BROTHERS HOSPITALLERS, SONS OF THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION (CONCEZIONISTS). — They arose in Rome from Fr. Luigi M. Monti in 1837, for the care of the sick and the education of orphaned and abandoned youth. Pius IX definitively approved them in 1865. The constitutions, drawn up by the founder, received the definitive sanction of the Holy See on 5 Feb. 1906.
The Brothers wear a blue habit girded at the waist by a white sash. The institute is lay, and only as many members are promoted to the priesthood as are necessary for spiritual care; all, however, have equal rights and duties. Expelled in 1889 from the Hospital of Santo Spirito, they devoted themselves to the education of orphans, and already from 1886 Fr. Monti had opened the first orphanage in Saronno.
Today the Congregation has numerous charitable and educational works both in Italy and in Argentina, with 24 houses and about 200 religious.