BROTHERS OF OUR LADY OF LOURDES. – Religious institute founded in 1830 by Modeste-Etienne Glorieux, vicar of St-Hermes at Renoix (Ghent), for the Christian education of young people and for the care of the sick. At first they were called « Frères de bonnes oeuvres »,
and received their present name in 1888, when the mother house was transferred to Oostacker near Ghent. The decree of praise dates from 18 July 1892, and definitive approval from 3 January 1939.
Widespread in Belgium, the Netherlands, the Dutch East Indies, and the Belgian Congo, the Institute is currently divided into two provinces and numbers 880 religious in 46 houses, with primary, secondary, teacher-training, vocational, and agricultural schools; orphanages, sanatoriums, homes for the mentally ill, and residences for the elderly.