“La Salle Connection” is a multimedia series designed to connect the Lasallian Family with historical events that continue to inspire Lasallians today.
In this episode of “La Salle Connection”, we are going to talk about the feast of Saint John Baptist de La Salle, which we celebrate on 15 May.
In the Catholic Church’s calendar of saints, this feast is actually celebrated on 7 April, as that is the day of Saint John Baptist de La Salle’s death. However, the Brothers chose 15 May because, as Good Friday was the day on which La Salle died, this anniversary usually falls either during Holy Week or the Octave of Easter. In this way, we can have a feast day dedicated to Saint John Baptist de La Salle.
And since 1950, this feast day has also been Christian Educators’ Day. For what we celebrate on that day is precisely a person who inaugurated a new way of being consecrated in the Church; a new way of being a teacher in the Church. And that is to do both things together: a life consecrated exclusively to the service of education.
This is made very clear to us in a book he wrote which we call ‘Meditations for the Time of Retreat’. It is a comprehensive reflection comprising 16 meditations on what it means to be a Christian educator, with a perspective that spans from Creation to the consummation of the world.
I recommend these Meditations for the Time of Retreat especially to those who are educators, but to everyone.
Live Jesus in our hearts!
Download HERE the strip for Episode 5 of La Salle Connection:
In the next episodes, we will continue to share other significant moments in the life and work of Saint John Baptist de La Salle. You can find them at www.lasalle.org and on our social media.