Feast of the Presentation of the Lord and XXVII World Day of Consecrated Life

Every year, the Catholic Church celebrates the Presentation of the Lord on February 2. On this anniversary, for 27 years the Church has united in prayer to give thanks to the Lord for the gift of consecrated persons: their presence and their work represent in the Church and in the world the luminous reminder of the centrality of Christ, of which they are the figure through the profession of the evangelical counsels of poverty, chastity and obedience, and the expectation of the fulfilment of his mission in the Parousia.

This year we want to "present" a religious community, the Congregation of the Bene-Yozefu Brothers of Burundi (CBY).

Monsignor Antoine Hubert Grauls in Giheta, Diocese of Gitega in Burundi founded the Congregation of the Bene-Yozefu Brothers in 1944. It obtained the Civil Personality of Onlus Association (ASBL) in 1963.

Since the Congregation is placed under the patronage of Saint Joseph, the charism of its members is realized, in the Church, with the imitation of their Patron, by participating in Christ's mission "praying on the mountain, announcing the kingdom of God to the crowds, healing sick and wounded and converting sinners to a better life; bless the children and do good to everyone, but always obeying the will of the Father who sent him".

Their motto is: "I know whom I have believed" (2 Tim 1:12).

From St. Joseph the Brothers learn humility and love of work for Jesus, perfect obedience to superiors, unshakable trust in God even in difficulties, detachment from one's own will and from earthly goods.

The objectives of the Congregation are to promote the social and economic development of populations in the fields of education, health and rural development.

The fields of intervention by the Bene-Yozefu Brothers are aimed at specific structures such as: primary and secondary schools (since 1963), Health Centres (since 1974) and Rural Training Centres (CFR) since 1976.

Since its creation, the Bene-Yozefu Congregation has worked throughout Burundi to promote quality school education by managing or co-managing schools.

The Congregation of the Bene-Yozefu Brothers is essentially a congregation dedicated to teaching, the brothers’ work in primary and secondary schools, in parishes, in the health service, in inter-diocesan services and in rural training centres.

The missionary dimension is part of the charism of the Bene-Yozefu Brothers, who were called to work in the diocese of Rulenge in Tanzania, where they run a rural technical school, and in France.