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| St. John Baptist de
La Salle |
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.
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