Wednesday, April 7
ST. JEAN-BAPTISTE DE LA SALLE (France, 1651-1719)
Priest, Founder of Christian Brothers, Patron Saint of Teachers
A member of the nobility, De La Salle started preparing for the priesthood when he was ll, but the early death
of his parents delayed his training because he took care of his younger siblings. He was finally ordained when
he was 27, pursuing further theological studies in Paris. A chance involvement with a friend's plan to set up
a school for poor boys led him to realize that this was his particular mission. He left his position as Canon
of Rheims Cathedral, gave away his fortune, and dedicated himself to that mission. In 1681, he founded the
Institute of Brothers of the Christian School to propagate this mission. In addition to schools for boys, he set
up the first normal school (training school especially for teachers) to institute his teaching methods, and also
became the first to divide pupils into grades. Throughout all this, he encountered difficulties with defections
from his disciples, the opposition of secular schoolmasters who resented his more successful teaching methods,
and the hostility of the Jansenists with their moral rigidity and pessimism. Today, the La Salle Brothers have
quality schools in 84 countries around the world. De La Salle was canonized in 1900, and in 1950, Pius XII
named him patron of schoolteachers.
Readings for today's Mass:
www.usccb.org/nab/readings/040710.shtml
OR for 4/6-4/7/10:
In his Easter message, Benedict XVI thinks of the world's suffering peoples and tells Christians about Easter:
'History has changed because it is now open to the future'
This double issue includes coverage of the Easter Vigil Mass, with its traditional Baptisms, the Easter Sunday Mass itself at St. Peter's Square, as well as the Pope's Angel's Monday 'Regina caeli' in Castel Gandolfo. Page 1 also has an interview with Cardinal Sodano, dean of the College of Cardinals, about the Church's solidarityy with the Pope. In international news, the Taliban attack on the American consulate in Peshawar. In the inside messages, the Pope's message one year after the earthquake that struck Italy's Abruzzo region last year; more messages of solidarity with the Pope; and the French intellectuals' 'Appeal for the truth'.
THE POPE'S DAY
General Audience in St. Peter's Square - The Holy Father flew in by helicopter from Castel Gandolfo.
In his catechesis to some 40,000 pilgrims, he spoke of the Resurrection as 'God's greatest act
in history'. He also greeted newly-ordained deacons from the Pontifical Irish College in Rome,
a small sign of hope for the Catholics of Ireland.
[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 08/04/2010 13:43]