St.
John Baptist de La Salle was born is Rheims, France in 1651.
His childhood days were spent during the period of French
history known as the 'Splendid Century' and was marked by
endless wars and intermittent disturbances. The gap between
the rich and toe poor widened to an unprecedented extent: the
former lived in lavishness, the latter in abject poverty.
Born in this morally and
politically unstable era, John Baptist was a descendant of a
distinguished family. This did not blind him to the sufferings
many other under-privileged peasants were experiencing at that
time.
St. John Baptist de La La Salle
was born is Rheims, France in 1651. His childhood days were
spent during the period of French history known as the
'Splendid Century' and was marked by endless wars and
intermittent disturbances. The gap between the rich and toe
poor widened to an unprecedented extent: the former lived in
lavishness, the latter in abject poverty.
Born in this morally and
politically unstable era, John Baptist was a descendant of a
distinguished family. This did not blind him to the sufferings
many other under-privileged peasants were experiencing at that
time.
Although little is known about
his childhood, it seems that John Baptist decided to take on a
priestly career at an early age. He received Christian
education, and at the age of 19, entered the seminary of Saint
Sulpice in Paris to prepare for priesthood. There, John
Baptist found later turned out to be his future work -
teaching.
In 1678, John Baptist was
ordained priest, and from then on, started his life of
teaching. In 1679, he took part in constituting a charity
school for boys in France. At first, he met with numerous
obstacles. He found the students undisciplined, the teachers
poorly trained and worst of all, both the students and the
worst of all, both the student and teachers of the newly
formed school were alienated by traditional educators and
teachers. John Baptist made much effort to eliminate these
difficulties. He believed that the teachers could only be
improved by proper training, and decided to let the teachers
live with him, himself acting as the teachers' trainer.
Although his action was at first controversial, it was later
proved appropriate, as in 1684, he already had seven such
schools running smoothly in Rheims.
Perhaps John Baptist's most
significant contribution towards the entire industry of
education I France was that he was able to bring education to
children of all classes. Before his revolution, education in
most European countries was only limited to the upper-class
and those who could afford it financially. John Baptist later
formed a religious organisation composed of 12 other teachers,
the nucleus of the Christian Brothers with himself as the
president. John Baptist organisation was founded upon his
vision that every single could in France should receive proper
education and moral training.
John Baptist was shunned by
many sides of French society. His teachings with French as a
medium instead if Latin were greatly criticised by traditional
teachers, who believed that Latin was the only truly civilised
language suitable for teaching. But John Baptist stood fast
and continued his work, while constantly improving the quality
of education he was offering. New schools were opened, and
John Baptist de La Salle's name became famous throughout
France.
John Baptist's success was
substantial , but he never became proud overjoyed by his
rewarding works. In fact, he always tended to hide behind his
work, often gave credit to his teachers and helpers. In 1717,
he stepped down from the leadership of the organisation, but
remained a great influence on the Brothers and their fellows.
Form devotion almost all almost
all his life to reforming education in France, John Baptist
was gradually weakened physically. He died on Good Friday,
April 7, 1791. He was canonised in 1900 by Pope Leo XIII and
proclaimed 'Patron of all Teachers' by Pop Pius XII in1951.
His feast day is celebrated on May 15.
The Christian Brothers (De La
Salle Brothers) are now known the world over. Today 15,000
Christian conduct schools, colleges and universities in some
80 countries. In Asia, the Brothers have establishments in
Burma, Cambodia, Ceylon, Hong Kong, India, Japan, Malaysia,
Pakistan, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.
|