R.C. Congregation of St. John the Baptist

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Vincent LEBBE, Saint Paul of modern China.

“ Our brothers of the old world should be taught  that China is the country of the future, of the illimited possibilities. That if, as it might be, it resists to the actual crisis and survives to it, it is called to play an important and unexpected part in the world ; and that the fate of the Holy Church on earth, to consider things humanly, is closely bound to the question of its evangelisation  which must not be delayed  any longer. ”  
  Father Vincent Lebbe was a pioneer. He marshaled every resource of his own strong spirit and keen intelligence to blaze new trails in an old land.

Like all innovators, Father Lebbe was seized by a vision. He saw, rising out of the ashes of the Boxer Rebellion, a new China, transformed and reinvigorated with the Spirit of God.

But Father Lebbe was convinced this could only happen if the Chinese themselves brought about the change.

When he arrived in China in 1901, Father Lebbe found that European missionaries controlled the Church so closely that Chinese priests and religious had little opportunity to take the leadership of their Church and direct its growth.

In season and out he preached to his fellow Europeans and to the Chinese as well, "The Church must be truly Chinese, or it will never take root and flourish." He carried the message throughout China and to Europe, and eventually to the Holy See itself.

He was listened to because he lived what he preached. Although a European, he adopted the Chinese language, culture and clothing. Eventually he became a citizen of his beloved adopted land.

Not all received Father Lebbe or his message kindly. In China he suffered much at the hands of Church authorities and fellow missionaries. He knew the pain of isolation and ostracism, misunderstanding and exile.

But Father Vincent Lebbe bore it all bravely. He was, after all, a man driven by the charity of Christ.

Lei Ming Yuan - Thunder in the Distance

 
Father Vincent Lebbe, a Vincentian missionary from Belgium, came to China in 1901. Shortly after his arrival, he began to persuade the Holy See of the importance of promoting native bishops so that the Catholic faith would be rooted in China. As a result, Father Lebbe was exiled from China. However, in 1926, the Holy Father Pope Pius XI consecrated the first group of six Chinese bishops in Rome through the urging of Father Vincent Lebbe.
Right after this important movement, Father Lebbe returned to China from his exile. One of the newly consecrated Chinese bishops invited him back to his beloved missionary land - China. He worked with great zest and joy in rural Hopeh, Anguo diocese.
In 1928, he founded the two religious orders: one for men called the Little Brothers of St. John the Baptist; the other for women - the Little Sisters of St. Therese of the Child Jesus. He drew up a way of life that was strict and austere. He led the way by the example of his own life of prayer and penance. On Christmas 1933, he decided to leave the Vincentians and became the head of the Little Brothers.
Almost immediately, his order spread to Beijing, Shanxi and Shaanxi Provinces. In 1933 the Diocese of Anguo had an increase of more than 3,000 newly baptized Catholics. This was mainly due to the efforts of Father Lebbe and his Little Brothers.
During the war against the Japanese in 1933, Father Lebbe led twenty brothers and more than 300 faithful to help rescue the wounded. He established a hospice in Beijing for all the recovering soldiers to receive the care they needed.
From 1937 to 1945, during eight years of war against the Japanese, the Congregation had rescued more than 20,000 wounded soldiers. The heroic effort claimed the lives of Father Lebbe, 18 Brothers and 2 Sisters. Father Lebbe died on June 24, 1940. His heroic effort changed the Chinese people's misconception that Catholicism was a foreign religion.
In 1949, the Communists took over China, some Brothers escaped to Hong Kong to continue their missionary and educational work for refugees from Mainland China. At the same time, they established a grade and middle school named after Father Lebbe using his Chinese name, Ming Yuan.
In 1954, a group of Brothers moved from Hong Kong to Taiwan and established a parish in Taipei. Later on, a religious house was established in Taichung to continue recruiting new members for the Congregation. In 1983, the Congregation took over Viator High School in Taichung from the Viatorians. The school enrollment increased immediately from 2,000 to 3,600 co-ed students.
Also, from 1963 to 1975, the Congregation operated Ming Yuan and St. John High Schools in Saigon, Vietnam with 6,000 students. In 1975, the Communists came in power in South Vietnam, four Brothers of the Congregation fled from Vietnam to the United States. In 1977, they came to Brooklyn Diocese and started their new endeavors to carry out the Chinese mission that continues to the present.

Fr. Vincent Lebbe (1877-1940)

  • From Father Lebbe's early days, he had always dreamed of a combination of the most radical contemplative life and the most intensive form of missionary life. Eventually, he set up this way of life for the Congregation's members to live by. The Little Brothers are missionaries as well as monks.

    They are Brothers of St. John the Baptist because they are to level the way for Our Lord as John the Baptist had.

    The Congregation strives to live a life of the Beatitudes, which is taken from the Sermon on the Mount. As a result, each Congregation House is called "The House of the Beatitudes".

    The Congregation's main doctrine of spirituality is to follow Father Lebbe's three principles of total sacrifice, true love and constant joy.

    Members of the Congregation should live as real monks with a life of prayer, silence, poverty and renunciation. The Superior is the "Father Servant". Members call each other "brother", even to the ordained priests, so as to show that each person is truly a family member.

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    Apostle to the Chinese

    "I believe that we owe it to the Christians here, and even to the non-Christians, to be to them what the Church is wherever it exists - the last refuge of what is right and proper, where justice need never fear to make its voice heard."

    Vincent Lebbe

    The Congregation of St. John the Baptist (CSJB) is a community of men who live a cloistered life and do apostolic work. All members, whether with or without Orders, participate in the daily liturgy and serve in pastoral, educational, or cultural ministries.

    While Jesus and His family were living in Narazeth, John the Baptist began preaching out in the Judean wilderness. His constant theme was, "Turn from your sins... turn to God... for the Kingdom of Heaven is coming soon."

    Isaiah the prophet had told about John's ministry centuries before! He had written, "I hear a shout from the wilderness, 'Prepare a road for the Lord - straighten out the path where He will walk.' " John's clothing was woven from camel's hair and he wore a leather belt; his food was locusts and wild honey.

    (Matthew 3: 1-4)
    Total Sacrifice - True Love - Constant Joy