Early Men of Holy Cross

Every history of the Congregation of Holy Cross must begin with the French Revolution’s devastating effects on the country’s education system. From 1820 to 1835 the need for teachers brought to the little town of Ruillé-sur-Loir hundreds of young men eager to become Christian educators there under the care of the pastor Jacques Dujarié. After a rudimentary training period, they went out singly or in pairs to run parochial schools in French villages. Although their work as “Brothers of St. Joseph” extended over fifteen years, we have given short attention to these hundreds of generous religious because Holy Cross historians are anxious to get to 1835 when the group moved lock, stock, and barrel to the city of Le Mans. There they trained under the new direction of a vibrant, intelligent, energetic leader, Basile Anthony Moreau, who has received the lion’s share of Holy Cross research and acclamation. But such a leader could not succeed without religious lieutenants and foot soldiers. It is these latter men whom I focus on for this book. Memorialized in these pages are seven teachers, one businessman, one carpenter, one commissioner, and one priest.