LA SALLE, SAINT JEAN-BAPTISTE DE

born April 30, 1651, Reims, France died April 7, 1719, Rouen; canonized 1900; feast day April 7 French philanthropist, educator, and founder of the Brothers of the Christian Schools, the first Roman Catholic congregation of male nonclerics devoted solely to schools, learning, and teaching. Of noble birth, La Salle was ordained priest in 1678 and devoted himself to education of the poor. He helped to establish charity schools in Reims and subsequently formed his teachers into a religious order (1680). He also set up boarding schools for middle-class boys, reformatories, andfor the first timetraining colleges for secular teachers. In 1725 Pope Benedict XIII raised La Salle's congregation to the status of a papal institute. Among his writings are Les Devoirs d'un chrtien (1703; The Duties of a Christian), two series of Mditations (173031), and La Conduite des coles chrtiennes (1720; The Conduct of Christian Schools).