Edmund Ignatius Rice

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Blessed Edmund Ignatius Rice

The Blessed Edmund Ignatius Rice ( Irish Éamann Iognáid Ris ; * 1. June 1762 in Callan , Ireland ; † 29. August 1844 in Waterford , Ireland ) was an Irish Roman Catholic missionary , educator , lay brother and founder of the lay brotherhood Christian Brothers . He began a successful career in business. After the death of his wife he devoted himself and his life to upbringing and serving poor people.

history

Edmund Rice was born as the fourth son of seven sons to the married couple Robert Rice and Margarete Rice (née Tierney). The first few years he grew up in the Callan countryside in County Kilkenny . He received his first education in the "Moate Lane School", a so-called hedge school. Later he also founded hedge schools for the poor Irish . Edmund Rice was born into the difficult time of the anti-Catholic " Penal Laws " in Ireland and was confronted with the oppression of Catholics at an early age. Patrick Grace, an Augustinian monk , provided home education for Edmund and his brothers. He graduated from a school in Kilkenny. After that, his uncle, a merchant, took him over as an apprentice in 1779. After successfully completing his apprenticeship, he was responsible for overseeing the loading and shipping of food for the British colonies in his uncle Michael Rice's shop .

After the death of his uncle, Edmund Rice took over the business in 1785, in the same year he married a young woman whose name is given as Mary Elliott. Not much is known about the period of marriage. In January 1789, his wife died during or shortly after the birth of their daughter. The details of the circumstances are not known; a previous riding or carriage accident may have played a role. Edmund Rice remained a widower and lived with his delicate, sickly, and disabled daughter. Since then he has devoted himself to prayer and charitable work, taking special care of the poor and the marginalized groups in Waterford.

His calling

In 1802 he built the first school in Waterford, he soon realized that he could not help the children, some of which were abused, to the full extent. So he decided to sell his business, from the sales price he paid the teachers and the children received free lessons. The school in Waterford soon found widespread recognition and due to increased demand, another makeshift school was built on New Street in Waterford. The turning point in Edmund Rice's life came with the arrival of Thomas Grosvenor and Patrick Finn, who expressed their desire to live in a religious community with Edmund Rice. On June 1, 1802, the expansion and rebuilding of the school in New Street began and on June 7, 1803 the school was blessed with the name "Mountain Sion". The attached residential wing was completed on May 1, 1804 and blessed by the Bishop of Waterford . All these structural and educational measures were illegal in the sense of the Irish authorities, which is why the builder and founder of these schools initially received no financial support. It was only under the pressure of influential friends and the Bishop of Waterford that recognition and school license were obtained.

Founding of the order

In 1808 the religious community consisted of seven employees who were under the patronage of the diocesan bishop , following the example of Nano Nagle , the founder of the " Presentation Sisters ", and initially called "Presentation Brothers". Thus in Ireland the first male lay fraternity, according to episcopal law , was brought into being. With exemplary training and youth welfare, the brotherhood was able to receive high recognition; other diocesan bishops also sent religious men to Waterford. This also resulted in different areas of responsibility and the expansion to all of Ireland. This expansion eventually required in 1820, the approval by Pope Pius VII. Thus, it was Edmund Ignatius Rice for the first Superior General elected the lay order. From then on, the lay brotherhood was called "Christian Brothers".

Retirement

At the age of seventy-six, Rice returned from Dublin to Waterford, in the residential building at Mount Sion School. He made his office available as superior general and on July 24, 1838, brother Michael Paul Riordan followed. His deteriorating health soon tied him to a wheelchair, his illness progressed and he believed he would no longer survive Christmas 1841. He was now permanently on the sickbed and was looked after by a nurse until his death on August 29, 1844.

beatification

In 1911 the first wishes for canonization arose . But it was not until 1957, through the intercession of Cardinal Giovanni Battista Montini, later Pope Paul VI. , initiated the beatification process in Dublin . In 1976 the archbishopric commission of Dublin recommended the beatification of Edmund Rice and sent the collected documents to Rome.

On April 2, 1993, Pope John Paul II declared Rice a venerable servant of God and recognized the events of 1976 as a miracle. This miracle was a healing of the sick: a seriously ill man who was dying is said to have been healed by the laying on of a relic by Edmund Rice. Edmund Ignatius Rice was beatified on October 6, 1996.

Honors

In honor of the founder of the order, but in a special way in memory of his charitable work, several schools and universities in Ireland and other countries were named after him. Public buildings were also given his name:

  • The bridge that crosses the River Suir in Waterford is called "Brother Edmund Ignatius Rice Bridge"
  • In Callan, his birthplace, a memorial was built in 1951 and one street is named "Edmund Ignatius Rice Street".
  • In Waterford, at the Berg Sion School, the Rice Chapel was built.

literature

  • Desmond Rushe: Edmund Ignatius Rice: Biography. Gill & Macmillan Publishing House, Dublin 1982, ISBN 9780717111619

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Nicolas Janberg: Brother Edmund Ignatius Rice Bridge. In: structurae.de. 2011, accessed August 29, 2019 . Peter Nennstiel : Waterford Ireland John Redmond Bridge River Suir. In: Contemporary witness of the post-war years. Archived from the original on February 5, 2011 ; accessed on August 29, 2019 .
personal data
SURNAME Rice, Edmund Ignatius
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Rís, Éamann Iognáid
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Irish Roman Catholic missionary, educator and lay brother, Blessed of the Roman Catholic Church
DATE OF BIRTH June 1, 1762
PLACE OF BIRTH Callan , Ireland
DATE OF DEATH August 29, 1844
Place of death Waterford , Ireland