The Lasallian Catechetical Heritage in its Origins

Gerard Rummery, FSC, Ph.D.

ABSTRACT

The Institute of the Brothers of the Christian Schools originated in seventeenth-century France to provide a human and Christian education for the children of artisans and the poor. This article describes how the interplay of movements in French spirituality and the Roman Catholic Church of the time, and founder John Baptist de La Salle’s personal experiences as a student and cleric, converged to inform the emerging conceptualization of a new kind of teacher, the Brother teacher. As a practical matter, the teacher’s responsibility for catechesis led the community to develop a number of practices by which they were prepared for the role of catechist, all to assure that students were adequately prepared to participate in worship, and sustain other practices of their faith, according to the norms of the time.

KEYWORDS

Lasallian Pedagogy; Catechesis; Lasallian Spirituality;

FULL TEXT

The Lasallian Catechetical Heritage in its Origins