brother

As Br. Sebastian De Backer prepares to take his final formative steps as a Franciscan Friar Conventual, he sits at the bedside of many of the men who have gone before him in a life of ministry, living out their vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience.

As a trained clinical social worker, Br. Sebastian provides counseling and psychotherapy to aging friars in Enfield, MA.

“This is a ministry of presence,” he said. “It’s a wholistic approach to social work and I love it.”

Br. Sebastian, who will profess his solemn vows on May 2, 2025, knew that having the ability to serve those in need was an important part of his decision to join the Order that traces its roots directly back to St. Francis of Assisi. The Franciscan Friars Conventual have been welcoming men into the Order for 800 years.

According to the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate’s most recent annual report, the Franciscan Friars Conventual were among the top nine percent of religious communities who had more than one person profess final vows in the last year. Three friars professed final vows with the Our Lady of the Angels Province in 2024.

Br. Nicholas “Nick” Romeo, OFM Conv., has served as one of the vocations directors for The Our Lady of the Angels Province for the last five years. While based in Washington, D.C., he is often traveling, promoting vocational discernment and meeting with men called to follow in St. Francis’ footsteps with a life of lived fraternity and ministry.

“A lot of the guys I talk to are looking for tradition, stability, and something to trust,” Br. Nick said. “They want to be a part of something bigger than themselves.”

The Formation Process

Br. Sebastian De Backer’s vocational discernment can best be described as gradual. There was no lightning strike or lightbulb moment for him. Over time, it just felt more and more right.

“When I visited the Franciscans, I found a beautiful middle between contemplative and active [orders],” Br. Sebastian said.

While entering the seminary to become a priest had been a consideration when Br. Sebastian was a teenager growing up in Belgium, he ultimately decided then that he wanted to take time to discover more of the world, and himself.

It wasn’t until his mid-thirties, after spending time in school and working as a lay chaplain in the Belgian healthcare system, that he began the formation process to be a friar.

“We’re always invited to grow, especially if that means being vulnerable – something that is not always easy,” he said. “But that’s something I cherish so much about religious life.”

Men considering life as a friar are first invited to seek counsel with Br. Nick or his co-director of vocations Friar Manny Vasconcelos.  Applications to join the Order take anywhere from six months to a year, depending on timing of interviews and psychological screenings.

The three phases of formation include:

• A one-year Postulancy.
• A Novitiate, which ends with the profession of simple vows.
• Post-Novitiate, which will vary depending on whether the friar is seeking the brotherhood or priesthood track.

After at least four years of Post-Novitiate, friars profess their solemn vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience. Friar Sebastian, along with Friar Edgar Varela, will profess solemn vows in May.

Recruitment Today

Since St. Francis’s time, the number of Orders seeking vocations from young men has significantly grown. Br. Nick said the “competition” is much steeper today, with a lot of options for men to choose from in discerning religious life.

Add to that, a smaller population of young people as compared to decades ago and fewer young men growing up with a strong religious upbringing. All told, there are more choices and fewer men to make them.

Still, there are three men in active application to join the Our Lady of the Angels Province this year. In addition to the two friars, including Br. Sebastian, who will profess solemn vows in May, one solemnly professed seminary student at the Post-Novitiate House in San Antonio, TX will be ordained as a priest in July.

“Ultimately, vocations come from God,” Br. Nick said, as he remains open and willing to work men seeking religious life. If the fit is right, the support is there to welcome them in.

Supporting Vocational Discernment

Praying for vocations to religious life is just one way to help increase interest in a life of brotherhood and service. But Br. Nick likes to encourage Catholics to go another step further.

When speaking at parishes and other events promoting vocations, Br. Nick said he calls on those present to follow three steps.

• Step 1: Think about a young man who you think would make a good priest or brother.
• Step 2: Tell him that you think he would make a good priest or friar.
• Step 3: Tell him the specific qualities and traits you think he possesses that would lead to a successful life in ministry.

“The average number times someone needs to hear an invitation is five,” Br. Nick said he tells people. “You might be number five.”

When it comes to advice to others discerning religious life, Br. Sebastian encourages men to take their time.

“We naturally want to rush things … We want to arrive at this place of homecoming,” he said. “Take time to discover who you are and what charism speaks to you.”

And then, he added, “When you’ve found your place with Christ, jump!”

After all, Br. Sebastian said, over time, what matters more is not so much the reason why you decide to join, but the reason you decide to stay.

To learn more about Vocational discernment and the formation process for Franciscan Friars Conventual, please visit www.franciscanvoice.org.

By Br. Tim Blanchard, OFM Conv

When I was about eight, I remember a particular Sunday during catechism class when the teacher introduced us to “saint trading cards.” They were like baseball cards that tell you about the athlete’s history, stats, and significant milestones of their career. I became obsessed. Like any trading card series, these saint cards also included a handful of rare cards that you kept an eye out for when the trading frenzy began. Among these holy men and women who were considered a “rare card” was John the Baptist.

Word eventually reached my ears that the only kid in the class who had a John the Baptist trading card with gold-trimmed edges was my classmate Peter who sat in front of me. Every Sunday for an entire month (which is a long time for an 8-year-old) I would try to convince Peter that it was in his best interest to trade me his rare card. I was denied every time. Running out of attractive offers, I decided to simply wait it out, and hope that my friend would change his mind.

The following Sunday there was an early dismissal after catechism and all the students went outside to enjoy some sunshine. Everyone scurried out of the classroom while I remained behind to clean up my desk. And then I saw it. The rare John the Baptist card with gold-trimmed edges sitting on my friend’s desk. It was beautiful. I looked around the room to see if the coast was clear and…well as the saying goes, I stole from Peter to give to Paul; Paul in this case was me of course.

Now I wasn’t going to just take it without a fair trade, so I left him three Mary Magdalene cards from my collection. I figured it was an even trade, I mean Mary was a beloved follower of Jesus and she was the first to encounter the Risen Christ! Win-win. As I placed my very desirable Mary Magdalene cards on Peter’s desk for a respectable trade and claimed my Baptizer card, I was immediately captured by the lines printed on the back, “Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.” (John 1:29). Lamb of God? Who is that? I remember this moment so vividly because it was the first time I started intentionally pondering scripture. Well as divine providence would have it, wasn’t this the gospel proclaimed the following Sunday at my parish, and by a Franciscan priest! After mass, I walked up to our visiting Franciscan and asked him who this Lamb of God was and without hesitation he responded, “He’s the answer.”

Whenever I think about my experience as a religious brother I am always taken back to those words of the Baptizer, “Behold the Lamb of God.” The entirety of my mission as a Franciscan brother can be summed up in this short proclamation; to bear witness to Jesus before others, pointing them in His direction. Much like my encounter with the Franciscan priest, we often don’t come to Christ on our own but by the gentle guidance of those whose faith points the way to “the Answer.” This is why I have come to understand that the term “brother” is not just my title but a verb; to “brother” to others and lead them to lives of holiness.

There have been so many examples of this unique discipleship in my own life. I remember after I professed my final vows, I was sitting with one of my brothers I deeply admire. He was sharing his own experience of the first few years in ministry after his solemn profession and the challenges he faced that ultimately refined him as a minister. After he finished, he looked at me and shared something that completely shifted my view of brotherhood. “The mission of the brother is about being a professional companion for the lost and suffering. Every friar has to discern what that will look like for him, and it comes out in the most beautiful ways when it is aligned with God’s will.”

I’ve carried this wisdom with me at every one of my assignments. I have learned with each new ministry, I must take the path of Christ who “had to become completely like his brothers, to be a compassionate and trustworthy high priest” (Heb 2:17-18). Before calling us into the life of the Transcendent, Jesus first became a brother to all sharing in our suffering and pain. When John spoke these words, “the Lamb of God” I can’t help but imagine the many who were present took that in an ordinary way. Here comes Jesus after that rather stirring proclamation from John and what do people see? An ordinary man. Flesh and bone. But the eyes of faith see Him as he truly is, life for the salvation of the world as the Sacrificial Lamb.

As brothers, our directive is clear, to help people see beyond the ordinary, to see God in the natural world and in each other. In this way, I believe the religious brother consecrates all creation as he works to help others recognize the presence of God in all things. The best way to do that? Invite others to a life of prayer. Prayer is not an act to compel God to breakthrough, rather, it’s about forming an alertness to see the world differently.

As I mentioned above, we don’t come to the Lord on our own. I certainly didn’t. I was blessed with many holy role-models who taught me the importance of prayer and worship. Now, I have that same exciting yet terrifying responsibility of passing on Christ to others and I must discern daily how God is calling me to walk with the lost and suffering. Our order has been blessed with a number of extraordinary brothers who continue the story of salvation with their lives that quietly proclaim, ‘There is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! Run to Him!’ I hope my old catechism teacher reads this to see the long and arduous journey she put me on all from a saint trading card.