Followers of the School of Nazareth
Story by Dan Rislove
Cor Jesu: the Heart of a New Kind of Consecrated Life
The Institute of St. Joseph is headquartered at Cor Jesu Oratory, a small country church nestled among the fields just off Highway 29 near Edson, Wis. “Cor Jesu” means “Heart of Jesus” in Latin. The name was chosen to give continuity to the original church, which was dedicated as “Sacred Heart” by Father Charles Francis Xavier Goldsmith in 1874. “Oratory” means a place of prayer and worship that is designated for a religious institution rather than a traditional parish community. Although the public is always welcomed and encouraged to attend Mass there, Cor Jesu Oratory was dedicated in 2007 for use by the Institute of Saint Joseph. Since 2011, Father John Mary Gilbert and Brother Joseph Larsen, two consecrated hermits with the institute, live and work there full-time. As members of the institute, their primary missions is to “promote the universal call to holiness” through contemplation and prayer and to support the institute’s administration.
But the Institute of Saint Joseph is not a place—it is a public association of the faithful. It consists of people, consecrated people, from all walks of life. Currently, there are 44 members, who are spread across the Diocese of La Crosse. According to Father Michael Klos, the moderator general of the Institute of Saint Joseph, “the institute is a new kind of consecrated life, which brings together all the states in life—religious, diocesan priests, married and dedicated single persons.” What makes the institute unique is that people from all walks of life can live a consecrated life devoted to the Holy Family.
God Takes the Institute on an Unexpected Path
In the late 1970s, when Father Willian Felix was in seminary and Father John Mary was still a college student, they had long discussions about the Catholic Faith and how to live it. Father Felix was especially moved by a speech Pope Paul VI gave at Nazareth in 1964. His Holiness spoke of the “school of Nazareth”—the years before Jesus began His public ministry, when the Holy Family lived, worked, studied and prayed together.
With the help of then-Father Raymond Burke (now His Eminence, Raymond Cardinal Burke), who served as moderator of the curia for Bishop John Paul, they obtained approval for a private association of the faithful. On June 7, 1987—the Solemnity of Pentecost—the Institute of Saint Joseph was born. It began with seven members, one of whom was Father John Mary (then Brother John Mary), who became a consecrated brother with the institute in 1988. It was later formally established as a public association of the faithful in 1996.
Those unfamiliar with the institute are likely to associate Cor Jesu Oratory with a different institution of the Catholic Church—the traditional Latin Mass. That the Institute of Saint Joseph is now the keeper of the traditional Latin Mass in the Northwest region of the diocese is evidence of God working in mysterious ways.
In 2007, Father Norbert Wilger was no longer able to offer the traditional Latin Mass due to health reasons. Bishop Jerome Listecki asked the institute’s consecrated hermits, Father John Mary and Brother Joseph, to continue the ministry. They agreed. Father Felix explained that they were happy to help preserve the traditions of the church, but also glad that the institute could be of service to the diocese. Eventually, the traditional Latin Masses were moved to Cor Jesu Oratory, where they have been regularly offered ever since.
Unlike other Catholic groups (for example, the Institute of Christ the King, Sovereign Priest, which offers Latin Masses at St. Mary’s Oratory in Wausau), the Institute of Saint Joseph was not specifically founded on the mission of preserving traditional Latin Mass. The two co-founders of the institute, Father William Felix and Father John Mary Gilbert, emphasize that the institute was founded on the Novus Ordo Mass—the Mass celebrated in most other Catholic churches today. In fact, it is this Mass that they pray at their regular monthly meetings.
One School for Many Particular Circumstances of Life
The institute makes the consecrated life available to people from all stations of life—religious, diocesan priests, married and dedicated single persons. While each state in life has its own fraternity, all members live a consecrated life as a single ecclesial family. For married couples, there is the Holy Family Fraternity, while the Annunciation Fraternity serves single people called to that state. Diocesan priests belong to the Incarnation Fraternity, which currently has 10 members. Finally, the Nazareth Fraternity is composed of the institute’s consecrated hermits, Father John Mary and Brother Joseph.
Like any call to the consecrated life, it takes many years to discern a vocation with the Institute of Saint Joseph. One begins as an observer, learning about the institute’s spirit, charism and character. Observership is followed by a two-year candidacy, then a five-year novitiate.
Candidates consecrate themselves to St. Joseph, while novices consecrate themselves to the Blessed Virgin Mary and then make their temporary profession. If the novice and the council of the institute discern a call, the novice will be incorporated through final vows as a full member.
All members of the Institute of Saint Joseph pray daily for the Church and for their fellow members. Members submit to the life of Nazareth by practicing nine principles: silence, contemplation, poverty, chastity, obedience, prayer, study, work and charity. Their discipline consists of spiritual meditation, spiritual reading, praying the Liturgy of the Hours and penance.
If this sounds vaguely familiar, it is because public associations of the faithful go by many names—third orders, confraternities, pious unions, societies, etc. What distinguishes them is their particular spiritual charism. The Institute of Saint Joseph is so named because St. Joseph is their model of complete surrender to God and loving devotion to Jesus and Mary. Their spiritual lessons are drawn from the Holy Family in the School of Nazareth.
God and the World Present to Each Other
Robert “Bob” Krause has been involved with the Institute of Saint Joseph since 1991. Most days, he leads the Rosary during his holy hour at Notre Dame Church in Chippewa Falls. Bob has a special devotion to Mary that began when he was about 10 years old. One day, when his family was watching the Venerable Fulton Sheen on TV, his mother asked the kids to quiet down. Just then, Bishop Sheen mentioned “Mary, the lady I love.” Bob has referred to Mary as “the lady I love” ever since.
Bob says, “My thing in the institute is the Blessed Mother. They realized that when I was first interviewed. So, it’s followed me my whole life.” He smiles and adds, “It made me famous throughout the area as ‘the Rosary man.’” Bob believes he has led a Rosary in every church in the Chippewa Deanery, including at the International Rosary March at St. Peter Church in Tilden.
When Bishop Burke asked him to represent the institute at the 2000 Synod, he worried about not being a trained theologian, but said, “Let it be done unto me according to thy word.” That very Marian attitude also helps him to serve as moderator of the Annunciation Fraternity.
The motto of the Institute of Saint Joseph is “To make God present to the world and the world to God.” When asked what the Institute of Saint Joseph has done for him, Bob says that “it has brought me closer to Mary, and I can do more for her.” He urged those who might feel a calling to live a consecrated life not to wait. “I tell you what,” he says about married couples, “this is the time you need [the institute], not after the kids have gone and grown up. You need it now.”
For more information
about the Institute of Saint Joseph, speak with any member of the institute, email info@instituteofstjoseph.com or call 715.667.3372.
A statue of the Holy Family at Cor Jesu Oratory in Edson, Wis. The Institution of Saint Joseph has a special devotion to the Holy Family and the “School of Nazareth.”
Leading members of the Institute of Saint Joseph at Core Jesu Oratory on January 17, 2026. From left to right: Father Michael Klos, moderator general, Father William Felix, cofounder and Father John Mary Gilbert, cofounder and consecrated hermit.