An Invitation To You

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The theme of our Holy Cross General Chapter in 2004 was focused on a phrase from our Constitutions: “Our mission sends us across borders of every sort. Often we must make ourselves at home among more than one people or culture, reminding us again that the farther we go in giving, the more we stand to receive.” (C2, 17)

The phrase, “crossing borders of every sort” presents to us an image of Holy Cross as an international congregation, challenged to live with greater awareness and responsiveness to the increasing global spread of Holy Cross. Thankfully, the Lord is blessing the Congregation of Holy Cross with a growing number of vocations to our ranks of priests and brothers worldwide.

As of January 2010, our congregation has 118 professed seminarians and 75 professed brother scholastics. In the past calendar year, 15 men took their final vows—8 brothers (Josephites) and 7 seminarians (Salvatorists).

Wherever you are in the world, if you feel you may be called to a vocation of service within our religious order, your first step is appropriately a personal conversation with a member of the Holy Cross community. Ask him for information about the process for discernment and formation that has been established in your province or district.

Discernment processes inevitably differ because people and their vocations differ. It is part of our spiritual mission and joy as members of the Congregation of Holy Cross to get to know people, and to collaborate with people, on their own terms in the light of the gifts and missions God has given to them. So we all welcome any conversations that will help you to situate yourself on the discernment path. But our order also has vocations offices centered in our various provinces that can help you discover more, not only about yourself, but about us and about the basic traits of a fruitful discernment process. We know this much: Discernment is only partially an internal process; it requires a radical openness to the Holy Spirit speaking through spiritual advisors and companions, through the Church and her sacraments, through the people with whom you confer, and through your prayers as conduits of God’s guidance and strength.

Speaking of conversations, with God and among our brothers and sisters in Christ, you can read the long-distance conversations among diverse Holy Cross members in the Congregation’s blog at http://vocation.nd.edu/blog/.

Here are some samples of Holy Cross vocations sites around the world. (For a more complete listing of international resources and contact points, explore the Almanac/Directory section of this website. Also see the “Contact a Director” page.)

In the United States

  • The United States Province’s Vocations’ website is www.holycrossusa.org.
  • The Eastern, South-West, and Midwest Provinces of Holy Cross Brothers have jointly established a vocations website focused on the vocation of the Brother of Holy Cross.

In Canada

In France

In India

In Brazil

In Chile