July 31, 2024 // Diocese

Fathers, Sons Grow Closer to Christ at Fraternus Ranch

Eric Peat

High in the wooded hills of southeastern Tennessee, nearly 600 young men spent the better part of five days growing in brotherhood and striving for manhood – not just through the whitewater rafting, zip-lining, and paintball that dotted their schedules, but through daily Mass, praying the Rosary, and spending time with Jesus in Eucharistic adoration.

This is the core of Fraternus, a national organization that aims to instill virtue in young men from sixth through 12th grade via the mentorship of men and fathers. The Catholic brotherhood is rooted in the teachings of the Church and points to Christ as the ultimate model of authentic manliness. Fraternus chapters meet weekly through the school year, but for five days each summer, more than 20 chapters from across the country converge for what is known simply as Ranch – a physically challenging, socially deepening, and spiritually enriching experience.

Ranch 2024, which was held at Ocoee Ridge Camp in Tennessee from July 10-14, was no exception. The Diocese of Fort Wayne-South Bend accounted for nearly 10 percent of the entire assembly, as the Fraternus Chapter from St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Parish in Fort Wayne brought its largest-ever group of 53 individuals, easily surpassing its previous record of 44. Tony Gray, Chapter Commander and a parishioner of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton, said the increased turnout is a byproduct of the chapter’s consistent growth of 20 percent a year throughout the past three years.

“We’re also very fortunate that we receive a lot of generous financial contributions from individual people or other corporations, and that allows us to maybe expand people that can go and offer a lot of financial assistance to give everyone the experience that we had,” Gray said. “I want to continue opening this up to as many as we can, and we’re blessed because of the funding that we’ve been able to obtain.”

This funding helped 41 young men, or “brothers,” as Fraternus tabs them, and 12 adults, or “captains,” from the St. Elizabeth Ann Seton chapter to make the trek to Tennessee. There, they grew in relationship not only with individuals from their own chapter but with brothers and captains from a handful of other states, along with seven priests and seven seminarians who spent the week at Ranch, including Father Jake Schneider, Parochial Vicar at St. Elizabeth Ann Seton.

“To me, the biggest thing that I love is the brotherhood-building and the opportunity to know a lot of the young men that went with us,” Gray said. “You get to learn about them in a more intimate way. That allows you to maybe change how you interact with them in the future, since you know them a lot deeper.”

This year’s Ranch featured a packed daily schedule, with groups breaking off for fun activities ranging from rafting to paintball, from wave pool to waterslides, and from ropes courses to zip-lining. The activities culminated with the Warrior Dash, a combination of 10 physical challenges completed as a group on the final full day of Ranch.

However, the schedule revolved around the spiritual components of Ranch, including daily Mass, praying the Rosary, and Eucharistic adoration, with confession available throughout the week. Ranch 2024 even featured a Latin Mass – a first for many of the attendees. Each night, everyone would also gather for the King’s Message, a featured talk on a particular theme, followed by Squad Time, or small group discussions by grade, with captains guiding the conversations among brothers.

While brothers from the St. Elizabeth Ann Seton chapter voiced many favorite activities from the trip – including whitewater rafting, the wave pool, and making new friends – they were unified in what brought them closer to Christ.

“My favorite part of Ranch was adoration and the Latin High Mass,” said John Paul Landrigan, an 11th-grader who was attending his fifth Ranch. “I definitely grew spiritually during adoration, kneeling the whole time and growing with my brothers, just being able to pay attention to God and sacrificing my body to Christ.”

Four-time Ranch attendee Jamie Lai, who is entering 10th grade, told Today’s Catholic that his favorite part was attending Mass “and seeing the Eucharist held up, and the transubstantiation. … Just being there in that moment … it gets better every time.”

While some fruits from Ranch were readily apparent for these young men upon their return home, other seeds were planted – such as the influence of spending a week in the presence of priests and seminarians – that may take time to fully develop.

“The hope is that for Fort Wayne-South Bend diocese, the more that we can give this experience to, they can see all the seminarians that were there that participated in these highly reverent Masses,” Gray said. “The hope is that we are growing vocations because of it.”