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Mar 25th, 2025
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This just appeared in Zenit. Any comments? Father Huard's Companions of Christ Looks to the Model of the Apostles
ST. PAUL, Minnesota, DEC. 25, 2003 (Zenit.org).- Diocesan priests in the Twin Cities don't have to live solitary lives anymore.
Instead, they can choose to be part of a community of brother priests who, like the Apostles, want to respond to Christ's call to sacrificial love in their public and private lives.
The Companions of Christ has four houses in which diocesan priests and seminarians pray, eat and live together while serving nearby parishes and attending classes at St. Paul Seminary.
Father Jeffrey Huard, moderator of the group and director of Campus Ministry at the University of St. Thomas, shared with ZENIT why these men are committed to serving as diocesan priests and supporting each other in fraternal charity.
Q: What is the Companions of Christ? Why and how was it established?
Father Huard: The Companions of Christ is a fraternity of diocesan priests. Canonically speaking, it is what is called a public clerical association. It was begun in 1992, with four seminarians and two pre-seminarians in the diocese of St. Paul-Minneapolis.
Bishop Robert Carlson, now of Sioux Falls, South Dakota, was then an auxiliary bishop in St. Paul, and he sponsored the initiative. We had help from many other sources as well, notably from Father Jean Beyer S.J., a canonist at the Gregorian University in Rome. We have a set of statutes and we observe a rule of life together.
The Companions of Christ can be briefly described under three heads. First, we are intentionally diocesan priests. We have not envisioned a new religious order -- good as that might be. Rather, we want to remain under the authority of our local bishops. We are attempting to fashion a way of priestly life precisely for those in diocesan ministry.
Second, we are attempting to live the evangelical counsels. Even before Vatican II, and more urgently since, the Church has encouraged diocesan priests to embrace explicitly the evangelical counsels of poverty, chastity and obedience. We have tried to do this in a way that is suited to diocesan life.
And third, we live in fraternity. Our households involve at least three priests who pray morning and evening prayer together, take a number of meals together during the week, and share their lives. We also have regular holy hours and retreats for the entire Companions chapter of the diocese.
Q: Why is fraternity important for diocesan priests, who often live alone?
Father Huard: When Jesus first gathered his disciples, he called them out of family life but not into seclusion. He brought them together and formed them into a company of men, a close brotherhood, whose one thought was to be the building of the Kingdom.
This apostolic band is the basis of the diocesan priesthood, in which priests are gathered around their bishop, the successor of the apostles.
Vatican II spoke of this priestly bond as an "intimate sacramental fraternity." Like the marriage bond, it is sealed in a sacrament -- in this case the sharing of Orders -- and is meant to be fruitful in its own way, in bringing the People of God to spiritual life and maturity.
Like marriage, this bond needs specific expression if it is to be real. A married couple who never see each other will have a strange marriage. Priests who have no practical means of sharing their priestly life will have an odd priesthood.
This only makes sense. The heart of every true Christian call is sacrificial love. When Jesus at the Last Supper said that they would know his disciples by how they loved one another, he was speaking specifically to the apostles and to their special fraternal bond. It is difficult to express such love alone.
On a more practical level, living together under a rule can be a great help in maintaining priestly zeal, in growing into spiritual maturity and in fostering the accountability of friendship.
Q: Why did you choose to be a Companion of Christ?
Father Huard: I have been long inspired and convinced of the truth of the Scriptures that say two are better than one and a three-ply cord is not easily broken.
Many proverbs also speak of the strength that comes when brother supports brother, for example, a brother helped is like a strong city. I have also experienced the power of Christ Jesus forming community -- wherever the life of God is, community forms.
My motivation to be a Companion and to help found the institute was driven by the conviction that this is a potent way for me and many others to live a priestly life.
The disciples were together more than for human support -- as important and good as that was, they were together to witness love. The people of God are meant to look at priests and see the love of Christ. Their experience of seeing priests living and working together should draw the response, "See how they love one another."
My conviction is that this priestly witness of community is not only a great help to me in my pursuit of holiness, but also a powerful witness to the faithful.
Q: What is the growth trend for the group? What accounts for that trend?
Father Huard: Our growth has been slow and steady. We are now a dozen priests and four seminarians. Another handful of men are inquiring at the moment. In addition, we have had many men live with us for a period of time as they have discerned their futures -- some to marriage and some to religious life. We have been very happy to be able to help these young men along the road to their vocations.
What might account for this growth at a time when priestly vocations are not abundant? Maybe this: Priesthood is inherently attractive to those who are called to it, who hear the voice of Christ deep within them saying, "Follow me." Such young men are looking for a way forward, a way to respond to that voice, often without quite realizing what they are seeking.
For such priestly calls to come to completion there is needed a living witness of a joyful and bracing priestly life, a life of willing sacrifice, a life with the love of Christ at its heart.
We in the Companions have not, of course, been a perfect witness to such a priestly life. But to the degree that we have genuinely made way for Christ, we have seen young men respond. They respond not to us, but to Christ himself. Embracing the evangelical counsels and living a deep fraternal friendship have something important to do with this. Who would want to give the whole of their life to anything but a high ideal?
It is our conviction that there is no such thing as a crisis of vocations. Christ is always calling. If few are taking up the priestly call, we need to look elsewhere for the problem. It is usually to be found in a crisis of preaching the Gospel and living its truths in such a way that a vocation can be heard and nurtured. Preaching and living the Gospel is of course a task for the whole Church -- families, parishes, renewal movements, everyone.
But a special responsibility lies with priests, whose lives must bear the pattern of the life of Christ, so that Christ himself may be seen and followed by those he is calling into priesthood. In our own small way we are attempting, with God's help, to live such a priestly life together.
Q: Besides their commitments to their parishes and this fraternity, how else do the priests who are members of the Companions of Christ minister to the community?
Father Huard: We are diocesan priests and any part of the ministry of the diocese is a possible place of apostolic ministry for us. We count nothing out, but we have a special interest in certain aspects of diocesan life.
These include: evangelization, especially of the young, which includes encouraging vocations to the priesthood and religious life; helping to foster the growth of new movements within the Church; teaching and catechetical work; and serving the poor and those in need.
We want especially to take thought for the future. What are the specific demands of our time? How can we help prepare the next generation to take up the mantle of leadership that will fall to them? What can we do to penetrate the culture around us with the saving truths of Christ and lead those who do not yet know him to find the pearl of great price?
The Lord has done so much for us. We hope to give something back to him, and we trust that he will take our offering, small as it is, and make something worthy of his Kingdom.
ZE03122522
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Thanks for the article. This movement sounds promising.
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Another similar institute is the Companions of the Cross. www.companionscross.ca [ companionscross.ca] It is the fastest growing Roman institute in Canada. On their recruitment video, it shows them chanting a psalm in what sounds like Anglican chant. I was at a Mass one time with one of their priests as the Celebrant, and he chanted at least two of the prayers, and one part of another prayer, as I recall. This was a Novus Ordo Liturgy. I was very happy to experience this. This is off topic-- but it seems alot of the time these days in the Novus Ordo, the way it's done one could call it the Baptist Ordo. When the post Vatican II reforms took place, why didn't the reformers look East more (instead of to Free Church Protestantism), and do things like having incense in every Liturgy (not just on feast days) and chant most of the prayers, the way it should be done?
Pray for me.
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Actually, that kind of movement is not new. St. Augustine wanted his priests to live together too. It was the start of what are called "canons secular". They usually are in charge of the local cathedral.
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All,
There are many movemenets within Roman Catholicism such as the Companions of Christ dedicated to diocesan priests. Basically the point of these movements as explained by another group called the Institute of Jesus Priest (Part of the Pauline Order family) is as follows:
From the Institute of Jesus Priest
We are diocesan priests who, “through the profession of the Evangelical Counsels commit ourselves to an ever more perfect imitation of the Eternal Priest Jesus Christ” (Paul VI). Taking part in our Institutes are Bishops and priests of the secular clergy who experience the need of living the same spirituality of the Pauline Family, with which we share all spiritual riches. We seek to establish a synthesis between the ministry and the commitment to holiness and to live a profound brotherhood among us.
And on another note the Companions of the Cross are not a clerical assocation of the faithful like the Companions of Christ but an official Society of Apostolic Life. These include orders like the Columban Fathers, Daughters of Charity, Vincentiaans, and the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter.
In essence there are many different types of groupings for religious congregations. They include, but not limited to, clerical religious orders, religious brothers, religious woman, secular intitutes, societies of apostolic life, and associations.
Also, the Companions of the Cross are known for their strong ties to the Charismatic movement. They run the Catholic Charismatic Center in Texas.
I thank God for all of these organizations. Ranging from the traditional Fraternity of St. Peter to the modern Companions of the Cross.
They exemplify the universality of the Church Catholic.
God bless,
ProCatholico
Glory be to God
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All of the comments thus far are very valid and appreciated.
One of the reasons I posted the article was that it touched upon some points made in other threads over time on this very board.
One significant point that sticks out is the whole argument about clerical celibacy. Several posters in the past had argued that celibate priests would be better living together rather than isolated in rectories as they often are.
This line of thinking is complementary to the idea that priests should be allowed to marry, and not actually an argument against clerical marriage. It could be why Saint Augustine organized his priests into common living as Mike C. has pointed out.
As has been noted here in the past, the eastern church has addressed these issues. In the old world celibates usually would be in community under the bishop, similar to the arrangement we are seeing in these newer Latin communities. If the eastern church was more numerous in this country (U.S.A.) a common living and devotional arrangement could beneficial for those priests who would chose a celibate life. Unfortunately, our parishes are scattered, and even in the major metropolitan areas we are not very densely established.
Celibacy has it's place in the church, I am greatful for the very holy and dedicated priests who serve us and sacrifice so much.
I also think that it's time to blow the doors off of this celibate-only priesthood. We need to encourage our engaged and married men (as well as those who would commit to celibacy) to consider the holy calling. If our parishes are too small to support a priest with family we should think about consolidating.
Of course, this is only one of the issues suggested to me by the article, but I thought that I would bring it up.
In Christ,
Michael
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Glory be to God
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Christ is born!
Believe it or not, this is the way the Society of St. Pius X functions. Its statutes were approved by Rome in 1970, and what it really was intended to be was not a religious order, but a priestly confraternity. But what was really remarkable about it was the emphasis on the common life that guided Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre when he wrote the statues. Having been a missionary priest in Africa for almost forty years, he knew the weaknesses of priests who are alone, and how they try to withdraw into less than spiritual activities to cure their solitude (particularily drink). So when he established his order, after being Suoerior General of the Holy Spirit Fathers, he established priories in which two or three priests lived a common life. They get up at the same time and meet for common prayer three times a day. Thus, for most of the week, they live a semi-monastic life, which invigorates them for a weekend of busy apostolates. In fact, Archbishop Lefebvre was very firm on this point, and warned always against over-activism and stretching themselves out too far without spiritual nourishment. I lived in these priories as a seminarian on and off for three years, and it really did work. They were very much places of spiritual refuge.
Perhaps this is the solution for the so-called celibacy problem in the West.
Glorify Him,
Arturo
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Arturo,
I acknowledge the deep spiritual exercises practiced by the SSPX. It is a shame however that the SSPX is a schismatic entity. As much as they themlselves refute this, the Vatican warns Roman Catholics not to attend their masses.
The FSSP (Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter)fulfills the same functions as SSPX, only that the FSSP is canconically recognized and not viwed as schismatic.
In fact most FSSP memebers were former SSPX members.
ProCatholico
Glory be to God
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Arturo,
Just to set the record straight, the constitution for the SSPX was approved by the local bishop ad experimentum -- that is, as an experiment -- for five years. The constitution was never approved by Rome and has since expired. One of the discussion points for the SSPX to rejoin the Church was the "regularization" of their charter.
Edward, deacon and sinner
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You know if I wanted to live in community life,
I would have gotten married.Point stated.
Stephanos I
Unworthy Monk and Archsinner
You know there are single celibates who want to live alone in comtemplation and prayer.
If these men want to be regligious then let them join an order and not force monasticism on the rest. It just another case in the West of a similar nature of monastics enforcing celibacy on all.
Sorry for all the beef. And with the latest scare maybe we should all stay away from it.
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Originally posted by Stephanos I:
You know there are single celibates who want to live alone in comtemplation and prayer.
If these men want to be regligious then let them join an order and not force monasticism on the rest. Dear Stephanos, I think that all of the examples listed have been voluntary in association. The various groups do what they do because it works for them. The first example cited was for diocesan priests but that wasn't put across as having been forced upon them (as far as I can remember). Perhaps for some priests, living the life of an urban hermit is ideal, perhaps some people thrive on it, but I think many others suffer more than necessary under those conditions and look for alternatives. Michael
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Not long ago there was a very interesting project by some old rite priests in the American Diocese of Scranton to build a Catholic Medieval community, similar to the City of God of St. Augustine or Thomas Campanella's city, with. I read something about it and I thought it was very interesting.
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Mexican, If I am not mistaken, the "old rite priests" which you speak of are members of the Society of St. John. Below os a link to their community website: Society of St. John website [ ssjohn.org] God Bless, ProCatholico
Glory be to God
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Sorry Michael,
But I think I have the foresight to see where all of this will lead to and think it should be resisted if it is not an absolutely voluntary thing. Next it will become mandatory because of "finances". And then we will not have clergy distinct from monastics in community.
Mark my words.
Stephanos I
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