BIOGRAPHY OF DE LASALLE

• He was the oldest of 11 children of whom seven survived to adulthood.
• His devout parents named him after John the Baptist,
• the herald of Jesus, a name that providentially gave a fitting indication of the role that he would play in bringing the Gospel to so many who had little opportunity of hearing or appreciating its power and appeal.


  John the Baptist
• expected that he would follow in his father’s footsteps as a magistrate of the presidial court, he chose to pursue the priesthood and underwent an official ceremony at the age of ten to confirm that intention.
• When he was 16, his uncle resigned the distinguished position of Canon of the Cathedral Chapter of Reims in his favor
• a title that brought with it both church responsibilities and church benefits.


  Canon of the Cathedral Chapter of Reims
• At the age of 19, De La Salle moved to Paris so that he could study at the Sorbonne while residing at the prestigious Seminary of Saint Sulpice.
• This seminary had been founded only 25 years earlier in a spirit of clerical renewal mandated by the Council of Trent a century earlier. 


  Seminary of Saint Sulpice
• notable for a rigorous life style and was intended to produce priests capable of self sacrifice and self discipline. 


  Saint Sulpice
• De La Salle says his first Mass at Reims Cathedral
• Hotel de La Cloche, De La Salle’s childhood home in Reims
• A chance encounter with Adrian Nyel would begin the Lasallian schools
• Rue Neuve, the Brothers first home away from home
• De La Salle distributes his wealth to the poor of Reims, circa 1683
• De La Salle and the Brothers took their first vows here


  Pilgrimage to Liesse