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Although little is known about his childhood, it seems that
John Baptist decided to take on a priestly career at an early
age. He received Christian education, and at the age of 19,
entered the seminary of Saint Sulpice in Paris to prepare
for priesthood. There, John Baptist found later turned out
to be his future work - teaching.
In 1678, John Baptist was ordained priest, and from then
on, started his life of teaching. In 1679, he took part in
constituting a charity school for boys in France. At first,
he met with numerous obstacles. He found the students undisciplined,
the teachers poorly trained and worst of all, both the students
and the worst of all, both the student and teachers of the
newly formed school were alienated by traditional educators
and teachers.
John Baptist made much effort to eliminate these difficulties.
Realizing that "Good teachers make good schools and
good schools make good men", he believed that the
teachers could only be improved by proper training, and decided
to let the teachers live with him, himself acting as the teachers'
trainer. Although his action was at first controversial, it
was later proved appropriate, as in 1684, he already had seven
such schools running smoothly in Rheims.
Perhaps John Baptist's most significant contribution towards
the entire industry of education in France was that he was
able to bring education to children of all classes. Before
his revolution, education in most European countries was only
limited to the upper-class and those who could afford it financially.
John Baptist later formed a religious organisation composed
of 12 other teachers, the nucleus of the Christian Brothers
with himself as the president. The organisation was founded
upon his vision that everyone receive proper education and
moral training.
John Baptist was shunned by many sides of French society.
His teachings with French as a medium instead if Latin were
greatly criticised by traditional teachers, who believed that
Latin was the only truly civilised language suitable for teaching.
But John Baptist stood fast and continued his work, while
constantly improving the quality of education he was offering.
New schools were opened, and John Baptist de La Salle's name
became famous throughout France.
John Baptist's success was substantial, but he never became
proud overjoyed by his rewarding works. In fact, he always
tended to hide behind his work, often gave credit to his teachers
and helpers. In 1717, he stepped down from the leadership
of the organisation, but remained a great influence on the
Brothers and their fellows.
From devotion almost all his life to reforming education
in France, John Baptist was gradually weakened physically.
He died on Good Friday, April 7, 1791. He was canonised in
1900 by Pope Leo XIII and proclaimed 'Patron of all Teachers'
by Pop Pius XII in1951. His feast day is celebrated on May
15.
The Christian Brothers (De La Salle Brothers) are now known
the world over. Today 15,000 Christian conduct schools, colleges
and universities in some 80 countries and their pupils number
hundreds of thousands. In Asia, the Brothers have establishments
in Burma, Cambodia, Ceylon, Hong Kong, India, Japan, Malaysia,
Pakistan, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.
 
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