Articles
From the earliest days of the Edmund's foundation, the Christian Brothers have been involved in what we would call today "Welfare". Edmund built a bakery so that the lads coming to Mount Sion would begin the day comfortably fed. Edmund also employed a tailor so that all students were dressed both warmly and appropriately as they mingled with their peers and studied in the school. But the Brothers also were reaching out to families and people in need and the stories of the early Brothers abound with memories of the help and support Edmund and his earliest followers offered to those in need, including visiting the prisons and the indigent poor known at the time as roomkeepers.Today the Brothers, and those working with them, continue the welfare arm of the Congregation in a variety of activities that reach out to those on the margins, those in special need, or those who are seeking even temporarily some support in circumstances that may have overtaken them. For many years Brothers conducted Orphanages or Boys' Homes or Industrial Schools. Currently the Brothers support the activities of newer works such as the MacKillop Family Services - an amalgamation of the works for children of the Sisters of Mercy, the Sisters of St Joseph and the Christian Brothers. Programmes such as St Augustine's Education Centre in Geelong, and the Flexible Learning Centres in Queensland cater for educationally and socially disadvantaged youth.
At the same time, Brothers continue to spend time with people in nursing homes, visit the prisons, and engage in hospital and aged care ministry.
The work started by Edmund and his early Brothers continues today, and strives to meet the changing needs of society and our times.
