St. John Baptist de La Salle - Patron of Teachers - 1651-1719
By Nicholas Hutchinson
St. John Baptist de La Salle was born into a wealthy family in Reims, northern France, in 1651. Whilst studying to be a priest, he had to return home on the death of both his parents so as to take care of his younger brothers and sisters. He was ordained a priest at the age of 26.
By coincidence - or by God's Providence, as he would come to see it - he happened to meet a teacher who had started schools for boor boys in Reims, and now wanted to open schools in Reims. He invited this teacher, Adrian Nyel, to stay in his house. It became clear that, whilst Nyel was busy starting schools, those engaged to teach were themselves poorly educated, and lacked direction in their own lives and in the ways of teaching. They experienced no encouragement or support, and felt abandoned to their own limited resources. John was asked to be the one to help direct the teachers, and he became increasingly involved.
He rented a house for the teachers to live together, and then he invited them into his own house. John resigned from his influential position as a canon of Reims Cathedral, and he moved into a rented house with the teachers, sharing a life of poverty with them. It was pointed out to him. though, that there was a contradiction in him urging the teachers to place all their trust in God in times of trouble, whilst he remained able to fall back on his inheritance. After reflecting and praying and consulting others, John decided to give away all of his share of the family wealth -some of the wealth having come from his mother's Moet champagne family. What should John do with that money? It would have made a lot of sense to have used the money to place the schools on a more secure footing, but he decided, instead, to give it to the poor for famine-relief. He also realised that, if he had endowed the schools, then he (and others) would have been more likely to have perceived trust being placed - not in God - but simply in his own money and abilities.
Some of the teachers realised that stronger bonds between themselves were needed, and they proposed to John that they form themselves more and more as a religious community, committing themselves to God, to each other, and to the young people entrusted to their care. Accordingly they proposed calling themselves "Brothers ", to reflect the relationships to which they aspired. They would be called "Brothers of the Christian Schools " - now generally known simply as "De La Salle Brothers ".
The realistic (and often heartfelt) approach to youngsters is reflected throughout John's writings. 'The Conduct of Schools' was re-written many times because of the feedback and comments from the first Brothers whom John observed teaching in class, and it became a collective book of 'good practices' for teaching. In that book we read: "It often happens that the pupils have not the strength of body or mind to carry the burdens that often crush them. " Whilst the very large classes of the time were carefully regulated (not least in order to preserve the health of the teachers), a certain quality of care is reflected in the use of the term "corrections" rather than “punishments".
De La Salle's book, 'The Rules of Christian Politeness and Civility’, remained a standard text throughout France for 200 years; the poor were considered equally worthy of good manners as the rich.
At a time when respect for the individual centred on the upper echelons of society, John wrote: "Take even more care of the young people entrusted to you than if they were the children of a king". It would be by a "spirit of faith" that the teachers would be enabled to encounter the young people as "the living images of Jesus Christ”. They must "get to know their pupils", “knowing them all individually", respecting the dignity of each. "To touch the hearts of your pupils is the greatest miracle you can perform". John implied that there was something amiss if the young people did not grow in affection for the teacher: "Do you build on the affection that the young people have for you to lead them to God "
Every half-hour a bell would be rung in school, and everyone would pause to call to mind God's presence. John knew that the more people lived in an awareness of God's presence, the more likely they would be to have the attitude and kind of actions of Jesus himself. Prayer would flow naturally from this calling to mind of God's presence -a habit encouraged for the rest of their lives. "Learn from Jesus by frequently being in his company". "Join prayer to your efforts, otherwise your actions will have little effect".
By the age of 41, John began to suffer chronic rheumatism. He was asthmatic, and severe kidney trouble brought him close to death. It was said of him 'that people hardly noticed that he was unwell, by the care he took to hide the knowledge of his illness, for he always had a cheerful and calm countenance'. His reaction to pain, illness, difficulties and persecution was to say: "God be blessed; and his will be done "
Amidst many problems and opposition, John gained personal inspiration and vitality through personal prayer based on the scriptures. To emphasise the need to be rooted firmly in Jesus, he insisted that the Brothers carry a small New Testament with them and regularly read the Word of God. His own writings are steeped in scripture.
Having discerned that no Brothers should become priests, John was pleased when he was eventually allowed to resign his responsibilities of leading the community. His religious order would be composed entirely of Brothers.
John is remembered as having built up communities of Brother-teachers who would be steadfast and of support to each other, consecrated by vows; this was a new development in the Church. He was the first to dignify teaching as a ministry in itself. John is credited as having started a workable teacher-training system some 200 years before it was taken up elsewhere. He is also remembered for composing several inspirational books for teachers, and he advocated that a library should be at the disposal of students. He broke the long-standing practice of teaching members of a class one by one, developing the process of teaching students simultaneously. In other schools pupils were taught first to read in Latin, but John revolutionised education by teaching through the language of the people - Latin being useless to the children of the poor. He is also remembered for having founded the first schools for delinquents, and the first secondary schools (for modern languages, arts and sciences) and technical schools (offering agricultural courses and practical workshops).
The teachers were to provide neither a narrow 'religious' education nor a purely 'secular' one; indeed, an integration of many elements is a distinct characteristic of De La Salle's educational approach. Some 70 years after the Founder's death, amidst the turmoil of the French Revolution, the Order was suppressed on all French territory, but the revolutionary National Assembly nevertheless acknowledged the educational contribution that had been made, and declared that the Brothers had "deserved well of their country" - but it was not to be.
John was canonised in 1900 and, in 1950, was declared the patron saint of teachers. It is a source of great pride to all who find inspiration in St. John Baptist de La Salle that 25 Brothers (20 of whom were martyrs) now join him in being called "Blessed" or "Saint".
