La Salle University - Explorer Yearbook (Philadelphia, PA)

Page 19 text:

And it all started 300 years ago Religious Orders are not founded in a vacuum, nor do they exist in one. They are all created with a specific purpose in mind, and over the cen- turies they develop a unique character and spirituality. So, as we celebrate the tercentenary of the Brothers of the Christian Schools, it is fitting to con- sider some of the history and chari- sma of this Congregation which has come to mean so much to the Church- at-large and to our community in Philadelphia. Much of the raison d ' etre of the in- stitute was determined by its founder, St. John Baptist de la Salle. Born on the 30th of April 1651 in Rheims, France, LaSalle was part of an aristo- cratic family whose members had dis- tinguished themselves in the French judicial system. The young nobleman was sent to school for the priesthood at the Seminary of Saint Sulpice in Paris where he earned a Doctorate in Theology. Eventually he retired to the city of Rheims where he obtained a canonry at the Cathedral. Most of the patrician clergy in 17th century France would have been satisfied with such a position, but LaSalle was cast from a different mold than most of his peers. In March, 1679, he made the ac- quaintance of a man who was to give the impetus to LaSalle ' s whole mis- sion, Adrian Nyel. Nyel was one of those men we meet occasionally in history — an energetic person of tre- mendous vision who lacked the deter- mination to realize his dreams. Nyel was a founder of schools for the poor whose basic premises impressed La Salle who matched Nyel in breadth of vision but who supplied the sedulous- ness and assiduity which his partner lacked. While Nyel ' s energy drifted in other directions, LaSalle soon found that he had discovered his life ' s work in the direction of the school masters. In 1684, LaSalle felt the compelling quality so keenly that he renounced his patrimony, distributed his wealth 15

Page 18 text:

Brother Christopher Brother John Dondero Businsky 14

Page 20 text:

among the poor, took the vow of obe- dience with twelve of his school mas- ters (the first Brothers), and then donned the still characteristic habit of the community. Until LaSalle ' s death on Good Friday in 1719, the institute which he founded in 1680 suffered numerous setbacks, such as the conflicts with the ecclesiastical and civil authorities, the Jansenist heresy, and the death of La- Salle ' s beloved protege — Henri I ' Heureaux. But in spite of these difficulties, the institute advanced steadily. Before LaSalle died, he had the satisfaction of seeing the institute receive a charter from the Regent Philippe in 1717, the same year La- Salle resigned as Superior. When he died, according to the noted LaSallian historian W.J. Battersby, there were 274 brothers, in 27 communities, serving 9,000 pupils in France. Aside from the palpable extraor- dinary quality of LaSalle ' s life as a founder of a religious community, he merits note for numerous other rea- sons. He was centuries ahead of his 16