Brother Mathias Barrett
(1900-1990)

Brother Mathias Barrett was born as Maurice Patrick Barrett on March 15, 1900 in Waterford, Ireland. On March 17, 1916 Brother Mathias entered the Hospitaller Order of St. John of God. He became a leading force as the North American Provincial of his Order and a vocal advocate for the building of many institutions such as hospitals, soup kitchens, and rehabilitation centers. Brother Mathias arrived in New Mexico in September of 1950 to help with the care of elderly priests, and soon after established a new Order of Brothers and a house for men on the road in Albuquerque.

On January 19, 1951 Brother Mathias founded the Congregation of the Little Brothers of the Good Shepherd (BGS), a Roman Catholic pontifical institute of religious Brothers, whose members profess the canonical, public vows of chastity, poverty and obedience.

Brother Mathias went to Miami in the late 1950s at the request of Miami's first Bishop, Coleman Carroll, who was concerned about the large influx of Cuban refugees into the archdiocese who came to the city with no food and no place to stay. In 1960 Brother Mathias founded Camillus House, serving the first meal of donated corn flakes with donated milk to an elderly man. Several weeks later he moved Camillus House to 726 N.E. First Ave. and the charity has since fed, clothed, housed, and provided medical treatment to hundreds of thousands of needy people.

Brother Mathias died in retirement in 1990, an almost legendary figure with worldwide fame. The order he founded, The Little Brothers of the Good Shepherd, continues to help those in need all over the world, with locations in New Orleans, Albuquerque, Philadelphia, Momence, Kansas City, Toronto and Hamilton in Canada, and Wolverhampton in England.

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