Brothers of Our Lady of Mercy
The Brothers of Our Lady of Mercy, or in full Brothers of Mercy of Our Lady of Perpetual Help, are a Catholic religious institute.
History
The institute was founded at Mechlin (Flanders, capital of the ecclesiastical province coinciding with Belgium) in 1839 by Canon J. B. Cornelius Scheppers (1802 - 1877) for the instruction and care of prisoners and of the sick. They were invited to S. Balbina in Perugia by Cardinal Pecci, afterwards Leo XIII, who had witnessed their work while he was nuncio in Belgium at Brussels. It was at his instance that Pius IX confirmed the institution of the brothers in 1854.
In 1855 Cardinal Manning invited them to London, where they have undertaken the care of the prisoners in Catholic reformatories and the education of the children of the poor.
They are under simple vows and the term of the novitiate is two years. They wear a black habit and scapular with a brown cross on the breast.
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). "Brothers of Our Lady of Mercy". Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton.
