Fraternus

Welcome to our Fraternus Chapter Page!

We, at St. Louis De Montfort, are happy to announce we will be joining with many parishes across the Country in founding a Fraternus Brotherhood this coming Fall! Here you can find all the necessary information, links, and ways to get involved with us!

What is Fraternus?

Fraternus will be our new offering for all of the Young Men of the Parish, taking the place of our current Youth Ministry offerings. While Fraternus is specifically tailored towards inviting Young Men between the 6th and 12th Grades, Fraternus is much more than just a Youth Ministry Program. Fraternus is focused on providing a Brotherhood of faithful, devoted, Catholic Men of all ages who strive to live a life of Authentic Catholic Masculinity. This means that Fraternus is a Brotherhood for all, whether you start at the very beginning in 6th grade, join in High School, come back in College, are a Young Father, or are an empty nester; all are considered part of the Fraternus Brotherhood! Following a yearly cycle, Fraternus leans heavily on the practice of the Cardinal and Theological Virtues, witness of the Lives of the Saints, and is rooted in the Sacred Tradition founded in the Catholic Church. This means that Fraternus goes beyond simple catechesis, allowing us to accompany our young men through their lives; learning, growing, and praying with them!

Why are We Changing to Fraternus?

It's important to address that, while Fraternus will take the place of our current Junior High and High School Ministry Programs, this isn't happening to the detriment of what we've done here at St. Louis De Montfort. Many wonderful Men and Women in our parish have stepped up over the past few decades to provide the Youth of their time with many opportunities for real community, encounters with Christ, and form many of the young men and women who have families and children of their own now! However, as they were attentive to the needs of their times, we must also constantly be aware of where our Youth are at today, and meet them there to lead them to Christ. 

We live in an age of uncertainty; all of our most basic beliefs and assumptions as a society are being questioned. At the heart of this, we’re having a crisis of Identity and Belonging, and we need a response to this. In the Church specifically, We recognize that we are no longer in the age of Christendom (The Faith being the center of our culture) and our response to the Youth just doesn’t have the same impact anymore. It’s apparent in today’s world that we no longer have the luxury of settling for “what we’ve always done” and need a change in focus and direction to meet people where they are now. 

We are excited to share with you our parish’s response: Fidelis (women) and Fraternus (men). Fidelis and Fraternus are programs designed to produce real, authentic disciples formed in communities of practicing Catholic Men and Women, on fire for the faith, and willing to share the Light of Christ with others.  While these programs will be an overhaul to our current youth ministry offerings, we are eager to begin this adventure in order to foster a stronger culture of discipleship in our young men and women.

These programs are not simply “youth ministry” events, but rather a cohesive pathway towards achieving a renewed sense of identity, belonging, and mission as a Son or Daughter of Christ. Fidelis and Fraternus also provide engaging materials, practical experiences of faith, and the full depth of the Catholic Tradition.  Accompaniment!  Witnessing!  Fellowship!  Creation!  Each fostering holy sisterhood and brotherhood and infused with Sacred Scripture, catechism, virtue, prayers, lives of the Saints, and more! 
 

What Will it Mean For SLDM?

Fraternus, being a pretty substantial shift in format, it'll come with a shift in the logistics here at St. Louis De Montfort:

1. Fraternus and Fidelis is Gender-specific ministry, allowing us to delve deeper in the unique aspects of our identity as men and women in a way that isn't possible in co-ed ministry! While there are still plenty of opportunities for men and women to experience the faith together that we have, are, and will continue to offer, we believe having this as our "base" allows our young men and women to flourish all the more; confident and rooted in their own identity!
2. With the target age-range of Youth being between 6th-12th grade, Jr. High and High School Ministries will be combining our efforts together! This allows many wonderful experiences for both the younger men to have role models to look up to in their high school Brothers, as well as enables the older brothers to take on leadership and responsibility for even further growth!
3. Combining both our Jr. High and High School Offerings also means a change in time and place! In deciding a new time, we went back to the drawing board to look at the big picture of what's happening at our young Men's schools, sports, and extra-cirriculars to find the most available time for them. While we will still have Fraternus in the Youth Ministry Buildings (YMC, Craig Willy, and Gym), we are shifting our meeting time to be on TUESDAYS AT 6:30-8:30 following the 6:00PM Masses. This change to a weekday from a Sunday includes the major benefit of RETURNING FAMILIES THEIR SUNDAYS! 
4. Fraternus includes a ton of resources, formation, promotion, events, and more for our young men, leaders, and families. Providing these higher quality materials will come with a cost, however, and we've been able to work that down as much as we can so that anyone can be a part of Fraternus; Cost should never be a impediment to a real encounter with Christ and His Church. With that, Fraternus will incur a $100 yearly fee to cover all costs for our meetings, as well as providing the accompanying materials for our Young Men and leaders.

When is it Starting?

Beginning September 12th, we will have our first Fraternus Night following the 6:00pm Mass on Tuesday Evenings. These will run from 6:30pm-8:30pm parallel to our Fidelis Nights. More details on where Fraternus will be held will come in the following Months, so make sure you're registered and keeping your eyes open for more from us!

How do I Register?

You can register either by clicking the image at the top of the page or by following this link: Fraternus Registration

I'm Interested; How can I Get Involved?

If you're feeling called as well, there are plenty of ways to get involved! Many Fraternus Chapters have entire families together at their Frat Nights, and we'd love to have that for you too! To learn more about what you can do to be a part of our chapter, please reach out to Reid Leazier or Kyle Stein (Contact Info at the Bottom of the page) for more information!

Fraternus Website