Page 44 - March On! God will Provide by Brother Aubert

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return to his native air. De Smet remembered Ryken.
Years later he wrote a friend: "I met him in 1833. He
operated a small oil business. He looked extremely
poor."
Another priest that Ryken met in New York was a
Father Leo Van den Poel who charmed him. This priest
and another, Rev. John DeBruyne, arrived in New York
City in October, 1833, with a group of artisans whom
they had recruited to work on the American "mission."
In the party were eleven laymen-stonemasons, c:tr-
penters, tailors-organized into a kind of religious
Brotherhood. From New York City they went to Cin-
cinnati to meet Bishop-elect Rese who probably sent
them to Green Bay, Wisconsin, rvhich was then under
his jurisdiction.
In eight months Father Van den Poel was back in
New York City. He was on his u'ay home. He had a
new idea: he would organize a group of Brothers to
conduct schools on the "missions." Ryken volunteered
to join him as his first disciple. Van den Poel accepted
him as a co-founder. Ryken said goodbye to his friends,
arranged to leave some of his books and other belongings
at the Ross home, and then bought his ticket on the
Ajax, sailing for Liverpool from New York on or about
August 13, 1834. The Van den Poel-Ryken destination
was Bruges, Belgium.