Models of Faith
Our founder Blessed Basil Moreau envisioned a community that would live like a family, and he entrusted each society of the Congregation to an individual patron within the Holy Family. The priests of Holy Cross are consecrated to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. The brothers of Holy Cross, drawing upon their beginnings with Fr. Jacques Dujarié as the Brothers of St. Joseph, are dedicated to St. Joseph. The Congregation of Holy Cross was placed under the patronage of Our Lady of Sorrows.
The Sacred Heart of Jesus
As Holy Cross Priests, we ground our model of priestly charity in the Sacred Heart of Jesus — that heart pierced by the soldier's lance in the final proof that Jesus offered all, every last bit of His life, for us. In imitation of Him, we also seek to offer all in ministering the Sacraments and preaching the Good News.
Our Lady of Sorrows
Mary, Our Lady of Sorrows, is both the patron of Holy Cross Sisters and the special patron of the whole family of Holy Cross. In selecting Mary under this title as our principal patron, Blessed Basil Moreau gave us a patron who, better than anyone else, could instruct us in our spirituality and mission to proclaim the Cross of Christ as our only hope.
Photo: Nheyob / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
Saint Joseph
Saint Joseph embodies the virtues for which all Christians, but especially we religious, strive: integrity, fortitude, fidelity and sanctity. We seek to live our vocations as Holy Cross Brothers with the same loyalty, faithfulness and generosity that Joseph showed as the husband of Mary and the foster-father of Jesus.
Photo: Nheyob / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0Models of Faith
The spiritual landscape of Holy Cross is illuminated by extraordinary men and women who lived out our charism with radical faith, love and zeal. They are our models, our intercessors, and our companions in mission.
Founded the Congregation of Holy Cross by uniting local auxiliary priests with the Brothers of Saint Joseph, later adding a branch of sisters to form a holy family in imitation of Jesus, Mary and Joseph. A man of immense apostolic zeal and deep prayer, he withstood poverty, political instability and internal betrayal with unwavering trust in Divine Providence. He was beatified in 2007.
The first member of the Congregation of Holy Cross to be canonized a saint. Chronically ill and with little formal education, he was assigned the humble task of doorkeeper at Notre Dame College in Montreal. His profound devotion to Saint Joseph brought thousands of broken, sick and suffering people to his doorstep, resulting in countless healings through his intercession.
Born Élodie Paradis, she entered the Marianites of Holy Cross, the sisters' branch founded by Fr. Moreau, and founded the Little Sisters of the Holy Family, offering joyful, practical, hidden service in Holy Cross colleges, seminaries and communities. She was canonized by Pope Francis in October 2024.
A tireless missionary of the family. After being healed of severe tuberculosis through the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary, he dedicated his life to promoting family prayer, using radio and massive global "Rosary Crusades" to gather millions in prayer — famously coining "The family that prays together stays together." He was declared Venerable by Pope Francis in 2017.
Arquivo Público do Estado de São Paulo, 1964 (public domain)
Born July 27, 1907, in St.-Louis-de-Richelieu, Quebec, he entered the Congregation at 16 and arrived in Chittagong, East Bengal, on December 1, 1932. After his first assignment at the new high school in Padrishibpur, he dedicated the rest of his life — apart from a posting to Noakhali from 1957 to 1962 — to ministering in Diang among the fishermen of the region. He was declared a Servant of God on February 13, 2009, by Most Rev. Patrick D'Rozario, Bishop of Chittagong.
The first Bengali bishop in the Catholic Church, he joined the Congregation of Holy Cross in 1955 and was ordained a bishop in 1960. In 1967 he became the first Bengali Archbishop, overseeing the implementation of the Second Vatican Council in Dhaka, Bangladesh. As archbishop, Ganguly shepherded his flock through environmental catastrophes and supported the cause for independence during the Bangladesh Liberation War. He was declared a Servant of God in 2006.
A cobbler at the University of Notre Dame for 38 years, Br. Columba was known for curing those with illness or ailment, taking no credit for the cures but attributing them to his "intercession to the Sacred Heart of Jesus through the Immaculate Heart of Mary." His Superior wrote of his "humility, love of neighbor, confidence in God, lively faith, devotion to the Sacred Heart, life of prayer, of poverty," in which was found the secret of his sanctity.
A missionary priest to Bangladesh, seminary instructor, and pioneer of Holy Cross missionary work in Africa. As the founding bishop of the Diocese of Fort Portal, Uganda, he became an influential leader in the development of the Church in East Africa.
One of the first four priests who, together with Blessed Basil Moreau, professed perpetual vows in Holy Cross on August 15, 1840. Sent to the United States the following year with six Holy Cross brothers, he went on to found the University of Notre Dame and oversee the rapid expansion of the Holy Cross mission in the United States.
Throughout his life, Fr. Hesburgh maintained that all he had ever wanted to be was a Catholic priest, and that everything he did was in fulfillment of that vocation. He engaged in extensive outreach to the poor and fought for civil rights — in one notable instance, standing right by Martin Luther King Jr.'s side.
U.S. Institute of Peace / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0
A leading figure in the Church in Latin America and a pastor at the heart of the Second Vatican Council. Born in Panama, he received his secondary education in the United States, graduating from the University of Notre Dame in 1945, and was ordained to the priesthood on June 11, 1949.
Archivo Rafael Caldera / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0A Prayer for Their Intercession
Lord Jesus Christ, You called our Holy Cross saints, blesseds and servants of God to show Your love as educators, protectors of families, and friends to the poor. Grant us the grace to live with their same zeal, that we may be true signs of hope. Amen.
Is God calling you?
Every one of our holy men and women once answered a simple call to follow Christ more closely. Single, Catholic men aged 18–35 are invited to walk with us in prayer and discernment as brothers and priests of Holy Cross.
Begin your discernment