Saint John Baptist de la Salle, Priest

John Baptist de La Salle was born at Reims in 1651 into a wealthy family and became a canon of the cathedral and a priest. He began helping a layman open free schools for poor boys, then took the schoolmasters into his own home, gave away his fortune, and in 1680 began the community that became the Brothers of the Christian Schools, a congregation of teaching brothers who were not priests.

His schools taught in French rather than Latin, grouped pupils in classes instead of teaching each one in turn, and trained teachers in colleges for the purpose; his guide for the conduct of schools was widely used. He met much opposition, even from within. He died at Rouen on Good Friday, 7 April 1719, and was canonized in 1900. In 1950 he was named patron of teachers.