Resurrectionist Family

chicago and chapter

The Congregation of the Resurrection is a religious community of priests, permanent deacons and brothers serving in parishes and institutes in  fifteen countries of the world. The Congregation is organized into three administrative provinces (Ontario-Kentucky, United States of America, and Polish) and one region (South American), with the General Headquarters located in the city of Rome, Italy.

As consecrated religious we profess the vows of poverty, chastity and obedience. “By our vows of poverty, chastity and obedience, we dedicate and consecrate ourselves totally to the Risen Christ in the religious life. This dedication entails an act of faith whereby we respond to God’s call to give ourselves completely with all our talents, abilities, and powers to him, to the church, and to the Congregation” (Constitutions of the Congregation of the Resurrection, article 13).

Our religious community began in Paris, France, on February 17, 1836, under the leadership of Bogdan Janski. It developed from the social milieu of the Great Polish Exodus that followed the November Uprising in 1830, and was born from its spiritual needs. Janski became the leading lay apostle of the Polish émigrés in France. This enterprise was so successful and persevering that it led many to renew their own religious life and even to sacrifice themselves for God and others.

After the death of our founder on July 2, 1840 his disciples under the direction of Peter Semenenko and Jerome Kajsiewicz, the co-founders of the Congregation, continued to develop his ideas and to live in community. On Easter Sunday, March 27, 1842 along with five other clerics, they professed their first vows in the Catacombs of st. Sebastian in Rome. They were inspired to dedicate themselves to the Risen Saviour and call themselves the “Brothers of the Resurrection”.

JPII Jubileusz3“As members of the Congregation dedicated to the renewal of society by means of life marked by the Paschal Mystery, proclaim with great fervor the presence of the Saviour in the midst of the people today and of every age. The world needs your witness and apostolic zeal. I encourage you in your commitment and assure you of a remembrance in my prayers.”

Pope John Paul II, January 4 1987, Resurrectionist Motherhouse

 
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Bogdan Janski
Pope Benedict greets our new Superior General Father Bernard Hylla CR (Poland)
Pope Benedict XLVI visiting the Resurrectionist Shrine at Mentorella