A religious brother is a man called by God to intensify his baptismal consecration by special vows that imitate the chaste, poor, and obedient Christ. He is called to sacrifice worldly pursuits and live an intimate, exclusive relationship with the Lord. A Brother lives this total consecration through fraternal community and serves in a common mission. His radical self-offering reveals Jesus, our Brother, and prophetically manifests the kingdom of heaven.
A brother’s consecration primarily manifests God’s mysterious, gratuitous, and privileged summons, but it also manifests the brother’s personal, free response to this divine calling. God’s grace enables him to respond so that his consecration is humanly expressed by a profound and free self-surrender.