and women continue
to live his vision by serving others in North and South America,
Europe, Africa and Asia. His vision continues to unfold and can
be taken up with passion and enthusiasm for it involves nothing
less than carrying on the mission of Jesus Christ himself. Today,
Father Moreau's vision invites and urges still others to see the
needs and to respond.
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