Redemptorist Brothers in Ministry in Canada
-
January 5, 2023The Redemptorist Brothers I have known have been men of deep prayer; the cornerstones of their ministry. Brothers had been in ministry at St. Peter's Church at 50 Clarendon Street in Saint John, NB since Redemptorist Priests and Brothers began caring for the people of the parish in 1884.
I have been a Redemptorist Brother since 1964. Continuing on my stories from last month, here are some more memories of the Redemptorist Brothers I have known since I was a kid growing up in St. Peter’s Parish, and of Brothers I met later when I joined the Community. They are my heroes.
Brother Alphonsus was the last Redemptorist Brother to be stationed at St. Peter’s. Brother Alphonsus was a man of many talents. He cooked and ran a farm. He was a boiler engineer, an all- around handyman and a book binder. He had a shop in the rectory basement where he recovered books from the house library and books that people sent to him.
Brother Reginald Britten had a unique Ministry in Toronto. He had a speech impediment causing him to stutter. After taking courses to help his stuttering he developed a speech program of his own and taught Speech Therapy at Ryerson College at night school.
The Toronto Star printed his picture and an article about his classes and the wonderful work he was doing helping people who stuttered.
Brother Al Downey from Corner Brook, Newfoundland was a hard- working and prayerful Brother looking after cleaning and waxing all the floors at Holy Redeemer College, a building that had close to 200 rooms.
Brother Al was very devoted to caring for ill confreres. One example was Brother Anthony Pittman who was bed- ridden and waiting for a bed in a nursing home. Because Brother Anthony couldn’t turn over in his bed he developed painful bed sores. Brother Al cared for him during the day and organized the rest of us other Brothers to keep vigil in two hour shifts at night to help Brother Anthony turn over every hour at night.
We did this daily until Brother Anthony was offered a bed in a nursing home. The day of Brother Anthony’s move the Brothers made a comfortable place in the back of our station wagon for him so he could lie down for the trip. Then Brother Edgar and Brother Cecil Chisholm drove Brother Anthony from Windsor to Our Lady of The Lake Nursing Home in Kingston, Ontario, a trip of 350 miles that took about seven hours.
Brother Edgar Hoffman is another Brother who stands out in my memory. Brother Edgar, like all our Brothers, was a man of prayer. He was a man of many talents. He ran the farm at St. Gerard’s Novitiate in Keswick, Ontario and he was the boiler engineer, electrician, welder, carpenter, plumber and grounds keeper at Holy Redeemer College in Windsor, Ontario. His favourite ice-breaker when meeting someone for the first time was to say to a visitor, “Do you want to see my pride and joy?”
When the visitor said, “Yes” he would take out his wallet as the visitor was anticipating seeing family pictures, Brother Edgar would show them a picture of a bottle of “PRIDE” furniture polish and a bottle of “JOY” dish soap! It always moved the visitor to laughter.
One of our outstanding Redemptorists, Father Albert Sterzer was the last Redemptorist Pastor at St. Peter’s in 2006, the year we had to withdraw from serving St. Peter's Parish due to a shortage of Redemptorists. Father Albert is now retired in Grande Prairie, Alberta.
I certainly miss staying at St. Peter's Rectory and visiting my confreres there each summer when I came to see my family in Saint John.
