[Rank]
St. John Baptist de la Salle, Confessor;;Duplex;;3;;vide C5

[Oratio]
O God, who didst raise up the Confessor, St. John Baptist, to promote the Christian education of the poor and to strengthen the young in the way of truth, and, through him, didst gather together a new family within thy Church, mercifully grant through his intercession and example, that we may burn with zeal for thy glory, through the salvation of souls, and may share his crown in heaven.
$Per Dominum

[Lectio4]
John Baptist de La Salle, born of an honourable family at Reims, when still a boy shewed by his manners and actions that he was called by destiny to the Lord, and was to be adorned with the excellence of holiness. As a youth he studied literature and the philosophical sciences at the academy at Rheims. During this time, although his mental powers and his lively and pleasant disposition endeared him to all, he nevertheless shrank from the company of his fellows, so that, being inclined to solitude, he might the more easily find time for God. Already having been for some time enlisted in the ranks of the clergy, he was enrolled among the canons of Reims at the age of sixteen years. He went to Paris to study theology at the university of the Sorbonne, and was admitted to the Sulpician seminary. But he was soon forced to return home because of the death of his parents, and undertook the education of his brothers, which he carried on, without meanwhile interrupting his sacred studies, and with the greatest success, as was proved by subsequent events.

[Lectio5]
He was finally ordained priest, and said his first Mass with the intense faith and ardour of the soul which, throughout his whole life, he brought to those holy Mysteries. Meanwhile, burning with zeal for the salvation of souls, he devoted himself wholly to their service. He undertook the direction of the Sisters of the Infant Jesus, founded for the education of girls; and not only managed them most prudently, but saved their institute from dissolution. From this time onwards, he turned his attention to the education of poor boys in religion and good morals. And God had raised him up for this very end, namely, that he should found in his Church a new family of religious men, and should look after boys' schools, especially of poor boys, with unceasing and efficient care. And, indeed, this duty, entrusted to him by Divine providence, was successfully accomplished, in spite of very much opposition and great hardships, by the foundation of an institute of brothers which he named the Christian Schools.

[Lectio6]
His male associates in this great and arduous work he at first received into his own house; and then, establishing them in a more suitable dwelling, thoroughly inspired them with his method and with those wise laws and regulations which were afterwards confirmed by Benedict XIII. Because of humility and love of poverty, he first resigned his canonry and distributed all his property among the poor; and later also, after many unsuccessful attempts to do so, he of his own will resigned the government of the institute which he had founded. But meanwhile his solicitude for the brothers and for the schools which he opened in different places did not lessen, though he began to give himself more diligently to God. Shewing his hatred for self in constant fastings, in the use of the discipline and in other austerities, he spent his nights in prayer. At length, conspicuous for every kind of virtue, especially obedience, and zeal for fulfilling the divine will, and love and devotion to the Apostolic See, full of merit, and having devoutly received the sacraments, he fell asleep in the Lord in the sixty-eighth year of his age. The Supreme Pontiff Leo XIII placed him in the list of the Blessed; and, illustrious by new miracles, he was adorned with honours of the Saints in the year of jubilee, 1900. Pius XII appointed him the special heavenly patron of all teachers of boys and young men.

[Lectio94]
John Baptist de La Salle was born of a noble family of Reims and as a young man studied literature and philosophy at the academy in that city. Having become a cleric, he was made a canon of Reims at the age of sixteen, and later he was received into the Sulpician seminary at Paris. After his ordination to the priesthood, he undertook the direction of the Sisters of the Child Jesus, whose work was the education of girls, and he guided and defended them most prudently. Turning his attention to the formation of boys from ordinary families in religious and good habits, after many difficulties he founded the Institute of Brothers of the Christian Schools. This institute was confirmed by Benedict XIII. John Baptist resigned his canonry, gave away his goods to the poor, and in humility also resigned the governance of the institute he had founded. Full of virtues and merits, he fell asleep in the Lord in the sixty-eighth year of his age. Pope Leo XIII first included him in the list of the Blessed and then in that of the Saints, and Pius XII appointed him the special heavenly patron of all teachers of boys and young men.
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[Lectio7]
The Lesson is taken from the Holy Gospel according to Matthew
!Matt 18:1-5
At that time: Came the disciples unto Jesus, saying: Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven? And so on, and that which followeth.
_
A Homily by St. John Chrysostom
!In Cap. 18 Matth. Hom. 60
Take heed that ye despise not one of these little ones, saith the Lord, for their Angels do always behold the face of my Father which is in heaven. It was as though he had said: It was for them that I came, because this is the will of my Father. Thus doth he make it our duty to be full of thought and care for the protection and safety of these little ones. Ye see what vast ramparts he hath built for the protection of the little ones, and how much care and trouble he hath taken that they shall not be lost; yea, he pronounceth extreme penalties on them that despise them; and for them that undertake to care wholeheartedly for them he promiseth most high rewards. And all these things of his teaching, he doth further enforce by his own example and by the example of the eternal Father himself.

[Lectio8]
Let us therefore take to heart what the Lord saith, and imitate his example. Let us neglect nothing which it is in our power to do for these our little brothers and sisters. Let us be ready to undertake any work on their behalf, even the most homely and mean (that is, homely and mean in the eyes of men). And if there should be some further need of our assistance, even to the point of self-denying and laborious effort on our part, let us render it graciously; and let us do these things the more so when our help is required for one that is tiny and unloved and unwanted. And let us practice ourselves in these things until they become tolerable to us, and even easy, because we do them for the sake of one who is our little brother or sister in Christ. For God hath made evident that every soul is worthy of so much diligent care that he spared not his own Son for the sake of such.

[Lectio9]
If it be not enough for our salvation that we ourselves live virtuously, but we should desire in very truth the salvation of others; what shall we answer, if we do not live right nor teach others? What hope of salvation will remain unto us? What is nobler than to rule minds or to mould the character of the young? I consider that he who knoweth how to form the youthful mind is truly greater than all painters, sculptors, and all others of that sort.
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