WIXLIB

History ofLasallian Saints“Fulfill your ministrywith all the affectionof your heart.”MEDITATIONS 201.1

History ofLasallian SaintsThe Catholic Church has been formallyrecognizing saints since the secondcentury, and becoming a saint means thatperson has lived and been recognized asleading an extraordinary, holy, Christianlife. Becoming a saint is a three-step processincluding first being named Venerable;meaning he or she exhibited heroic virtuesin their life. The second step is Beatification;before being beatified the person must havea miracle attributed to him or her. A martyrmay be beatified and declared "Blessed" byvirtue of martyrdom itself. Once a miracle isconfirmed, the person is known as Blessed.The third and final step before canonizationis having a second miracle attributed to hisor her intercession, unless he or she was amartyr. After these three steps, a person iscanonized and added to the list of saints.This timeline follows the journey of thesaintly Brothers of the Christian Schools andtheir feast days, beginning with our founder,Saint John Baptist de La Salle.AboutSaint Mary'sWe are a Lasallian Catholic universitythat is a living expression of the visionof John Baptist de La Salle, inspirational17th-century educational innovator, patronsaint of teachers and founder of the De LaSalle Christian Brothers: excellent qualityeducation; respect for the dignity of allindividuals; inclusive and participatorycommunity; interiority; accessibility;civility; innovation; belief in the presenceof a benevolent God; an ecumenical andinter-religious openness; solidarity with thepoor; and advocacy for those suffering frominjustices.2We do this as a proud partner with1,000 schools, agencies and universitiesthat constitute the worldwide Lasallianeducational network.Understanding the complex and evolvingnature of higher education in the 21stcentury, Saint Mary’s University iscommitted to addressing present-daychallenges by striving to remain affordablefor the families of our students and throughdistinctiveness in structure and fluidity inoperation.

This timeline first appeared in OutReach, a Christian Brothers Servicespublication, Vol. 7, No. 2, 2016. Reprinted with permission from Christian Brothers Services.

Saint John Baptist de La Salle (1651-1719)Patron of All Teachers of YouthCanonized May 24, 1900 - Feast day is April 7Born in Reims, France, on April 30, 1651, into a devoutand influential family, John Baptist de La Salle receivedthe tonsure at age 11 and was named Canon of the ReimsCathedral at 16. He completed his theological studies andwas ordained a priest on April 9, 1678. Two years later hereceived a doctorate in theology. Meanwhile he becametentatively involved with a group of rough and barelyliterate young men who wanted to establish schools forpoor boys. Almost by accident, the young De La Sallegradually assumed the leadership of the small groupof lay teachers. Moved by the plight of the poor whoseemed so "far from salvation" either in this world or thenext, he determined to put his own talents and advancededucation at the service of the children "often left tothemselves and badly brought up." To be more effective,he abandoned his family home, moved in with theteachers, renounced his position as Canon and his wealth,and so formed the community that became known as theBrothers of the Christian Schools.4His enterprise met opposition from the ecclesiasticalauthorities who resisted the creation of a new form ofreligious life, a community of consecrated laymen toconduct gratuitous schools "together and by association."The education establishment resented his innovativemethods and his insistence on gratuity for all, regardlessof whether they could afford to pay. Nonetheless De LaSalle and his Brothers succeeded in creating a networkof quality schools throughout France that featuredinstruction in the vernacular, students grouped accordingto ability and achievement, integration of religiousinstruction with secular subjects, well-prepared teacherswith a sense of vocation and mission, and the involvementof parents.In addition, De La Salle pioneered programs for traininglay teachers, Sunday courses for working young men,and one of the first institutions in France for the careof delinquents. Worn out by austerities and exhaustinglabors, he died on April 7, 1719, at Saint Yon near Rouenearly on Good Friday, only weeks before his sixty-eighthbirthday.

Timeline:The SaintsSaint Benilde RomançonSaint Miguel Febres CorderoSaint Mutien-Marie Wiaux1984 (October 21)1989 (December 10)(1805-1862) Feast day is August 13(1854-1910) Feast day is February 9(1841-1917) Feast day is January 30Saint Benilde RomançonSaint Benilde Romançon was born inSouthern France in 1805, and was quitean amazing student. By the time hewas just 14, the De La Salle ChristianBrothers utilized him as a substituteteacher for their grade school classes.He eventually joined the De La SalleChristian Brothers in 1820, and was agood grade school teacher and later ahigh school teacher for teens who hadnever attended school before. He wasa strict disciplinarian, had a strongreligious spirit and inspired manymen to join the De La Salle ChristianBrothers.Saint Miguel Febres CorderoSaint Miguel Febres Cordero wasborn in 1854 in Ecuador. His familywas prominent in politics and thoughhe was crippled from birth, he wasa good student who became a giftedteacher. In 1868, he became the firstEcuadorian De La Salle ChristianBrother, despite his family’s urgings,to pursue a different career. Overtime, he wrote many books and washonored for his scholarship by Ecuadorand Spain. His students admired hissimplicity, directness, concern for themand prayerfulness. He died in Spainin 1910 from pneumonia, and today,throughout the United States, severalSan Miguel Middle Schools that serveinner-city neighborhoods have beennamed after him as a tribute to his lovefor teaching and his good work withyoung students.Saint Mutien-Marie WiauxSaint Mutien-Marie Wiaux was bornLouis Wiaux in Belgium in 1841 wherehis father was a blacksmith and hismother helped run a café. LouisWiaux joined the De La Salle ChristianBrothers, took the name BrotherMutien-Marie and became a gradeschool music and art teacher. He spent58 years at the same school and wasknown and loved for his patience andreligious spirit.1967 (October 29)The Saints5

Timeline:Saint Jaime Hilario BarbalThe Saints1999 (November 21)The Saintly Martyrsof TurónSaint Solomon Le Clercq(1898-1937) Feast day is January 18(1934) Feast Day is October 9(1745-1792) Feast day is September 2Saint Jaime Hilario BarbalBorn Manuel Barbal Cosan, BrotherJaime grew up in Northern Spainand joined the De La Salle ChristianBrothers when he was 19. BrotherJaime had hearing difficulties, andafter teaching for 16 years he left theclassroom to work as a gardener at theyoung Brothers’ training center, knownas a House of Formation. A civil warbroke out in Spain in the 1930s and theCommunist Party that took controlblamed the Catholic Church for manyof Spain’s troubles. They arrested andkilled church leaders and BrotherJamie was among those to suffer thisfate in 1937. He refused to deny hisreligion, saying to the soldiers orderedto shoot him, “To die for Christ, myyoung friends, is to live.” When twovolleys failed to meet their mark, thesoldiers dropped their rifles and fled inpanic. The frustrated commander thenfired five shots at close range and killedBrother Jaime.The Saintly Martyrs of TurónThe Spanish Civil War of the 1930s wasboth political and religious, and manyin political power blamed the troublesof the country becoming more modernon the persuasion of religion. They alsofeared the influence religious leadershad on young people. In October1934, in the northwest Spanish villageof Turón, the De La Salle ChristianBrothers defied the ban on teachingreligion and openly escorted theirstudents to Sunday Mass. In an attemptto eliminate the religious zeal of the DeLa Salle Christian Brothers, the armyarrested them and their priest chaplain,and then shot them. Brother Cirilo, 46,was the director, Brother Marciano,39, was the cook, Brother Julián was32, and five other De La Salle ChristianBrothers were in their twenties.Saint Solomon Le ClercqSaint Solomon Le Clercq was bornin 1745, and was a devoted teacherand skilled financial manager for theDe La Salle Christian Brothers. Helived during the time of the FrenchRevolution, where the common peoplerose up against the royalty of Franceand established a more democraticform of government. As part of thisrevolution, the new leaders madetimes difficult for the official religion- Roman Catholicism and all Catholicorganizations became illegal. The DeLa Salle Christian Brothers and theirwork was almost fully dismantled asa result. The De La Salle ChristianBrothers refused to swear loyalty tothis new government, resulting in themhaving to live in secrecy. In 1792, SaintSolomon Le Clercq was arrested by thegovernment, imprisoned with severalother church leaders and was executedshortly after imprisonment.61999 (November 21)Saint Cirilo BertránSaint Marciano JoséSaint Julián AlfredoSaint Victoriano PioSaint Benjamin JuliánSaint Augusto AndrésSaint Benito de JesúsSaint Aniceto AdolfoSaint Inocencio de la ImmaculadaCanoure, CP2016 (October 16)

Timeline:The BlessedBlessed Arnold Rèche1989 (May 2)The Blessed Martyrsof Almeria(1838-1890) Feast day is October 23(1797-1867) Feast day is September 27(1936) Feast day is November 16Blessed Arnold RècheBlessed Brother Arnold Rèche wasborn in 1838 to a poor family in France.Growing up, he worked as a stableboy, coachman and constructionworker. He was drawn to the De LaSalle Christian Brothers because ofhis religious spirit and joined themin 1862, when he was 34. He learnedmath, science, agriculture and religionwhile teaching at a boarding school inReims, the town in which the founderof the De La Salle Christian Brothers,Saint John Baptist de La Salle, grewup. When France was at war in the1870s, he cared for the wounded fromboth sides. He had an amazing abilityto sense what others were thinkingand the De La Salle Christian Brothersremembered him saying often thatthe Holy Spirit of God “strengthensa person’s heart.” When he died inReims in 1890, he had a reputation forgreat holiness.Blessed Scubilion RousseauBlessed Brother Scubilion Rousseauwas born 1797. As a teenager, hevolunteered to teach religion classesand eventually joined the De La SalleChristian Brothers in Paris in 1822.When he was 36, he left France topursue missionary work. For the next34 years, Brother Rousseau workedamong the enslaved natives of theisland of Réunion off the coast ofMadagascar, and was dearly loved bythe people of this island nation for hiskindness and devotion to his students.He was primarily a catechist, a teacherof religion, but in his later years, hevisited the sick, won sinners over toChristianity and was highly respectedeverywhere on the island as a livingsaint among the people. He died in1867.1987 (November 1)Blessed Scubilion Rousseau1993 (October 10)The Blessed Martyrs of AlmeriaThe Catholic Church holds dearanyone who endures the loss oflife because of their Christianwitness. During the first centuriesof Christianity, this was the fate ofthousands of early followers of Jesus,and sadly, this has happened in everycentury since the time of Jesus. In the1930s, many were executed in Spainbecause they were religious leaders.In 1936, seven De La Salle ChristianBrothers in Almería, Spain, werearrested and condemned for teachingthe Catholic faith. They were:Brother José Cecilio Rodríguez GonzálezBrother Amalio Zariquiegui MendozaBrother Valerio Bernardo Herrero MartínezBrother Edmigio Primo RodríguezBrother Evencio Ricardo Alonso UyarraBrother Aurelio María Villalón AcebrónBrother Teodomiro Joaquin Sáiz SáizThe Blessed7