Progress
The Beginning:
Its common name, Brothers of Huijbergen, refers to the village of Huijbergen. In this village the Bishop of Breda, Mgr. J. van Hooydonk, founded our brotherhood on the 25th of September in 1854. The first brothers lived at the former monastery of the Wilhelmites where an orphanage had been opened. First of all those brothers were in charge of the education of the orphans. To increase the quality of education for priest candidates the boarding school `Ste.-Marie' was founded to offer education for the ‘young of neat families’.
The brothers lived according to the Franciscan Rule of the Third Order Regular and the constitutions given by Mgr. J. van Hooydonk. Service to our fellow humans by supporting education for the young, especially the poor, he determined as the main purpose of the brotherhood. Because a number of men felt attracted to this way of life of service, the community could grow.
Entrance to the former monastery of the Wilhelmites
Entrance of the Institute Saint Marie about 1930
Progress:
During the first decennia the superior of the brothers was a priest appointed by the bishop. In 1888 the first brother was appointed as general superior of the brotherhood. In 1963 we became a congregation with pontifical rights and in 1999 it was reorganized into three provinces: Brazil, Indonesia and the Netherlands.
After 1890 the brothers moved into other places such as, Breda, Oosterhout, Bergen op Zoom and Hulst. A training school for teachers was founded at Bergen op Zoom in 1901. The schools founded at different places were most of all meant for the weak. During the twenties communities were founded in Amsterdam and Haaren (N.Br.) During and after the second world war foundations were established in Ossendrecht, Amstelveen, Nijmegen, Hellevoetsluis, Middelburg and St. Willebrord. They were in charge of all kinds of primary and secondary schools, special schools, institutions for higher education and boarding schools. After 1980 a lot of those foundations were merged into other comprehensive institutions.
Invited by Mgr. P. Bos the brothers started a mission in 1921 on the west coast of Borneo in Indonesia. The first five brothers lived in Singkawang and after a few years a second community was founded in Pontianak. They dedicated themselves to education in several schools and boarding schools in the region nowadays called Kalimantan Barat. A third foundation had been started in 1935 on the south coast of Borneo in Banjarmasin. After the troublesome years during World War II, the First Indonesian brothers joined the brotherhood. At the moment the Indonesian Province is the largest of the congregation where the brothers are living and working at several places in Kalimantan (Borneo), Java and Papua. Their educational work is not limited to the schools, but the brothers can be found in a wide range of social and pastoral services.
Bus of Saint Marie huijbergen 1930
Two brothers on their way from Sanggau to Kualadua in Indonesia
In 1957 the first three brothers left for Brazil and started a mission in Cáceres, Matto Grosso. The bishop of this isolated diocese in the interior had invited the brothers for educational work. Already more than fifty years they did their utmost in Cáceres (MT), Formosa (GO), Goiania (GO) and Carauari (AM). Their services were not limited to the schools. We may think of the Hospital for lepers "0 Bom Samaritano", care for disabled children at the "APAE", a crèche for the little ones, pastoral care in a poor suburb and care for street children and the elderly.
Entrance of the broter house at the Jalan Sepakat in Pontianak
Entrance of the brother house in Huijbergen nowadays
Looking at the future:
In the Netherlands there are two communities but most of the members are already old. In the museum and the archives the past is carefully respected. But more important are the values of simplicity, brotherhood and service, inspired by our faith, which shape our personal lives. We believe that those values are still worthwhile living for and even important for human community life to day. Everyone who is seriously interested can be introduced into our community.
The elders (94) and the youngest (34) Dutch brother
In Brazil the number of communities decreased from three to one. There are still seven Dutch brothers with an average of age above seventy years. Because there are no candidates to join and to continue the way of life and the services of the brothers to the poor in society, institutions are founded and managed in cooperation with local experts and volunteers.
Nowadays the most vital impression comes from the Indonesian province. In about ten places, sometimes at a great distance from each other, they dedicate themselves in different ways to a better future for the young, but some challenges have to be taken in account:
- To develop a way of life, inspired by Saint Francis and Holy Mary, that is still attractive for young men
- In order to continue professional support to the poor it will be necessary to initiate and prepare financial resources.
