Little Brothers of the Gospel

Thé Little Brothers of the Gospel are a Roman Catholic congregation of religious brothers inspired by the life and writings of Charles de Foucauld.[1] It is one of a family of Jesus at Nazareth communities, built on the original inspiration of Brother Charles of the Desert, which includes the Little Sisters of Jesus, Jesus Caritas, and the Little Brothers of Jesus. The movement was founded in 1956 by Father René Voillaume, who also established the Little Sisters of the Gospel.[2] The Father wrote, that "The Fraternities of the Gospel are called to be dedicated to evangelization and to the development of the poorest and most abandoned peoples."[2]

Founding

René Voillaume was born in Versailles on July 19, 1905 and became a priest on June 29, 1929. On September 8, 1933, at Sacré-Cœur in Montmartre, he and four companions took the habit of Father de Foucauld and went to live in the Saharan oasis of El Abiodh Sidi Cheik. This was the beginning of the Little Brothers of Jesus. In 1938, he met Magdeleine Hutin who would found the Little Sisters of Jesus.[3]

The Little Brothers of Jesus first lived a monastic form of life, but after World War II began to set up small "fraternities" in working-class neighbourhoods. The focus was to share ordinary daily life, as Jesus did in Nazareth. Voillaume's 1950 book, The Seeds of the Desert, described living a contemplative life in the midst of the world. In 1956, he founded the Little Brothers of the Gospel, then, in 1963, the Little Sisters of the Gospel.[4]

Among the declared three pillars of the congregation are:

• Prayer;
• Fraternity love;
• Sharing the life of the poor.

Through these three pillars of their life, the Little Brothers of the Gospel wants to spread the Good News of Jesus.

They are present in Europe (France, Italy, Germany, Spain, etc.), Central and South America (Mexico, Venezuela, Bolivia, etc.), and Africa (Kenya, Tanzania). Their Central Fraternity is in Brussels, Belgium. As of 2008, there were seventy-one members worldwide.[5]

On the night of 29 to 30 July 2002, Yves Lescanne, Little Brother of the Gospel, was killed in Maroua, Cameroon. French, brother Yves Lescanne was born March 20, 1940 in Gironde. He took care of the abandoned children in Maroua through a small organization: "la belle étoile".

References

1. Association Famille Spirituelle Charles de Foucauld, in French
2. "Founder of Little Brothers and Little Sisters of the Gospel dies", Zenit News Agency, May 2003.
3. "In Memory of René Voillaume", Jesus Caritas
4. "The Spiritual Family of Brother Charles", Brothercharles,org
5. "On a New Quest, a Tiny Order Leaves Brooklyn", The New York Times, July 2008