The Founder of the Brothers of the Christian School, Patron of All
The Hong Kong Lasallian Story 1875-2007 Our Founder The Founder of the Brothers of the Christian School, St. John Baptist de La Salle (1651-1719), was an extraordinary man. Perhaps you could call him a man of surprises. For purposes of this chapter, we highlight two. Firstly, although De La Salle himself was a priest, he would not permit the members of the Institute he founded to become priests lest they should be turned aside from their principal function, and he was convinced that their vocation could lead them to authentic sanctity1. Secondly, members of his Institute were to be called Brothers. They were to be Brothers first among themselves and also elder brothers to the students confided to their care. To them, to be a Brother is a profession as well as a vocation. The mission as he saw it was to give a human and Christian education to the young, paying particular attention to the poor and the needy. He had walked the streets of his native city, Reims, in France, and saw first hand the dire need for this work. The children were wandering around the streets aimlessly or mixing with bad company and getting into trouble with the law. Their parents were working all day and so had little time to take care of them. As a very practical man, he realized that the key to success lay with finding and forming good teachers, not an easy task in those days. He believed that ‘good teachers make good schools’. Throughout his life, and despite great opposition from both Church and State, he worked tirelessly to establish quality Christian schools.
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