“Go, then, to all peoples everywhere, and make them my disciples.”
Fundamental Principles of the Xaverian Brothers
CONTACT USABOUT US
WE ARE XAVERIAN BROTHERS
in harmony small things grow.
We are a community of consecrated laymen who as religious Brothers participate in the Roman Catholic Church’s mission of evangelization. Founded in Belgium by Theodore James Ryken in 1839 to be missionaries, we have been educators in the United States since 1854. Our ministry in the US includes 13 Xaverian Brothers Sponsored Schools, as well as many activities of our Brothers in direct service to refugees, prisoners, adult education, and the homeless. We have expanded our ministry work among the poor in Kenya, the Democratic Republic of Congo, South Sudan, and Haiti, while continuing our historic connection with schools in Belgium and the UK. Following the advice of our Founder, Brother Theodore James Ryken, we “march on in faith” knowing that God will provide.
The Xaverian Mission touches the lives of the most needy people wherever the Brothers serve.
Kenya
The Xaverian Brothers have been working in East Africa for over 80 years and have communities in Nairobi, western Kenya, and the Turkana Desert.
Western Kenya
The Ryken Centre for Hope, in Bungoma, houses boys ages 8-14 who have been orphaned or abandoned by their families. The focus of the center is rehabilitation. Boys from the streets are brought in, undergo an assessment to establish why they ended up on the streets, and then rehabilitated for six months. If possible, they return to their family, or they are transferred to a children’s home.
St. Xavier High School, in Bungoma, an all-boys secondary school, opened in 2018. In the first five years, they grew their enrollment from 18 to 140 students.
Turkana Desert
The Xaverian Brothers have ministered in this very harsh region of Kenya, in the Diocese of Lodwar, for over 40 years.
Our Brothers oversee St. James Secondary School, a minor seminary preparing young men to serve as future priests, consecrated religious, as well as committed lay leaders for this desolate and often forgotten section of Kenya.
Democratic Republic of Congo
Our Belgian confreres began missionary work in Congo over 90 years ago. Today we have communities of Brothers in Likasi, Lubumbashi, Kasenga, Kipushi, and Kolwezi.
We operate a number of primary and secondary schools in Likasi and recently opened a new primary school as well. In addition, we also operate two social service agencies, the Good Shepherd home (Bon Berger) for homeless young men in Lubumbashi and the Frère Georges center that provides employment skills for young women.
In Kasenga, a remote village in southeastern Congo along the border that separates Congo and Zambia, we oversee a primary school and secondary school and are also involved in youth ministry in the diocese.
In Kipushi, we operate our novitiate and also provide leadership to a diocesan secondary school. In Kolwezi, our Brothers were invited to operate a new secondary school by the Bishop of the diocese. In 2024, we opened Rijken 1 Institute, a pirmary and secondary school.
Our Brothers also continue the work of co-operatives started over 50 years ago by Brother Joris of Belgium.
HAITI
Our Sant Zaveryen program provides housing for young men studying at nearby universities and professional schools. The Brothers are available to provide guidance to the students and to reinforce the principles of the program: commitment to personal and spiritual growth, academic success, service to others, and community.
South Sudan
In 2022, the Xaverian Brothers took on a new mission in Nedapal, South Sudan. In cooperation with the Kiltegan Fathers, the Xaverian Brothers are educating young men at St. Patrick’s Boys Secondary School.
UNITED STATES
In the United States, our Brothers are working and volunteering in a variety of ministries.
In several regions in the US our Brothers are reaching out to marginalized peoples by volunteering in soup kitchens, prison ministry, programs that help vulnerable children, and programs for immigrants, including teaching English as a second language and preparing them for the citizenship exam.
A number of Brothers also teach, coach, tutor, or are members of the administration at Xaverian Brothers Sponsored Schools in Maryland, Kentucky, New York, Connecticut, and Massachusetts.
Our Brothers are also serving the mission of the Congregation through their work caring for our aged and infirm Brothers, or ministering at our Generalate.
Xaverian Brothers Sponsored Schools
Our XBSS Office is responsible for keeping our Xaverian spirit and ministry alive through annual retreats, orientation programs for new faculty and board members, annual meetings of administrators, faculty leaders and board members, and many other services.
The thirteen schools currently include over 13,000 students and their families, 1,000 faculty, staff and administrators, and 300 trustees.
The XBSS Office provides services to the schools operating out of a sense of Gospel mission that is reflected in the mission of the Church and of the Xaverian Brothers. The XBSS Office exercises a strategic perspective by providing collaborative, flexible, and futuristic planning which preserves, protects, and enhances the Xaverian educational tradition while addressing the evolving needs of the sponsored schools.
Orientation programs for new faculty and board members, annual meetings of administrators, faculty leaders and board members, a student leadership retreat, and other activities provide ongoing formation for all members of the XBSS community.
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4409 Frederick Ave.
Baltimore, MD 21229
P: 410.644.0034
F: 410.644.2762
Preparation for Perpetual Profession: On Wednesday, January 15 the Program of Preparation for Perpetual Profession (PPP) 2020 will begin at the Generalate of the Brothers of the Sacred Heart in Rome. This year there will be 14 participants: 12 Brothers of the Sacred Heart and 2 Xaverian Brothers.
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The conventions of our lives are not only cultural but also personal and biographical. That is, at the deeper levels of our personalities we are most prone to live out with a fair degree of compulsion repetitious behavior.
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For the past two years, Lowell Catholic has asked their students to take photos with a “Flat Ryken,” a paper cut-out of the Founder. Watch a video of pictures the students shared.
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