Page 146 - March On! God will Provide by Brother Aubert

. TO SAVE AND PERPETUATT, IZ5
In thinking his problems through to the point where
all these ideis mifiht prove fruitless, the Founder told
His Excellency that as a last resort, he would sell "Het
Walletje" back to the Dujardins and then move the com'
munity to the house in Mariastraat where he housed the
School of Our Lady. Here the Brothers would commit
themselves to Divine Providence and try to get along as
best they could. What the hard-pressed Brother Ryken
overlooked was the business fact that banks do not buy
back. They foreclose. It was up to the owner to find a
purchaser who would pay a reasonable price if he wished
to avoid a forced sale at a public auction.
Brother Ryken was never one to wait for opportuni-
ties. He went looking for them. When several weeks
had passed without his having heard from the Bishop,
he wrote on December 20, 1849, to inquire whether or
not permission could be granted for any of his proposals.
This letter brought no reply.
Although Bishop Malou, as far as Brother Ryken was
concerned, remained wrapped in silence, the afiairs of
the Congregation of the Xaverian Brothers went on seem'
ingly as if no one had a doubt of its continued existence.
In January, 1850, Brother Ryken notified the pastor of
Beernem, a small village near Bruges, that he could not
at present take charge of his school. He did not have
the men, but he hoped to have some soon. He gave the
same answer to two pastors in England, Father Frapps
at Hull and Father Render at York. Nasmyth Stokes,
secretary of the recently organized Committee for Cath-
olic Poor Schools, fared no better. He had asked for
six Brothers to teach in a school in London.
This lack of man power may have been the reason, at
least in part, why Brother Alphonse remained in Bruges,
after havinf been relieved of the Superiorship at Bury,