The Spirit of De La Salle
A somewhat older 13-minute video provides a quick overview of St. John Baptist de La Salle and his spirituality.
(The “Show the VIDEO” tab below lets you run the video from here.)
Prayer Reflections for Lasallians & Books from Br. Nicholas Hutchinson, FSC
The Lasallian community of Brothers and Partners in the United Kingdom have produced numerous resources over the years that have assisted in the Lasallian formation of groups and individuals. Below are four PDF booklets that are a resource for reflection and prayer for Lasallians discerning the way forward in today’s world.
One of those who produced a large number of resources was Br. Nicholas Hutchinson, FSC. His books continue to be published by Matthew James Publishing, and links to these may be found below. Further resources compiles or created by him may also be downloaded as PDF files below.
2021 – Lasallian Speakers Symposium – ANZPPG
Three online professional learning symposia for Lasallian Educators.
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The ANZZPG Lasallian Formation for Mission Team has created a program of three online symposia focussing on the 2021 Institute Theme: “You Are Part of the Miracle: Our Vision, Our Passion, Our Future.”
The format is a 30-45 minute presentation followed by a short period of facilitated discussion. There is one presenter each from Singapore, the Philippines, and the United States.
Details of the recordings are below.
Advent Reflection Videos
These short Advent reflections are centered around the week’s Gospel, De La Salle’s meditations, and a contemporary application of their intent. They may be used for personal reflection, group conversation, or the like. (6.5 – 7.5 minutes long each)
Here are direct links to the individual video reflections and to a PDF with the readings:
For Youth and the Poor
This book provides the history of the De La Salle Brothers in Australia, Papua New Guinea, and New Zealand between 1906 and 2000.
2021 International Lasallian COVID Study
2021 International Lasallian COVID Survey
These are the results of the 2021 International Lasallian COVID Study that was sent to all Lasallian institutions in 79 countries.
The report provides a global overview of the pandemic’s impact and of the responses it evoked in the areas of pedagogical management, institutional management, school management, and financial management.
Groups of scholars from Lasallian universities in various parts of the world analyzed the data and provided their conclusions, insights, and recommendations.
Below are PDF copies of the report. CLICK ON THE IMAGE TO OPEN THE PDF. The survey instrument itself is HERE.
Video INTRODUCTION below (54 min.)
Prayer Services for General Use
Below are some prayers services that may be used with any group – students, parents, teachers, boards, etc. They are particularly focused on dealing with the challenges of the recent pandemic but could be used in any context.
They are provided in PDF and in Powerpoint formats. For those leading the prayer, all you will need to do is to have readers for the various sections – or allow others to read an individual page in silence if there is a musical selection on the same slide.
Of course, you are welcome to edit the Powerpoint as you wish.
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NOTE: Please see the notes below the prayer services about window and sound sharing.
Creating a New Lasallian Map
Building New Paths to Transform Lives
Two Brothers have written and distributed a small booklet to help facilitate conversations among the Lasallian Family worldwide. It is provided in response to the invitation from the Preparatory Commission of the 46th General Chapter to Lasallians everywhere to think about, discuss, and share their thoughts about the future direction of the Institute.
Printed copies have been made available to each District in the Institute, both for the Brothers and for interested Lasallians.
On this page are downloadable copies of that same booklet, provided in English, Español, and Français.
Please click on the booklet’s image below to download the PDF.
Meditations for the Time of Retreat: A Lasallian Home Retreat
Meditations for the Time of Retreat: A Lasallian Home Retreat, by Brother Vincent Pelletier, FSC, offers a home-
The hardback version is available HERE.
HERE is a short video introduction to the Meditations for the Time of Retreat.
Lasallian World Maps
Here are two maps of the worldwide Lasallian educational community. The statistics are from 2020.
The blue map simply shows the locations and statistics. The tan map includes hand-drawn images of Brothers involved in a variety of scenes in their ministries.
Either map may be downloaded as a PDF file, which allows you to print it in whatever size you wish. You are free to print and share it without any additional permissions.
To download, click on the map images below for the low-resolution PDF, or on the specific format that you would like from the options next to each map.
Pastoral Letters – From the Superior General
This is an annual document written by Brother Superior General to the Brothers and the greater Lasallian Family in which he shares his thinking and outlook, his hopes and desires with respect to the Institute. It is traditional that he writes this letter at Christmas time in order to recall events of particular relevance that have occurred during the past year and to consider in some depth a certain topic that is deemed important. It is one of the ways that Brother Superior keeps in touch with the Brothers.
Publisher: BROTHERS OF THE CHRISTIAN SCHOOLS 476, Via Aurelia – CP 9099 Aurelio – 00165 Roma Italy
The printed issues are available from Mr. Abraham Tesfai at the Generalate in Rome (atesfai@lasalle.org)
De La Salle Christian Brothers share their COVID Experience – VIDEOS
In celebration of the World Day for Consecrated Life, here are some videos of Brothers around the world responding to “what it’s like to be a Brother in the time of COVID19.
For the text versions and for translations of videos in other languages, see below the video on Facebook.
Circulars – Institute of the Brothers of the Christian Schools
Here is a collection of the Circular Letters of the Institute of the Brothers of the Christian Schools that are available in English in PDF format. Some have come from other websites, and some have been scanned and turned into PDF format by the Lasallian Resource Center.
This collection will expand as more circulars become available in the PDF format. When possible, the PDF version is also an OCR version, so that you can search for key terms of phrases.
Go HERE for Dr. Greg Kopra’s “Selections from Recent Institute Documents Related to Our Lasallian Educational Service of the Poor”
Huether Conference
The annual gathering of Lasallian educators of the Lasallian Region of North America that focuses on innovative educational issues and a changing variety of themes related to Lasallian education and the schools. It is open to faculty and staff from all Lasallian ministries and includes major addresses, breakout sessions, seminars, and the like.
Praying Our Experiences
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Recent Institute Documents
Below are four recent documents from the Casa Generalizia in Rome.
Each addresses a different aspect of our contemporary Lasallian world, and all of them are the result of many years of collaborative discussions and work.
They are provided here for ease of access.
You can also got directly to the PUBLICATIONS page of the international Lasallian website.
May 19 – Blessed Br. Raphael Rafiringa, FSC
LASALLIAN REFLECTION – THE DAY OF RESURRECTION
WHAT PEOPLE ARE LOOKING AT
I Am Lasallian
A short, inspirational 4.5 minute video about Lasallian education, backed by a powerful song, that may be used in a variety of settings, including prayer services.
(The “Show the VIDEO” tab below lets you run the video from here.)
I, John Baptist de La Salle
A short, easy-to-read biography of John Baptist de La Salle, appropriate for new students, faculty, and others.
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A slightly longer recent biography is “The Teacher’s Saint”
An Educator and a Saint at Grips with the Society of His Time: John Baptist de La Salle (1651-1718)
A very accessible orientation to the seventeenth-century France in which the Lasallian Educational Movement had its origins.
St. Mutien-Marie Wiaux
A very short video about St. Mutien-Marie Wiaux, FSC, that may be used for a prayer service or simply as a brief introduction to his life story.
(The “Show the VIDEO” tab below lets you run the video from here.)
Photomosaic of St. John Baptist de La Salle
This is an image of St. John Baptist de La Salle that was created from a large collection of photographs from around the Lasallian world. The further back you step from it, the more the image emerges. It illustrates the fact that the face of De La Salle today is present and lived through all those who are part of his educational heritage.
Lasalliana – Volume 42
Published: September 1, 1997
The individual articles for this Volume are found below.
These sets of 2-page studies and reflections on Lasallian topics began in September 1983 and were published every year in three volumes up to 2001. Each volume contained 20 separate leaflets on specific themes or topics by Brothers and others from around the world. Many Brothers and others have benefited from these compact nuggets on various aspects of De La Salle, Lasallian education, the Institute, and the like. There are 53 sets or “volumes” of this publication, providing over 1,000 individual resources for perusal, research, and Lasallian formation.
The Story of De La Salle
This children’s book, created by the ARLEP District (Spain & Portugal), tells the story of St. John Baptist de La Salle, using his own voice. The artwork and the text are designed for use with young children. It was produced for the 300th anniversary of De La Salle’s passing into eternal life and has been translated into English in order to reach a larger audience.
The Letters of John Baptist De La Salle
This volume contains the letters that were written by. Although few in number, their contents provides a unique and personal insight into the relationship so of De La Salle and the first Brothers with whom he shaped the Institute. There are also some letters to individuals for whom he was a spiritual director..
The introduction and commentary by Colman Malloy, FSC, and Augustine Loes, FSC, gives the context for each of the letters and gives an overview of what they reveal about the writer of these letters.
(1988; 304 pp.)
Translated by Colman Malloy, FSC. Edited by Augustine Loes, FSC.
Volume 1 of Lasallian Sources: The Complete Works of John Baptist de La Salle
Publisher: Christian Brothers Conference – Lasallian Region of North America
District Workshops and Retreats (SFNO)
Workshops, retreats, and meetings of common-interest groups within the San Francisco New Orleans (SFNO) District.
Encounters at Parmenie
This small book provides an introduction and overview of the retreat center of Parmenie, near Grenoble, where St. John Baptist de La Salle made several key decisions about his life journey and his vocation as the Founder of the Brothers of the Christian Schools.
Pastoral Letters – From the Superior General
This is an annual document written by Brother Superior General to the Brothers and the greater Lasallian Family in which he shares his thinking and outlook, his hopes and desires with respect to the Institute. It is traditional that he writes this letter at Christmas time in order to recall events of particular relevance that have occurred during the past year and to consider in some depth a certain topic that is deemed important. It is one of the ways that Brother Superior keeps in touch with the Brothers.
Publisher: BROTHERS OF THE CHRISTIAN SCHOOLS 476, Via Aurelia – CP 9099 Aurelio – 00165 Roma Italy
The printed issues are available from Mr. Abraham Tesfai at the Generalate in Rome (atesfai@lasalle.org)
Brother James Miller
A very short video about Servant of God, James Miller, FSC, that may be used for a prayer service or simply as a brief introduction to his life story.
(The “Show the VIDEO” tab below lets you run the video from here.)
Lasalliana – Volume 22
Published: October 1, 1991
The individual articles for this Volume are found below.
These sets of 2-page studies and reflections on Lasallian topics began in September 1983 and were published every year in three volumes up to 2001. Each volume contained 20 separate leaflets on specific themes or topics by Brothers and others from around the world. Many Brothers and others have benefited from these compact nuggets on various aspects of De La Salle, Lasallian education, the Institute, and the like. There are 53 sets or “volumes” of this publication, providing over 1,000 individual resources for perusal, research, and Lasallian formation.
Lasalliana – Volume 53
Published: September 1, 2000
The individual articles for this Volume are found below.
These sets of 2-page studies and reflections on Lasallian topics began in September 1983 and were published every year in three volumes up to 2001. Each volume contained 20 separate leaflets on specific themes or topics by Brothers and others from around the world. Many Brothers and others have benefited from these compact nuggets on various aspects of De La Salle, Lasallian education, the Institute, and the like. There are 53 sets or “volumes” of this publication, providing over 1,000 individual resources for perusal, research, and Lasallian formation.
Lasallian Videos – by Ed Sirois
These videos were created by Mr. Ed Sirois, a religion teacher at La Salle Academy in Providence, RI. There were made for the morning prayer times for the school’s student-body, focusing attention on a specific person, event, or commemoration that was the subject of prayer that day.
Each video is short, poignant, and well-focused.
A full list of the videos, aligned with an academic-year calendar, is available HERE.
Books by Br. Louis DeThomasis, FSC
Br. Louis DeThomasis, FSC, is a De La Salle Christian Brother. Below are some of the books that he has authored on issues of concern to the Catholic Church and on ethical considerations in the world of business. From 2008 to 2017, Brother Louis served as president and chairman of CBIS. Founded in 1981, the Catholic investment service provides socially responsible investment management exclusively to Catholic institutions worldwide. Today, CBIS manages $7 billion in assets for dioceses, colleges, and universities; religious institutes; and health care systems, and has offices in the United States and Europe.
Widely recognized for his distinguished academic leadership in service to Lasallian education, Brother Louis served for 21 years as president of Saint Mary’s University of Minnesota, and continues today as the university’s president emeritus, professor of Interdisciplinary Studies, and distinguished senior fellow with the Hendrickson Institute for Ethical Leadership.
Brother Louis earned a bachelor of science degree in international relations from Georgetown University, conducted graduate study in theology at Providence College in Providence, R.I., and earned a doctorate in economics and financial management from the Union Institute and University in Cincinnati. He also completed postdoctoral studies as a Bush Fellow at the Institute for Educational Management at Harvard University.
SFNO District Facts
Overview of the SFNO schools, personnel, demographics, religious backgrounds, etc. of the students and the administrative structure.
Circular 461 – Associated for the Lasallian Mission …an act of HOPE
This Circular is a foundational document on the key dimension of “association” and its central place in Lasallian life and mission.