To be a Brother Priest or a Lay Brother?

Why not being both?

Most of us are priests, but we all are brothers. We treasure brotherhood in such a way that nobody knows who is a priest in the community except when we are at Mass. Our priesthood is for the people of God; our brotherhood represents our specific consecration. 

How: Priests serve, undertake chores, wash dishes like the others. All brothers, priest or lay, share equally in the decisions of the community in our conventual chapter.  

A priest for his brothers, and a brother for all.

Many of our brother priests serve in parishes, in chaplaincy, in spiritual guidance, in preaching or in teaching. However, they are sent by the community of the brothers. The lay brothers know that through their prayers and their brotherly care, they share in the priesthood. The lay brothers embrace the particular mission to witness to the brother priests that brotherhood is our peculiar gift. 

How: By the faithfulness in the regular life, brothers hold on to what remains the heart of the life of a brother of Saint John. But celebrating the sacraments in a privileged way for their brothers, the brother priests are at the service of their lay brothers.