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 […]

Saint Solomon was secretary to Brother Agathon, the Superior General, after having been a teacher, director and bursar. He was martyred on September 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 […]

Blessed Brothers Roger, Léon and Uldaric were martyred in 1794 during the French Revolution. They were beatified on October 1, 1995, as part of a group of 64 martyrs who died for their faith. More from the Institute >

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 […]

Manuel Barbal Cosan was born on January 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 […]

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 […]

Nicolas Barré was born October 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, […]

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 […]