Saint John Baptist de la Salle
Patron of Table Manners, Teachers & Education
Feast Day: April 7th
John de la Salle was born in the 17th Century in Reims, France. He entered the Seminary and was a gifted student but his early life was full of misfortune. Before he was 21, both of his parents had died. John’s school days had to be deferred because he had to raise his four younger brothers and two sisters. He was always a person who loved learning new things and surrounded himself with those immersed in educating. John looked after the poor and firmly believed that much hardship could be overcome by helping people learn. And that is what he did! He actively taught and nourished educators. He invited them to live with him in efforts to build an academic community. He saw that through educating, he could offer other hope, freedom, dignity, and opportunity. He even went so far as to diligently teach “table manners” to his followers. He is known as the founder of the first Roman Catholic schools. He began the Institute of the Brothers of Christian Schools and his precepts have been mirrored throughout the world in numerous John de la Salle schools. He was Canonized as a Saint by Pope Leo XIII and later became well-known as a principal patron Saint of teachers. At SaintsforSinners we also consider John to be a mini Miracle Worker. Here’s why: We had never seen his medal but a man named Aaron asked for it and we said we did not have it. A short time later we were studying the medal of Saint Adrian. We took out his medals and reached into the bag to get one. When we put on our glasses to study the icon, we quickly saw the medal was of Saint John de la Salle. It is the only medal of his that we have ever seen and we are “miraculously” happy to be shipping it to Aaron today! P.S. We found more! © 12.20.2013