XAVIER BROTHERS. – A religious congregation founded in Bruges in 1839 by Theodore Rijken (1797–1871) for the instruction and Christian formation of youth, especially in America.
The beginnings were very difficult, but thanks to the tenacity of the founder and his first disciples, some schools could be opened in Bruges with good results. In 1848 the Institute transplanted to England, and in 1855 to Louisville in the United States. The path was now clear, and development was rapid. Approved by the Holy See on 12 February 1931, the Congregation today has about a dozen houses in Belgium, as many in England, about thirty in America, and runs missions in the Belgian Congo and Uganda, with some 800 religious.
BIBL.: Fr. Gaëtan, Fragments de l'histoire des Frères Xavéiers, Bruges 1911; Fr. Julian, Mon and Deeds. The Xaverian Brothers in America, New York 1930; Souvenir of the first centenary of the Xaverian Brothers, London 1930; The Xaverian, centennial number, Baltimore 1930.