You might not expect to find a religious vocation on a pest control route, but for Brother Robert LeGros, that experience led him to Holy Cross.

“I had befriended a priest who was on my route,” recalls Brother Robert. “He introduced me to the vocation of a Brother and gave me a magazine about the different communities. In Holy Cross, the guys work in many fields, from doctors to electricians, teachers, and attorneys, and the article said a Holy Cross Brother ministers in an area where he is talented.

“I thought I must have some kind of talent,” he laughs, “though I didn’t know what it was. When I called, Holy Cross responded personally. They asked if they could come and visit, and that impressed me.”

The desire to be a Brother had first surfaced 21 years earlier when Brother Robert was six, though he didn’t know what a Brother was. He had looked into the priesthood, but that life just wasn’t right for him. Holy Cross gave him the community, spirituality, and learning he yearned for.

Yet this commitment, like any worth making, had its challenges.

He spent his first year, which he really enjoyed, in the candidate program in Austin. Then he went to Colorado for his novitiate.

“It was a great experience,” he says, “one of the best years of my life. Toward the end of the year I petitioned to take my temporary vows. But two weeks before the vow ceremony I started getting a lot of doubts. Even though these vows weren’t permanent, I thought I shouldn’t do it if I wasn’t fully confident.”

Brother Robert finished the year of studies, left the community, and moved back to Lake Charles, Louisiana, where he finished his degree in economics. Yet as he started looking into the job market, the thought of sitting at a desk doing paperwork didn’t seem fulfilling.

“I’d always wanted to be a teacher,” he says, “and I had stayed in touch with the Holy Cross community in Lake Charles. In 1995-96, I came back to Austin and did a year of re-entry. Then I got my first teaching position at St. Louis Elementary School in Austin, where I found my real love—teaching eighth- grade religion.”

After finishing his post-novitiate program and teaching for several years at Holy Cross School in New Orleans, he agreed to take over the combined Candidate Program and Collegiate Program at Moreau House, St. Edward’s University in fall 2002.

For 2003-2004 he worked with six young men who participated in the programs: three in the candidate program (two aspiring to be Brothers and one a priest) and three St. Ed’s students.

“I do my best not to distinguish the two groups,” says Brother Robert. “We live as one community, with small differences. The collegians are only required to participate in meals three times a week, but they choose to do it every day.”

This year Brother Robert has emphasized a few events that seem to be especially meaningful and engaging for the students.

“They really enjoy Monday faith-sharing, so I’ve made that a regular experience,” he explains. “Occasionally on Fridays we’d have a Mass and dinner where the guys invited friends and family, and that seemed to be one of the highlights. Now we do it every Friday, usually with around 20 to 25 guests.”

And what would he—a guy who found his vocation in an unconventional place—tell a young man who feels drawn to the life of a Brother?

“Looking back on my own experience,” he says, “it’s a good idea for a young person to look at their pattern in life. I was in my late 20s, not married and didn’t have children. That was a pattern that provoked the question, ‘What is life calling me to?’ It also left the option of religious life open.

“Look at the cues that say, ‘The path you are already on, what is it bringing you to?’” he suggests. “Drastic turns here and there aren’t necessary to find your way. The signs may be all around.

“I’d also tell a young man that the collegiate program here applies absolutely no pressure to commit to religious life,” he says. “It’s a revelation for any guy who wants to better his life, and it gives you an ideal way to look into the life of Holy Cross Brothers.”