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Back to basics

February 16, 2011

By Staff Reporter

Many Irish people come to the United States for a change of scene, but few can have made such a dramatic lifestyle change as Brian Jordan, aka Brother Columba.
Columba is a relatively recent addition to the Franciscans of the Renewal order. His base is the St. Crispin’s friary in the South Bronx.
Home to a community of eight brothers, the friary is spick and span, with highly polished floors, large windows and a kitchen overlooking a beautifully tended cottage garden.
Last week, the brothers were going about their daily business in the friary. Their day begins at 6 a.m. with prayers in the chapel. They will pray for up to five hours a day.
“Our life is based on the example St. Francis set,” Columba said. “His life was about prayer, poverty and working with the poor.”
The Franciscans of the Renewal were formed in 1987 in New York by eight former Capuchin Franciscans. They wanted to celebrate the renewal of their personal conversions and start a community that went back to the basics.
Since the foundation, the community has grown to include seven friaries, with five in New York, one in Honduras and one in the East End of London.
Their mission is twofold: to work with the poor and evangelization. The brothers do a huge amount of work in the South Bronx.
The friary is a four-building complex that includes a residence for formerly homeless men. They also run a night-by-night shelter and a food pantry.
Much of their work is made possible by donations of furniture, food and money. They run an after-school program four days a week where activities are organized for children in a small gym hall. Columba described it as an opportunity to keep the children off the street.
One of the most important services they provide is a medical and dental clinics on Saturday mornings. The brothers asked doctors and dentists to volunteer and the clinics have been a great success.
Columba loves his way of life but acknowledged that it took him years to be sure of his vocation. He was raised a Catholic but had eschewed the faith for an exploration of Eastern religions and certain new-age philosophies.
“Even when I was exploring my spirituality, I was sincere,” Columba said. “It was not a rebellion against being Catholic. I was searching for something more.”
The soft-spoken brother attributes his current faith to two people. One is a Polish nun called Sr. Fortuna, the other is Fr. Stan, one of the original eight founders of the Franciscans of the Renewal.
Columba was 17 years old when he picked up a book written by the nun. “I was so impressed by her faith and passion,” he said of Sr. Fortuna, adding that none of the spiritual gurus he had been reading about could hold a candle to her in terms of strength of belief.
Sr. Fortuna stressed in her book that a “buffet style” approach to Jesus was not satisfactory. Columba took this to heart. He started to attend Mass regularly and re-familiarized himself with the Bible and the rosary.
That set the scene for Columba’s encounter with Fr. Stan. He was 19 at this stage and was still trying to find his role in religious life.
“Ever since I was 5 years old, I have entertained notions about being a priest,” he said. “I just didn’t know if it was right for me.”
Stan visited Dublin and preached his message using rap music and songs. “He is very orthodox but explained his beliefs in a light way,” Columba said. He was so impressed by what he heard that he wrote to the Franciscans of the Renewal straight away, requesting information.
On hearing that the minimum age for joining is 21 and that the order did not have a house in Ireland, Columba decided to wait it out and see if his interest abated with time.
Meanwhile, he began studying theology and music at Maynooth College.
He lived the life of any young college student with dates and socializing but found that his questions and interest in religious life remained.
Things became more clear when he ended a long-distance relationship. “She was in the U.S. and while it was a good relationship, I wasn’t sure where it was going. That galvanized me into thinking about the future and my real feelings,” he said.
Columba got a ticket to the World Youth Day in Rome, and while there talked to a U.S. priest who gave him some sound advice.
“He advised me against going into an order and saying, ‘This is it — sayonara.’ Instead, he told me it was like a relationship, take it day by day,” Columba said.
This was the push Columba needed and it assuaged any fears he had about taking the next step. He researched the Franciscans of the Renewal on the Internet and found that it was tailor-made to suit his needs.
“I loved the simplicity of the life, the poverty, the devotion,” he said. “It was like a checklist for me.”
Columba came to visit the brothers in St. Crispin’s and talked to the vocation director back in Ireland.
His family knew of his inner struggle and were happy when he made the decision to join the community of Franciscans.
Brian Jordan started off as a six-month postulant and soon took the religious name Brother Columba. After the six months, during which postulants wear shirts instead of robes, he entered the novitiate for one year. Now, wearing the robe is a sign of his commitment to his vows. The gray garment is fashioned after the one St. Francis used to wear and is in the shape of the cross.
The belt, called a sincture rope, has three thick knots at the end which are meant to signify the three vows the brothers take. There are poverty, chastity and obedience.
They wear a set of rosary beads and a cross on their belt, both of which each brother has made during their postulancy.
The brothers wear sandals most of the time and go barefoot in the friary.
“We can’t go barefoot outside here.” Columba said, referring to the neighborhoods. “There is too much glass on the ground.”
All brothers wear an untrimmed beard as a tribute to tradition. It is seen as a symbol that what seems to matter in this world is passing.
Members of the community renew their vows three times before they take final vows. Columba looks forward to that day.
As part of their evangelization work, the brothers of St. Crispin’s traveled to Ireland in July 2003, for a preaching tour. They visited Limerick, Cork, Wexford, Galway, Sligo, Omagh, Derry, Donegal and Dublin.
Columba has not yet taken his orders as a priest but he provided music on the tour, playing the guitar. The friary has no television and the brothers are avid readers. With an medium age of 28 to 32, Columba admitted that the brothers are all “Lord of the Ring” fans.
“The guys here really want to be holy,” Columba said. “That means: to do God’s will, whatever that means. It’s like a roller coaster ride — there are two ways to ride it: sit in the back and scream or go to the front with your arms in the air.”

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