EDMUND IGNATIUS RICE (1762 -1844)  Edmund Ignatius Rice, the founder of the Brothers Callen Co. Kilkenny for the Christian schools of Ireland, was born in 1762 in Co. Waterford, Ireland. His vision, strength and love of all God’s children destined the Christian Brothers to teach and inspire young people all over the world to become Christian gentlemen and women. From humble beginnings in a rented stable teaching a handful of boys, Edmund’s brothers have gone on to establish over 550 schools and colleges world wide and have influenced millions with his charisma. Edmund was blessed in his early life, not so much because he was born into a relatively wealthy family, but because of the piety of his mother, Margaret. With seven sons, two daughters and a farm house to run she taught them their prayers, regularly accompanied them to Mass and ensured they observed all the rites of their faith. During those impressionable years she planted in Edmund the seeds of virtue and a deep and genuine love for God and His will. This regular and deep devotion to our Lord was to become the cornerstone of Edmund’s schooling ethos. Pope Pius X writing to the Superior General of the Christian Brothers over a hundred years later attested to this fact; “be assured that your merit is very great since you promote the eternal salvation of all those you ennoble by your teaching in religion and secular training.” The 1770’s in Ireland were difficult times for teenage Catholic boys. Severe restrictive laws against Catholics kept many in poverty and without hope. These boys are better off without education” was the general attitude of the day. But not for Edmund. He spent his youth teaching those whose parents could not afford to send them to school while his mother often fed them. After he finished his schooling, Edmund was sent from the town of Kilkenny to the city of Waterford to learn a trade. It was here that the young man learnt the ways of the world and the characters of men. He became a successful businessman guided by two principles; honesty and hard work, and it was only natural for him to return God’s providence by distributing alms to the city’s poor. When he turned 23, he married a local girl, Mary Elliot, and looked set for a perfect life. Alas! It was not to be, as a double tragedy struck. Mary fell from a horse while heavily pregnant. She died giving birth and the poor child, whom Edmund called May, was mentally disabled. Edmund was devastated; his whole life was turned upside down, but he never cried, “Why me?” nor abandoned his faith. In fact his faith became ever stronger and realising that nothing on earth is permanent, or can be taken for granted, he gave himself completely to the Will of God. In his late 30’s, although he was convinced that his future lay with the Church, he was not sure to which vocation God was calling him. In 1801 his younger brother, John Rice, was ordained an Augustinian Friar and Edmund’s wish to enter a closer union with God intensified. John never encouraged his brother. He felt Edmund’s life as a sincere pious Christian involved so many charitable acts that it was an edifying example to all lay people. Perhaps Edmund would have become an Augustinian (like his brother) had not the madness that was the aftermath of the French Revolution occurred. It was still illegal in Ireland to train for the priesthood and France was the usual place of study, but with Napoleon enforcing his will on an exiled pope, times were very hazardous. Yet Edmund, always a man of action, resolved to make a pilgrimage to Rome, to visit the tombs of the martyrs and then embrace a life of solitude. Yet again, Divine providence intervened when his stepsister chided him about his plans. “He would,” she said, “be much better off staying at home and using his wealth to educate poor boys who really need him!” Like a bolt from heaven Edmund had found his meaning, his existence. Not only did he decide to devote his own life to the upliftment of poor boys, but he also wanted to establish a religious congregation himself to achieve his purpose. Edmund at 40 years of age, with a few pious laymen, wanted to adapt the rules and constitutions of the Presentation Sisters, an order that had been founded by the great Nano Nagle specifically to teach poor Catholic girls. In 1808 he, with seven companions, made annual vows according to the rules and constitutions of the Presentation Order as recognised by the Holy See. The date was also significant. It was the 15th August, the Feast of the Assumption of our Blessed Lady, a date that would forever link the Christian Brothers to Mary our Blessed Mother. Edmund was to adopt Ignatius as his religious name and that was definitely for a reason. The founder of the Jesuits, Ignatius Loyola, had been the champion of the Church and education in the 16th century. Rice was to become the champion of the poor, the uneducated in the 19th century. A measure of the success of the Brothers in these early days was the comments of those who attended pay schools, who said that a higher standard of instruction was on offer at Mr. Rice’s poor schools. The demand for these monks, who emphasised good conduct and permeated secular instruction with religious education, grew throughout Ireland. As Edmund himself said in 1810, “I trust in the mercy of God that it (the Congregation) will spread before long into most parts of the Kingdom”. He meant, of course, Ireland, but God had ordained that the ‘Kingdom’ would be the Kingdom of God on earth from the drylands of Australia to the icy depths of Canada, from the bustle of the city of Rome to the remoteness of Papua, New Guniea. In recognition of Edmund’s work, Pope Pius VII gave approval for the rules and constitutions of the Congregation of Christian Brothers in 1826 and Edmund was elected as the first Superior General. The three main vows taken by the Brothers were Poverty, Chastity and Obedience. Poverty enabled the Brothers to act out of selflessness and care for others. Chastity meant that the Brothers would never marry and so devote their entire lives to God’s work. Obedience meant that the Brothers would always know humility and Divine will. Edmund was now 64 and the sacrifices he made were beginning to take their toll. Petty jealousies, government opposition and a constant lack of finances would have forced a lesser man to retire. But undaunted, Edmund marched forward, secure in the knowledge that he and his Brothers were God’s instruments on earth. Before Edmund retired as Superior General in 1838, he must have been well pleased with his work. He had founded 20 schools and colleges in Ireland, England and Gibraltar and letters from Irish priests in places like Baltimore and Newfoundland were always arriving. The call from Africa would only come in the 1880’s but when it did Edmund Rice’s Brothers answered the call bravely. Edmund died on the 29th August 1844, but we as the Christian Brothers’ Colleges in Southern Africa do not see this as a sad day, rather as a joyous occasion - the day our founder finally entered the Kingdom of Heaven. For surely he is there, looking down and protecting us all. We pray that in the near future Blessed Edmund will become Saint Edmund Ignatius Rice.