John Baptist de La Salle was buried in the chapel of St. Suzanne on Holy Saturday, April 8, 1719. On July 6, 1734, his body was transferred to a chapel at Saint Yon. The tomb was vandalized during the French Revolution but the relics were not. In 1841, the superiors received approval to have the relics moved to the Generalate.
After the Brothers were expelled from France in 1904, the relics were taken from Rouen to Lembecq-lez-Hal in Belgium. In 1937 they were transported to Rome where they arrived on Jan. 26, the anniversary of the promulgation in 1725 of the Bull of Approbation of the Institute. The relics are now in the church of Saint John Baptist de La Salle at the Generalate in Rome.
Louis Wiaux was born in a small village in French-speaking Belgium where almost everyone was a devout practicing Catholic. His father was a blacksmith, while his mother helped to run a small cafe in part of the family home, where no rough language was allowed and where the evening of Belgian beer and card playing always concluded with the recitation of the rosary.
Louis proved neither physically nor emotionally suited to his father’s trade; he was convinced that the Lord was calling him to a different kind of forge. No sooner had he met the Brothers in a nearby school than he determined to enter the novitiate at Namur. After two years, teaching elementary classes, Brother Mutien was assigned to the boarding school at Malonne where he would spend the next 58 years.
Among the Brothers, it was said that he had never been seen violating even the smallest points in their Rule. After his death at Malonne, his fame began to spread through Belgium, where many miracles were attributed to him. His relics may be venerated in Malonne at the shrine built in his honor after his canonization.
Francisco Febres Cordero was born into a family that has always been prominent in Ecuadorian politics. Crippled from birth, he had to overcome family opposition to realize his vocation to be a lay religious, the first native of Ecuador to be received into the Institute. Brother Miguel was a gifted teacher from the start and a diligent student. When he was not quite 20 years old, he published the first of his many books, a Spanish grammar that soon became a standard text. In time his research and publications in the field of literature and linguistics put him in touch with scholars all over the world and he was granted membership in the National Academies of Ecuador and Spain.
Feb. 13, 2020, marked the inaugural memorial for beatified Brother James Miller, FSC. Brother James was killed in the afternoon of Feb. 13, 1982, while repairing a wall just outside “La Casa Indígena De La Salle” in Guatemala.
In 2010, Brother James was designated a Servant of God and a martyr for the faith, and on Thursday, Nov. 8, 2018, Pope Francis approved a decree recognizing that Brother James Miller died as a martyr. Brother James is the first De La Salle Christian Brother from the United States to be beatified. Brother James was beatified on Dec. 7, 2019, in Huehuetenango, Guatemala. The Church calendar now considers Feb. 13, the date of his death, as a memorial observance in the liturgical year.
Learn more about Brother James’ life, legacy and cause for canonization at brotherjamesmiller.org.
Saint John Baptist de La Salle died on Good Friday, April 7, 1719, with 23 active communities and 100 Brothers continuing the mission he started.
Blessed Nicolas Roland, upon whom Saint John Baptist de La Salle often relied for guidance, died April 27, 1678. He was beatified Oct. 16, 1994.
Saint John Baptist de La Salle was born into an influential family in Reims, France on April 30, 1651. His parents died when he was 20 and De La Salle became responsible for the family estate and took care of his six younger brothers and sisters while completing his studies. He was ordained a priest in 1678, and two years later he received his doctorate in theology. While serving as a Canon in the Cathedral of Reims, a chance encounter with a layman establishing schools for poor boys set him on a new life path.
Each year, Lasallians honor Saint John Baptist de La Salle, founder of the Institute of the Brothers of the Christian Schools and patron saint of teachers, on May 15, known as the Solemnity of Saint John Baptist de La Salle or Founder’s Day. It is a day to reflect on the rich history of the Lasallian mission and celebrate the man whose vision and dedication to providing a human and Christian education to the young, especially the poor, launched the worldwide Lasallian network.
Br. Raphaël Louis Rafiringa was born in Tananarive (Madagascar) on May 1, 1856.
His indefatigable missionary effort suffered as a result of two wars, one in 1883 and the other in 1895. All the missionaries having been chased from the island, Brother Raphaël confronted this difficult situation with a superhuman courage that was crowned with success. As a sign of their recognition of this, the French authorities decorated him with the Madagascan gold medal of merit. As a result of his remarkable literary effort, he was named a member of the Madagascan Academy. He died at Fianarantsoa on May 19, 1919.
On Oct. 18, 1979, the Brothers of this great island requested of Pope John Paul II the introduction of the cause of the Servant of God.
Pierre Romançon was born June 14, 1805, in Thuret, France. He was so far ahead of his classmates that when he was only 14 years old the Brothers engaged him as a substitute teacher. From 1821 to 1841 he taught in elementary schools before being appointed as director of a new school in southern France in 1841. He served in that school for the next 20 years, educating the boys of the village, many of whom had never been to school. The school became a center of social and intellectual life of the village. Saint Benilde died Aug. 13, 1862.
Blessed Brothers Roger, Léon and Uldaric were martyred in 1794 during the French Revolution. They were beatified on Oct. 1, 1995, as part of a group of 64 martyrs who died for their faith.
Saint Solomon was secretary to Brother Agathon, the Superior General, after having been a teacher, director and bursar. He was martyred on Sept. 2, 1792, during the French Revolution. He was the first Brother of the Christian Schools to be martyred, and the first to be beatified. He was canonized in a ceremony in Saint Peter’s Square in Vatican City on Oct. 16, 2016, with Lasallians from around the world in attendance.
Blessed Scubilion Rousseau, FSC, was born March 21, 1797, in Annay la-Côte, France. He was serving as a catechist in his native village when he was introduced to the Brothers. He entered the novitiate in 1822. After 10 years of teaching in schools throughout France, he left for the island of Reunion where he dedicated the rest of his life to teaching and caring for the enslaved natives. He died April 13, 1867.
Manuel Barbal Cosan was born on Jan. 2, 1898, in Enviny, a small town at the foot of the Pyrenees in northern Spain. Known for his serious nature, he was only 12 years old when, with the blessing of his devout and hardworking parents, he entered the minor seminary of the diocese of Urgel. He soon developed hearing problems and was advised to return home. Convinced that God was calling him, he was overjoyed in 1917 to learn that the Institute of the Brothers would accept him in the novitiate at Irun, Spain.
In 1934, Turón, a coal-mining town in the Asturias Province in Northwestern Spain, was the center of anti-government and anticlerical hostility in the years prior to the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War. The Brothers’ school was an irritant to the radicals in charge of the town because of the religious influence it exerted on the young. The Brothers were known to defy the ban on teaching religion and they openly escorted their students to Sunday Mass.
Nicolas Barré was born Oct. 21, 1621, in Amiens, France. In 1641, he joined the Minim Order of St. Francis of Paola, where he taught philosophy while still remaining a deacon. After becoming a priest in 1645, he became a professor of theology and librarian. After falling ill, he moved to a convent in Amiens and later to Rouen. While he was there, he carried out his idea of “Little Charitable Schools” and “the Charitable Teachers.” He was consulted by John Baptist de La Salle and helped develop the foundation of the Brothers of the Christian Schools. Nicholas Barré died May 31, 1686, in Paris, France.
Jules-Nicolas Rèche was born into a poor family living in Landroff in the province of Lorraine. He left school at an early age to work as a stable-boy, a coachman, and finally as a teamster for a local construction company. Even as a young man he was known among his fellow workers for his piety and his self-discipline. He first met the Brothers while attending evening classes in their school and asked to be admitted into the congregation.
During the Spanish Civil War in 1936, seven Brothers lost their lives for the crime of professing and teaching the Catholic faith. On Oct. 10, 1993, they were beatified.
On Nov. 21, 1691, Saint John Baptist de La Salle, Brother Nicolas Vuyart and Brother Gabriel Drolin professed the Heroic Vow, committing themselves to the establishment of the Institute of the Brothers of the Christian Schools despite any obstacles they might encounter.
