Redemptorist Brothers in Ministry
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October 6, 2022The Redemptorist Brothers I have known have been men of deep prayer which was the cornerstone of their ministry. Brothers have 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. Here are some 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 Nicholas Dobbelsteyn was from Saint John and at one time in his ministry he was the cook at St. Peter's Rectory. Brother Nicholas joined the Redemptorists in 1926. He was stationed at Our Lady of Assumption Parish on Bathurst Street in Toronto. Brother Nicholas in his later years was the porter, sacristan, weekend cook and he looked after the Sunday collection.
One Sunday after he counted the collection, he hid it as usual, to keep it safe, but when Fr. Jim Mason, the pastor, asked for it so he could deposit it in the bank, Brother Nicholas couldn’t remember where he hid the collection. It took Bertha, a parish volunteer, about 10 seconds to find it because she worked with Brother Nicolas and knew all his hiding places. Sometime after that, because of Brother Nicholas’s declining health, it was decided to move him to Holy Redeemer College in Windsor where there was a large community who could care for him. But that is a story for another time.
Brother Victor Harrington was also from Saint John and when I was a child, he was the porter at St. Peter's Rectory, running the parish office. My mother told me a beautiful story about Brother Victor.
The Feast of St. Blaise falls on February 3rd. In Saint John it is a tradition for Catholics to go to morning mass on the Feast of St. Blaise to get their throats blessed. My mother, being a convert to the Catholic Church, thought it was essential to have her children’s throats blessed, so she was intending to take my little brothers and me to morning mass, but freezing rain made that impossible. It wasn’t until later that afternoon that mom took the three of us along the icy streets to the rectory.
Brother Victor answered the door. When Mom told Brother Victor why she was there he said, “My good woman you did not need to bring these little ones out in this awful weather. Rest assured our Good Lord, and his Blessed Mother are watching over them and blessing your children every day. They don’t have to have their throats blessed. Now you go home with my blessing and take good care of these precious little ones on the way!”
Brother Patrick Murphy born in Montreal was in the ministry at St. Peter’s for several years in the 1950’s looking after the altar boys and caring for the sick and infirm Redemptorists living in the rectory. Brother Patrick had a big heart and tried to include everyone.
One day Fr. Raymond Fitzgerald, the Pastor of St. Peter’s said to Brother Patrick, “Brother I am very impressed with little Allen Evans from Harrison Street. He is a faithful altar server. Allen seems to be here serving mass more than any other boy. It is interesting that I have never seen him receive communion and I wondered why?”
“That’s probably because he’s not a Catholic!” Brother Patrick replied. Brother Patrick’s big heart tried to include everyone. Years later Brother Pat suffered a heart attack and when he recovered, he was moved to St. Mary’s Redemptorist Junior High School Seminary in Brockville, Ontario for lighter duties. At St. Mary’s he helped Brother Nick Haley in the kitchen.
