On July 25, 2015, the Brothers of Charity got together, with over a hundred friends and brethren, to celebrate their 150 years of presence and tireless charity in the diocese of Montreal.

On May 29, 2015, they received the Diocesan Merit Award for their "loyal and generous participation in the life of the Church."   For the occasion, Bishop Roger Dufresne, representing the Archbishop of Montreal, Most Reverend Christian Lépine, presided at the liturgical celebration at Saint-Sulpice Parish Church. Brother René Stockman, Superior General of the Brothers of Charity, came directly from Rome to join the celebrations, and to so "graciously present the congregation's charism," as Brother Jacques Bellemare, FC put it.  

In 1865, Bishop Ignace Bourget welcomed the Brothers of Charity - a congregation formed amid the French Revolution - who came to Montreal from Belgium to mainly take care of young orphans and the elderly.  

In 1873, they were going to take over the administration of the Saint-Antoine Institute for "young offenders," known today as the Centre jeunesse Mont St-Antoine; however, in 1874, the Brothers took over the management of Orphan's Friend in Boston, and then founded the Retraite Saint-Benoît in Montreal's east end in 1884. In 1960, they opened the psychiatric hospital in L'Annonciation.  

The congregation also worked in the field of education throughout Quebec, while sending missionaries to Cuba, Peru, Brazil, and Nicaragua, as well as to Africa and Asia.  

Only seventeen Brothers of Charity remain in Montreal, but this doesn't worry Brother Jacques, who, evidently, gets his information from a reliable source: "What does the future hold? To challenge pessimists, I simply have to cite the Book of Ecclesiastes [Qoheleth]: "Do not say, 'Why were the former days better than these?' For it is not from wisdom that you ask this" (Qo 7:10).  

Charity for 150 years, certainly, but also, plenty of wisdom, Brother Jacques...  

A fascinating document, written and developed by Brother Jacques Bellemare, in which he recounts the 150 years of the Brothers of Charity in America, can be read here.