Because of the Co-Redemptorist Association, the Redemptorists have never had to refuse a student for economic reasons. A Co-Redemptorist is a person who actively sponsors a young man, through prayer and financial support, in his spiritual journey to becoming a Redemptorist priest or brother.
The Co-Redemptorist Association has been in existence for over fifty years. A Catholic layman, Mr. William Davidson of St. Louis, inspired the program as an apostolic activity for friends of the Redemptorists. He determined the portion of the daily educational cost of a seminarian that the Redemptorists could not cover with their own resources.
And he then invited people to cover that deficit for one seminarian, one day a month, or two days a month, etc. as they wished. In this way, by daily prayer and a sacrificial offering, our Co-Redemptorists share their concern for and interest in the formation and education of future Redemptorist priests and brothers.
The Co-Redemptorist program has not changed substantially in fifty years, and nor have the benefits which each Co-Redemptorist enjoys: receiving a monthly spiritual letter, being included in five novenas a year as well as the prayers said by each and every Redemptorist community. And since the advent of the Internet, the Redemptorists have also been quick to assure their Co-Redemptorist members that their names will never be shared or sold to other organizations.
I can say to you personally that my own parents could not afford the tuition when I entered the seminary. If it were not for the Co-Redemptorists, I would not have been able to become a Redemptorist. We Redemptorists, past, present, and future, can never sufficiently put into words our thanks to our Co-Redemptorists.
Fr. Bob Fenili, C.Ss.R., of Seelos Theology House in Chicago, is with us this weekend to speak at the Masses, inviting us to begin or renew our activity as Co-Redemptorists. Fr. Bob is well known to us: Fathers Bernie, Andy and I were taught by him in college, in Wisconsin, and Fr. Denis lived with him in Chicago. Please give him a warm welcome.
Fr. Ed Vella, C.Ss.R.
