BROTHERS OF OUR LADY MOTHER OF MERCY. – Institute founded in 1884.
In Tilburg, Holland, by the local parish priest GIOVANNI ZWIJSEN, later Archbishop of Utrecht, for the Christian education and instruction of male youth; the same ZWIJSEN had already founded another institute of sisters for female youth. Co-founder and first Superior General was GIOVANNI ANTONIO DE BEER, who governed the Institute for over 50 years and brought it to great development.
At first the Institute was composed mainly of lay brothers and a few priests, but in 1916 priests were excluded for organizational difficulties. Its spread was rapid, and today there are 39 houses, of which 28 in Holland, 3 in Belgium and in Indonesia, with 10 schools attended annually by more than 33,000 pupils. The religious also devote themselves to charitable works in orphanages, day nurseries, nursing homes and publish *L'Angelo Custode*, which has been in existence for 64 years. Among the former pupils there is also a League of Prayer for Separated Brethren, which carries out notable action for the defence of Catholic principles and for the conversion of heretics.