Private Catholic schools: one grad's response

I have made my decision to make a donation, not to your institution, but to a freely accessible Catholic high school that could help out some families that may need help purchasing books and uniforms.

I would also like to refer you to your own web site. You include a brief biography on your patron saint. It is worth a read. Nowhere does it refer to running a private institution attended largely by the sons and daughters of the rich.

St. John Baptist de La Salle

St. John Baptist de La Salle was born in Rheims, France on April 30, 1651. He was just 29-years-old when he realized that the educational system of his day was inadequate to meet the needs of the poor children of Seventeenth Century France. To provide a Christian and human education that would be practical and effective, De La Salle founded a religious community of men, the Brothers of the Christian Schools (Fratres Scholarum Christianarum), dedicated to the instruction of youth, especially the poor. After many hardships, De La Salle died on Good Friday, April 7, 1719. He was canonized a saint of the Catholic Church in 1900 and declared "universal patron of all teachers" by his Holiness Pope Plus XII in 1950. The feast of St. John Baptist de La Salle is celebrated on the 15th of May by the worldwide Lasallian movement.

Thank you for the opportunity to learn more about your institution. I encourage you to read more about St John Baptist de La Salle. I invite you to think about his calling, and the mission you are on. Are they one and the same? Please note that not once in this brief biography did the rich get mentioned. That should be a hint for the Christian Brothers running this institution.

Sincerely, Kevin Brannigan

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