As I walked away from the buffet line with my plate of food, I struggled with precarious caution not to spill or drop any of the items I had just gathered. That evening’s Lenten Friday balancing act consisted of baked salmon, mushroom stroganoff with butter noodles and a side salad. While my friends sat awaiting me at our beloved, yet admittedly sticky, Fisher table two rows away from the far wall, I would not be joining them that night in South Dining Hall.
Rather, looking up from my full hands, I spied across the dining room of Columba Hall and saw the spot which had been specifically saved for me. After laying my full plate down, I took my seat and looked around at the men of the Holy Cross I had come to dine with. There were four of them at my round table: Brothers Joe, Victor, George and Doug. It was the latter, Brother Doug Roach, who not only led me to the table that night and saved my spot but had motivated my short trip to Columba Hall, which was nearly a year in the making.
It was my own mistake which led to the friendship between myself and Brother Doug. In a Viewpoint column I wrote for The Observer last February discussing the founding of the University of Notre Dame, I incorrectly stated, “Tucked between Bond Hall and Old College stands the Founder’s Monument dedicated to Father Sorin and the seven French priests that traveled with him across the vast Atlantic.” The same day my writing was published I received an email from Brother Doug, which read as follows:
“In the third paragraph you wrote ... [about] Father Sorin and the seven French priests that traveled with him across the vast Atlantic. Father Sorin crossed the Atlantic with six brothers, not seven priests. It was the brothers who laid the foundation for what was later the University of ND. We did the teaching, prefecting, building of buildings and begged for money, etc. I invite you to come to Columba Hall and meet some of the 23 brothers who live there. Come for lunch or supper. We would be happy to meet you.”
While I failed to acknowledge the Brothers of Holy Cross in my column, this was a grievous error I will never make again after my evening at their dinner table. Although I was initially skeptical of preconceptions of what may have looked like a retirement home, the dining room of Columba was quickly full of the laughter and lively discussion of retired brothers after dinner was served. I had thought I had come to learn about the brothers I was eating with. However, I could not have been more mistaken. With my pencil in hand and notepad primed to write, they flipped the script and began interviewing me. At my table, we spent our dinner discussing campus politics, the demolition of Fisher and Pangborn Halls and my life plans in a truly investigative fashion. It was apparent they were eager to meet a new face on campus, and genuinely cared to get to know me.
Throughout our conversation, I learned that the service most central to the mission of the Brothers of Holy Cross is their gift of teaching. It was the retired Brother Doug, Brother Joe and Brother George who I came to find had worked together for many years at Cathedral High School in Indianapolis, Indiana. Brother Doug, who was the principal at Cathedral High School, shared his experience as a clinical social worker in a Tennessee state prison. Former Cathedral High School religion teacher, Brother Joe, was outed by his long-time friends as being quite the “trouble-maker” for the anti-war movement during the Vietnam War. As he ate his Swiss cheese and toast, he fired questions at me, especially when I revealed that my major was political science. Finally, Brother George, the English teacher at Cathedral High School, talked about his stint as the Assistant Rector in Grace Hall and how he managed to corral that “barrel of monkeys.” At this dinner table, I was privy to the unraveling tapestry of their lives and how they had shared so much time together dedicated to the same mission.
After I finally finished my main course between bouts of banter, Brother George departed from our table to the widening grins of his fellow brothers. To my delighted surprise, a few moments later he returned to the table and placed a perfectly brimming bowl of cake and ice cream in front of me. I laughed and asked the reason to which Brother Doug explained it was the monthly celebration of the birthdays of the brothers and that I could not miss out on Brother George’s infamous sundae-making skills.
As I inhaled Brother George’s wonderful dessert concoction, the group revealed that he had written a book on the history of the Brothers of Holy Cross. I listened as the group told me countless stories of how the University of Notre Dame was built on the backs of the brothers of their order. They also told me the individual tales of the six founding brothers who founded the University alongside Father Sorin. In the tradition of the Order of the Holy Cross, it was customary that a priest would be sent as a chaplain along with the brothers who were tasked with the mission of teaching, as was the case in South Bend. It is also a well-known story among the brothers how upon a visit from Father Moreau to the early campus, he found it improper for the brothers to be out doing manual labor outdoors with their robes pulled up. However, on the day after Moreau’s departure, the brothers were immediately back in the summer sun toiling to build the University of Notre Dame. Their efforts are still honored today, as in the preservation of the yellow-hued Notre Dame bricks that they created, which were utilized in the Main Building, the Basilica of the Sacred Heart, Washington Hall and countless other buildings on campus.
As our conversation carried on through the evening, the dining room of Columba Hall slowly started to clear out and the staff began to spray down the tables for the next day’s meals. Only the four I sat with and myself remained. The sun had set outside, and the plates were all cleared. As if they were synchronized, my dinner companions stood and we began walking to the door. Brother Joe and I vowed to continue our political discourse, while I promised Brother Doug I would see him again. I thanked them all and shook their hands as I walked away from Columba Hall, grateful for Brother Roach’s email more than a year ago.
