Jean-Baptiste de La Salle
Jean-Baptiste de La Salle (/ləˈsæl/) (French pronunciation: [ʒɑ̃ batist də la sal]; 1651 – 7 April 1719) was a French priest, educational reformer, and founder of the Institute of the Brothers of the Christian Schools. He is a saint of the Catholic Church and the patron saint for teachers of youth. He is referred to both as La Salle and as De La Salle.
This article is about the French saint and educational reformer. For the explorer, see René-Robert de La Salle.
John-Baptist de La Salle
30 April 1651
Reims, Champagne,
Kingdom of France
19 February 1888, Saint Peter's Basilica by Pope Leo XIII
24 May 1900, Saint Peter's Basilica by Pope Leo XIII
Sanctuary of John Baptist de La Salle, Casa Generalizia, Rome, Italy
Church: 7 April
15 May (General Roman Calendar 1904-1969, and Lasallian institutions)
Book, Christian Brothers' habit
Teachers of Youth, (15 May 1950, Pius XII)
Institute of the Brothers of the Christian Schools
Lasallian Educational Institutions
Educators
School principals
Teachers
Background[edit]
La Salle was born to a wealthy family in Reims, France, on 30 April 1651. He was the eldest child of Louis de La Salle and Nicolle Moet de Brouillet. Nicolle's family was a noble one and operated a successful winery business; she was a relative of Claude Moët, founder of Moët & Chandon.[1]
La Salle was tonsured at age eleven on 11 March 1662,[2][3] in an official ceremony that marked a boy's intention, and his parents offer of their young sons, to the service of God.[4] He was named canon of Reims Cathedral when he was sixteen,[5] and at seventeen received minor orders.[2] He was sent to the College des Bons Enfants, where he pursued higher studies and on 10 July 1669 he took the degree of Master of Arts. When De La Salle had completed his classical, literary, and philosophical courses, he was sent to Paris to enter the Seminary of Saint-Sulpice on 18 October 1670. His mother died on 19 July 1671 and his father on 9 April 1672. This circumstance obliged him to leave Saint-Sulpice on 19 April 1672. He was now twenty-one, the head of the family, and as such had the responsibility of educating his four brothers and two sisters. In 1672 he received the minor order of subdeacon, was ordained a deacon in 1676, and then finally completed his theological studies and was ordained to the priesthood at the age of 26 on 9 April 1678.[6] Two years later he received a doctorate in theology.[3]
Sisters of the Child Jesus[edit]
The Sisters of the Child Jesus were a new religious congregation whose work was the care of the sick and education of poor girls. The young priest helped them become established and then served as their chaplain and confessor. It was through his work with the Sisters that in 1679 he met Adrian Nyel. With De La Salle's help, a school was soon opened. Shortly thereafter, a wealthy woman in Reims told Nyel that she also would endow a school, but only if La Salle would help. What began as an effort to help Adrian Nyel establish a school for the poor in La Salle's home town gradually became his life's work.[7]