Saint Jean Baptiste de LaSalle
| John Baptist De La Salle (Jean Baptiste de La Salle) | |
|---|---|
 Portrait of De La Salle taken from a painting by Giovanni Gagliardi | |
| Patron Saint of Teachers | |
| Born | April 30, 1651, Reims, France |
| Died | April 7, 1719, Saint-Yon, Rouen, France |
| Venerated in | Roman Catholic Church |
| Beatified | February 19, 1888 |
| Canonized | May 24, 1900 |
| Major shrine | Sanctuary of John Baptist de La Salle, Casa Generalizia, Rome, Italy. |
| Feast | Church: April 7, Lasallian Institutions: May 15 |
| Attributes | stretched right arm with finger pointing up, instructing two children standing near him, books |
| Patronage | Institute of the Brothers of the Christian Schools, Lasallian educational institutions, educators, school principals, teachers |
Saint Jean-Baptiste de La Salle (born April 30, 1651 in Reims; died April 7, 1719 in Saint-Yon, Rouen) was a French priest and educational reformer, who dedicated more than 40 years of his life to the education of the children of the poor. In the process, he standardized educational practices throughout France, wrote inspirational meditations on the ministry of teaching (along with catechisms, politeness texts, and other resources for teachers and students), and became the catalyst and resource for many other religious congregations dedicated to education that were founded in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.
He was founder of the Institute of the Brothers of the Christian Schools, an international educational movement, whose order is commonly known as the Christian Brothers. La Salle was ordained to the priesthood in 1678, beatified in 1888, and canonized by Pope Leo XIII in 1900. He was proclaimed Patron of Christian Teachers by Pope Pius XII in 1950.
Life
Brought up in a wealthy family and having received a good education, when he just 16 years old, Jean-Baptiste de La Salle was appointed a canon of Reims Cathedral. He was ordained to the priesthood at the age of 27. Two years later he received a doctorate in theology. He would later leave his position as canon priest at Reims and found a religious community devoted to teaching, distributing his fortune to the poor during a particularly harsh winter.
During his work as a priest, he increasingly became involved with helping out the common people. One way in which this desire to help the common man manifested itself was his involvement with a group of poor and relatively uneducated men, who wished to help with the teaching of poor boys. This involvement began when, in March of 1679, he met Adrien Nyel, a committed educator of the poor who provided them with many services. This man quickly convinced La Salle to help him with his mission. His involvement increased until he eventually became the leader of the project. Las Salle was impressed by the deplorable conditions in which these impoverished people lived. To him, they seemed "far from salvation."
La Salle became involved in education little by little, without ever consciously setting out to do so. What began as a charitable effort to help Nyel organize a group of marginally competent [[teachers] in La Salle's hometown gradually became his life's work. In his own words, one decision led to another until he found himself doing something that he had never anticipated.
La Salle wrote:
| “ | ...God, who guides all things with wisdom and serenity, whose way it is not to force the inclinations of persons, willed to commit me entirely to the development of the schools. He did this in an imperceptible way and over a long period of time so that one commitment led to another in a way that I did not foresee in the beginning. | ” |
He renounced both his wealth and his position of canon at the local church. He thought that not having these material possessions would make him better able to connect with his students. He soon abandoned his family home and moved in with the teachers. This educational venture led to the founding in 1680 of a new order, the Institute of the Brothers of the Christian Schools, also known as the De La Salle Christian Brothers, and, especially in the United States, the Christian Brothers. His schools stressed practical skills and religious instruction rather than classical education. La Salle also pioneered teacher training colleges. His books on piety and on teaching methods were widely read.
This new order met with a great deal of resistance from local authorities, as well as from other, more established educational institutions. The Roman Catholic Church initially rejected the creation of a new order, and the other schools resented the methods that he used: new forms of teaching, and free education for all.
La Salle used many methods of teaching that were unheard of in seventeenth-century France. He grouped students together, generally by their ability, in order to help them learn better. He also promoted well-educated teachers, something that was not very common in his day. Another of his controversial methods was teaching in the vernacular. Most schools, especially religious ones, were taught almost entirely in Latin. He also integrated religious studies with more traditional subjects.
After a lifetime of care for the poor, John Baptiste de La Salle died at the age of 67 on Good Friday, April 7, 1719, at Saint Yon, near the French town of Rouen. On February 19, 1888, La Salle was beatified. He was officially canonized as a saint on May 24, 1900. On May 15, 1950, Pope Pius XII proclaimed him to be the Patron Saint of all Teachers.
Legacy
According to St. John Baptist de La Salle, teachers are the "ambassadors of Christ" and "ministers of grace." He believed that teachers have a providential and privileged relationship with their students.
La Salle was a pedagogical thinker of note and is among the founders of a distinctively modern pedagogy. In 1685, La Salle founded what is generally considered the first normal school—that is, a school whose purpose is to train teachers—in Reims. Currently, about 6,000 Christian Brothers and 75,000 lay and religious colleagues worldwide serve as teachers, counselors, and guides to 900,000 students in over 1,000 educational institutions in 84 countries, carrying out the work of the founder into the twenty-first century. He was canonized by Pope Leo XIII on May 24, 1900 and his feast is celebrated in the Catholic Church calendar on April 7, and at La Sallian institutions on May 15. He was proclaimed as the Patron Saint of Teachers in 1950 by Pope Pius XII.
The network of schools that he created, now known as Lasallian Schools, still exists today, in many countries around the world. The schools are primarily high schools and universities. After prayer; students at these schools still often say, "St. John Baptist de La Salle, pray for us. Live Jesus in our hearts, forever." The lines "St. John Baptist de La Salle" and "live Jesus in our hearts", are said by the prayer leader, and "pray for us," and "forever" are recited by the students.
ReferencesISBN links support NWE through referral fees
- Courtois, Gaston. Saint John Baptiste de La Salle, Long Publishing Co., 1959. ASIN B0007H7MOI
- Martinez, Luis Varela. Sacred Scripture in the Spirituality of Saint John Baptiste de La Salle, Lasallian Publications, 2000. ISBN 978-0944808238
- Salm, Luke. The Work is Yours: The Life of Saint John Baptist de La Salle, Christian Brothers Conference, 1996. ISBN 978-1884904080
- Wurth, Othmar. John Baptiste de La Salle and Special Education, Lasallian Publications, 1980. ISBN 978-0944808023
External links
- La Salle website
- St. John Baptist de la Salle. Catholic Encyclopedia.
Credits
New World Encyclopedia writers and editors rewrote and completed the Wikipedia article in accordance with New World Encyclopedia standards. This article abides by terms of the Creative Commons CC-by-sa 3.0 License (CC-by-sa), which may be used and disseminated with proper attribution. Credit is due under the terms of this license that can reference both the New World Encyclopedia contributors and the selfless volunteer contributors of the Wikimedia Foundation. To cite this article click here for a list of acceptable citing formats.The history of earlier contributions by wikipedians is accessible to researchers here:
The history of this article since it was imported to New World Encyclopedia:
Note: Some restrictions may apply to use of individual images which are separately licensed.
