RYKEN, FRANCIS XAVIER, BROTHER

Founder of the Brothers of St. Francis Xavier; b. Elshout, Holland, Aug. 30, 1797; d. Bruges, Belgium, Nov. 26, 1871. Theodore James Ryken, a shoemaker by trade, felt called to the religious life. Since he was unable to enter a monastery because of the restrictions of the Dutch government, he began to teach catechism to the children of his village. In 1823 he entered a quasi-religious community founded by the Catholic convert and editor Joachim Le Sage ten Broek, but in 1826 left to attend the victims of an epidemic in northern Holland. In 1827–28 he visited Rome where he tried unsuccessfully to win papal approbation for a brotherhood dedicated to education. He then became a Trappist lay brother at the Abbey of Oelenberg in Alsace.

The Revolution of 1830 caused the monks to disperse, and Ryken journeyed to the U.S. to become a missionary. In 1832 he assisted Rev. Stephen Badin among the Potawatomi of southern Michigan, where he determined to devote himself to the Native American apostolate. Ryken returned to Bruges; there, with the aid of a Belgian priest, he hoped to found a brotherhood to aid the American mission. When the Belgian priest deserted the undertaking, Ryken attempted to carry on alone. With the sanction of Bp. Francis Boussen of Bruges, he returned to the U.S. to explain his plan to the American bishops, especially Bp. Joseph Rosati of St. Louis, Missouri. Rosati induced him to abandon his work with native peoples and devote himself to the instruction of American youth. He returned to Bruges with the testimonials of seven bishops and several prominent churchmen, and was permitted to organize the Xaverian Brothers in June of 1839.

Despite opposition and privations, the new community slowly grew. In 1843 four of the group took the habit, and in 1846 ten pronounced vows. Three schools were opened in Bruges, and the first branch house was established in England in 1848. Only in 1854, however, could Ryken and six brothers open their first American school at the invitation of Bp. Martin J. Spalding of Louisville, Kentucky. Six years later, because of financial and personal problems within the community, the bishop of Bruges requested the founder to resign in favor of a younger man. Until his death 11 years later, Ryken remained a simple subject, serving for a time as novice master. In 1964 the congregation he founded had provinces in Belgium, England, and the U.S., with missions in Africa and South America.

See Also: xaverian brothers.

Bibliography: j. j. downey, March On! God Will Provide: The Life of Theodore James Ryken (Boston 1961).

[d. spalding]