Lives close to God inspire —

THESE TEACHERS of YOUTH
By an Irish Christian Brother •
G " OING, therefore, teach you
all nations."
These worth of Our Lord, 4poken to His Apostles at the close of His own ministry on earth, have for 20 centuries inspired many thousands of boys and young men to give their lives to His service in bringing His message to the young.
By their teaching they have brought the light and the love of Jesus Christ among all the peoples of the world. They have filled the Church on earth with a great host of good priests; they have prepared countless men for their important vocation as fathers of Christian families; they have sent out into the world a stream of professional men and workers, who, because of their Catholic schooling, have stood out among their fellows in goodness and service.
This all-important work of Catholic education was originally wholly in the hands of the great medieval orders and of the Jesuits, but in modem times an increasingly greater share is being done by the various congregations of teaching brothers.
The vocation of the teaching brother is quite distinct from that of the priesthood; it derives its status and dignity from the age-old vows of poverty, chastity and obedience.
That it is held in high esteem by the Church is eloquently shown by the letters and addresses of successive Popes and by the urgent appeals of Archbishops and Bishops in all parts of the world for more and still more brothers and schools.
* *
THE aim of this form of the opostolate is two-fold—the personal sanctification of its members and the religious training of Catholic youth. Those who enter do so because, inspired and aided by Divine grace, they feel that Our Lord wants them to share in the nobility and dignity of His own mission among men, that mission which St. Luke refers to when he tells us that "He was teaching in the synagogues of Galilee."
All through his life, in the busy world of boys and books, in the hectic atmosphere of a great city grammar school, in the ceaseless round of a boarding college or orphanage, under the strain of public examinations, amidst all the delightful variety of schoolboy moods and manners. the brother keeps in mind that his first and last love is the love of the Master Who called him to labour in His vineyard.
• As years and experience accumulate he comes to realise ever more deeply that his own religious life and his power for good in the classroom depend on the intensity of his own love and service of God. "Without Me you can do nothing."
* * TO enable the brother to maintain and develop his life of prayer the Church puts every convenience at his disposal.
He begins his long and busy day by assisting at Mass, so coming to the fountainhead of all holiness, and having his heart uplifted and filled with all joy and love by receiving the Bread of Life.
Often during the day. with the community or alone, he will kneel before the Blessed Sacrament, to find there the light, the solace, the wisdom, the courage, above all, the love he will need in sunshine and in shadows.
At the end of the day, the community will gather in the oratory and join their voices to the great song of praise that goes up to Our Lady through her Office or her Rosary. Each day is thus sanctified; the
brother receives the grace he needs • to work. out his vocation, and by his prayers he brings down blessings on his pupils, his past pupils, the Church and the whole world.
BUT the brother is not only a religious—he is also a teacher. The various congregations aim at having their members fully qualified in the aspect of education best suited to their talents and preference.
That their professional work is in no way inferior to their religious education is abundantly proved by the fact that, in the eyes of the Ministry of Education and the local education authorities the schools of the brothers are in the very front rank for efficiency and academic success.
To ensure this success a brother spepds five or six years in being fully qualified. Some congregations have a juniorate where aspirants are taught to General Certificate or Higher Certificate level. Then follows a year's novitiate, devoted in great part to learning the principles of the religious life.
Soon after this the young brother makes his first profession and proceeds either to a university or to a training college to take courses in arts or science.
To be a good teacher the brother must always be a diligent student. He must keep abreast of all general educational developments and strive for ever greater proficiency in understanding and teaching the subjects in which he specialises.
In the classroom, in the laboratory and on the sports field, in music, in art and in drama, the aim of the brothers is to give our Catholic boys a training and a culture that will fit them to take their place with the best in the land.
AMONG the teaching brothers in England are the De la Salle Brothers, the Marist Brothers, the Xaverian Brothers, the Presentation Brothers, the Brothers of Christian Instruction of Ploedmel, the Brothers of Mercy and the Irish Christian Brothers.
Their days are spent among the most precious of Christ's frock—the young. In their hands lies the future of a great proportion of the Catholic men of tomorrow.
They have faith in their vocation; faith in their future, because their lives are lived close to Him who "began to do and to teach."