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Edmund Rice was a successful business man, a loving husband and devoted father, yet he felt that he was being called to do something more with his life. Edmund had a passionate faith in God and an enduring compassion for the poor. His lifelong works of charity led him to believe that education could help to improve the life of the poor and marginalised in his native Ireland. He began by establishing schools for boys and eventually founded the Congregation of the Christian Brothers.
The congregation which spread throughout Ireland and in due course across the world continues Edmund’s work of education and charity, imitating his courage and faith, living his motto “To do and to teach”, keeping his spirit alive!
Spirit Alive: The Story of Edmund Rice not only tells the life story of Edmund himself but offers significant material on the history of the Australian Church; the founding of a religious order that continues to have far-reaching effects in Australia and around the world and the process of canonisation.
