History

Reprinted from Liguorian Magazine, February 2005

How can anyone live in this harsh heat and humidity?” visitors to the small town of Coari in Amazonas, Brazil, might ask. The climate smacks them in the face as they step off the tiny plane. Fifteen hundred miles up the Amazon River from the Atlantic Ocean, Coari sits in the middle of a rain forest, surrounded by rivers, lakes, and the mighty Amazon River. No roads lead out of the town; all commerce and activity are done by boat or canoe.

The people in this part of Brazil are mainly country folk who have lived some or most of their lives in the interior of the country and have come to the city for a better life. Their heritage is a mixture of Indian, native Brazilian, Portuguese, African, and some European. Their personalities glow with the crosscurrents of many nations.

In the middle of Coari stands the Saint Gerard’s Youth Center and Trade School. Groups of kids are everywhere in this bustling mecca of activity. Some are learning wood carving, some are building furniture, and others are sawing large boards or welding a decorative iron screen. The center also offers quieter areas with space for children to study, learn computer skills, read, paint, or even take in a dance class. How did the vision of Saint Gerard Majella, a Redemptorist brother who spent his whole life in Italy, ever make it so far up the Amazon River? Through the efforts of one man: Leo Patin, C.Ss.R., a Redemptorist brother from Grand Rapids, Michigan.

Brother Leo strikes a strong contrast to the native Brazilians as he walks the streets of Coari. A pale Irishman with a mile-wide smile and twinkling blue eyes, he wears a floppy hat and long sleeves to protect himself from the relentless sun and heat of the region. In 1992 at the age of fifty, Brother Leo was asked to leave his St. Louis-based ministry in healthcare to come to Brazil. When he received this assignment, he recalled something Mother Teresa once said: “Let God use us without consulting us!” These words inspired in him a deep hope and love for his future ministry in Brazil. He models his own prayer and work after Saint Gerard Majella, who lived in community with the founder of the Redemptorist Order, Saint Alphonsus Liguori. Saint Gerard, like Mother Teresa, was fond of saying, “The sick and the poor are Jesus Christ visible.”

During the first years of his ministry in Brazil, Brother Leo felt a call to work with those homebound people who suffered from leprosy. He made it his special cause to visit their small shacks, take them for medical checkups, and help them buy food, pay bills, and obtain their medications. Lydia, whom Brother Leo visits regularly, has difficulty caring for herself because she lost her hands and feet to leprosy, yet she looks after her preteen nieces and nephew who live with her. The family of four share a two-room shack. Brother Leo’s visits always bring out a shimmering radiance in Lydia and a concern that the Redemptorist brother isn’t working too hard. Despite her handicaps, she is a generous soul of compassion who gives Brother Leo as much inspiration as she receives from him.

As Brother Leo made his way through the dusty dirt roads of Coari during those early years, he always attracted a group of kids who would follow after him. In time, he recruited these kids to help him in his visitation ministry. Eventually Brother Leo was inspired to create a center to keep these kids off the street and educate the youth of the city in practical skills. It was his hope that these skills would help the youth secure jobs later in life. This inspiration took deep root, and Brother Leo began to beam with the excitement of an idealist who sees visions and dreams.

A large dilapidated building next to the Redemptorist rectory had been vacant for twelve years. The heat, humidity, and neglect had caved in some of the walls and parts of the roof of the building, and many of the support beams were broken in half. But what some saw as a disaster, Brother Leo saw as his future center. He immediately began working as a combination fundraiser, designer, engineer, builder, social worker, and community organizer. Both the Redemptorist Order and many private donors from Brother Leo’s hometown helped make his dream a reality. He even convinced many private donors to take the long and treacherous trip down to Coari to see firsthand what he was creating. Each person who visited returned home with a renewed commitment to be a partner in Brother Leo’s dream. Sometimes it is the simplest things that touch people the most. Brother Leo was insistent that his new center have private and separate bathrooms and showers for the boys and girls. He knew that almost all the family shacks in the city were without plumbing, and he wanted to provide a place for the children to dress for the center and to change after their period of work and study. These small touches of hospitality and compassion mark Brother Leo as a true religious man and a Redemptorist brother.

All children who commit to the center receive a card identifying them as members of the Saint Gerard’s Center, as well as a uniform to wear when they come to work and study. Volunteers teach in each area of the center. Classes are offered in woodcarving, carpentry, welding, painting, computer skills, car repair, study skills, library time, dance, cooking, sewing, and volunteer outreach to the sick, struggling, and dying. The youth graduate with a certificate that is recognized by the state of Amazonas.

Today as visitors enter the center they see a huge mural, designed and created by the kids. The mural depicts Saint Gerard surrounded by children and young people. In fact, most of the center’s rooms are not just functional but also have various pieces of art decorating the walls, all designed and created, of course, by the youth who come there. The pride the children feel in their work is contagious. Brother Leo and his staff have even opened a small store connected with the center, hoping that the youth might help support their families by selling their work to tourists and the local people.

In the spirit of Saint Gerard, the patron saint of expectant mothers, Brother Leo has also begun an outreach to single mothers and mothers-to-be. He and his staff are now on the lookout for another building to house this effort. The more Brother Leo does for the poor, the more he seems to want to do. The more he gives, the more energy and vision he seems to receive.

Brother Leo comes from a family of Redemptorists. He and his seven siblings grew up only one block away from the Redemptorist parish of Saint Alphonsus in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Four of his brothers also joined the Redemptorist Order. One is a missionary in Thailand, and the other three work in ministries in the Midwestern United States. All five brothers maintain contact with one another through shortwave radio and e-mail. Their encouragement and their strong Catholic and Redemptorist family ties are partly responsible for keeping Brother Leo’s dreams alive.

Brother Leo continues to see what might be and to dream of future possibilities for his youth. He hopes eventually to have enough computers in his study center for all the kids to be online and to have their own Web site dedicated to the Saint Gerard’s Youth Center and Trade School. Brother Leo also continues his expansion of the center. He hopes to acquire more abandoned buildings and double the center’s size. Rebecca, Brother Leo’s second in charge, helps keep the dream alive and burning. Brother Leo says of her, “There is no doubt in my mind that because of her enthusiasm, creativity, and dedication, we have grown by leaps and bounds. She loves the youth and they love her.” He feels confident that with Rebecca and the other Brazilians on his staff, the center will continue well after his time in the missions is complete.

One of the unforeseen blessings of the center is that it has become a breeding ground for vocations. The youth are inspired by Brother Leo and wish to become like him. One of his students is currently in the Redemptorist novitiate and will profess vows next year. Another is in the seminary college, and one is filling out the paperwork for entry. Yet another student has already professed vows as a LaSalette teaching brother, and two others have joined a teaching order of religious women.

Seeing all this drives home the amazing difference one person can make. Brother Leo, in his humble way, ascribes his success to the blessings of Saint Gerard Majella, his patron and mentor, and Mother Teresa, his inspiration. Truly, nothing is impossible with God and a few loyal followers.

Brother Leo is a very practical man who acknowledges that without the many generous people who have donated to the center, it would not exist and could not continue. He is grateful for all those who have visited and hopes that many more can make their way down to the Amazon valley to witness the blessings of God at work. The words of Saint Alphonsus certainly ring true in the life and work of Brother Leo Patin: “Give to everyone, especially the poor, they are only asking for what is theirs.”

Donations to Brother Leo Patin and his Saint Gerard’s Center may be sent to:
Redemptorist Retreat Center
Brother Gerard Patin, C.Ss.R.
1810 N. Timber Trail Lane
Oconomowoc, WI 530266-4897