Brother Angelicus' Administration, 1905 - 1907

On November 23, 1905 Brother Angelicus was appointed as the second provincial of the Province of Canada and the United States. Like that of his predecessor, his administration covered a two year period (1905-1907). During this short administration he furthered the plans of the preceeding administration, mainly those concerned with the professional development of the brothers, and the expansion of the Province.

Brother Angelicus (Claude H. Berne) was born in Chazelles-sur-Lyon, (Loire) France on March 29, 1859. He entered the Marist Brothers at the Novitiate of Notre Dame de l'Hermitage and received there the name of Brother Angelicus. For the next eighteen years he was assigned to such schools as: Renaison (1874-1875) Valbenoite (1875-1888), St. Pierre de Boeuf (1888-1892) in France, and then traveled to Dumfries, Scotland to study English.

In 1892 Brother Angelicus was sent to the United States to found the Marist community at St. Anne's School in Lawrence, Massachusetts. Eight years later he was assigned to direct St. Athanase School in Iberville, Canada. At the time of the canonical erection of the Province in -1903, he was appointed to the Provincial Council. Two years later he was assigned to the provincialship itself.(28.)

At the very beginning of Brother Angelicus' administration, he reorganized the work of the planning committee on studies by creating a nine man Commission of Studies. Their object was defined by Brother Joseph Robert in his review of the United states Province in 1938:

. . . to prepare uniform programs and monthly tests for various groups, to supervise and correct these and to grant appropriate diplomas corresponding to those of the Province of Quebec. At the end of the five week courses in Beauceville and Iberville, (Canada) examinations were given by members of the Commission in 1906, and splendid results were obtained in the form of one elementary and sixteen Model Diplomas. The candidates passing the tests of the last named group had a right to attend the official examinations for the Academic Diploma, in Quebec or for the Life State Certificate for teachers in New York (29).

The various schools in the Province were thus able to have accredited faculty members, who were thereafter stationed in the areas where they obtained accreditation

Brother Angelicus was conscious of the differences in professional needs of the two areas of Quebec and the Kited States. With these differences in mind, he withdrew brothers from two less promising schools in Canada and the United States in order to staff four other schools else-where. St. Michael School in Montreal, and the Poughkeepsie Juniorate became schools assigned to the United States Province in 1911.

Brother Angelicus' administration was suddenly interrupted when the Very Reverend Brother Theophane, Superior General, died on April 18, 1907. A special General Chapter (the eleventh) was convened on October 5, 1907 at Grugliasco, Italy, to elect his successor. Brother Angelicus as-provincial and Brothers Cesidius and Ptolemeus attended this chapter. On October 14th, Reverend Brother Stratonique, Assistant General, axed immediate superior of Brother Angelicus, was elected as fifth superior general of the Institute. To replace him the Chapter elected Brother Angelicus (30). This position he held until his death in 1928 at Grugliasco, Italy.

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