Albertine Brothers
| Abbreviation | C.F.A.P.U. |
|---|---|
| Formation | c. AD 1888 |
| Founder | Albert Chmielowski |
| Type | Catholic religious order |
| Headquarters | Poland |
| Website | albertyni |
The Albertine Brothers are a Catholic congregation of Religious Brothers of the Third Order Regular of St. Francis, called the Servants of the Poor. They were founded in 1888 by Saint Albert Chmielowski in Kraków, Poland.
The founder, born Adam Chmielowski (1845-1916), came from an aristocratic Polish family. Orphaned at a young age, he grew up expecting to take responsibility for the family estates and studied agriculture to this end. The young student, however, was a strong Polish nationalist and took part in the January Uprising of 1863, in the course of which he lost a leg.
Chmielowski was forced to flee Poland due to the repressive response of the Czarist authorities and moved to Belgium to continue his studies. During that period, he discovered that he had artistic talent, and began to develop that ability. By the time of his return to Poland in 1874, he was an accomplished painter, who became successful in Kraków.
When he returned to his homeland, though, Chmielowski was struck at the degree of poverty he saw among the people of the country. He began to help at homeless shelters run by the city, where he grew to know the poorest segment of the population at first-hand. Over the next decade, he continued this service, while maintaining his artistic career, though he increasingly turned to religious themes.
By 1887, Chmielowski had decided to abandon his career, to live among the poor and needy and to accept a beggar's life and lifestyle. On 25 August of that year, the feast of the patron saint of the Order, Saint Louis, King of France, he became a member of the Third Order of St. Francis, publicly wearing the traditional gray habit of the Order and took the name Brother Albert. He began to live in the shelters where he served, giving himself fully to the poor around him and working to give them hope.
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