TheAlexians The Love of Christ Compels Us

Immaculate Conception Province of the Congregation Brothers focus investments of Alexian Brothers Mission Statement on ‘changing people’s lives’ Strengthened by community, prayer, commitment to the poor and the legacy of our hile the Alexian Brothers founders, and in partnership pursue their healing with others, we Alexian Brothers witness the Healing mission through Wministries in four states, the Christ by a holistic approach to promoting health and Philippines and Hungary, they also caring for the sick, dying, are helping the poor and vulnerable aged and unwanted of all socioeconomic levels. through their investment portfolio. Since 2012, Alexian Brothers Values Compassion Communities and Ministries, the Dignity of the Person nonprofit organization of the Im- Care of the Poor maculate Conception Province, Holism has worked with Ascension Invest- Partnership ment Management (AIM) to ensure that the Brothers’ invest- Provincial Brother Dan McCormick, C.F.A., (second from left), and Brother Steve Fogt, C.F.A., (right), comptroller of Alexian Brothers Communities and Ministries, discuss the ments follow Catholic Socially Alexian Brothers’ socially responsible investment philosophy with Joanne Kristoffersen, Responsible Investment guidelines. (left), secretary to the provincial, and Adeline Dzierozynski, business manager of Alexian AIM is a subsidiary of Brothers Communities and Ministries. Ascension, the nation’s largest nonprofit health which focuses on investments that support the system and the world’s largest Catholic health betterment of the human condition and provide system. Ascension is the parent organization a competitive return. The strategy seeks to foster of Alexian Brothers Health System (ABHS) and improvements in the following areas: clean water, coparent of AMITA Health, the joint operating food and nutrition, adequate and affordable company formed by ABHS and Adventist housing, education, health and health care, envi- Midwest Health in 2015. ronmental sustainability and financial services. For the last three years, the Alexian Brothers “The Brothers want to invest in a way that Fall 2018 have embraced AIM’s Impact Investment strategy, (continued on page 7) Fall2018

Superior general likes what he sees at Hungarian mission

rother Lawrence “Larry” Krueger, C.F.A., into private apartments for senior residents. superior general of the Congregation of Twelve existing rooms at the home will be Alexian Brothers, visited the Brothers’ converted into private apartments during the Bmission in Gyo˝rújbarát, Hungary, recently and next five years, giving the facility a total of 24 later delivered a glowing report about the private rooms – more than half of its projected mission’s progress. 47 total rooms. A new Brothers residence will “The Brothers there have done a fantastic be built at a nearby site owned by the Brothers. job,” said Brother Larry, who as superior general Increased nursing home regulation slowed conducts an assessment, or “visitation,” once the process of obtaining permits for the project, every three years at the mission. but the process started to accelerate late this past “They have dived in, done what summer, and the Brothers expect to begin the needed to be done and expanded project by year-end. “They’re on the right course the ministry.” with expanding the home because a real need Two Brothers staff the exists,” said Brother Larry, who visited the mission: Brother Alexius Siska, mission from Sept. 9 to Sept. 14. “There’s no C.F.A., and Brother Leó Vendrey, doubt in my mind that what they’re doing C.F.A. Brother Alexius oversees is valuable.” the mission as director of its While planning the home’s expansion, Alexian Brothers Community. He Brother Alexius and Brother Leó have been also ministers part-time to resi- extending the Brothers’ healing mission in other dents at the mission’s St. Elizabeth ways, Brother Larry said. Brother Leó, for exam- of Hungary Home for the Elderly, ple, conducts scripture studies for St. Elizabeth which provides assisted-living residents. Because of a shortage of priests, the and skilled nursing care for low- two Brothers distribute Holy Communion to income older adults. Brother Leó Catholic residents of local nursing homes. devotes most of his time to assist- Brother Alexius also has been contacting local ing the home’s residents and staff. parishes to encourage priests to celebrate Mass Superior General Brother Lawrence Brother Alexius and Brother Leó took on at the nursing homes. “Larry” Krueger, C.F.A., (left), joins the day-to-day tasks of sustaining and growing In addition, Brother Alexius and Brother Brother Leó Vendrey, C.F.A., for a photo during Brother Larry’s visit the mission following the death of its founder, Leó invite area residents to a weekly “holy hour” to the Alexian Brothers’ mission in Brother Joseph Francis Czébán, C.F.A., in May service in the chapel at St. Alexius Monastery. A Gyo˝rújbarát, Hungary. 2013. Under their leadership, the 15-year-old monstrance containing the Blessed Sacrament is mission has continued to grow. The home for placed on the altar during the service, which also the elderly, which has become known for deliv- includes scripture readings, prayers and hymns. ering high-quality, holistic care, operates at The service concludes with Holy Communion. capacity and maintains a waiting list. Brother Larry’s visitation followed a visit to Brother Alexius and Brother Leó have the mission from Sept. 6 to Sept. 9 by a group of collaborated with Henriett Ziegler, the home’s Brothers from St. Alexius Province in Germany. administrator, to develop a plan for expanding The Hungarian Brothers accompanied the the facility to meet growing demand for private German Brothers and Brother Larry on visits to rooms. The plan calls for connecting the home various religious and historic sites in Hungary. to the Brothers’ St. Alexius Monastery next-door “It’s always a great pleasure to meet the Brothers 2 and converting the monastery’s 12 bedrooms in person,” Brother Alexius said. TheAlexians

Provincial’s Letter

Dear Alexian Friends: Home for the Elderly, Brother Alexius and As the Alexian Brothers have shifted away from Brother Leó are pursuing a plan to expand the our longtime administrative and nursing roles facility by moving out of their monastery and at healthcare facilities in recent years, we have converting it into additional space for the home focused our energies on identifying and pursu- for the elderly. They also are extending the ing new opportunities to perpetuate our 800- Brothers’ healing mission in other ways, such year-old mission of serving the sick, the poor, as offering scripture readings for St. Elizabeth the elderly and the mentally ill. residents and conducting a weekly “holy hour” Most of these opportunities require us to service for area residents. have some type of physical presence, which we In Chicago’s northwest suburbs, Brother can provide only to a certain point because the Torch Acosta, C.F.A., continues to expand our deaths of older Brothers and an overall decline “presence ministry,” which provides comfort, in religious vocations have reduced our numbers support and spiritual guidance to people at our during the last 30 to 40 years. namesake health-care facilities. (See article on But the Brothers have found a way to page 4.) One of his top priorities has been help- increase our impact exponentially without ing clients of the Alexian Brothers Center for having boots on the ground: Managing our Mental Health find jobs. He takes pictures of investment portfolio to support the betterment “Help Wanted” or “Now Hiring” signs and of the human condition. (See article on page 1.) funnels them to the center’s vocational depart- We are very pleased with the results of this ment. As a result, clients are finding jobs after effort, which so far has: receiving treatment at the center and recovering • fueled the expansion of a Kenyan phar- enough to return to the workforce. Did you know? macy chain dedicated to improving wellness In the Philippines, our Brothers continue to Editor’s Note: “Did you know?” provides and quality of life among East Africans; assist or operate several ministries for the disad- brief glimpses into the rich, 800-year histo- ry of the Congregation of Alexian Brothers. • provided financial services to people in vantaged and sick. This year, the Brothers have Asia and Latin America who have little or no taken on the additional responsibility of guiding Remember the movie “Dead Men Walking” about the death-row min- access to such services; four American novices through the first-year of istry of Sister Helen Prejean? • and supported an innovative power and their two-year Novitiate program, helping them Actress Susan Sarandon won the cooling solution that is providing more-reliable develop their prayer life while exposing them to Academy Award for Best Actress for electrical power at a significantly lower cost for ministries that harken back to the healing work her portrayal of Sister Helen in the 1995 movie, which tells the story of people in Sub-Saharan Africa, and is reducing of the earliest Alexian Brothers in the Middle how Sister Helen provided spiritual greenhouse gas emissions. Ages. (See article on page 6.) advice and comfort to an inmate While our investments are helping the Together, these efforts and others, such as during the time leading up to his underprivileged and making the world a better our ministry serving vulnerable homebound execution. Sister Helen’s ministry was remi- place, the Brothers continue to do the same seniors in Chattanooga, Tennessee, are extending niscent of one of the most dramatic through our individual and collective efforts the Brothers’ healing mission in multiple direc- ministerial expressions of the Alexian here in the U.S. and at our missions in Hungary tions, renewing our tradition of caring for those Brothers’ 800-year history: the Brothers’ presence on the execution- and the Philippines. most in need. er’s scaffold during the 16th century. In Hungary, Brother Alexius Siska, C.F.A., May God Bless You and Yours, When a criminal was sentenced to and Brother Leó Vendrey, C.F.A., continue to death, a Brother would stay with him expand our mission there. (See article on page in jail the night before the execution Brother Daniel McCormick, C.F.A. and would accompany him to the 2.) While ministering to low-income older Provincial scaffold the next day. adults at the mission’s St. Elizabeth of Hungary Immaculate Conception Province of the Alexian Brothers Fall2018

‘Presence ministry’ supports people trying to change their lives

hen Brother Torch Acosta, C.F.A., He visits the center for mental health on drives his car in Chicago’s northwest Wednesday afternoons, greeting and talking suburbs, he always watches for “Help with clients in the facility’s lobby and interact- Wanted” or “Now Hiring” signs. If he sees one, ing with staff. he pulls over and takes a picture of it. “If clients are waiting to see their therapist, Brother Torch has developed this routine I introduce myself and offer support, encourage- not because he’s looking for a new job, but ment and prayers,” said Brother Torch, who because he’s trying to help others become divides his time among several facilities and resi- employed. dences each week. On Wednesday mornings, he

Brother Torch Acosta, C.F.A., (front, He emails the pictures to Ravi Kalani, voca- visits residents in the center’s Transitional Living sitting), joins associates of the tional team leader at the Alexian Brothers Center Program and Community Integrated Living Alexian Brothers Center for Mental Health for a group photo during the for Mental Health in Arlington Heights, Illinois. Arrangement program. center’s annual employee appreciation The team prints the pictures and displays them Many of the center’s clients have had diffi- picnic. Brother Torch, who provides in the center’s vocational room, where clients culty finding and maintaining employment a Brother’s presence at the center in seeking employment can look at them. because of mental illness, but through treatment Arlington Heights, Illinois, has played a key role in helping its clients find Brother Torch has provided hundreds of at the center, they find ways to cope with their employment. job leads during the last year, Kalani said. “It has illness and prepare themselves to return to the been wonderful,” he said. “People have definitely workforce, Kalani said. His team provides a vari- found employment with these leads he has sent.” ety of services to job-seeking clients, such as Brother Torch’s efforts are part of the assistance with creating resumes, searching Alexian Brothers’ “presence ministry” at several Internet job sites, and following up on job leads. of their namesake health-care facilities in the “So many people post ‘Help Wanted’ signs northwest suburbs. Brother Torch leads the that we don’t have access to, and having Brother ministry, through which the Brothers provide Torch going out, finding them and sending them comfort, support and spiritual guidance to to us has really helped us know what’s going on 4 clients, patients, residents and family members. in the community, including what types of TheAlexians

places are hiring and when they are hiring,” Kalani said. Brother Torch also provides encouragement to job seekers. “Looking for jobs is hard, and when you get rejected, you can be down,” Kalani said. “When they see how hard he’s out there working and finding all of these job leads, and then he comes in and is very encouraging to them, they get more motivated and feel better.” Brother Torch has been visiting the center for more than a year, and his presence “has been incredible” for clients and staff, said Paula Speer, revenue cycle manager at the center and chair- person of its spirit committee. The committee focuses on keeping staff morale at a high level and keeping associates strongly connected to the center’s mission and clients, as well as the community. “Having a Brother’s presence here really does tie us back to the Brothers’ 800-year-old healing mission,” Speer said. “It makes it more tangible. When clients see a Brother in the lobby, they gravitate toward him. It makes the kind of work we do here more impactful.” Brother Torch attended the center’s annual Brother Torch Acosta, C.F.A., (center), participates in a group exercise class for seniors at the AMITA Health St. Alexius Outpatient Center in Schaumburg, Illinois. Brother Torch visited the class initially to support and employee appreciation picnic Sept. 12, interact- encourage class participants, and at their suggestion, soon started exercising with them. ing with associates and participating in activities with them. The event “is a way to enhance our David Dinello, as well as class participants. “The sense of unity and make everyone feel connected group enjoys Brother Torch’s participation and to each other, to the center and to the Alexian faith,” Dinello said. Brothers’ mission,” Speer said. “Brother Torch Brother Torch began visiting the class was an awesome addition. It made it like: ‘We’re initially to encourage patients and is grateful to all in this together.’ ’’ them for encouraging him to exercise with them. Last spring, Brother Torch expanded his “I hope that many others may join and meet presence ministry to include the AMITA Health wonderful people who want to stay healthy and St. Alexius Outpatient Center in Schaumburg, have a positive quality of life,” he said. Illinois, where he participates a few times each Brother Torch said he models his presence month in a group exercise class for seniors. The ministry after the healing ministry of Jesus “Seniors in Motion” class meets on Mondays and Christ. “If people didn’t go to Jesus for healing, Wednesdays and is open to the public. It helps He took the initiative to go to them,” he said. seniors stay fit and offers opportunities to form “I am struck by Jesus’ fearlessness to meet the new friendships, according to center staff needy where they were at. I admire how He members Stefania Missanelli, Mary Coon and went to the people.” 5 Fall2018

Assignment of novices to Philippines mirrors change in Brothers’ identity

eflecting a renewed focus on ministries tiate classes focused on liturgy, spirituality and serving the vulnerable and marginalized, understanding cultural differences. A retreat at the Immaculate Conception Province for a Benedictine monastery also had a profound Rthe first time has assigned a group of U.S.-based spiritual impact on the novices, Brother Dan novices to spend the first year of the two-year said. “The consistent message I have received novitiate program at the Brothers’ mission in from them is: ‘I have encountered God in a the Philippines. deeper way,’ ” he said. Novice Brothers Zeke Mapa, Joe Pense, The decision to send the novices to the Robert Podjarsky and Marc Rizzo joined the Philippines stemmed from “a sea change” in the Alexian Brothers Community in the Bajada Brothers’ identity since Alexian Brothers Health section of System (ABHS) became part of Ascension in Davao City 2012, Brother Dan said. The Brothers at that during the time already had withdrawn almost completely summer to from daily roles at ABHS facilities because of begin their their declining numbers and significant struc- novitiate train- tural changes in U.S. health care, and the ing under the Ascension agreement freed the Brothers from guidance their remaining ABHS oversight responsibilities. of Brother “We have recognized that we are not going Raphael to be founding and running hospitals anymore,” Fallado, C.F.A., Brother Dan said. “Instead of drawing people to director of God at a place like a Catholic hospital, we have Novice Brothers Zeke Mapa, (front novices and director of the Bajada community. to take God to the people, especially those who row, left), Robert Podjarsky, (front The novices since have been immersed in are vulnerable and marginalized.” row, third from left), Joe Pense, (back row, fifth from left), and Marc ministries that recall the work of the earliest New Alexian Brothers ministries, such as Rizzo, (back row, sixth from left), Alexian Brothers, who cared for the poor and one serving vulnerable, homebound seniors in along with Brother Raphael Fallado, sick during the Middle Ages. The novices have Chattanooga, Tennessee, reflect this spirit. C.F.A., director of novices (front row, ministered to the needy at the Talikala shelter for “In sending the novices to the Philippines, right), pose for a photo with mem- bers of an indigenous tribe in the prostituted women and children and at a home we hope to provide a new opportunity for Philippines. The novices lived with for sick and malnourished children and a home exploring what it means to be a missionary, to the tribe for two weeks in the moun- for the dying, both operated by the Sisters of St. be a Brother, to confront abject poverty, and to tains northwest of Davao City. Teresa of Calcutta. The novices also spent two provide hands-on care at the bedside,” Brother weeks living with an indigenous tribe in a Dan said. “We want them to understand the real- remote village in the Bukidnon mountains ity that for many in the world, life is about find- northwest of Davao City. ing their next meal. We want them to confront All four men have been moved deeply by their own humanity, embrace the reality of who the experiences, which have strengthened their they truly are, and accept their own powerless- faith and have given them a better understand- ness in the face of poverty and death. We want ing of poverty, said Provincial Brother Dan them to open themselves to being vulnerable McCormick, C.F.A. They also have been influ- and to learn to be accessible for others, so they enced by living in community with the Filipino can live without fear, be present for those in Brothers, experiencing their inspirational need, and wa