Religious brother

A religious brother (abbreviated Br. or Bro.) is a member of a religious institute or religious order who commits himself to following Christ in consecrated life of the Church, usually by the vows of poverty, chastity and obedience. He is usually a layman and usually lives in a religious community and works in a ministry appropriate to his capabilities.

A brother might practice any secular occupation. The term "brother" is used as he is expected to be as a brother to others. Brothers are members of a variety of religious communities, which may be contemplative, monastic, or apostolic in character. Some religious institutes are composed only of brothers; others are so-called "mixed" communities that are made up of brothers and clerics (priests or ministers, and seminarians).

It is also common in some Christian groups to refer to other members as "brother" or "sister".^[1] In particular, the Christian Shakers use the title for all male adult members.^[2]

^ Lawless, Elaine J. (1988). God's Peculiar People. University Press of Kentucky. Pentecostals, like some other Christians, call each other Brother and Sister, but for Pentecostals this tradition has special meaning. Because they do feel they are literally a family, these terms are not mere titles but are imbued with a greater intensity of meaning: "The Pentecostal church as a whole is a very, is kind of a familial feel. We call each other brothers and sisters and we are brothers and sisters. There is definitely a feeling of kinship among each other."
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[1] Lawless, Elaine J. (1988). God's Peculiar People. University Press of Kentucky. Pentecostals, like some other Christians, call each other Brother and Sister, but for Pentecostals this tradition has special meaning. Because they do feel they are literally a family, these terms are not mere titles but are imbued with a greater intensity of meaning: "The Pentecostal church as a whole is a very, is kind of a familial feel. We call each other brothers and sisters and we are brothers and sisters. There is definitely a feeling of kinship among each other."

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