Patrons
Two of the Congregation’s Servants of God have been chosen as the co-patrons for the Year of Mission: Br. Flavian Laplante, C.S.C., and Bishop Vincent McCauley, C.S.C. Both Holy Cross religious exemplify lives given in service of the mission of bringing hope beyond borders.
Born in Québec, Canada, Br. Flavian entered Holy Cross at the age of 16. Upon Final Profession in 1928, he worked at Collège Notre-Dame before heading to the Congregation’s mission in East Bengal (present-day Bangladesh and India) in 1932. In May 1942, when the Japanese Army started air raids on Chittagong, Br. Flavian went to assist. There he met the fishermen to whom he devoted most of the rest of his life.
In the words of the Congregation’s Constitutions, Br. Flavian “[came] not just as servants but as their neighbors, to be with them and of them” (2:13). He often accompanied the fishermen out to sea for days. He even led them in resistance against pirates and participated in rescue missions. His main work was to organize the fisherman into cooperatives in which they could help each other.
Read more of Br. Flavian’s missionary story
Born in Iowa in the United States, Bishop McCauley from his childhood dreamed of being a missionary. After studying in the Congregation’s Foreign Mission Seminary, he was sent to East Bengal where he worked among the Kuki Christians near Agartala. Sickness, however, forced him to return to the United States.
Bishop McCauley persevered in his desire to serve in the missions, and in 1958, he led the Congregation’s new mission to Uganda. In 1961, he was appointed bishop of the newly created Diocese of Fort Portal. In addition to building the diocese from the ground up, he was known for his compassion, guiding the Church in aiding countless refugees, widows, and orphans during the political turmoil of 1960s and 70s. For him, as the Constitutions state, “The face of every human being who suffers is for us the face of Jesus” (8:114).
Read more of Bishop McCauley’s missionary story
We ask Servants of God Flavian Laplante and Vincent McCauley to intercede for us, that like them we may be wholehearted and generous in giving of ourselves in bringing hope beyond borders.