Saint Joseph Calasanz 16thC

Saint Joseph Calasanz was born on September 11, 1556, in Peralta, Spain, and he died on August 25, 1648. He was a priest, teacher, patron saint of Roman Catholic schools, and founder of the Ordo Clericorum Regularium Pauperum Matris Dei Scholarum Piarum (Order of Poor Clerks Regular of the Mother of God of the Pious Schools), popularly called Piarists. Saint Joseph Calasanz knew Galileo and was also abnormally tall, even as a youth.  He was one of the first to want to educate the poor, which was his life’s work. Saint Joseph Calasanz was interrogated by the Inquisition. Do you think we should educate the poor?

Saint Joseph Calasanz Biography

Saint Joseph Calasanz was born in September 1557 to an aristocratic family in Spain. He was the second of eight children in his family. He was well-educated, and for his higher studies, he pursued philosophy and law at the University of Lleida. Saint Joseph Calasanz then began theology studies at the University of Valencia and at the Complutense University, which at the time was still located at its original site in Alcalá de Henares.

During his career in Spain, Saint Joseph Calasanz held various offices. He began his ministry in the diocese of Albarracín, where Bishop Gaspar Juan de la Figuera appointed him his theologian, confessor, synodal examiner, and procurator. When the bishop was transferred to Lerida, Calasanz followed him to the new diocese. He spent several years in La Seu d’Urgell. As secretary of the cathedral chapter, Calasanz had broad administrative responsibilities. In Claverol, a distant village to the northeast of Lerida, he established a foundation that distributed food to the poor.

In 1592, at 35, Saint Joseph Calasanz moved to Rome. He hoped to further his ecclesiastical career and secure a father figure. He lived there for most of his remaining 56 years and died there. In Rome, he found a protector in Cardinal Marcoantonio Colonna, who chose him as his theologian and, once he had learned to speak Italian, Colonna entrusted him with the spiritual direction of his household. The city of Rome offered many opportunities for works of charity, especially for the instruction of neglected and homeless children, many of whom had lost their parents. That gave Calasanz some ideas.

On Christmas Day in 1598, the Tiber River flooded its banks, reaching a depth of nearly 20 m (65 ft) above its normal level. The devastation was widespread. Hundreds of poor families who lived along the river’s banks were left homeless and without food.  Calasanz threw himself into the response, joining a religious fraternity dedicated to helping the poor, and began to help in the cleaning up and recovery of the city. In 1600, he opened his “Pious School” in the center of Rome, and soon, there was more, due to demand.

Pope Clement VIII began making an annual contribution, and many others gave their financial support to the work so that in a short time, Saint Joseph Calasanz had about 1,000 children under his charge. In 1602, he rented a house and began a community life with his assistants, and laid the foundation of the Order of the Pious Schools or Piarists. In 1610, Calasanz wrote the Documentum Princeps, in which he laid out the fundamental principles of his educational philosophy and regulations.

On September 15, 1616, the first public and free school in Frascati was started up on Saint Joseph Calasanz’s initiative. Less than one year later, on March 6, 1617, Pope Paul V approved the Saint’s group as the Pauline Congregation of the Poor of the Mother of God of the Pious Schools. Many schools were established. In an era when no one else was interested in public education, Saint Joseph Calasanz managed to set up schools with a highly complex structure. He was concerned with physical education, hygiene and addressed the various documents to monitor children’s health.

Saint Joseph Calasanz had a famous friend. Calasanz sensed the importance of mathematics and science for the future and issued frequent instructions that mathematics and science should be taught in his schools and that his teachers should have a firmer grounding in those subjects. Calasanz was a friend of Galileo Galilei and sent some distinguished Piarists to study under the great scientist. He shared and defended his controversial view of the cosmos.

Conclusion

Saint Joseph Calasanz was ahead of his time. Many people now think that education is the silver bullet, but he thought that almost five hundred years ago. His desire to educate the poor was great, and his achievement was great. It should be noted that he had rivals both in Italy and in Europe. There was a lot of poor education going on at the time. The popes at the time were in favor of such education; they were ahead of their time as well.