OUR LADY MOTHER OF MERCY, BROTHERS OF

Popularly known as the Brothers of Tilburg, Congregatio Fratrum Beatae Mariae Virginis, Matris Misericordiae (CFMM, Official Catholic Directory #0980), founded in 1844 by Joannes Zwijsen (1794–1877), then a parish priest in Tilburg, and from 1854 archbishop of Utrecht. Its principal purpose is teaching. Members included priests and brothers until 1916. Since then all members have been brothers, because of the limited scope for priestly activities and the extension of educational work. In its modified form the institute received papal approval in 1927. By 1864 the congregation had many primary schools in the Netherlands and some boarding schools, notably St. Henricus Institute for blind boys at Grave. A school for deaf mute boys was opened in Maaseik, Belgium, in 1851. In the 1880s the brothers erected schools in the West Indies. After World War I they started schools in Indonesia. The most important recent foundation in Belgium is a school for deaf mute boys in Hasselt. Since 1939 houses have been established in Africa and South America. In 1963, the brothers established their first house in the U.S., in Oxnard, Calif. The generalate is in Tilburg, The Netherlands.

Bibliography: t. horsten, De Fraters van Tilburg, 1844–1944, 3 v. (Tilburg 1946–52). In de voortuin der Congregatie der Fraters van O. L. Vrouw Moeder van Barmhartigheid (Tilburg 1950). Ontmoetingen, 17 v. (1957–64).

[p. n. broeders/eds.]