Scotland: the end of a marist era
January 23rd 2006 sees the end of an era in Dundee, with the retirement from teaching of Brother Douglas, a member of the Marist Congregation. The Marist Brothers came to Dundee in 1860, one year after the Sisters of Mercy and three years before the Little Sisters of the Poor. They were involved in the founding and running of many schools in Dundee. But their apostolate did not end there. Following the charism of St. Marcellin Champagnat, they dedicated much of their time to helping the poor and the disadvantaged during the difficult times of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.
Brother Douglas, originally from St. Bernadette?s, Carntyne, Glasgow came to Dundee in 1984 as Youth Officer for the Diocese of Dunkeld. In this role he supported the youth development throughout the Diocese and was greatly aided in this by the acquisition of Birchwood House in Birnam. With the voluntary help of the young people he was able to bring the house up to a standard which enabled the members of the Diocese to use it as a valuable resource ? for retreats, conferences, breaks, prayer meetings. In fact, Birchwood House became the envy of many dioceses!
He also organised the Youth Pilgrimages to Lourdes, raising funds for this from all over the Diocese, but notably in the Wellgate Shopping Centre where he organised so many Santas and grottos that he never wanted to see another one!
Wishing to return to teaching before he reached the ripe old age of fifty, Brother Douglas joined the staff in St. Saviour?s Secondary School. Over a period of time there he acted as Principal of Religious Studies.
He was eventually ?head-hunted? by Jim Freeman, the then rector of Lawside RC Academy, to run the Recovery Unit and teach English and Religious Education. As time went on, the Recovery Unit took up more and more of his time and finally he took it over completely.
In 2005 he received the Award for Services to Education in Dundee, which was established to recognize and reward outstanding service to education in the city.
With the restructuring of the Marist Provinces world-wide, Brother Douglas became involved in many meetings which took place in Belgium, Germany, Ireland and the Netherlands. This entailed a great deal of travel at weekends, but he always managed to turn up in time for school each Monday morning!
Brother Douglas made his Novitiate in Spain and went to Edinburgh University where he gained an Honours Degree. Subsequently he was sent to Rome to study as an interpreter. Following this, he became sub-Director in the Marist Juniorate, before taking up his post as Director of Vocations.
He was then asked to go to St. Joseph?s College, where he became Principal Teacher of Guidance. It was here that he adopted ?Charlie the Horse? as part of his work with disabled children. He was encouraged in this by his Head teacher, who drew the line, however, at Douglas bringing Charlie into the Assembly Hall to meet the pupils and to accept a cheque which had been made out to Charlie on behalf of the disabled children.
Although he retires in January, it is expected that Brother Douglas will be able to spend some time working in Lawside Academy in a different capacity. He will also be able to continue his work as translator here in Dundee, with more frequent visits to Glasgow!