La Salle’s Life

St. La Salle is presented in these two endeavors – that is, as the protagonist in a riches-to-rags story of
holy mission and lifelong vocation, of self-sacrifice and leadership. It is more uncommon to hear of St. La
Salle as a maverick, who went against the common thinking of his time and the thinking of the
institutions in France. The very fact that he let go of managing the vast estate of his family – now
reputedly a leading champagne producing company – not to mention an esteemed and profitable
ecclesiastical position in the historic cathedral of Rheims, were tantamount to his radical thinking about
society, and what truly matters.

He had a vision for a society that was beyond the prevalent status quo – a society where teachers were
respected, where the poor children and ‘scum’ of the streets of Paris were given an education in letters
and arithmetic and piety and were empowered to step up the socioeconomic ladder and lead virtuous
lives.

He faced a lot of intense opposition during his life, branded as he is as a different kind of thinker. He
faced off against the teachers of Paris, who were envious of the success of his free elementary schools. He
got into a spat with Church authorities after he resigned as canon in Rheims and as he furthered the
dangerous idea of his group of consecrated lay teachers, the Christian Brothers. Within his own ranks, his
close compatriot and trusted comrade Nicolas Vuyart deserted the order, and many others who were
disillusioned with La Salle’s ‘madness’ left the order of black-clad Brothers.

To add to all that, La Salle had completely forsaken family: as the eldest, he was rejected and banished
from the aristocratic household whose name he had besmirched, for choosing to dedicate his life serving
God and the poor.

He met a lot of despair, and midway into his floundering career it seemed like his order would dissipate
from all the oppression he faced at every turn of the Brothers’ progress. And yet despite all the opposition
he remained avant-garde, developing foundational theories in pedagogy, introducing the concept of
technical vocational and night schools, taught subjects in the vernacular instead of Latin, the
Simultaneous Method of group learning and clustering students equally according to their learning
capabilities instead of letting a star stand out, in addition to other practical contributions that addressed
issues in the medieval and generally ineffective teaching methods that St. La Salle so glaringly observed
during his time. It was a sense of passionate mission and devotion that drove him to keep on striving
despite the trials of his life and the order, the frailty of his mission and his Quixotic quest.
(Batalla, 2013)

References
Batalla, J. (2013, May 15). La Salle's Challenge. Retrieved from TheLaSallian:
http://thelasallian.com/2013/05/15/la-salles-challenge/
Challenges in La Salle’s Life
La Salle had both of his parents die in a time which was very close to each other. This brought his studies
to a halt. As a result of this, he returned to his hometown and studied there. After a certain amount of
time, he had the first “Lasallian” school established with his efforts, Adrian Nyel’s efforts and from a rich
lady from another parish. In this school, he was accused of employing gamblers, drunkards, etc. Because
of this, the house where the school was established was sold due to a lawsuit by his sister and brother-in-
law because they didn’t like the idea of having such teachers in their home. He met a lot of despair, and
midway into his floundering career it seemed like his order would dissipate from all the oppression he
faced at every turn of the Brothers’ progress. Troubles continued, they encountered opposition and
difficulties from civil authorities. But, despite of all these challenges, he still was able to continue his
work through the help of his brothers and some people who kept him from giving up on doing this work
and through perseverance, prayer and hard work. After some time, some brothers no longer continued to
stay with La Salle because they thought that they were being turned into some kind of religious group and
they didn’t like this idea. However, they were quickly replaced by generous young men who responded to
the founder’s ideals. La Salle also faced serious illnesses after this, but he was able to go through them
and recover. In private he pronounced the heroic vow together with Nicolas Vuyart and Gabriel Drolin,
which is to together establish the society, even if they should have to beg and live on bread alone.

Religious Life of La Salle

John Baptist was the eldest child of Louis de la Salle and Nicolle de Moet de Brouillet. His parents were
very solicitous in the care they bestowed upon their child, especially in regard to is moral
and intellectual development. Young de la Salle insisted that he was called to serve the Church, and
accordingly he received the tonsure, and was solemnly installed as a canon of the metropolitan.
When de la Salle had completed his classical, literary, and philosophical courses, he was sent to Paris to
enter the Seminary of Saint-Sulpice. While at the seminary, De La Salle distinguished himself by
his piety as well as by the vigour of his intellectual progress and the ability with which he
handled theological subjects. When not occupied with the duties of his canonry or with
his theological studies, he was engaged in good works, under the guidance of his spiritual director. After
four years, he was ordained deacon at paris. On this occasion, De La Salle sought to obtain the permission
of Maurice Le Tellier, Archbishop of Reims, to resign his canonry and prepare for parish work.  Nicolas
Roland urged him to take this step, alleging that a rich canonry was little in harmony with
youthful zeal and activity. His archbishop, however refused his request. With humble submission, de la
Salle accepted the decision and returned to Reims to pursue his studies and to make final preparations for
his ordination to the priesthood. He was ordained priest by the Archbishop of Reims.
During the few years that intervened between his ordination to the priesthood and the establishing of the
institute, De La Salle was occupied in carrying out the last will and testament of Nicolas Roland, who,
when dying, had confided to him the newly established Congregation of the Sisters of the Child Jesus. At
this period, De La Salle was still occupied with his functions as canon. He was, however, aroused to the
higher calling by a message from Madame Maillefer, requesting him to aid Adrien Nyel in opening a
free school at Reims. But hardly had he succeeded in establishing the school of St-Maurice when he
quietly withdrew from the work, as if it were not his mission. Shortly afterwards the opening of another
free school in St-Jacques parish lured him again from his seclusion, but he soon retired again. He resigned
his canonry and he distributed his fortune to the poor in the winter thus giving convincing proofs that he
would not hesitate to make any sacrifices necessary to complete the good work he had begun.
After some time, the founder began to endure a long period of trial, aggravated by persecution on the part
of certain ecclesiastical authorities. De La Salle was too prudent and too well inspired by God, not to give
his institute a positive character in its twofold object: the Christian education of youth and the cultivation
of that spirit of faith, piety, mortification, and obedience which should characterize its members. De La
Salle belonged wholly to the Brothers, sharing with them the burden of labour and observing the common
rule. He never left them to engage in other works.
Graham, M. (1910). St. John Baptist de la Salle. In The Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert
Appleton Company. Retrieved August 22, 2018 from New
Advent: http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/08444a.htm