John de la Salle, priest, founder of the School Brothers

Feast day: 7 April

* April 30, 1651 Reims (Reims), France

† April 7, 1719 St-Yon, Rouen, France

Meaning of the name John: God is gracious (Hebrew)

(Saint John the Baptist) Patron saint of teachers

Pierre Léger: St. John de la Salle

St. John Baptist de la Salle was born in Reims on April 30, 1651, into a prominent noble family. His parents cared greatly to give all ten children a good religious education. John was the eldest. Three brothers became priests, and one sister entered a convent. At the age of eleven, John – according to the custom of the time – received the tonsure and thus became a cleric. Not quite sixteen, he became a canon of Remes Cathedral, an essential and lucrative position. But this did not spoil John. He was not seduced to a life of ease and comfort. He continued his studies. In 1669, he became a doctor of philosophy. In 1670, he entered the seminary of St. Sulpice in Paris. In 1672, both his parents died. John became the head of the family. He returned home from the seminary and cared for his younger siblings. He wondered if he was called to become a priest in this situation. His relatives tried to talk him out of the priesthood. He hesitated. He undertook eight days of spiritual exercises. At these retreats, he became convinced that God was calling him to the priesthood. After that, he never wavered and continued on the path he had set out. He began to mortify himself, fasting and shortening his sleep. He continued his studies in Reims. Furthermore, he was ordained a priest on White Saturday in 1678.

In those days, there was a shortage of good and free schools. Europe was devastated by the wars that raged in the 16th and 17th centuries. Monasteries, schools, and parishes were destroyed. Many children and young people did not receive even a basic education, they were abandoned, on the streets. John observed this with sorrow. He decided to establish schools for them. In the town of Rouen lived a particular relative of his, a wealthy Mrs. Maillefer, who led a worldly life. After a while, however, she turned around and began to support a girls’ school founded and run by Canon Nicholas Roland. Mrs. Maillefer, however, wanted the boys to have the opportunity for education.

John received her recommendation and support to establish a free school for boys in Reims. After overcoming the difficulties, this was achieved. With the help of others, John founded the school, financed by the money he had as a canon or left over from his inheritance. All the time, however, he was thinking about what to do to make the school work even better, so that the teachers would not only teach out of duty but also witness the spiritual life. Finally, he decided. In 1683, he gave up his canonical place and the income that came from it. A year later, he also gave up his inheritance. He remained living in poverty and solely on alms, despite being discouraged from doing so by both priests and the archbishop. John, however, spoke: “How can I recommend poverty if I myself will not be poor?” Soon, several young men joined him and began to teach and educate the boys free of charge. But it was still only a secular association. After much prayer and reflection, John wrote spiritual rules so that a spiritual community could be formed. He decided that all those belonging to the religious order would not be priests, but brothers. It was logical that the superiors would also be brothers only. He therefore excluded himself from the superior position of the religious order. It was only at the insistence of his brothers that he assumed the leadership of the new society.

Thus, the Order of the Brothers of the Christian Schools, popularly “school brothers”, came into being. Their main aim was to fight against ignorance. Many parish priests, especially rural ones, begged John to send them school brothers who were willing to teach children for free. Because of this, John set up the first teachers’ seminary in Reims in 1685, where future rural teachers were educated. A year later, he opened a similar seminary in Paris. In both, teaching was free. There were usually about thirty pupils, who then dispersed to the villages and taught there. John himself had patronage over these institutes.

At the same time, John led a strict life. He fasted, spent much time in prayer, scourged himself, and wore a penitential girdle under his priestly vestments. At the same time, however, he was joyful, without drawing attention to his virtues. He wanted to do everything for the honor and glory of God. His schools spread elsewhere. He also founded the first industrial school in Europe, despite the slanders and persecutions he suffered for his activities. Pupils there were taught surveying, building, drawing, and bookkeeping. This was opposed mainly by secular teachers, who feared losing their jobs. In Paris, the parliament even forbade John from teaching. He was only allowed to teach those whose poverty was undeniable. By the end of the seventeenth century, the School Brothers had sixteen schools with over one thousand five hundred children.

When John saw that the order was sufficiently established, he asked the brothers to elect a new superior general. After much hemming and hawing, the brothers agreed. In 1717, they elected Francis Barthélemy to the post. John settled in Rouen, where he lived in prayer and modesty. He did not cease to help the poor. In the meantime, his health was deteriorating. Before Easter in 1719, he received the anointing of the sick. He died on Good Friday morning, April 7, 1719, at Saint-Yon near Rouen. He was declared a saint in 1900 by Pope Leo XIII.

St. John de la Salle gained enormous merit in schools and education. He is the founder of the vernacular school; he was the first to make the national language the basis of instruction (instead of the former Latin), the first to found an industrial school, and the first to found an institute for teachers. He made schools accessible to a wide range of people. His order continues this activity to this day. John also wrote several writings, such as Instructions for the Administration of Schools, On the Duties of the Brethren, The Duties of a Christian, Meditations, and others.