Learning the Rule

Abstract

Lines like those quoted above, read aloud at the beginning of each term in many Catholic schools around the world during the period under consideration, convey the extent to which boys were expected to show respect and obedience to the teaching religious. Furthermore, boys who went on to join a religious order found that, far from being relaxed, this expectation intensified. The consequence was that one of the most distinguishing characteristics of the life of a teaching brother, as with all fellow religious, was that it was conducted within a very authoritarian framework. Those who chose the life, however, were not expected to fit in immediately. Rather, they went through a number of stages of what was popularly known as “religious formation.” For many who joined the orders, this commenced while in attendance at a juniorate. Others who did not attend a juniorate experienced a lesser, yet still influential, form of preparation at the same age because of the nature of the organization of, and the pedagogical approaches adopted in, “regular” Catholic schools, particularly if they happened to be boarders. Both groups then came together to proceed through an intensified regime of “formation” as “postulants” and “novices,” before becoming fully-fledged members of a religious order. In most cases, the brothers were also prepared as teachers during this initial religious formation phase, although there were situations where this did not happen until later.