The Congregation of Presentation Brothers (Latin: Fratres Presentationis Mariae; English: "Brothers of the Presentation of Mary"; abbreviated F.P.M.) is an international Catholiccongregation of laymen founded in 1802 in Waterford, Ireland, by a local Irish businessman, Edmund Ignatius Rice, now Blessed Edmund Ignatius Rice. Presentation Brothers live and work in Ireland, England, USA, Canada, Ghana, Nigeria, Zimbabwe, Zambia and Grenada with about 100 brothers throughout these countries.
The brothers take three promises—poverty, chastity and obedience—and live together in small groups called "communities". The motto of the congregation was adopted from that of the Jesuits: "Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam" or For the greater glory of god". Brothers bear the initials F.P.M. (Fratres Presentationis Mariae).
The expressed mission of the Presentation Brothers is to "form Christ in the young"[citation needed] and traditionally they have worked to achieve this through education. Today[when?] Presentation Brothers work in a wider range of ministries including with the homeless, elderly, disadvantaged youth and the Roma people. In 2007 the Presentation Brothers opened new missions in Slovakia and Nigeria and an advocacy office for the poor in Geneva.
History
The Presentation Brothers were founded by Edmund Rice in the city of Waterford, Ireland in 1802.
Edmund Rice was born in the townland of Westcourt near the village of Callan in County Kilkenny on June 1, 1762. His parents, Robert and Margaret Tierney Murphy Rice, were prosperous farmers. The family spoke Irish but would also have spoken English in order to conduct their business affairs. Ireland in 1762, was under British rule and the anti-Catholic Penal Laws prevented a Catholic from receiving an education. Rice received his primary school education from a hedge school. These were illegal schools established by travelling teachers. The laws were relaxed at the time of Rice's childhood and eventually, he attended an academy in Kilkenny.[1]
At the age of 17, Rice was apprenticed to his uncle, Michael Rice, in Waterford city. Waterford was one of the busiest ports in the world at the time, second only to Hamburg.[2] Seven years later, Rice's uncle signed the business over to him. A shrewd businessman, Rice invested his growing fortune in land and property. At the age of 25, Rice married Mary Elliot, the daughter of a local businessman. Elliot was killed in a horse riding accident and the baby she was carrying was born with a handicap. The baby was christened Mary and Edmund's step-sister Joan took charge of looking after her.[1]
After his wife's death, Rice became more religious and he developed a devotion to Saint Teresa of Jesus. He also became involved in charitable works and regularly visited the poor of Waterford providing financial assistance to those in need. In 1798, Rice helped the Presentation Sisters open a convent and school for girls in Waterford. Rice decided to try something similar for young boys. In 1800, he began to teach youngsters at his business premises in Barronstrand Street with the assistance of some volunteers.[1] The following year, Rice converted some stables on New Street into a makeshift school. His friends and colleagues described it as an act of "mad folly". Two men, Thomas Grosvenor and Patrick Finn, arrived to help. The three men lived in temporary accommodation over the horse stable as they waited for a monastery to be built.
The congregations
In the early days, when Rice first began to attract followers to his way of life, these formed themselves into a small group of companions. They lived together in the community and began to follow an adaptation of the Presentation Sisters’ rule. The Holy See had already approved of this Rule when Edmund and his followers began to use their adaptation of it to guide their first steps along the path of religious life.[2]
In 1832, the Rule of the Religious Brothers, approved by the pope, was adopted. As Superior General of a Pontifical Institute, Rice could now move brothers between dioceses without having to seek each local bishop's permission.[3] The majority of brothers accepted the new Rule and went on to become the Congregation of Christian Brothers. Today there are Irish Christian Brothers in 17 different countries.
Brother Michael Augustine Riordan, and a few of the Cork Brothers decided to remain under the jurisdiction of local diocesan bishop and continued to live by the Presentation Rule. They became a Pontifical Institute in 1889.[3] The Presentation Brothers have a particular devotion to Our Lady of Good Counsel.
Expansion
In 1876, the first Presentation school outside Ireland opened in England.[3] Like the Irish Christian Brothers, the Presentation Brothers have followed the missionary example of the great Irish missionaries Brendan and Colmcille, responding as they believe Edmund Rice would have, to different needs as they encounter them in different regions and different circumstances. Presentation Brothers College, Cork was founded in 1878.[4]
The main foundations have been: U.S.A. 1843; England 1876; Canada 1910; West Indies 1946; Ghana 1968; Peru 1969; Geneva 2007; Nigeria 2007; Slovakia 2007.
From 1991 along with other orders was involved in the Christian Formation Resource Centre (CFRC) in Cork, which developed into the Christian Leadership in Education Office (CLEO), which since 1993 has delivered postgraduate courses in education, in Cork (and from 1993 to 1996 in Limerick), validated by the University of Hull.[5] Since 1995 CLEO has been solely run by the presentation order, and is based in Mardyke House, Cork.
The Leadership Education and Formation (L.E.A.F) Project from the Presentation Brothers is based at Mount St. Joseph's, Cork.[6]
Headquarters
The Presentation Brothers' Generalate is located at Mount St. Joseph,[7] Blarney Street in Cork, Ireland, originally built as a House of Studies, it has been home to the brothers since 1892.
Provinces
There are about 350 Presentation Brothers living in 22 communities in 7 countries around the world.[1] The congregation is divided into three Provinces:
Anglo-Irish Province (Ireland, England)
Our Lady of the Americas Province (Canada, USA, Grenada)
Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor, former Archbishop of Westminster and former President of the Bishops' Conference of England and Wales (Reading & Cork)
Seán Ó Faoláin, author and Short Story writer (Pres Cork)
Joseph Kelly, Editor and CEO of the Universe Catholic newspaper (Reading)
Michael O'Leary, Irish Tánaiste and former leader of the Irish Labour Party (Pres Cork)
Edmund Ignatius Rice, F.P.M., C.F.C. was a Catholic missionary and educationalist. He was the founder of two religious institutes of religious brothers: the Congregation of Christian Brothers and the Presentation Brothers.
The Congregation of Christian Brothers is a worldwide religious community within the Catholic Church, founded by Edmund Rice.
Venerable Honora Nagle, known informally as Nano Nagle, was a pioneer of Catholic education in Ireland despite legal prohibitions. She founded the Sisters of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary (PBVM), commonly known as the Presentation Sisters, now a worldwide Catholic institute of women religious. She was declared venerable in the Roman Catholic Church on 31 October 2013 by Pope Francis.
Edmund Rice Camps is a charitable volunteer organisation closely associated with the Congregation of Christian Brothers, and inspired by the work of Edmund Ignatius Rice.
Brebeuf College School is a publicly funded Roman Catholic all-boys high school in Toronto, Ontario, Canada endorsed by the Jesuits of Canada. Founded by the Jesuits in 1963, it is part of the Toronto Catholic District School Board and associated with the Presentation Brothers since 1984. Brebeuf is the brother school of nearby St. Joseph's Morrow Park Catholic Secondary School.
The Dominican Order has been present in Ireland since 1224 when the first foundation was established in Dublin, a monastic settlement north of the River Liffey, where the Four Courts is located today. This was quickly followed by Drogheda, Kilkenny (1225), Waterford (1226), Limerick (1227) and Cork (city) (1229). The order was reestablished in the 19th century after having been driven out in the 17th century by laws against Catholic religious orders. During the Penal Laws, as other Irish Colleges were established on the continent, in 1633 the Irish Dominicans established, the College of Corpo Santo, Lisbon and College of the Holy Cross, Louvain (1624-1797) to train clergy for ministering in Ireland. San Clemente al Laterano in Rome, was entrusted to the Irish Dominicans in 1677. In 1855, St. Mary's Priory, Tallaght, was established to train members of the order, who would complete their clerical studies in Rome and be ordained in the Basilica San Clemente.
Coláiste Chríost Rí is a Catholic secondary school for boys based on Capwell Road in Turners Cross, Cork, Ireland. The school, which is under the trusteeship of the Presentation Brothers Schools Trust, had an enrollment of 513 students as of 2023.
Ballyphehane is a suburb in the south of Cork in Ireland. It is one of the oldest suburbs in Cork and was created as part of a post-World War II initiative to create a model community in Cork. Between 1948 and 1993, a total of 11 housing schemes totalling 1,316 dwellings were built by Cork Corporation, now known as Cork City Council. Many of the main roads in Ballyphehane are named after the executed leaders of the 1916 Rising.
Presentation College or Presentation Brothers College can refer to:
Bishop Thomas Hussey was a diplomat, chaplain and Bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Waterford and Lismore from 1797 to his death. He is best known for taking part in talks with Richard Cumberland in an attempt to arrange a peace treaty between Spain and Britain during the American War of Independence.
Events from the year 1808 in Ireland.
The Society of African Missions, also known as the SMA Fathers, is a Catholic religious society of apostolic life of pontifical right for men founded by Melchior de Marion Brésillac in 1856. They serve the people of Africa and those of African descent.
Michael Paul Riordan, CFC was an early Christian Brother, and the second Superior General of this congregation from July 1838 until his death in 1862. He succeeded Edmund Ignatius Rice, the founder of the Christian Brothers, to this role.
Brother Edmund Rice Catholic Secondary School is a former publicly funded high school in Toronto, Ontario, Canada managed by the Toronto Catholic District School Board. It was named after Edmund Ignatius Rice, a Roman Catholic missionary and educationalist and the founder of two religious institutes of religious brothers: the Congregation of Christian Brothers and the Presentation Brothers.
The Le Chéile Schools Trust is a charitable trust which manages around 60 schools in Ireland on behalf of fifteen Roman Catholic religious congregations.
Catholic Education, an Irish Schools Trust (CEIST) is the trustee body for 107 Catholic Voluntary Secondary Schools in Ireland. CEIST provides the moral and legal framework that enable its schools to offer second level Catholic education in Ireland. Its role is built on the vision of its five founding congregations Daughters of Charity, Presentation Sisters, Sisters of the Christian Retreat, Sisters of Mercy andMissionaries of the Sacred Heart. These religious congregations in the spirit of their Founders, together established CEIST in 2007 to ensure the viability of Catholic Education at post-primary level in Ireland into the future. CEIST is fully devoted to respecting its profound heritage and encouraging inclusivity, warmth, outstanding quality, and empathy within the realm of teaching and learning. It utilizes its strong historical foundation to back the enhancement and progression of schools tailored for a contemporary Ireland.
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