I.

the lasallian mission and missionary works

Mission and Missionary Work

A mission is a specific task that a person is sent to perform. It is an
allotted or self-imposed duty or task; a calling; one’s mission in life.

It involves sending individuals and groups of Christian believers to

different places in our community (smaller scope) to do simple tasks and still
make an impact that lasts, bringing the Gospel message following the example
of St. John Baptist De La Salle.

Mission Action Plan

A detailed plan outlining the actions needed to reach one or
more goals or can redefine as a sequence of steps that must be
taken on activity that must be performed well for a strategy to
succeed.

II. THE LIFE OF DE LA SALLE

St. John Baptist De La Salle

Birth
➢ Birthdate: April 30, 1651
➢ Birthplace: Rheims, France

Family
➢ Eldest son of a wealthy couple
➢ Noble family in France
➢ Grandparents (father side):
○ Lancelot De La Salle
○ Grandma De La Salle
➢ Grandparents (mother side):
○ Jean Moet de Brouillet
○ Barbara Coquebert
➢ Parents: Louis De La Salle and Nicole Moet de Brouillet
➢ Siblings:
○ Marie (1654) + Jean Maillefer (husband)
○ Rose Marie (1656)
 ○ Jacques Joseph (1659)
○ Jean Louis (1664) + Francoise Henriette Bachelier (wife)
○ Pierre (1666)
○ Jean Remy (1670) + Madeleine Bertin du Rcoheret (wife)

Lessons From De La Salle’s Life

➢ Lasallian Lesson #1: Born a billionaire, but lived simply so he can
help others simply live.
○ St. La Salle learned from the saints to live a life of heroic love
for God
○ At age seven (7), he decided he wants to be a priest,
destined for the Church
■ Received tonsure at age eleven (11)
■ Named Canon of Rheims Cathedral at age sixteen
(16)
■ Entered the Seminary of St. Sulpice, Paris at age
nineteen (19)
■ Studied at Sorbonne University

➢ Lasallian Lesson #2: Set your ideals high. Choose your role models
correctly.
○ Troubles Up Ahead
■ When La Salle was 20 years old, his mother died
■ His father died a year later
■ Became legal guardian of his 6 brothers and sisters
○ De La Salle’s Educational Achievements
■ Ordained as subdeacon in 1672
■ Received licentiate in theology in 1676
■ Deacon in 1676
■ Priest on April 9, 1678
■ Doctorate in theology in 1680

➢ Lasallian Lesson #3: When troubles come, rise up to the challenge.

Prioritize, do not agonize. Rise up to the challenge. We shine under
pressure.
➢ Lasallian Lesson #4: When opportunity knocks, say yes to be of
service to God and neighbor.
○ Opportunity at the Door
■ Met a fellow Maverick - Adrian Nyel
■ Became involved with teachers, students, school, and
condition of poverty
○ Run Neuve, the Brothers first home away from home (Cradle
of the Institute)
■ It was here that De La Salle, first began to call
themselves “Brothers”
■ Community life became formalized
■ Most of the original men left but new candidates
appeared, inspired by De La Salle’s examples and
leadership

○ He became one with the poor

■ Near the end of 1682, De La Salle became convinced
God wanted him to devote all his energy to the
schools. His attempts to resign his canonry met with
fierce opposition. In August 1683, he resigned his
canonry and its stable income. Against custom, chose
a poor priest named Faubert to inherit the canonry
over his brother Jean Louis.
■ In January - February 1684, during the harshest winter
in a decade and in the midst of famine, De La Salle
liquidated his inheritance and sold most of his
possessions. He used the money to buy food which
he distributed to:
 ● orphans/poor girls and boys
● impoverished gentility
● destitute

➢ Lasallian Lesson #5: When you are doing good, believe that God
will provide. Since God provides, do not put it to waste.
○ Risk-Taker
■ Devoted his talents to open schools for poor children
■ Abandoned his family, canonry, and wealth
■ Established a community of brothers
○ Official habit and name - First Superior
■ 1686 - The Official Habit was approved
● Name: Fratres Scholarum Christianarum
(Brothers of Christian Schools)
■ De La Salle and the first brothers took their first vow
■ First Superior: Electing 24-year-old Brother Henri
L’Heureux

III. MOMENTS OF TRIUMPHS AND DEFEATS IN PARMENIE AND FINAL DAYS IN ROUEN

De La Salle - A Risk Taker

➢ Opportunity at the door
➢ Met Adrian Nyel who invited De La Salle to establish schools for
poor boys
➢ Became involved with teachers, students, schools, and condition of
poverty
➢ In January - February 1684, during the harshest winter and in the
midst of famine, De La Salle liquidated his inheritance and sold
most of his possessions
○ Used the money to buy food which he distributed to the
orphans, poor girls and boys, and impoverished gentility

De La Salle - Decision-Maker
➢ Formed a community that offered free education for all
○ Children
○ Delinquents
○ Working young men
 ➢ Rheims
○ 1686 - De La Salle named their group “Brothers of the
Christian Schools” (Fratres Scolarum Christianarum) in
French
○ Took vows of association and obedience
○ At present, the vows are:
■ Poverty
■ Chastity
■ Obedience
■ Association
■ Stability
○ Chose a distinctive robe to symbolize their identity
➢ Paris
○ Growth of community and schools in Paris
○ De La Salle’s innovations to the education
■ The use of vernacular from Latin to French
■ The use of simultaneous methods of teaching
■ Introduced innovative technical courses other than
reading and writing
■ Catechesis - Christian Education

Heroic Vow - November 21, 1961

➢ With Nicolas Vuyart and Gabriel Drolin
➢ A sacred vow to God and one another to keep the society and the
work even if they were the last members left, forced to beg for alms
and survive on bread alone

The Saint’s Humbling Experience (Parmenie and Rouen)

➢ Experience overwhelming defeat and was almost crushed by the
challenge
➢ Went into solitude at Parmenie in 1712 - 1714
➢ In his retreat in Parmenie, he rested in God’s plan and continued to
trust God even in the midst of an overwhelming defeat
➢ Met Sr. Louise who helped him in his discernment
➢ Experienced serious attack of rheumatism
➢ Period of self-effacement and doubt
Final Days in Rouen
➢ For De La Salle, the great things that he was able to accomplish
was not a product of his own pre-meditated plans, instead, those
actions were consciously chosen and done as a deliberate act of
love for God
➢ Inspired by this example from the founder, Lasallians today
continue to pray, “I will continue O my God to do all my actions for
the love of You”
➢ Asthma and severe rheumatism
➢ De La Salle passed away on Good Friday, April 7, 1719, at the of 68
➢ “I adore all things the Will of God in my regard” was De La Salle’s
last words
➢ Canonized by Pope Leo XIII in 1900
➢ Named patron saint of teachers by Pope Pius XII in 1950

Summary

Rheims ● Moments of encounter leading to

leap of faith
● De La Salle encountered God in the
face of the poor, embraced the
challenge, and made the leap of
faith by leaving his comfort zone to
give all of his life to God

Paris ● De La Salle expanded his mission

work to more places, met various
oppositions, experienced failures,
and was defeated but he even
made his “Heroic Vow”

Parmenie ● De La Salle experienced

overwhelming defeat and was
almost crushed by the challenge.
In his retreat in Parmenie, he
rested in God’s plan and continued
to trust God even in the midst of an
overwhelming defeat

Rouen ● De La Salle accepted God’s will for

 him and continued to surrender his
life for the work of God even in his
humble little way as a retired
member of the community

Legacy of St. John Baptist De La Salle

➢ Established a congregation of brothers offering Christian Education
➢ Lay-partners
➢ Students served
➢ Christian Education
➢ Core Values of:
○ Faith
○ Service
○ Communion in Mission

IV. THE LASALLIAN PRAYERS AND CORE VALUES

First Prayer: The Spirit of Faith

Let us remember that we are in the Holy Presence of God….

➢ Value / Characteristics: Intimacy

➢ “I am the vine and you are the branches.”
➢ “Jesus says, make your home in Me. You will bear much fruit. My joy will
be in you and your joy will be complete.”
➢ “Home is the dwelling place of love”
○ Prayer consists first in allowing God to love us as we are. Without
this prior openness to God’s tenderness, prayer becomes just
another tiresome obligation.
➢ The presence of God is…
○ a loving presence.
○ a healing presence.
○ a forgiving presence.
○ a challenging presence.
○ a saving presence.
○ an empowering presence.
Second Prayer: Zeal For Service
I will continue, O my God, to do all my actions for the love of you.

➢ Value / Characteristics: Fruitfulness

○ Productive = fruitful Productive = Quantitative Measurement
○ Being fruitful - being a source of life for others
➢ “It is the glory of my Father that you bear much fruit.” Jn 15:8
➢ I know I am being fruitful when my life enriches someone else; when
through my presence, words, and actions — others are free to be
themselves and to love God and others.
○ God touches our lives with His love and fills us with His grace so
that you may lead others to Him
○ We mediate the grace of God in our words, actions, and
relationships.
○ When we surrender ourselves to the God of love, our work bears
fruit.
○ In order to be fruitful, we need to undergo pruning. We need to let
go of what keeps us from living where God is.
○ The more fruitful we are, the more we realize that fruitfulness is
God’s unmerited gift and that we cannot claim our successes as
being entirely our own. When we unite our work to God’s work in the
world, miracles can happen.

Third Prayer: Communion in Mission

Live Jesus in our hearts… Forever

➢ Value / Characteristics: Joy

➢ “My joy will be in you and your joy will be complete.”
○ Jesus invites us to share in His joy which is the joy of the father.
○ God’s greatest joy is the salvation of His children.
○ To share in Christ’s joy, we need to be transformed in Christ.
○ True joy is knowing that Jesus Christ lives in us.

In all these, together and by association, we dedicate our lives and works
to God who alone guarantees the fulfillment of our Lasallian dreams.