Zaragoza - Grupo escolar Gascón y Marín - San José Calasanz
Saint Joseph de Calasanz
Fondateur des Clercs des
Ecoles pies (+ 1648)
Né en 1557 en Aragon, il fut ordonné prêtre en 1583. Il fonda la congrégation des Écoles pour les enfants pauvres, avec un tel dynamisme et une telle réussite qu'il suscita des critiques de la part de la Curie. Il mourut en 1648, au temps de l'Inquisition, et fut canonisé en 1767.
Site des Piaristes (en espagnol)
Mémoire de saint Joseph de Calasanz, prêtre. D’abord en Aragon, sa patrie, puis
à Rome où il mourut en 1648, il établit des écoles populaires pour élever les
enfants et les adolescents dans l’amour et la sagesse de l’Évangile et fonda, à
Rome, l’Ordre des pauvres Clercs réguliers de la Mère de Dieu des Écoles
religieuses.
Martyrologe romain
SOURCE : https://nominis.cef.fr/contenus/saint/1734/Saint-Joseph-de-Calasanz.html
.jpg)
San
José de Calasanz en Iglesia Santa María en fiestas de Cofita (Huesca)
Saint Joseph Calazanz
Fondateur des Écoles Pies
(1556-1648)
Joseph Calazanz était
Espagnol et de race royale. Dès l'âge de cinq ans, il s'armait d'une petite
épée, se mettait à la tête de ses compagnons et s'élançait pour faire, comme il
le disait naïvement "la guerre au diable." Dès son jeune âge il récitait
le Rosaire, prêchait ses petits camarades et présidait des exercices de piété.
Avec avidité il écoutait la lecture de la Vie des Saints en famille; il
s'essayait déjà à suivre leurs exemples, prenait son repos sur la dure et
trouvait mille moyens de faire pénitence. Au collège, on l'appelait le petit
Saint; ses succès y furent, du reste, à la hauteur de sa vertu. Il avait
vingt-cinq ans, quand ses parents lui proposèrent un riche mariage; mais le
saint jeune homme avait fait voeu de chasteté et n'aspirait qu'à l'apostolat.
Dieu favorisa sa vocation
en lui envoyant une maladie fort grave, dont il guérit miraculeusement. Ordonné
prêtre, il occupa pendant huit ans de hautes charges dans son diocèse, où un
bien immense s'opéra par son zèle; mais il entendit plusieurs fois une voix lui
dire: "Va à Rome, Joseph, va à Rome!"
Il quitta tout pour
suivre l'appel de Dieu, et partit pour Rome en pèlerin pauvre et inconnu. Il
eut occasion de s'y dépenser généreusement, en attendant la manifestation
définitive de la Volonté de Dieu: visiter et soigner les malades dans les
hôpitaux, exhorter les prisonniers, consoler les pauvres, tel était, avec ses
exercices de piété, le programme de ses journées. Levé à minuit, il se livrait
à une longue méditation en présence du Saint-Sacrement, récitait Matines et
Laudes à genoux, faisait ensuite la visite des sept basiliques à jeun, course
de douze à quinze kilomètres et passait une partie de son temps à l'étude. Les
ceintures de fer, les cilices, les flagellations, les jeûnes, complétaient son
règlement de vie.
Que d'âmes lui ont dû
leur salut! Il suffisait de tomber entre ses mains pour être assuré d'une
conversion sincère. Après cinq ans de cette rude vie, Joseph éclairé sur les
besoins du peuple, sentit la nécessité de fonder des Écoles gratuites: c'était
l'oeuvre voulue de Dieu; elle prit le nom d'Écoles pies. Quelques années après,
il pouvait dire: "Si j'avais dix mille religieux je pourrais les employer
dans un mois, tant on m'en demande." Il mourut, après s'être dévoué
cinquante-deux ans à l'éducation de la jeunesse: "Gagner une âme,
disait-il souvent, oh! combien cela vaut! combien cela plaît à Dieu!"
Abbé L. Jaud, Vie des Saints pour tous les jours de l'année, Tours, Mame, 1950
SOURCE : http://magnificat.ca/cal/fr/saints/saint_joseph_calazanz.html
Hl.
Joseph von Calasanza mit Ordensregel der Piaristen. Aus: Lebens-Geschicht. Wien
1749. Historische Bibliothek der Stadt Rastatt L 2000/126. Die Rastatter
Residenz im Spiegel von Beständen der Historischen Bibliothek der Stadt
Rastatt. Ein Beitrag zur Geschichte des Piaristenordens in Deutschland. Hrsg.
von Hans Heid. Rastatt 2007, S. 266
Le charisme de saint
Joseph Calasanz, saint patron des écoles populaires chrétiennes
Discours du Saint-Père
aux membres religieux de la famille calasancienne
NOVEMBRE 29, 2024
17:03PAPE FRANÇOISEDUCATION CATHOLIQUE, PAPE FRANÇOIS
Chers frères et sœurs,
bonjour et bienvenue ! Je suis heureux de vous rencontrer à l’occasion du
soixante-quinzième anniversaire de la Famille calasanzienne, qui vous réunit
dans le charisme éducatif du patron universel de toutes les écoles populaires
chrétiennes du monde, saint Joseph Calasanz, et à l’occasion du centenaire de
la mort de deux de vos fondateurs, saint Faustino Míguez et la bienheureuse
Celestina Donati.
Le Seigneur a inspiré à
saint Joseph Calasanz l’idée de consacrer sa vie à l’éducation des jeunes, en
particulier des petits et des pauvres, en tant qu’« ange gardien », pour
reprendre l’expression avec laquelle il aimait lui-même définir la mission du «
maître » : « ange gardien », c’est beau. Et vous poursuivez son œuvre qui,
entre-temps, au fil des siècles, s’est étendue à quatre continents. Je voudrais
donc souligner, en cette heureuse occasion, deux aspects de vos origines que je
considère importants pour vous et pour votre avenir : le premier aspect, la
docilité courageuse à la Providence ; le second aspect, l’attention à la
croissance intégrale de la personne. La docilité courageuse à la Providence,
l’attention à la croissance intégrale de la personne.
Premièrement : une
docilité courageuse à la Providence. Votre fondateur, issu d’une famille aisée,
probablement destiné à une carrière ecclésiastique – j’ai horreur de ce terme,
« carrière ecclésiastique », il faut s’en débarrasser – arrivé à Rome avec des
hautes fonctions, n’a pas hésité à bouleverser les plans et les perspectives de
sa vie pour se consacrer aux enfants des rues qu’il rencontrait dans la ville.
C’est ainsi que les Écoles Pies ont vu le jour : non pas tant comme le résultat
d’un plan prédéfini et garanti, mais grâce au courage d’un bon prêtre qui s’est
laissé impliquer dans les besoins de son prochain, lorsque le Seigneur les lui
a présentés.
C’est vraiment beau et je
voudrais vous inviter à maintenir, dans vos choix, la même ouverture et la même
disponibilité, sans trop calculer, en surmontant les peurs et les hésitations,
surtout face aux nombreuses et nouvelles pauvretés de notre temps (cf.
Exhortation apostolique Evangelii gaudium, 210). Les nouvelles pauvretés… et il
serait bon qu’aujourd’hui ou demain, un de ces jours, dans votre rencontre,
vous essayiez de décrire les nouvelles pauvretés, ce que sont ces nouvelles
pauvretés. N’ayez pas peur de vous aventurer, de répondre aux besoins des
pauvres, sur des chemins différents de ceux que vous avez empruntés dans le
passé, même au prix d’une révision des modèles et d’un redimensionnement des
attentes. C’est dans cet abandon confiant que se trouvent vos racines, et c’est
en y étant fidèles que vous maintiendrez votre charisme vivant.
Deuxième aspect :
l’attention à la croissance intégrale de la personne. La grande nouveauté des
Écoles Pies a été d’enseigner aux jeunes pauvres, outre les vérités de la foi,
les matières de l’éducation générale, en intégrant la formation spirituelle et
intellectuelle pour préparer des adultes mûrs et capables. Il s’agissait d’une
décision prophétique à l’époque, qui est encore valable aujourd’hui. J’aime
parler, à cet égard, de faire l’unité, dans la personne, entre les « trois
intelligences » – vous savez que nous n’avons pas trois intelligences ! [entre
les « trois intelligences » : celle de l’esprit, celle du cœur et celle des
mains – les mains sont intelligentes ! – et donc nous pouvons faire avec nos
mains ce que nous sentons et pensons, sentir ce que nous pensons et faisons,
penser ce que nous sentons et faisons. Les trois intelligences.
Aujourd’hui, il est très
urgent d’aider les jeunes à réaliser ce type de synthèse, une unité harmonique des
trois intelligences, à « faire l’unité » en eux-mêmes et avec les autres, dans
un monde qui, au contraire, les encourage de plus en plus vers la fragmentation
des sentiments et de la cognition, et vers l’individualisme dans les relations.
Et sur cette insistance à avoir des relations « normales », en se regardant
dans les yeux, et non des relations virtuelles via le téléphone portable.
Un évêque m’a raconté
qu’un dimanche, ses cousins l’ont invité à déjeuner dans un restaurant et qu’à
la table voisine se trouvait une famille : le père, la mère, le fils et la
fille, tous avec leur téléphone portable, sans se parler. L’évêque, peu
prudent, s’est levé, s’est approché d’eux et leur a dit : « Regardez, vous êtes
une belle famille, mais pourquoi parlez-vous avec vos téléphones portables,
pourquoi ne vous parlez-vous pas entre vous, ce qui est beaucoup plus agréable
? » Ils l’ont écouté, l’ont renvoyé et ont continué à faire comme avant. C’est
terrible, c’est un manque d’humanité. Les trois formes d’intelligence. Et il
est important que les jeunes fassent cette unité en eux-mêmes, avec les autres
et avec le monde. Le modèle éducatif intégral est un « talent charismatique »
très important que Dieu vous a confié, afin que vous le fassiez fructifier au
mieux de vos capacités, pour le bien de tous.
Chers amis, je voudrais
conclure en soulignant un dernier aspect positif de votre présence ici :
marcher ensemble. Je me réjouis de voir comment vous tous – hommes et femmes,
consacrés et laïcs – à l’écoute de l’Esprit, avez ressenti le besoin de « faire
famille », d’unir vos forces et de partager vos expériences dans un réseau de
charité, au service de vos frères et sœurs (cf. Exhortation apostolique Christus vivit, n. 222). C’est le style
de Jésus (cf. Mc 3, 14-15 ; Mt 18, 20), et c’est aussi le style de l’Église
(cf. Constitution dogmatique Lumen
gentium, 7 ; Constitution pastorale Gaudium
et spes, 92).
Merci pour cela et pour
tout ce que vous faites. Je vous bénis de tout cœur et vous demande de prier
pour moi.
Le charisme de saint Joseph Calasanz, saint
patron des écoles populaires chrétiennes | ZENIT - Français
Svatý
Josef Kalasanský s maďarským mladíkem před Pannou Marií, Kuny Domonkos Muzeum,
Tata. Autor: Felix I. Leicher (1767)
St Joseph Calasance, confesseur
Leçons des Matines avant
1960.
Au deuxième nocturne.
Quatrième leçon. Joseph
Calasance de la Mère de Dieu naquit d’une noble famille, à Retraita en Aragon.
Dès ses plus jeunes années, il donna des marques de sa charité envers les
enfants et de son zèle pour les instruire. Tout jeune encore, il les réunissait
autour de lui, pour leur apprendre les prières saintes et les mystères de la foi.
Il cultiva avec soin les lettres profanes et sacrées. Pendant qu’il étudiait la
théologie à Valence, il eut à se défendre des séductions d’une femme puissante
et noble, et, par une insigne victoire, conserva intacte la virginité qu’il
avait vouée à Dieu. S’étant fait Prêtre en exécution d’un vœu et appelé par
plusieurs Évêques de la Nouvelle-Castille, d’Aragon et de Catalogne à partager
leurs travaux, il surpassa les espérances de tous : grâce à lui les mœurs
s’amendaient, la discipline ecclésiastique était remise en vigueur, les
inimitiés et les factions qui ensanglantaient les cités s’apaisaient d’une
manière étonnante. Mais sur des avertissements répétés, reçus en vision et par
la voix de Dieu, il partit pour Rome.
Cinquième leçon. A Rome,
il mena une vie très rude, affligeant son corps par des veilles et des jeûnes,
passant les jours et les nuits dans la méditation des choses célestes et dans
la prière. Il avait coutume de visiter presque chaque nuit les sept basiliques
de la Ville, et il conserva cette habitude pendant plusieurs années. Enrôlé
dans plusieurs confréries pieuses, il secourut avec un zèle admirable les
pauvres, principalement les malades et les prisonniers, les aidant de ses
aumônes et leur rendant tous les devoirs de la miséricorde. Dans une peste qui
ravageait Rome, il se joignit à saint Camille et se livra si généreusement aux
élans de la charité, que non content de pourvoir par de larges aumônes au
soulagement des pauvres malades, il alla même jusqu’à transporter sur ses
épaules, au lieu des inhumations, les cadavres de ceux qui avaient succombé.
Ayant appris, par une révélation divine, qu’il était destiné à instruire et à
former à la piété les enfants, et surtout les enfants pauvres, il fonda l’Ordre
des Clercs réguliers pauvres des Écoles pies de la Mère de Dieu : religieux que
la règle même de leur institut devait astreindre à donner un soin spécial à
l’instruction des enfants. Le saint fondateur, vivement encouragé par Clément
VIII, Paul V et d’autres souverains Pontifes, propagea son Ordre avec une
rapidité merveilleuse dans plusieurs provinces et royaumes d’Europe. Dans cette
œuvre, il supporta tant de travaux et traversa tant d’épreuves sans jamais
fléchir, qu’il n’y avait partout qu’une voix pour le proclamer un prodige de force
et une copie de la constance du saint homme Job.
Sixième leçon. Malgré les
sollicitudes du gouvernement général de son Ordre, et bien qu’il continuât de
travailler de tout son pouvoir au salut des âmes, jamais cependant il ne cessa
d’instruire les enfants, surtout les plus indigents. Balayer leurs classes et
les reconduire chez eux lui était habituel. Il persévéra pendant cinquante-deux
ans, même étant malade, dans ces admirables pratiques de patience et d’humilité
et mérita ainsi que Dieu fît éclater ses miracles devant ses disciples. La
bienheureuse Vierge Marie lui apparut avec l’enfant Jésus qui les bénissait
pendant qu’ils priaient. Il refusa les plus hautes dignités. Le don de
prophétie, la pénétration des cœurs, la connaissance de ce qui se passait au
loin, ses miracles, ont rendu son nom célèbre. Il fut extrêmement dévot envers
la Vierge, Mère de Dieu : outre qu’il l’honora d’un culte particulier depuis sa
plus tendre enfance, il recommanda aux siens de la vénérer de même. Marie et
d’autres Saints le favorisèrent de fréquentes apparitions. Ayant prédit le jour
de sa mort, le rétablissement et les progrès de son Ordre, alors presque
détruit, il s’endormit dans le Seigneur, à Rome, âgé de quatre-vingt-douze ans,
l’an mil six cent quarante-huit, la nuit des calendes de septembre. Au bout
d’un siècle, on retrouva sa langue et son cœur intacts et sans corruption. Dieu
l’ayant illustré par beaucoup d’autres prodiges après sa mort, le Pape Benoît
XIV le mit au rang des Bienheureux et Clément XIII l’inscrivit solennellement
au nombre des Saints.
Au troisième nocturne.
Lecture du saint Évangile
selon saint Matthieu. Cap. 18, 1-5.
En ce temps-là : les
disciples vinrent un jour poser à Jésus cette question : « Selon Vous, qui est
le plus grand dans le royaume des cieux ? » Et le reste.
Homélie de saint Jean
Chrysostome. In Cap. 18 Matth. Hom. 60
Septième leçon. «
Gardez-vous de mépriser un seul de ces petits enfants ; parce que leurs Anges
voient toujours la face de mon Père », parce que je suis venu pour eux et que
telle est la volonté de mon Père. Par là, Jésus-Christ nous rend plus attentifs
à protéger et à préserver les petits enfants. Vous voyez quels grands remparts
il a élevés pour abriter les faibles ; que de zèle et de sollicitude il a pour
empêcher leur perte ! Il menace des châtiments les plus graves ceux qui les
trompent ; il promet à ceux qui en prennent soin la suprême récompense ; et
cela, il le corrobore tant par son exemple que par celui de son Père.
Huitième leçon. A nous
donc aussi d’imiter le Seigneur, et de ne rien négliger pour nos frères, pas
même les choses qui nous sembleraient trop basses et trop viles ; mais s’il est
besoin même de notre service, quelque faible et humble que soit celui qu’il
faut servir, quelque difficile et pénible que la chose paraisse, que tout cela,
je vous en prie, nous semble tolérable et aisé pour le salut d’un frère : car
Dieu nous a montré que cette âme est digne d’un si grand zèle et d’une si
grande sollicitude, que pour elle « il n’a pas même épargné son Fils » [1].
Neuvième leçon. Puisque,
pour assurer notre salut, il ne suffit pas de mener une vie vertueuse, et qu’il
faut encore effectivement désirer le salut d’autrui, que répondrons-nous, quel
espoir du salut nous restera, si nous négligeons de mener une vie sainte, et
d’exciter les autres à faire de même ? Quelle plus grande chose que de
discipliner les esprits, que de former les mœurs des tendres adolescents ? Pour
moi, celui qui s’entend à former l’âme de la jeunesse est assurément bien
au-dessus des peintres, bien au-dessus des statuaires, et de tous les artistes
de ce genre.
[1] Rom. 8, 3
La chiesa di San Giuseppe Calasanzio a Correggio, provincia di Reggio Emilia.
Dom Guéranger, l’Année
Liturgique
Vous serez le secours de
l’orphelin ; c’est à vous que le pauvre a été laissé [2]. Cette parole que déjà
Venise la superbe avait vue réalisée dans la personne de son noble fils Jérôme
Émilien, fixe aujourd’hui la sainteté d’un autre illustre personnage comptant
parmi ses aïeux les premiers princes de Navarre, mais devenu souche d’une
lignée plus haute au royaume de la charité.
Dieu qui arrose les
arbustes de la plaine comme les cèdres du Liban, parce qu’il les a tous plantés
[3], ne néglige point non plus les passereaux qui n’amassent rien dans des
greniers [4] : oubliera-t-il l’enfant, qui vaut mieux que l’oiseau du ciel [5]
? Ou, nourrissant son corps, négligera-t-il en lui l’âme qui est plus [6],
l’âme affamée de ce pain de la science du salut qui conforte le cœur de l’homme
[7] ? Hélas ! En ce seizième siècle qui se leva sur tant de ruines, on eût dit
que les anciennes réserves du Père de famille étaient épuisées. Merveilleuses
sans doute se manifestèrent bientôt les revanches de l’Esprit qui fait les
Saints, et qui par eux ressuscite les morts ; mais que d’abandonnés auxquels la
charité renaissante n’avait pu suffire, en son zèle trop débordé par les mille
soins de la première heure ! combien d’enfants surtout, loin des écoles où le
riche seul avait entrée, réclamaient l’aliment de l’éducation la plus
élémentaire, la plus indispensable à leurs obligations, à leur noblesse aussi
de fils de Dieu, sans que personne se présentât pour leur rompre le pain de
l’intelligence [8] !
Plus heureuse que tant
d’autres nations où l’hérésie minait toutes les forces sociales, l’Espagne, à
son apogée, jouissait du centuple promis à quiconque cherche premièrement le
royaume de Dieu [9]. Un moment, elle sembla devenue la ressource intarissable
du Seigneur : naguère, c’était Ignace de Loyola qu’elle donnait au monde ; elle
vient, par la précieuse mort de Thérèse d’Avila, d’enrichir le ciel ;
aujourd’hui, c’est encore à son abondance que l’Esprit recourt pour relever
l’opulence de la capitale même de l’univers chrétien, et subvenir, sous les
yeux de l’Église maîtresse et mère, aux besoins des plus humbles de la grande
famille.
Le descendant des
Calasanz de Péralta de la Sal, l’apôtre auquel les peuples d’Aragon, de
Catalogne et de Castille préparent les plus hautes dignités dans leur
admiration reconnaissante, entend retentir à l’oreille de son âme une voix
mystérieuse : Va à Rome ; sors de la terre de ta naissance [10] ; bientôt
t’apparaîtra dans sa beauté des cieux la compagne qui t’est destinée, la sainte
pauvreté, qui t’appelle à cette heure aux austères délices de son alliance ;
va, sans savoir la route par où je te mène [11] ; je te ferai le père d’une
postérité immense [12] ; je te montrerai tout ce qu’il faudra souffrir pour mon
nom [13].
Quarante années d’une
fidélité aveugle ont été nécessaires pour disposer l’élu du ciel, dans la
sainteté qui s’ignore, à sa vocation sublime. En effet, nous dit aujourd’hui
pour l’Église saint Jean Chrysostome, « quoi de plus grand que de manier les
âmes, que de former les mœurs des enfants ? Je le dis dans ma persuasion intime
: il l’emporte sans nul doute possible sur tous les peintres, il l’emporte sur
tout statuaire, sur tout artiste d’aucune sorte, celui qui sait modeler les
jeunes âmes » [14].
Joseph a compris la
dignité de sa mission : conformément aux recommandations du saint Docteur [15],
durant cinquante-deux années qu’il doit vivre encore, rien ne lui semblera
méprisable ou vil dans le service des petits de ce monde ; rien ne lui coûtera
pour arriver, par l’enseignement des éléments des lettres, à infuser aux
enfants qui viennent à lui sans nombre la crainte du Seigneur [16]. Bientôt, de
Saint-Pantaléon, sa résidence, les Écoles pies couvrent l’Italie entière : puis
passant la mer et les monts, elles se répandent par la Sicile, l’Espagne,
tandis que peuples et rois se disputent leur trop petit nombre dans la Moravie,
la Bohème, la Pologne et les pays du Nord.
L’éternelle Sagesse
associait Calasanz à son œuvre de salut sur terre [17] ; elle reconnut ses
travaux en la manière qu’elle manque rarement de le faire pour les privilégiés
de son amour, leur offrant, comme dit l’Esprit-Saint, le combat des forts, où
elle leur assure, par son aide plus puissante que tout, la victoire [18].
Combat des patriarches au gué de Jaboc [19], dernier obstacle séparant de la
terre promise, quand déjà sont passés devant, par le dépouillement absolu,
toutes les délices et tous les biens de ce monde [20] ; combat de nuit [21], où
défaille la nature boiteuse [22], mais qui fait se lever l’aurore [23] et
laisse le lutteur en face du jour sans fin [24] ; combat avec Dieu [25] seul à
seul [26], sous l’apparence, il est vrai, de l’homme [27] ou de l’ange [28] :
mais qu’importe, si la diversité du voile sous lequel il plaît au Seigneur de
se cacher dans la lutte n’enlève rien aux droits de son domaine suprême !
Pourquoi chercher mon nom ? dit l’adversaire de Jacob [29] ; le vôtre est
maintenant Israël, fort contre Dieu [30].
On pourra demander aux
historiens de saint Joseph Calasanz le détail des épreuves qui firent de lui ce
prodige de force [31] que nous recommande aujourd’hui l’Église ; elles allèrent
jusqu’à amener, sur les calomnies spécieuses de quelques faux frères, la
déposition du bienheureux et la ruine momentanée de son Ordre, réduit à l’état
de congrégation séculière. Ce fut seulement après sa mort, qu’Alexandre VII,
puis Clément IX, rendirent aux Écoles pies l’état Régulier et le titre de
Religion à vœux solennels. Dans son grand ouvrage de la Canonisation des Saints,
Benoît XIV s’étend longuement sur ce sujet, et il se complaît à rappeler la
part multiple qu’il eut au procès du Serviteur de Dieu, à titre d’abord
d’Avocat consistorial, puis comme Promoteur de la foi, enfin, Cardinal,
émettant un suffrage favorable en la cause [32] ; on verra dans la Légende que,
de plus, ce fut lui qui le béatifia.
Le Seigneur a exaucé le
désir des pauvres, il a été au-devant des aspirations de leur cœur [33], en
vous faisant le mandataire de son amour, en mettant sur vos lèvres la parole
que lui-même formula le premier : Laissez venir à moi les petits enfants [34].
Combien, ô Joseph, vous devront l’éternel bonheur, parce que vous et vos fils
aurez gardé en eux la ressemblance divine reçue au baptême, et qui est l’unique
titre de l’homme à entrer aux cieux [35] ! Soyez béni d’avoir justifié la
confiance de Jésus remettant à vos soins ces êtres si frêles, objet de sa
divine prédilection.
Soyez béni de l’avoir
justifiée mieux encore cette confiance du Seigneur Dieu, quand il donna, comme
pour Job, licence à l’enfer de tout briser autour de vous, avec des recherches
de surprise douloureuse que ne connut point le juste de l’Idumée. Ne faut-il
pas que Dieu puisse compter imperturbablement sur les siens ? N’est-il pas
d’une convenance souveraine, qu’au milieu des défections de ce triste monde, il
justifie, devant ses Anges, et sa grâce et notre pauvre nature, en montrant
jusqu’où peuvent aller dans ses Saints les reprises de sa volonté toujours
adorée ?
La réparation que votre
indomptable confiance attendait de la Mère de Dieu, devait venir quand il
plairait au ciel. O Joseph, maintenant que depuis si longtemps a sonné pour les
Écoles pies l’heure de la résurrection, bénissez les disciples que notre siècle
vous donne toujours ; obtenez-leur, ainsi qu’aux nombreux écoliers qu’ils
continuent de former à la science chrétienne, les bénédictions de Jésus Enfant
; à tous ceux qui consacrent au jeune âge leurs travaux et leur vie, inspirez
votre esprit, obtenez courage ; élevez nos âmes à la hauteur des enseignements
de votre héroïque existence.
[2] Psalm. IX, 14.
[3] Psalm. CIII, 16.
[4] Matth. VI, 26.
[5] Ibid.
[6] Ibid. 25.
[7] Psalm. CIII, 15.
[8] Thren. IV, 4.
[9] Matth. VI, 33.
[10] Gen. XII, 1.
[11] Heb. XI, 8.
[12] Gen. XII, 2.
[13] Act. IX, 16.
[14] Homilia diei, ex
Chrys. in Matth. LX.
[15] Ibid.
[16] Psalm. XXXIII, 12.
[17] Psalm. CX, 10.
[18] Sap. X, 12.
[19] Gen. XXXII, 22.
[20] Ibid. 23.
[21] Ibid. 24.
[22] Ibid. 25.
[23] Ibid. 26.
[24] Ibid. 31.
[25] Ibid. 28.
[26] Ibid. 24.
[27] Ibid.
[28] Ose. XII, 3.
[29] Gen. XXXII, 29.
[30] Ibid. 28.
[31] Lectio 2e IIi
Nocturni.
[32] Benedict. XIV, De
Servorum Dei beatificatione et Beatorum canonizatione, Lib. III, C. XXX 16, 17,
18.
[33] Offert. ex Psalm.
IX, 17. 14.
[34] Commun. ex Marc, X.
[35] Ibid.
Bhx cardinal
Schuster, Liber Sacramentorum
Voici un fidèle pèlerin
des tombes des martyrs romains, un visiteur quotidien des sept églises de Rome,
Ce grand Saint, dont Dieu voulut éprouver la patience comme celle d’un autre
Job, a le droit de cité romaine, car il passa au bord du Tibre plus d’un demi-siècle.
Après qu’il eut fondé l’Ordre des Écoles Pies, après qu’il eut renoncé à
l’honneur de la pourpre cardinalice, pour que rien ne manquât à ses mérites,
âgé de près de quatre-vingts ans, il fut traîné comme un malfaiteur par les
sbires dans les rues de Rome et conduit au tribunal de la Sainte Inquisition.
Déposé de l’office de général de son Ordre, méprisé par ses disciples
eux-mêmes, comme s’il fût amoindri par son grand âge, saint Joseph Calasanz
supporta tout avec une égale grandeur d’âme.
Quand il mourut, le 25
août 1648, âgé de quatre-vingt-douze ans, l’Ordre des Écoles Pies était presque
anéanti ; mais l’homme ne peut détruire les œuvres de Dieu, et le Saint, au
moment de laisser la terre, prédit son refleurissement. L’événement confirma la
prophétie.
La messe est en harmonie
avec l’esprit et la vocation spéciale des membres des Écoles Pies.
L’introït emprunte son
antienne au psaume 33 : « Venez, mes fils, et écoutez-moi : je vous enseignerai
la crainte de Dieu ». Suit le commencement du même psaume : « Je bénirai le
Seigneur en tout temps, et sa louange sera toujours sur mes lèvres ».
Bénir Dieu dans les
tribulations est le fait du petit nombre ; mais moins nombreux encore sont ceux
qui reçoivent aussi de sa main les faveurs de la vie. Si l’épreuve est
dangereuse pour une vertu faible, la prospérité l’est bien davantage pour
beaucoup, et fort peu nombreux sont ceux qu’elle n’empêche pas d’arriver à la
sainteté. C’est pourquoi le sage, satisfait d’une juste médiocrité, disait au
Seigneur : Divitias et paupertatem ne dederis mihi, sed tantum victui meo
tribue necessaria.
Prière. — « Seigneur qui,
par le moyen de votre bienheureux confesseur Joseph, avez procuré à votre
Église un secours nouveau pour former la jeunesse à la piété et à la science ;
faites, par ses prières et par ses exemples, que nous aussi agissions et
enseignions de manière à obtenir la céleste récompense ». Jésus a dit à ses
apôtres : Euntes docete omnes sentes, baptizantes eos. Avant d’administrer les
Sacrements, l’Église a donc reçu de Dieu l’autorité d’enseigner, de créer des
écoles, d’élever des chaires, pour y publier la parole de la vérité, sans
qu’aucune autorité humaine puisse l’en empêcher. Fidèle à cette mission de
culture, l’Église, même au moyen âge, érigea, à côté des presbytères et des
cathédrales, des écoles où elle maintint allumé le flambeau du savoir
classique. Et après le XVIe siècle, alors que les conditions nouvelles de
l’Europe n’avaient pas encore reconnu au peuple une influence plus large dans
la conduite des affaires publiques, et que la connaissance des lettres était
toujours le monopole des riches, ce fut aussi l’Église qui, anticipant sur
l’avenir, eut à cœur, par les soins de saint Joseph Calasanz, de saint
Jean-Baptiste de La Salle, etc., d’ouvrir des écoles gratuites pour les enfants
du peuple.
La première lecture est
la même qu’hier, avec une allusion délicate aux persécutions soutenues par le
Saint, et à son arrestation par les sbires de l’Inquisition.
Le répons-graduel est le
même que le 31 janvier, tandis que le verset alléluiatique, qui s’adapte si
bien au long martyre de Calasanz, est identique à celui de la messe de saint
Raymond, le 23 janvier.
La lecture évangélique
est commune à la fête de saint Jean-Baptiste de la Salle, le 15 mai. Les
enfants nous sont présentés comme le modèle de la perfection chrétienne, parce
que ce qu’ils sont en vertu de leur âge, c’est-à-dire purs, aimants, humbles,
désintéressés, les fidèles doivent le devenir, sous l’influence de la grâce. A
la base de toute cette construction ascétique très élevée, se trouve une vertu
qui les vaut toutes. Le Seigneur a dit, en effet : Quicumque humiliaverit se,
sicut parvulus... L’humilité est donc la condition essentielle pour ce retour à
la sainte enfance spirituelle, et celle-ci, loin d’être un enfantillage, exige
au contraire de celui qui la pratique une abnégation héroïque de soi-même.
L’antienne de
l’offertoire provient du psaume 9. « Le Seigneur accueillit le désir des
pauvres ; à son oreille arriva la voix de leur cœur ».
Il faut distinguer entre
pauvreté et pauvreté. Celle qui est louée dans les Écritures est seulement la
pauvreté pratiquée de cœur et dans le cœur même, laquelle, par suite,
s’identifie avec l’humilité.
Sur les oblations. — «
Nous couvrons aujourd’hui d’offrandes vos autels, Seigneur, afin qu’elles nous
soient profitables par les mérites de Celui dont vous avez fait notre
protecteur ». Cette collecte s’inspire du style des Sacramentaires, mais plagie
un peu trop les formules antiques. Anciennement, le peuple couvrait
effectivement l’autel de ses dons ; mais aujourd’hui la phrase altare muneribus
cumulamus n’a plus de sens, parce qu’elle ne correspond plus à la discipline
liturgique actuelle.
L’antienne pour la
Communion se rapporte à la scène décrite dans la lecture évangélique de ce jour
(Matth., XVIII, 15). Cependant elle est tirée du texte de saint Marc (X, 14) :
« Laissez les petits enfants venir à moi et ne les en empêchez pas, car c’est à
eux qu’appartient le royaume des cieux ». La pureté et l’humilité exercent
toujours sur le Cœur du divin Agneau un attrait irrésistible.
Après la Communion. — «
Sanctifiés, Seigneur, par le Sacrement de notre salut, nous vous supplions, par
les prières du bienheureux confesseur Joseph, de nous accorder d’avancer de
plus en plus dans l’esprit de piété ». La piété est l’orientation de l’âme et
le battement du cœur vers Dieu. Elle est utile à tout, comme l’écrit l’apôtre à
Timothée, car elle est une vertu générale qui imprime un rythme surnaturel à
toutes nos actions.
_01.jpg)
Statue
in Kutná
Hora in Kutná Hora District – entry no. 17994.
Socha
v obci Kutná
Hora v okrese Kutná Hora – záznam č. 17994.
Socha svatého Josefa Kalasanského v Barborské ulici v Kutné Hoře
_02.jpg)
Statue
in Kutná
Hora in Kutná Hora District – entry no. 17994.
Socha
v obci Kutná
Hora v okrese Kutná Hora – záznam č. 17994.
Socha
svatého Josefa Kalasanského v Barborské ulici v Kutné Hoře
Dom Pius Parsch, Le
guide dans l’année liturgique
Se faire enfant et aimer
les enfants.
1. Saint Joseph Calasanz.
— Jour de mort : 25 août 1648, à l’âge de 92 ans. Tombeau : à Rome, dans
l’église Saint-Pantaléon ; son cœur et sa langue sont conservés intacts. Image
: en Piariste, entouré d’enfants. Vie : Saint Joseph Calasanz est le fondateur
de l’Ordre des Piaristes qui continuent de nos jours encore à se dévouer à
l’éducation de la jeunesse. Sa sollicitude pour les enfants se manifesta dès
ses premières années ; il aimait à les rassembler, à leur faire à sa manière le
catéchisme, et à leur apprendre à prier. Il fonda plus tard la « Congrégation
des pauvres Clercs réguliers de la Mère de Dieu et des Écoles pies » qui ont
pour mission spéciale l’éducation gratuite des enfants pauvres. A Rome, il
avait coutume de visiter les sept basiliques et d’aller vénérer les tombeaux
des martyrs de la ville presque toutes les nuits. Durant une terrible peste, il
rivalisa de dévouement avec saint Camille de Lellis (fête le 18 juillet) au
chevet des malades, allant même jusqu’à transporter sur ses épaules les cadavres
de ceux qui avaient succombé. Par sa patience et son énergie invincibles dans
les difficultés, il fut un prodige de constance chrétienne, à tel point qu’on
l’a surnommé un second Job (Il avait quatre-vingts ans quand on le conduisit au
tribunal de l’Inquisition, à travers les rues de Rome, comme un criminel). Nous
voyons par l’exemple de sa vie comment Dieu laisse parfois les persécutions,
les tribulations, les contradictions, de la part même d’ecclésiastiques, fondre
sur une œuvre sans que son existence ou ses progrès soient réellement menacés.
A la mort de saint Joseph Calasanz son institut était presque anéanti, ce qui
ne l’empêcha pas de refleurir plus tard.
2. La Messe. (Venite
filii). — Elle rappelle en plusieurs endroits les traits les plus
caractéristiques du saint, son amour des enfants et sa patience dans les
souffrances en particulier. Il est fait allusion à son amour des enfants dans
l’Introït : « Venez, mes fils, écoutez-moi ; je veux vous apprendre la crainte
du Seigneur ! » De même dans le chant de Communion : « Laissez venir à moi les
petits enfants... le royaume des cieux leur appartient ». A l’Évangile, le
saint ami de l’enfance nous rappelle que nous devons devenir semblables aux
enfants et les aimer. « Si vous ne devenez comme les petits enfants, vous
n’entrerez pas dans le royaume des cieux... — Quiconque reçoit un de ces
petits, c’est moi qu’il reçoit ». La patience dans les tribulations nous est
enseignée par l’Épître : « Dieu descendit avec lui dans la fosse et ne le
délaissa pas dans les chaînes ». Il est exact que saint Joseph Calasanz fut
jeté en prison par ses adversaires. (Admirable coïncidence, c’est du Joseph de
la sainte Écriture qu’il est littéralement question dans tout ce passage). Le
chant de l’Alléluia caractérise notre saint : « Heureux l’homme qui supporte
l’épreuve ; car l’homme éprouvé recevra la couronne de vie ». Cette couronne,
il l’a reçue ; prions-le de nous faire participer à sa gloire. Prions Dieu
aussi, et offrons-lui aujourd’hui nos sacrifices pour l’Ordre des Piaristes et
le succès de leurs œuvres.
3. La prière des Heures. — Le prince des orateurs sacrés, saint Jean Chrysostome, nous donne un beau commentaire de l’Évangile de ce jour : « Gardez-vous de mépriser aucun de ces petits parce que leurs anges voient constamment la face de mon Père... Par ces paroles, Jésus-Christ nous rend plus attentifs à veiller sur les enfants et à les protéger. Voyez de quelle muraille il entoure les faibles, et avec quelle sollicitude il veille à éviter leur perte ! Il menace de terribles châtiments ceux qui leur dressent des embûches, mais il promet une grande récompense à ceux qui leur viennent en aide et prennent soin d’eux, et cela, il le corrobore tant par son exemple que par celui de son Père. Imitons donc le Seigneur et ne négligeons rien pour nos frères, pas même ce qui peut nous sembler vil et humiliant ; mais lorsqu’il s’agit de les secourir, si insignifiant et si misérable que soit celui qui doit être l’objet de nos soins, si dure et pénible que la chose nous paraisse, que tout nous semble facile pour le salut d’un frère. Dieu a eu un tel souci de -notre âme que, pour elle, il n’a pas épargné son propre Fils !... Y a-t-il un art plus grand que celui de diriger une âme et de former l’esprit d’un adolescent ? C’est un art qui exige, de la part de celui qui le cultive, une application plus grande que ne le réclame l’art du statuaire ou du peintre !
SOURCE : http://www.introibo.fr/27-08-St-Joseph-Calasance
S. Joseph Calasanz
27 août
Pour préparer une bonne
rentrée scolaire priez ce Saint et lisez sa vie
RÉSUMÉ :
L’Église qui vient de
célébrer la fête de l’Assomption honore aujourd’hui un Saint qui voua à la
Vierge un culte tout spécial.
Saint Joseph Calasanz
naquit en Aragon, d’une famille noble, et donna dès sa jeunesse des marques de
charité envers les enfants.
Alors qu’il étudiait la
théologie à Valence, il eut à se défendre des séductions d’une femme puissante
et noble et fit le vœu d’entrer dans les saints Ordres.
Devenu prêtre, il apprit
par révélation divine qu’il était destiné à instruire et à former à la piété
les enfants et surtout les enfants pauvres.
Il fonda alors l’Ordre
des Pauvres Clercs réguliers des Écoles Pies de la Mère de Dieu. Comme Jésus il
fit venir à lui les petits enfants et leur enseigna la crainte de Dieu.
L’Évangile de la Messe nous redit la consolante parole du Maître :
« Quiconque reçoit en Mon Nom un de ces petits, c’est Moi qu’il
reçoit ».
« Malgré les
sollicitudes du gouvernement général de son Ordre, dit le Bréviaire, et bien
qu’il continuât de travailler de tout son pouvoir au salut des âmes, jamais il
ne cessa d’instruire les enfants, surtout les indigents. Balayer leurs
classes et les reconduire chez eux lui était habituel ».
Il persévéra pendant
cinquante-deux ans, même étant malade, dans ces admirables pratiques de
patience et d’humilité.
Saint Joseph Calasanz
mourut à 92 ans, l’an 1648.
Saint Joseph Calasanz a
fondé la première école publique gratuite de toute l’Europe à Rome en 1597. Le
pape Pie XII l’a proclamé patron des écoles populaires chrétiennes en
1948.
Saint Joseph Calasanz,
Espagnol de race royale, naquit le 15 septembre 1556, Paul IV
étant Pape, Ferdinand Ier empereur et Henri II
roi de France.
On raconte que, dès l’âge
de cinq ans, cet enfant au sang généreux s’armait d’une petite épée, se
mettait, à la tête de ses compagnons et s’élançait pour faire, comme il le
disait naïvement, « la guerre au diable ».
Dès
son jeune âge il récitait le Rosaire, prêchait ses petits camarades
et présidait les exercices de piété qu’il leur faisait accomplir. Avec
quelle avidité n’écoutait-il pas la lecture de la Vie des Saints,
qu’on faisait en famille ! Il s’essayait déjà à suivre leurs admirables
exemples, prenait son repos sur la dure et savait trouver mille
moyens de faire pénitence.
Au collège, on
l’appelait le petit Saint ; ses succès furent, du reste,
à la hauteur de sa vertu.
Il
avait vingt-cinq ans, quand ses parents lui proposèrent un mariage
en rapport avec sa condition ; mais le saint jeune homme avait
fait vœu de chasteté et n’aspirait qu’à l’apostolat. Dieu favorisa sa
vocation en lui envoyant une maladie fort grave, dont il guérit
miraculeusement. Dès lors les obstacles étaient aplanis, et saint Joseph fut
ordonné prêtre le 17 décembre 1583.
Il
occupa pendant huit ans de hautes charges dans son diocèse, où un bien immense
s’opéra par son zèle ; mais il entendit plusieurs fois une voix lui
dire : « Va à Rome, Joseph, va à Rome ! ».
Il quitta tout pour suivre l’appel de Dieu et partit pour Rome en
pèlerin pauvre et inconnu. Il eut occasion de s’y dépenser
généreusement, en attendant la manifestation définitive de la volonté
de Dieu : visiter et soigner les malades dans les hôpitaux, exhorter
les prisonniers, consoler les pauvres, tel était, avec ses exercices
de piété, le programme de ses journées.
Levé
à minuit, il se livrait à une longue méditation en présence du Saint-Sacrement,
récitait Matines et Laudes à genoux, faisait ensuite la visite
des sept basiliques à jeun, course de douze à
quinze kilomètres, et passait une partie de son temps à l’étude. Les
ceintures de fer, les cilices, les flagellations, les jeûnes, complétaient son
règlement de vie.
Que
d’âmes lui ont dû leur salut ! Il suffisait de tomber entre ses mains pour
être assuré d’une conversion sincère. Après cinq ans de cette rude vie, saint
Joseph, éclairé sur les besoins du peuple, sentit la nécessité de fonder des écoles
gratuites : c’était l’œuvre voulue de Dieu ; elle prit le nom d’Écoles
pies, c’est-à-dire écoles pieuses et charitables.
Saint Joseph Calasanz a
fondé la première école publique gratuite de toute l’Europe en 1597. Le pape
Pie XII l’a proclamé patron des écoles populaires chrétiennes en 1948.
Quelques années après, il
pouvait dire : « Si j’avais dix mille religieux, je pourrais les
employer dans un mois, tant on m’en demande ».
Il mourut le 25 août
1648, Innocent X étant Pape, Ferdinand III empereur et Louis XIV
roi de France, à l’âge de quatre-vingt-douze ans, après s’être dévoué
cinquante-deux ans à l’éducation de la jeunesse : « Gagner une âme,
disait-il souvent, oh ! combien cela vaut ! combien cela plaît
à Dieu ! ».
Planche du timbre-poste
émis par la Hongrie après le communisme en 1992
Pour le 350e anniversaire
de la création des Écoles pies en Hongrie
Saint Joseph Calasanz,
fondateur des Écoles pies qui se propagèrent rapidement,
non seulement en Italie, mais en Espagne, en Autriche, en Moravie,
en Hongrie (à partir de 1642) et en Pologne.
ARMOIRIES DE L’ORDRE
des Pauvres Clercs
réguliers des Écoles Pies de la Mère de Dieu
Ce sont les lettres A et
M entrelacées, et surmontées d’une couronne et d’une croix. Au-dessous de
ces initiales de l’Ave Maria se voient les sigles en lettres grecques
ΜΡ ΘΥ (Μήτηρ Θεοῠ, Mère de Dieu), pour rappeler que
l’Ordre des Piaristes fut mis par son fondateur sous la protection
spéciale de la Très sainte Vierge.
Piarist
Church. Statue of Saint Joseph of Calasanz. – Vác. The building complex of the
Piarist Church and monastery are historic buildings. The foundation stones of
the church were laid down in 1725, and it was finished in 1745. Its original
onion-shaped cupola was reconstructed according to German renaissance taste.
Above the frontal balcony, the statue of Saint Joseph of Calasanz, the founder
of the order can be found in a niche. The peculiarity of the church is its
Venetian mirror altar. The monastery built next to the church hosts the Piarist
noviciate and grammar school, which was originally built using the house of the
grand provost, András Berkes. The ornamented gate of the original was retained
during the reconstruction. - Szentháromság Square, Vác, Pest
County, Hungary.
Római katolikus templom, volt piarista templom. Műemléki azonosító: 7551. Barokk, 1725-1745. Átalakítva eklektikus stílusban 1866-ban. Berendezés a 18. sz. második feléből. A főoltár tabernákuluma 1759-ből származik. Homlokzatának nevezetessége a Kalazanci Szent József angyalokkal szoboregyüttes. Ez a barokk mészkő szobor épületdísz, Chmelik Mátyás (kőfaragó) műve, 1755. - Magyarország, Pest megye, Vác, Szentháromság tér
Piarist Church. Statue of Saint Joseph of Calasanz.
Also
known as
Joseph Calasanctius
Joseph of Our Lady
Joseph Calsanza
José de Calasanz
formerly 27 August
formerly 27
November
Profile
Youngest of five children born
to Don Pedro Calasanz and Donna Maria Gastonia. His mother and
a brother died while
he was still in school. Studied at
Estadilla, at the University of
Lereda, at Valencia,
and at Alcala de Henares. Obtained degrees in canon
law and theology.
His father wanted
the Joseph to become a soldier,
to marry,
and to continue the family, but a near fatal illness in 1582 caused
the young man
to seriously examine his life, and he realized a call to the religious
life.
Ordained on 17
December 1583. Parish priest at
Albarracin. Secretary and confessor to
his bishop,
synodal examiner, and procurator. Revived religious zeal among the laity,
discipline among the clergy in
a section of the Pyrenees. Both his bishop and
his father died in 1587.
Vicar-general of Trempe, Spain.
Following a vision, he gave away much of his inheritance, renounced most of the
rest, and travelled to Rome, Italy in 1592.
Worked in the household of Cardinal Ascanio
Colonna as thelogical advisor
for the cardinal, tutor to
the cardinal‘s
nephew. Worked with plague victims
in 1595.
Member of the Confraternity
for Christian Doctrine. Tried to get poor children,
many of them orphans and/or homeless,
into school.
The teachers,
already poorly paid, refused to work with the new students without a raise; in
November 1597,
Joseph and two fellow priests opened
a small, free school for poor children. Pope Clement
VIII, and later Pope Paul V,
contributed toward their work. He was soon supervising several teachers and
hundreds of students.
In 1602 they
moved to larger quarters, and reorganized the teaching priests into
a community. In 1612 they
moved to the Torres palace to have even more room. In 1621 the
community was recognized as a religious order called Le Sciole Pie (Religious
Schools), also known as the Piarists,
or Scolopii or Ordo
Clericorum Regularium Pauperum Matris Dei Scholarum Piarum or Order
of Poor Clerks Regular of the Mother of God of the Pious Schools; Joseph acted
as superior of the Order.
The community encountered
many obstacles – Joseph’s friendship with the astronomer Galileo
Galilei caused a stir with some Church officials.
Some of the ruling class objected that to educate the poor would
cause social unrest. Other Orders that worked with the poor were
afraid they would be absorbed by the Piarists.
But they group continued to have papal support,
and continued to do good work.
In his old age, Joseph
suffered through seeing his Order torn apart. He was accused of
incompetence by Father Mario
Sozzi, who was chosen as new superior of the Order. Sozzi died in 1643,
and was replaced by Father Cherubini
who pursued the same course as Sozzi, and nearly destroyed the Order.
A papal commission
charged with examining the Order acquitted Joseph of all accusations,
and in 1645,
returned him to superior of the Order, but internal dissent continued, and
in 1646 Pope Innocent
X dissolved the Order, placing the priests under
control of their local bishops.
The Piarists were
reorganized in 1656,
eight years after Joseph’s death.
They were restored as a religious order in 1669,
and continue their good work today.
Born
11
September 1556 at
Peralta, Barbastro, Aragon, Spain in
his father‘s
castle
25 August 1648 at Rome, Italy of
natural causes
buried at Saint Panteleone church, Rome
18 August 1748 by Pope Benedict
XIV
16 July 1767 by Pope Clement
XIII
Catholic
schools (proclaimed on 13 August 1948 by Pope Pius
XII)
Congregation
of Christian Workers of Saint Joseph Calasanz
Additional
Information
Book
of Saints, by the Monks of
Ramsgate
Catholic
Encyclopedia, by Francis Mershman
Lives
of the Saints, by Father Alban
Butler
Saints
and Saintly Dominicans, by Blessed Hyacinthe-Marie
Cormier, O.P.
books
Our Sunday Visitor’s Encyclopedia of Saints
other
sites in english
1001 Patron Saints and Their Feast Days, Australian
Catholic Truth Society
images
video
sitios
en español
Martirologio Romano, 2001 edición
fonti
in italiano
Dicastero delle Cause dei Santi
Readings
Piety and Letters –
motto of Saint Joseph
Calasanz
Everyone knows the great
merit and dignity attached to that holy ministry in which young boys,
especially the poor,
receive instruction for the purpose of attaining eternal life. This ministry is
directed to the well-being of body and soul; at the same time, that it shapes
behavior it also fosters devotion and Christian doctrine. Moreover the
strongest support is provided not only to protect the young from evil, but also
to rouse them and attract them more easily and gently to the performance of
good works. Like the twigs of plants, the young are easily influenced, as long
as someone works to change their souls. But if they are allowed to grow hard,
we know well that the possibility of one day bending them diminishes a great
deal and is sometimes utterly lost. All who undertake to teach must be endowed
with deep love, the greatest of patience, and, most of all, profound humility.
They must perform their work with earnest zeal. Then, through their humble
prayers, the Lord will find them worthy to become fellow workers with him in the
cause of truth. He will console them in the fulfillment of this most noble
duty, and finally, will enrich them with the gift of heaven. As Scripture says,
“Those who instruct many in justice will shine as stars for all eternity.” They
will attain this more easily if they make a covenant of perpetual obedience and
strive to cling to Christ and please him alone, because, in his words, “What
you did to one of the least of my brethren, you did to me.” – from the
writings of Saint Joseph
Calasanz
Lord, You blessed Saint
Joseph Calasanz with such charity and patience that he dedicated himself to the
formation of Christian youth. As we honor this teacher of wisdom may we follow
his example in working for truth. – opening prayer for
the Mass for Saint Joseph
Calasanz
MLA
Citation
“Saint Joseph
Calasanz“. CatholicSaints.Info. 13 June 2023. Web. 10 November 2025.
<https://catholicsaints.info/saint-joseph-calasanz/>
SOURCE : https://catholicsaints.info/saint-joseph-calasanz/
.jpg)
Francisco Jover y Casanova (1836–1890),
San José de Calasanz, circa 1879, 80 x 57, Museo del Prado, Depositado en el Institute of Spain
Book of Saints –
Joseph Calasanctius
Article
(Saint) (November 27)
(17th century) A Spanish Saint, a talented scholar and the Apostle of Christian
Education. From his very childhood it was a passion with him to help on his
companions in their Catechism and other lessons. Ordained priest, he was busied
with pastoral work, until in a vision he learned that he was to go to Rome and
there find the task God imposed upon him. This was to found the Order of Clerks
of the Mother of God of the Christian Schools (Scuole Pie, whence the name
Scolopii). For twenty years he devoted himself to this work, which has lasted
to our own days. Many and great were his sufferings from ill-health and from
the persecution of ill-wishers. His life of sacrifice was crowned by a holy
death (A.D. 1648), he being then ninety-two years old.
MLA
Citation
Monks of Ramsgate.
“Joseph Calasanctius”. Book of Saints, 1921. CatholicSaints.Info.
22 September 2016. Web. 11 November 2025.
<https://catholicsaints.info/book-of-saints-joseph-calasanctius/>
SOURCE : https://catholicsaints.info/book-of-saints-joseph-calasanctius/
La Chiesa di San Giuseppe Calasanzio a Finalborgo (Finale Ligure).
La
Chiesa di San Giuseppe Calasanzio a Finalborgo (Finale Ligure).
New
Catholic Dictionary – Saint Joseph Calasanctius
Article
Confessor, founder of the
Piarist Order, born Petralta, Aragon, 1556; died Rome,
Italy, 1648. He studied law and theology, received the degree of Doctor of
Laws; and was ordained in 1583. He became attached to Bishop della Figuera to
whom he rendered invaluable service as secretary and theologian. Upon the death
of the bishop, he journeyed to Rome, and as a member of the Confraternity
of Christian Doctrine he began his work of caring for and educating
homeless children. In 1597 he established a free school, the first in Europe,
and five years later founded the Order of Piarists to continue his charitable
work. Canonized, 1767. Feast,
Roman Calendar, 27
August.
MLA
Citation
“Saint Joseph
Calasanctius”. New Catholic Dictionary. CatholicSaints.Info.
22 September 2016. Web. 11 November 2025.
<https://catholicsaints.info/new-catholic-dictionary-saint-joseph-calasanctius/>
SOURCE : https://catholicsaints.info/new-catholic-dictionary-saint-joseph-calasanctius/
Krems
( Lower Austria ). Piarist church: Altar of Joseph Calasanctius ( 1784 ) -
Altar painting by Martin Johann Schmidt.
Krems
( Niederösterreich ). Piaristenkirche Unsere liebe Frau: Joseph-Calsanz-Altar (
1784 ) - Altarbild von Martin Johann Schmidt.
Saint Joseph Calasanctius
Called in religion "a
Matre Dei", founder of the Piarists,
b. 11 Sept., 1556, at the castle of Calasanza near Petralta de
la Sal in Aragon;
d. 25 Aug., 1648, at Rome; feast 27
Aug. His parents,
Don Pedro Calasanza and Donna Maria Gastonia, gave Joseph, the
youngest of five children, a good education at
home and then at the school ofPetralta.
After his classical studies at Estadilla he took
up philosophy and jurisprudence at Lérida and merited the
degree of Doctor of Laws, and then
with honours completed his theological course
at Valencia and Alcalá de Henares. His mother and brother having
died, Don Pedro wanted Joseph to marry and perpetuate
the family. God interfered
by sending a sickness in 1582 which soon brought Joseph to the brink
of the grave. On his recovery he was ordained priest 17
Dec., 1583, by Hugo Ambrose de Moncada, Bishop of Urgel. Joseph began
his labours as priest in
the Diocese of Albarracin, where Bishop della Figuera appointed
him his theologian and confessor, synodal
examiner, and procurator,
and when the bishop was
transferred to Lérida his theologian followed
him to the new diocese. In 1586 della Figuera was sent
as Apostolic visitator to the Abbey of Montserrat,
and Josephaccompanied him as secretary. The bishop died
the following year and Joseph left, though urgently requested to
remain. He hurried to Calasanza only to be present at the death of
his father.
He was then called by his Bishop ofUrgel to
act as vicar-general for
the district of Trempe. In 1592 he embarked for Rome,
where he found a protector in Cardinal Marcantonio Colonna who chose
him as his theologian and
instructor to his nephew. Romeoffered a
splendid field for works
of charity, especially for the instruction of neglected and homeless
children, many of whom had lost their parents. Joseph joined
a Confraternity
of Christian Doctrine and gathered the boys and girls from the streets
and brought them to school.
The teachers, being poorly paid, refused to accept the additional labour
without remuneration. The pastor of
S. Dorotea, Anthony Brendani, offered him two rooms
and promised assistance in teaching, and when two other priests promised
similar help, Joseph, in November, 1597, opened the first public
free school in Europe. Pope
Clement VIII gave an annual contribution and many others shared in
the good work, so that in a short time Joseph had about a
thousand children under his charge. In 1602 he rented a house at
S. Andrea della Valle and commenced a community life with
his assistants and laid the foundation of the Order of Piarists.
Much envy and
opposition arose against him and his new institute, but all were overcome
in time. In 1612 the school was
transferred to the Torres palace adjoining S. Pantaleone.
Here Joseph spent the remaining years of his life in his chosen calling. He
lived and died a faithful son of the church, a true friend
of forsaken children. His body rests in S. Paltaleone. His beatification was
solemnized on 7 Aug., 1748, and his canonization by Clement
XIII, 16 July, 1767.
Sources
The life of St. Joseph
Calasanctius has been written by - Timon-David (Marseilles, 1883); Hubert
(Mainz, 1886); Tomaseo (Rome, 1898); Heidenreich (1907). Cf. Hist. polit.
Blatter, CXX, 901; Fehr in Kirchenlexicon, s.v.
Mershman,
Francis. "St. Joseph Calasanctius." The Catholic
Encyclopedia. Vol. 8. New York: Robert Appleton Company,1910. 6
Apr. 2015 <http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/08518d.htm>.
Transcription. This
article was transcribed for New Advent by Robert Lewis.
Ecclesiastical
approbation. Nihil Obstat. October 1, 1910. Remy Lafort, S.T.D.,
Censor. Imprimatur. +John Cardinal Farley, Archbishop of New York.
Copyright © 2023 by Kevin Knight.
Dedicated to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.
SOURCE : http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/08518d.htm
Joseph
Calasanctius sculpture group by Radnai Béla, Gabay Sándor on the façade of Váci
Street school building - 27-33 Váci Street=8 Piarista Street=4-5 Március 15.
Square, Inner City neighbourhood, District V of Budapest.
Kalazanci
Szent József-szoborcsoport (Felállítás 1917, Radnai Béla, Gabay
Sándor, mészkő) Hültl Dezső 1917-re befejezett piarista iskolaépületénk Váci
utcai homlokzatán Budapest műemléki jelentőségű területe része, műemlék
azonosító: 217, törzsszám: 15001. Piarista Gimnázium - Budapest, V. kerület, Belváros, Szabad sajtó út 2-4= Váci
utca 27-33=Piarista utca 8=Március 15. tér 4-5
August 27
St. Joseph Calasanctius,
Confessor
FOUNDER of the poor
regular clergy of the pious schools of the Mother of God, a native of Petralta
in Arragon, of a noble family. He sanctified his youth by all virtues from his
infancy, particularly by charity and prayer. At school it was his custom
zealously to instruct his companions in mysteries of faith and in the most
perfect methods of prayer. He consecrated himself to God by a vow of virginity,
and distinguished himself in his studies first of humanity and philosophy, and
afterwards of divinity at Valencia. New Castile, Arragon, and Catalonia were
successively edified by the sanctity of his life, and his apostolic labours. Going
to Rome, he was enrolled in the confraternity of the Christian doctrine, in
which zealous employment he soon saw the infinite importance of instructing
children early in the knowledge and spirit of religion. Hereupon he
particularly devoted himself to this part of the pastoral charge, though he
gave also much time to visit, relieve, and exhort to perfect virtue all the
sick, and all the poor and destitute: in which, by his courage and patience, he
seemed a perpetual miracle of fortitude, and another Job. He had laboured thus
twenty years, when Paul V. in 1617, allowed him and his companions to form
themselves into a congregation under simple vows, which, in 1621, Gregory XV.
changed into solemn religious vows, and gave them the name which they still bear.
In 1656 Alexander VII. brought them back to their former state of simple vows.
But Clement IX. in 1669, raised them again into a religious order by solemn
vows, which Innocent XI. confirmed, with a grant of new privileges, in 1689.
They teach philosophy, divinity, mathematics, the learned languages in all the
classes, and the first elements of reading, writing, &c. They have houses
in most cities in Italy, several in Austria, Moravia, Poland, Hungary, and
Spain. St. Joseph Calasanctius, or Casalanz, died at Rome on the 25th of
August, in 1648, being ninety-two years old. An office in his honour was
inserted in the Roman Breviary in 1769, on the 27th of August.
Rev. Alban Butler
(1711–73). Volume VIII: August. The Lives of the Saints. 1866.
Chiesa di Santa Dorotea, Roma, sede della
prima scuola, centro storico di Roma situato
nel rione
Trastevere
Saint Joseph Calasanz
Life and work
Calasanz, feeling pity
upon the poor and abandon children living in Rome, founded in Trastevere, in
Santa Dorotea Church, the "first public and free tuition school in
Europe". His educational goal was expressed in his motto "Piety and
Letters", that can be translated into "faith and culture".
He called his work as "Pious Schools". The main point of his
educational ideas was the respect for the personality of each child and looking
at them as images of Christ. Through the Pious Schools, he tried to serve the
physical and spiritual needs of the youth commended to him. Calasanz became a
friend of Galileo, the great scientist, and in the education of youth, he gave
great importance to sciences and mathematics, as well as to humanities.
In order to continue his educational work, he founded the Order of the Pious
Schools, a Religious Order whose members, known as Piarists, profess four vows:
poverty, chastity, obedience and dedication to the education of the youth. The
dream of Saint Joseph Calasanz of educating every child, his schools for the
poor, his support to the sciences of Galileo, and his life of sanctity in the
service of children and youth, carried with them the opposition of many among
the governing classes in society and in the ecclesiastical hierarchy.
Nevertheless, Calasanz always showed an exemplary attitude towards facing
problems. T
his gift or charisma was received by Calasanz mainly in the form of accepting a
new educational and evangelizing mission, in which his first fellows
participated. This gave rise to a special and peculiar relationship with regard
to sharing the ministry, the accommodation, the prayer and everything implied
in community life. It is said that when Calasanz and a small group of disciples
embraced religious life, the experiences lived up to that moment were
strengthened. The Church approves of the Congregation in 1617, and as an Order
with a specific vow on the education of the youth in 1622, under the name of
Poor Clerks Regular of the Mother of God of the Pious Schools.
In the following years until his death, Calasanz promotes the spread of the
charisma, taking care of the implementation of the gift represented by the
foundation, which he protects from any misleading experiences or
interpretations. He is the founder of the first Religious Order specifically
devoted to the Christian popular education through the school, and has always
highlighted three important features of the charisma from the very beginning.
He explicitly affirms it in the Consitution dating back to 1621, and has always
stated it in the years when the charisma was spreading but also during times of
conflict: assigning a priority to education from the very early childhood,
education of the poor and education of piety. He died in Rome, August 25, 1648,
convinced that his Order and his dream would not die.
And it was like that. He was declared a saint in 1767, and the Pope Pius XII
declared him, in 1948, "celestial patron of all the Christian popular
schools". Recently, Pope John Paul II affirmed that Saint Joseph Calasanz
took as a model Christ, and he tried to transmit to the youth, besides the
profane sciences, the wisdom of the Gospel, teaching them to grasp the loving
harmony of God.
Statue
of Saint Joseph Calasanctius in the Basilica of Our Lady of the Pillar
Catedral-Basílica de Nuestra Señora del Pilar de Zaragoza (Aragón, España).
Statue
of Saint Joseph Calasanctius in the Basilica of Our Lady of the Pillar
Catedral-Basílica
de Nuestra Señora del Pilar de Zaragoza (Aragón, España).
Charism and Ministry
Saint Joseph Calasanz
gradually found his place in the Church as the result of a discernment where a
deep spiritual experience and an illuminating sensitivity towards the signs of
his times are intimately related. When he was young, in the middle of a severe
illness, he made the decision to become a priest; he was ordained a priest on
December 17, 1583.
As a priest, he cooperated with reforming bishops, who considered they would
renew the life quality of the clergy, in the light of the decisions made by the
then Council of Trent.
In 1592 he came to Rome so as to get an ecclesiastical office. And there, while
he was hoping for a nomination which was taking ages to be made, between a
profound prayer and the contemplation of poor who were spoiling their lives in
the streets, he heard the calling to educate them.
In the sacristy of Santa Dorotea Church, then – in the roman neighbourhood of
Trastevere – he opened the first public Christian school, as a response to the
reality of children who, without possibilities of being educated, were
wandering around the dangers of the streets; and as an answer to the love of
Jesus Christ, whom he recognised in the youngest ones.
Saint Joseph Calasanz’ educational intuition was summarised in the words “Piety
and Letters”, referring to a kind of education which should serve as a bridge
between the training in Christian life and the training in human sciences,
particularly as concerns reading and writing, in Latin and elementary
mathematical operations. Over a few years’ period, Calasanz developed his
schools, supported by other priests and laypeople, who used to cooperate with
him. Without doubts, the shortage of teachers and the need to maintain
continuity of the work in the service of children, little by little made him
realise how necessary was to set up a religious community who shall be devoted
to their education.
In1614 a first experience of religious life took shape, from the union of the
Lucchesi, Calasanz and his companions. This union did not yield positive
outcomes and, as a consequence, in 1617 Pope Paul V approved of the
establishment of a new religious congregation founded by Saint Joseph Calasanz,
which was called Congregation of the Poor Clerks Regular of the Mother of God
of the Pious Schools.
On March 25, 1617, Calasanz and his 14 companions took their vows within this
new Congregation, with the addition of a fourth vow of serving for the
education of poor children. Wishing to give more stability to his work and
ensure the education of children, Calasanz urged the Church in order that his
community become a Religious Order with solemn vows, which only the Pope could
release them from. Having to cope with the negative response from the officers
in charge of the approval of this request, Calasanz wrote to the Cardinal
Prefect, Miguel Angel Tonti, a wonderful memorial where he expresses his
intuitions about the education of children and the youth, pointing out that
education is the most relevant Ministry the Church can serve, as well as the
one that society needs most. Calasanz discovered his ministry and heard the
calling to be a teacher working with children; and, at last, he consecrated
himself as a religious, in poverty, chastity and obedience, to the ministry of
children education, particularly focused on the poorest children. Our Founder’s
life provides a strong foundation to both our Charisma and Ministry. As
concerns our apostolic activity, we the Piarists – both religious and lay – are
devoted to education, based on Piety and Letters, of children and the youth,
giving unequivocal preference to poor children, or to those living in
vulnerable conditions.
This educational engagement was step by step improved through the centuries,
acquiring the progressive developments of the pedagogical sciences and trying
to comply with the regulations as far as education is concerned, in the
Countries where we are present, trying to provide at every moment a creative
and innovative response to the challenges coming from the children’ and youth’s
realities.
We therefore carry on working within the Formal School, just as the very first
times, since we consider this is a privileged place to practise our Ministry;
at the same time, however, we carry out many more non-formal educational
activities, putting into practice our piarist “specific features”, as well as
our love for children and the youth in pastoral, parish, missionary and
cultural activities.
Our Ministry today goes beyond the school environment and takes shape in the
family pastoral, in the parish life and in the engagement with families, in
addition to the care for migrants, street children and young people who might
suffer from some forms of addiction or be delinquent.
In different places, using various strategies and carrying out many different
activities, the selfsame calasanzian intuition basically remains, that is to
provide an answer to children’ and the youth’s needs, by means of an integral
education, an educational intervention which pays attention to the person taken
as a whole and the form, thanks to the support of both science and human
knowledge as well as the fullness originating from living the Christian faith
in depth .
As a consequence, as followers of Christ and living our intimate union with our
Founder, we, the Piarists – to be more precise, the religious who have
professed the vows, and the laypeople since they are invited to live with us
their own baptismal consecration- not only carry out a ministerial service, but
also live contemplating and serving Jesus Christ in children and the youth,
even the more so if they are poor, according to our charisma – which refers to
an inspiration from the Spirit.
Following the spirituality that we received by our Founder, we recognise
Christ’s face in children, we lead an intense life based on praying so that we
can find a deeper union with Him and to serve Him in a better way through them,
we take the vows imitating our Master, and are ready to live the Kingdom of God
as an absolute value, through the practice of our ministry as a genuine
spiritual fatherhood. We can carry everything out thanks to our fervent
devotion to Mary, so that following her example of protection and education of
Jesus throughout his youth, we can devote our lives in serving as a shelter and
protection for children, as well as their ministering angels. This has been
summarized by our Saint Founder, who has used the expression “cooperators of
the truth”.
The last General Chapters and the Order’s documents have summarized our Mission
through the expression “evangelising through education”.
Considering that we have been seized by Jesus Christ, and having been born to a
new life in Him, we preach the Gospel to children and young people, making use
of all the possibilities offered by education, exploiting all the opportunities
the school and the various educational interventions we implement can offer, so
that they be seized by He, who has seized us all. And in Him, come to Eternal
Life.
Chiesa
sconsacrata di San Giuseppe Calasanzio a Roma, nel rione Ludovisi.
Letters
What a surprise!
Calasanz’ epistolary, with more than 5000 epistles, deals with various topics
using a concise and straightforward style, and it is not an epistolary of
“religious” stature, which might be typical of a Saint.
God is obviously present; but it has more to do with letters by a father of a
family, who is everyday engaged and concerned about his numerous family; or by
a creator of an important (He would say: the most important!) socio-pastoral
work, who is engaged and concerned about this work.
This is the epistolary of an admirable struggler who will never give up.
His Room
It is not at all common,
rather unusual instead, that when someone dies his bedroom is locked and
nothing in it is being thrown away. And feeling a certainty, that one day that
room will become important and an object of worship for many people. This is
what probably happened when Saint Joseph Calasanz died. The piarist who were
looking after him didn’t have any doubts: “he will be a saint”. They locked his
room, and they took an inventory of the objects contained in it.
Nowadays, this room and these objects are sources of worship and unrestrainable
emotions. And they represent the big treasure of the House in S.Pantaleo, in
Rome.
In this room, the Saint Founder has lived for thirty-six years; in this room,
the Mother of God appeared to comfort him just before his death. And in this
room he died. One cannot remain indifferent to the simplicity, humility and
poverty of his furniture. And through his example, Calasanz continues to speak.
It is impressing: the door, the window, the floor, the ceiling and the walls
are the original ones. The broom, the crutch, the “apostolic” sandals, the
paper paintings, and so on, are the same the Saint used to use. In the 18th
century, after his Beatification, some china cabinets were built, which today
give the possibility to admire the big quantity of objects belonging to the
Saint, that have been preserved for centuries. These china cabinets are in the
old sacristy dating back to Calasanz’ times, which is next to his room, which
is today called “Chapel of the relics”.
Here you can find the things the Saint has used. And the list might be long:
the chalice, the paten and the corporal, his hat, the pitcher, the books, the
dress and glasses, the stamps, and so on … And in addition to all these
objects, the valuable reliquary after which the Chapel is called. Here the
Saint’s viscera are preserved, still unspoiled after one hundred years from his
death, when he was beatified. Without doubts, we can be bewildered since our
culture tends to be practical, losing sight of the value of symbols. We are
used to remembering our loved ones; for Christians, Saints are those loved ones
who, through their example, enlighten our path still today. Relics have no
power of their own: our faith and our attention in worshipping them are
entrusted to the Saint. His heart, liver, the basis of the meninx in his
cranium and his spleen are unspoiled.
If you take part in a guided tour of the house in San Pantaleo in Rome – a
place where the General Curia of the Piarists and Saint Joseph Calasanz’ room
are -, you will listen to a quaint interpretation on the reason why these
organs have been kept unspoilt. Father Adolfo García - Durán, who is the
historian of the Order, says that, in his opinion, Calasanz is still talking to
us. His heart reminds us of the love. His tongue represents his teachings; his
liver stands for his patience; the basis of the meninx for the study. And last,
his spleen, which is seldom mentioned: no better symbol could remind us of his
humility!
Love, teaching, patience, study and humility are the virtues that the Saint
Founder has lived and passionately required of his children so that they could
take care of them.
Rinyabesenyő
Kalazanci Szent József kápolnája
Saint
Joseph Calasantius Chapel, Rinyabesenyő
Spirituality and Prayers
Spirituality represented
for Calasanz a key element in his experience of God. Even though it was
developed during his lifetime, his basic spiritual experience was acquired
during his first years of stay in Rome. We shortly mention some features of
this spiritual itinerary which we can still follow today.
SPIRITUALITY
1) Calasanz, a man in love with God’s will: this element constantly makes part
of his life, and turns into the main driving force of his existence. God’s
will. His will is what rules and directs his life.
2) Calasanz, a converted man: before the difficult crisis in Rome, which leads
him to ask himself what God wants from him, Calasanz was a good person.
However, he feels some resistances deep inside which prevent him from totally
devoting himself to God. The light of the Lord came down on him, breaking into
his heart. He realized how to follow Jesus. His way.
3) Calasanz, a man divested of everything: during his conversion, God divests
him of everything. He therefore makes him poor. In 1606 he is inclined to ask
the Pope the permission to begging in Rome. Where are the opulent clothes of
the previous years? What maybe now was drawing people’s attention were the
saddlebags, which that strong priest was carrying on his shoulders who
previously used to wear silk clothes.
4) Calasanz, a man with a humble heart: another hindrance for him to devote
himself to God was represented by some career eagerness. However, he himself who
had strenuously fought to get a parsonage, and being transformed by God,
devoted fifty years of his life to what was generally considered as a
“despicable and deplorable exercise”. And that he rather called “the ministry
of angels”.
5) Calasanz, a man conquered by poor children: poor children were for Joseph a
vital aspect of his life, a call from God. First and foremost, because he met
them in the poor neighbourhoods of Rome. He wanted to do some good, and every
step he took he found a snotty, dirty and in-poor-health-child tied to his
apron strings. And he came to the conclusion that they were in these conditions
because nobody was taking care of them, and nobody was teaching them things
other than the evil ones. He grew attached to them, and started to care about
them. He thought up and came up with some solutions. In addition, children
represented the opportunity that God seized with the aim of converting him.
6) Calasanz, a man of trust and hope: he was hopeful against all hopes. He used
to hope beyond death. He used to hope even when everything seemed to run
against him. Hope, the simplest among the three theological virtues, was
enlightened with new brightness in him. That was a powerful light, lighting up
the future and leading him towards a resurrection.
7) Calasanz, a praying man: prayers played an important role in the process of
discerning his vocation. When he was asking himself what God wanted from him,
prayer played a key role during this research. He used to live next to the
Franciscans, he drew inspiration from the Carmelites who introduced the
practice of walking barefoot in Rome. These elements induced him to intensify
prayers in his life.
8) Calasanz, a man walking along the paths of the Spirit: Calasanz emphasized
some virtues which contributed to profoundly mould him, and on which he
constantly focused with his children, since they were favourable to the
ministry they were exercising. How not to mention the love for our neighbour?
What else can be said about hope? Patience, a lot of patience! Nobody ever saw
him impatient. We cannot forget his cheerfulness, his peace and serenity.
9) Calasanz, a man devoted to education: a revolutionary education. At that
time, nobody would engage in educating the poor, in such a big quantity! But he
wished to educate all poor people, to such an extent that he was not understood
even by the ecclesiastical hierarchies. Calasanz didn’t just want to educate
some specific children: he wished education to be the driving force of the
future. By intuition he realised that in the forthcoming future science might
have played an important role, and he therefore fostered and supported his
children to receive a training in this: his relationship with and support to
Galileo is a clear example of this.
10) Calasanz, a Marian man: we will focus on this in the section “Prayers”.
11) Calasanz, a man devoted to the Church: Pope Innocent X downgraded the Order
of the Pious Schools to a Congregation without vows. Joseph’s prompt and total
obedience to the decisions and needs of the Church is to be pointed out. What
sort of inner crisis might Calasanz have felt?
He knew that his institution responded to God’s will. Was there a reason for
wanting to destroy the Pious Schools? Joseph accepted, he didn’t rise up
against it, but by no means gave up his work.
12) Calasanz, a man who followed Jesus through his sufferings, until the Cross:
Calasanz followed the Lord totally trusting Him. He followed Him when his plans
were shattering. He followed Him when on August 8, 1642 he was brought
faultless before the Holy Office. He followed Him when they had him resign as
Father General and entrusted the Vicariate to F. Mario Sozzi. He followed Him
when the Order was downgraded to a Congregation without vows. He followed Him
dying on a cross, when the Institute was already destroyed. Calasanz has loved
Jesus, his cross, and he died for it; for this reason God made him live again
through his children when, after nine years, Pope Alexander VII acknowledged
again the work of Calasanz.
PRAYERS:
Here follows the list of some of the Saint’s prayers, referring to his selfsame
words.
1) Twelve-star beads. Here follows Calasanz’ description: the Twelve-star beads
was a worship practised in the Calasanzian Pious Schools. The origins of this
practice are to be traced back to the 13th century. Without doubts, Calasanz
got to know this practice of the Virgin’s beads thanks to the traditions of
many devout people of his time. Calasanz is so original in the guidelines he
suggests in saying this prayer, that he is set apart from other authors; and he
suggests such concrete and particular concepts, so that he can be considered as
a real author, not only a propagator of the Crown.
The beads start with the first “Pater” to the Eternal Father, who chose Mary as
his daughter: four ‘Hail Mary’ follow, in order to honour the four graces from
God: through the first He predestined her to be the Mother of His only Child;
through the second, He preserved her unblemished from the original sin, in her
immaculate conception; through the third, He adorned her with every grace in
her Nativity; the fourth honoured the chaste wedding with Saint Joseph, her
reputable husband.
The second “Pater” is addressed to Jesus, the Son, who chose Mary as a mother
among all women: four ‘Hail Mary’ follow, in order to honour the four graces
granted her: the first, for the Incarnation of the Eternal Word, become a man
in the sacred womb of Mary, who carried him for nine months in her womb; the
second, Jesus’ birth in Bethlehem cave, and the miraculous milk through which
she fed Him; the third, Jesus’ education during His childhood; the fourth, the
mysterious revelations she received by her Holy Son about the redemption of the
world.
The third “Pater” is addressed to the Holy Spirit, which chose her as a Bride
with the following four ‘Hail Mary’, in order to honour the four gifts to her:
the first, made Mary the first person to be clearly revealed the name of the
Holy Spirit: “Spiritus Sanctus superveniet in te…”; the second, her being Mother
and Virgin thanks to the Holy Spirit; the third, because she was the living
temple of the Holy Trinity, by virtue of the Holy Spirit; the fourth, He
glorified her in Heaven, above all creatures, at the hands of the Holy Spirit.
The abovementioned beads end with a “Salve Regina” for the Catholic Church,
which spreads the faith.
Calasanz wished that all our pupils expressed this devotion to the Blessed
Virgin every day, so that, as a reward for such a tiny effort, they would
become worthy of the Virgin’s protection, in life as well as in death.
Amen>> (L. Picanyol, Saint Joseph Calasanz Epistolary - Rome 1951, letter
799b).
2) Devotion to Mary: “You shall walk in such a simplicity, teaching your pupils
the letters and the holy fear of God. You shall manage to promote the devotion
to the Blessed Mary, through living you yourself in the first place this
devotion. You will experience noticeable effects, particularly in moments of
temptation” (Epistolary, letter 1928).
3) Rosary: “Resume our original tradition of praying the rosary: first and
foremost for the Church, and secondly for the needs of our religion”
(Epistolary, letter 1049).
4) Under your cover and protection: “every evening devote some worship to the
Blessed Mary, praying a Salve Regina and a Under your cover and protection, so
that by her intercession we are all set free from evil adversities”
(Epistolary, letter 1459).
5) Christ crucified: “In deep silence and peace of body and soul, kneeling down
or choosing any other convenient posture, following Saint Paul’s example, we
will strive to contemplate Christ crucified and His virtues, so as to know and
imitate them, so that we can remember them during the whole day” (Saint Joseph
Calasanz Constitutions, No. 44).
6) Uninterrupted prayers: prayers during school time, in the Chapel, where
pupils go, taking it in turns. It is basically praying for making requests for
the Church, the people and the world’s needs. In many of his letters, Calasanz
states this as follows: “for the needs of the Holy Church, which are supported
by the uninterrupted prayers of pupils, in groups, in the oratory” (Epistolary,
letter 0074.1).
Followers of Calasanz
In his message for the
World Youth Day in 1998, John Paul II affirms, among other things: “The gift of
the Spirit makes it CURRENT and possible for everyone the old mandate that God
bestowed on his people: “Ye shall be holy; for I Jehovah your God am holy” (Lv
19,2). Getting to holiness seems to be a demanding task, or conceived for
really exceptional people, or meant for all those people who keep away from the
life and culture of their time.
Without any doubt, getting to holiness is both a gift and an engagement rooted
in the Baptism and the Confirmation, entrusted to all who feel to be part of
the Church, in all times. It is a present and a commitment of laypeople and of
the consecrated ministers, both at the public and private levels, in the lives
of each person, families and communities”.
This holiness, suggested as a “goal” for the whole people of God, has been
attained by many and clear examples of holiness that the selfsame Church
presents as role model we can follow, but above all from whom we can learn how
to respond and follow God radically. Since we are all called upon being saints,
as as Father who dwells in Heaven is. (Mat 5,48 e 1 Pe 1,16).
History demonstrates that, generally speaking, every Founder, regardless of his
holiness, generates during the centuries, in his fellows and followers, some
examples of holiness. Here follow some of these piarist examples which might
represent some guides during our path.
In the “albo sanctorum” a son of Calasanz is mentioned
Saint Pompilio Maria Pirrotti (1710 - 1766)
State of the Causes of Beatification and Canonzation of the Religious of the
Pious Schools.
Blessed Dioniso Pamplona (1868 - 1936)
Blessed Pietro Casani (1572 - 1647)
Blessed Faustino Míguez (1835 - 1925)
Venerable Glicerio Landriani (1588 - 1618)
Servant of God Bruno Martínez (1907 - 1972)
Servant of God Pedro Díez Gil (1913 - 1984)
Servant of God Joaquín Erviti Lazcano (1912 -
1999)
Servant of God Clemente Martínez (1872 - 1936)
State of the Causes of Beatification and Canonization of the male and female
Servants of God of the Calasanctian Family Congregations.
Saint Paula Montal Fornés of Saint Joseph Calasanz
(1799 - 1889)
Blessed Antonio Maria Schwartz (1852 - 1929)
Blesseds María Baldillou Bullit and five fellow
professed piarist religious
Blessed Celestina Donati (1848 - 1925)
Servant of God Victoria Valverde González (1888 -
1937)
Servant of God Antonio Provolo (1801 - 1842)
Venerable Antonio Ángel Cavanis (1772 - 1858) and
Marco Antonio Cavanis (1774-1853)
Servant of God José Timón-David (1823 - 1891)
Servant of God María Pilar Solsona Lambán (1881 -
1996)
Servant of God María Nieves Sánchez Fernández
(1900 - 1978)
Servant of God María de los Ángeles Amorim (1917 -
1988)
Servant of God Francisca Ana María Alcover Morell
(1912 - 1954)
Sv.
Josef Calasanský s dětmi, oJosef Mellingl (1865), oltářní obraz z kostela
piaristů, Ostrov u Karlových Varů
Pictorial
Lives of the Saints – Saint Joseph Calasanctius
Saint
Joseph Calasanctius was born in Arragon in 1556. When only five years old, he
led a troop of children through the streets to find the devil and kill him. He
became a priest, and was engaged in various reforms, when he heard a voice
saying, “Go to Rome,” and had a vision of many children who were being taught
by him and by a company of angels. When he reached the Holy City, his heart was
moved by the vice and ignorance of the children of the poor. Their need
mastered his humility, and he founded the Order of Clerks Regular of the Pious
Schools. He himself provided all that was necessary for the education of the
children, receiving nothing from them in payment, and there were soon about a
thousand scholars of every rank under his care. Each lesson began with prayer.
Every halfhour devotion was renewed by acts of faith, hope, and charity, and
towards the end of school-time the children were instructed in the Christian
doctrine. They were then escorted home by the masters, so as to escape all harm
by the way. But enemies arose against Joseph from among his own subjects. They
accused him to the Holy Office, and at the age of eighty-six he was led through
the streets to prison. At last the Order was reduced to a simple congregation.
It was not restored to its former privileges till after the Saint’s death. Yet
he died full of hope. ” My work,” he said, “was done solely for the love of
God.”
Reflection – “My
children,” said the Cure of Ars, “I often think that most of the Christians who
are lost are lost for want of instruction; they do not know their religion
well.”
SOURCE : https://catholicsaints.info/pictorial-lives-of-the-saints-saint-joseph-calasanctius/
Saints Thomas Aquinas, Bernarndine of Siena, Joseph Calazans and Catherine of Siena - San Domenico - Siena
Saints and
Saintly Dominicans – 27 August
Saint Joseph, whilst yet
a child, would gather his young companions together and teach them prayers and
the catechism. After his ordination he went to Rome,
there, carrying out to the letter the words of the Psalmist: “In day time the
Lord hath commanded His mercy, and a canticle to Him in the night.” (Psalm
41:9) He acquired the habit of visiting, almost nightly, the Seven Basilicas.
During the day he devoted himself to the care of the plague-stricken, carrying
on his shoulders, the dead to their last resting place. He founded the
Congregation of the Pious Schools for the education of youth; for it grieved
him greatly to see children leading a vagabond life, with the connivance of
their parents, under the pretext of obtaining food. His trials were such that
he has been compared to holy Job. He had thought of making over his work to
the Order
of Saint Dominic; the parish priest of
the Minerva, after joining with him in prayer, advised him to continue it
himself. At the age of ninety-two God called him from this world. The envy of
men had obtained his deposition from the office of superior; his work was
nearly ruined, but he predicted its restoration and progress (1648).
The General Chapter of Rome in 1694 earnestly
recommended our brethren to protect his institute, since it had merited well of
the Order and especially of the School of Saint Thomas Aquinas.
Prayer
Great Saint, give for the
training of youth Christian masters, who will support without discouragement
the trials and difficulties of their vocation.
Practice
Show an interest in some
poor person.
– taken from the
book Saints
and Saintly Dominicans, by Blessed Hyacinthe-Marie
Cormier, O.P.
SOURCE : https://catholicsaints.info/saints-and-saintly-dominicans-27-august/
Peralta de la Sal - Monumento a San José de Calasanz
St Joseph Calasanz
Patron saint of Christian
schools. St Joseph was born in 1550, the youngest son of an Aragonese nobleman.
Some time after being ordained priest in 1583, he was made vicar-general of
Lerida diocese and sent to work in the remote valleys of Andorra. But St Joseph
felt called to working with the urban poor, so he resigned his office and left
for Rome where a plague was raging. Together with St Camillus de Lellis, he
worked with the sick and dying. Later he returned home and set up the first of
several free schools for poor children.
The most painful time in his life began when he was 65 and became the victim of
some malicious and false charges. The Inquisition arrested him and he was
carted through the streets like a criminal, only escaping imprisonment through
the intervention of Cardinal Cezarini.
It was many years before the truth came out and his name was completely
cleared. St Joseph bore all these trials with great patience, dying at the age
of 90 in Rome. His order, which was called the Piarists, flourished, especially
in Italy, Spain and South America. Today there are more than 1,300 Piarists
teaching 115,000 students in 32 countries around the world.
St Joseph was canonised in 1767.
SOURCE : https://www.indcatholicnews.com/saint/247
Francisco Goya (1746–1828), La última comunión de san José de Calasanz, 1819, 250 x 180, Iglesia de San Antonio Abad (Madrid). Signature and date: Franco. Goya año 1819
Francisco Goya, Ultima comunione di san Giuseppe
Calasanzio (1819),
olio su tela; Madrid, Chiesa di San Antón de los Escolopios
How St. Joseph Calasanz
Taught the Forgotten Children of Rome
SAINTS & ART: Long
before America’s education reformers, St. Joseph Calasanz taught that every
child, rich or poor, deserved to learn.
John Grondelski Blogs August 25, 2025
St. Joseph Calasanz (in
older works, St. Joseph Calasanctius) was a Spanish priest, born in 1556, who
founded the Piarist order. He was well educated in the classical fashion,
obtaining a doctorate in law and completing the course in theology. His father
wanted him to marry to perpetuate the family line, but Joseph’s near-death
experience led to his becoming a priest in 1583.
Noted as a theologian,
different bishops gave him various responsibilities, even taking him to
different dioceses and roles as they were transferred. Finally, in 1592, he
went to Rome, where Cardinal Colonna made him his theologian and instructor for
his nephew. During Calasanz’s Roman stay, he began works of charity with
neglected and abandoned street urchins. He heard Christ’s call to “give
yourself to the poor. Teach these children and care about them,” organizing a
free public school for them in 1597.
Pope Clement VIII’s
benefactions led quickly to almost a thousand children in Calasanz’s care. He
multiplied his educational endeavors; he and his associates coalesced in 1597
into the Piarist order. Paul V approved the Piarists in 1617 — an order
primarily committed to basic education. (The Jesuits de facto may be
heavily into schooling, especially secondary and post-secondary education, but
their formal charism is disposition to whatever mission the pope gives them.)
The Piarists take the traditional three vows (poverty, chastity, obedience)
plus a fourth: commitment to the education of youth.
Calasanz died in 1648,
was beatified in 1748, and canonized in 1767. His feast is observed in his
order’s schools on Nov. 27 — the day he opened his first school — because
August usually fell in the middle of students’ summer vacation.
Calasanz’s charitable
activities extended beyond schools. When the Tiber flooded in 1598, displacing
thousands of poor, especially in the Trastevere district, Calasanz helped
organize relief.
Afford attention to the
fact that Calasanz’s school was free and public. A certain bias would like to
present “public” education as secular or at least Protestant. Americans
proclaim that the first public school was either Boston Latin School of 1635 or
Horace Mann’s vision of public schools from the late 1830s. Neither is true.
Calasanz preceded Boston Latin School by 38 years (and no school in 1635
Puritan Boston would have been non-religious) and Mann by more than two
centuries. Calasanz was committed to education irrespective of class. Education
— and not just higher education — is very much a Catholic product.
One of the most famous
artistic depictions of our saint is Francisco Goya’s “The
Last Communion of St. Joseph Calasanz.” Goya (1746-1828) is regarded
as the premier representative of the Spanish Romantic school of painting.
Done in chiaroscuro
style, the play on light and darkness allows two figures to step out of the darkness:
the saint and the priest giving him Holy Communion. The saint kneels to receive
Communion, dressed in cassock (without surplice) and a stole crossed at the
breast (signifying his priestly rank). The one human marker distinguishing the
saint is the red pillow on which he kneels. He is already an old man (he died
at 92), as is evident from his face and grey beard, though both radiate an
inner peace. The priest, vested for Mass, communicates the saint.
The divine markers in the
picture are the saint’s halo and the rays of light from above that primarily
illumine the important sacramental moment and secondarily some of the
congregation in the church gathered around Calasanz. Unlike the Baroque era,
none of the figures are disproportionately large or highlighted in that
respect.
The Piarists Fathers Province of the
United States and Puerto Rico is based in Washington, D.C., near The
Catholic University of America.
For more reading,
see here, here and here.
Keywords:
John Grondelski John
M. Grondelski (Ph.D., Fordham) is former associate dean of the School of
Theology, Seton Hall University, South Orange, New Jersey. He is especially
interested in moral theology and the thought of John Paul II. [Note: All views
expressed in his National Catholic Register contributions are exclusively the
author’s.]
SOURCE : https://www.ncregister.com/blog/saints-and-art-st-joseph-calasanz
Salamanca
- Colegio Calasanz
Clerks Regular of the Pious Schools
Called also Piarists,
Scolopi, Escolapios, Poor Clerks of the Mother of God, and the Pauline
Congregation, a religious order
founded in Rome in
1597 by St. Joseph
Calasanctius. As a member of the Confraternity of Christian
Doctrine he went about the country instructing the people, and his
experience convinced him of the necessity of providing the children of the poor
with religious instruction at an early age. Antonio Brendoni, pastor of Santa
Dorotea in Trastevere, placed two rooms at his disposal and assisted him in the
work, in which they were afterwards joined by two other priests. It was not long
before the reputation of the school increased
the attendance to such an extent that Calasanctius removed it to a building
within the city, where he took up his residence with his companions. When two
years later the school was
again removed, this time to the Vestri Palace in the vicinity of Sant' Andrea
della Valle, community life was inaugurated among the associates, and Clement VIII showed
his approval of the work by ordering the payment of a yearly allowance of 200
scudi for rent of the house. Criticism ensued which led to an inspection of
the schools by
Cardinals Antoniani and Baronius, which resulted
satisfactorily, the approval of Paul V was even
more pronounced than that of his predecessor. In 1612 the growth of the schools necessitated
the purchase of the Torres Palace, and on 25 March, 1617 Calasanctius and his
companions received the religious habit, the saint changing his
name to Joseph of the Mother of God, thus inaugurating the practice of dropping
the family name on entering the religious life. The most
noted of his early companions were Gaspare Dragonette, who joined the saint at the age of
95 and died a saintly death in 1628 at the age of 120; Bernardino Pannicola,
later Bishop of
Ravello; Juan Garcia, afterwards general of the order; the learned Gellio
Ghellini; Tommaso Vittoria; Viviandi de Colle; Melchiore Albacchi, etc.
The congregation was made
a religious order
18 Nov., 1621 by a Brief of Gregory XV, under the
name of "Congregatio Paulina Clericorum regularium pauperum Matris Dei
scholarum piarum". The Constitutions were approved 31 Jan., 1622, when the
new order was given the privileges of the mendicant orders and
Calasanctius was named general, his four assistants being Pietro Casani, Viviano
Vivani, Francesco Castelli, and Paolo Ottonelli. On 7 May of the same year
the novitiate of
St. Onofrio was opened. In 1656 Alexander VII rescinded
the privilege of solemn vows granted
by Gregory XV,
and added to the simple vows an oath of
perseverance in the congregation. This was again altered by Clement IX in 1669,
who restored the Piarists to the condition of regulars. But petitions from
members who hesitated to bind themselves by solemn vows led Clement X in 1670
to issue a Brief which
empowered the general of the Piarists to dispense from solemn vows laymen or clerics in minor orders,
while ordained clerics in
possession of a sufficient patrimony or a benefice were
restored to the jurisdiction of
their bishops.
The Piarists are exempt from episcopal jurisdiction and
subject only to the general, who is elected every six years and has four
assistants. In virtue of a Brief of Alexander VIII (1690)
they ceased to be discalced. Their habit is closed in front with three leathern
buttons, and they wear a short mantle. The order spread rapidly even during the
founder's lifetime and at present it has nine provinces (Italy, Austria, Bohemia, Moravia, Hungary, Poland, Spain, Chile, and Central
America), 121 houses with 2100 members and about 40,000 pupils.
The Piarists have won
distinction in the sphere of education. Their first
care is to provide free education for poor
children, but they also receive pupils from the middle classes and the
nobility, and since 1700 they have taught besides the elementary branches the
liberal arts and sciences.
At the time of their foundation in Poland and
Lithuania, Clement
XII formally commissioned them to teach the higher studies. The course
consists of nine classes, the plan of studies is uniform, as are also the
textbooks, which to a great extent are compiled by members of the order. Like
the Jesuits they
devote special attention to the acting of Latin dramas by the students. A
member of the order, Francis Hermann Czech (d. 1847), was very successful in
his work of teaching the deaf and dumb. Among the writers and learned men of
the order are the general Pietro Francesco of the Immaculate Conception, author
of the "Polygraphia sacra seu Eleucidarium biblicum hist.-myst".
(Augsburg, 1724); Philip of St. James, who edited the chief Sentences of the
"Maxima Sanctorum Patrum Bibliotheca" (Lyons, 1719); Arn. Zeglicki,
whose "Bibliotheca gnomico hist.-symb.-politica" was published
at Warsaw in
1742; Alexis a S. Andrea Alexi (d. 1761); moral theologian;
Antonius a Santo Justo, author of "Schola pia Aristotelico-Thomistica"
(Saragossa, 1745); Gottfrid a S. Elisabetha Uhlich (d. 1794), professor
of heraldry and numismatics; Augustine
Odobrina, who was actively associated with Leibniz; Adrian Rauch, historian;
Josef Fengler (d. 1802), Bishop of Raab;
Remigius Döttler, professor of physics at the University of Vienna;
Franz Lang, rector of
the same university;
the general Giovanni
Inghirami (d. 1851), astronomer; Johann N.
Ehrlich (d. 1864), professor of theology at
the University of
Prague; A. Leonetti, author of a biography of Alexander VI (Bologna,
1880); Filippo Cecchi; Karl Feyerfeil, mathematician; and Franz Kraus,
philologian. Many members of the order led lives of eminent sanctity. In his Life of
St. Joseph Calasanctius, Tosetti gives a list of 54 who between 1615 and 1756
died edifying deaths, among them Petrus Casani (d. 1647), the first novice master of
the order; the fourth superior general, Cosimo Chiara (d. 1688); Petrus Andreas
Taccioni (d. 1672); the lay-brother Philip Bosio (d. 1662); Antonio Muscia (d.
1665); and Eusebius Amoretti (d. 1685).
Sources
CASSANOVAS Y SANZ, Jose
de Calasanz y su Instituto (Saragossa, 1904); HELYOT, Hist. des ordres
religieux (Paris, 1792), IV, 281 sqq.; BRENDLER, Das wirken der PP. Piaristen,
etc. (Vienna, 1896); SEYFERT, Ordens-Regeln der Piaristen (Halle, 1783):
SCHALLER, Kurze Lebensbeschreibungen gelehrter Manner aus dem Orden der frommen
Schulen (Prague, 1799); F. LOS HORANYI, Scriptores piarum scholarum (Buda,
1809); SCHALLER, Gedanken uber die Ordensrerfassung der Piaristen u. ihr
Lehrart (Prague, 1805); HEIMBUCHER, Orden u. Kongregationen, III (Paderborn,
1908).
Kelly, Blanche
Mary. "Clerks Regular of the Pious Schools." The Catholic
Encyclopedia. Vol. 13. New York: Robert Appleton
Company, 1912. <http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/13588a.htm>.
Transcription. This
article was transcribed for New Advent by Joseph E. O'Connor.
Ecclesiastical
approbation. Nihil Obstat. February 1, 1912. Remy Lafort, D.D.,
Censor. Imprimatur. +John Cardinal Farley, Archbishop of New York.
Copyright © 2023 by Kevin Knight.
Dedicated to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.
SOURCE : https://www.newadvent.org/cathen/13588a.htm
St. Joseph Calasanctius. Founder Statue by Innocenzo Spinazzi, 1755. Born - 31 July 1558 at Peralta de la Sal, Spain. Died - 25 August 1648 at Rome. Canonized - 16 July 1767 by Clement XIII. Feast Day - 25 August. Founded - Order of the Pious Schools (Scolopi or Piarists). Text on Statue. Base - SPINAZZI ROM. / F. A.o J755. Pedestal - S. JOSEPHO CALASANCTIO / FUNDATORI SUO / ORDO SCHOLARUM PIARUM / ANNO MDCCLII
San Giuseppe Calasanzio Sacerdote
- Memoria
Facoltativa
Peralta del Sal, Aragona
(Spagna), 31 luglio 1558 - Roma, 25 agosto 1648
Nato nel 1557 a Peralta
de la Sal, in Spagna, Giuseppe diventa sacerdote a ventisei anni. Ricopre
importanti mansioni in diverse diocesi spagnole. A Roma, colpito dalla miseria
in cui vivevano i ragazzi abbandonati, fonda un nuovo ordine religioso con
l'obiettivo di dare un'istruzione ai più poveri e combattere così
l'analfabetismo, l'ignoranza e la criminalità. Nascono le «Scuole Pie» e i suoi
religiosi vengono chiamati «scolopi». Scrive il santo: «È missione nobilissima
e fonte di grandi meriti quella di dedicarsi all'educazione dei fanciulli,
specialmente poveri, per aiutarli a conseguire la vita eterna. Chi si fa loro
maestro e, attraverso la formazione intellettuale, s'impegna a educarli,
soprattutto nella fede e nella pietà, compie in qualche modo verso i fanciulli
l'ufficio stesso del loro angelo custode, ed è altamente benemerito del loro
sviluppo umano e cristiano». Giuseppe muore il 25 agosto del 1648; è
canonizzato nel 1767 e nel 1948 è dichiarato da papa Pio XII «patrono
Universale di tutte le scuole popolari cristiane del mondo». Oggi l'ordine
degli Scolopi è presente in 4 continenti e 32 paesi. (Avvenire)
Etimologia: Giuseppe
= aggiunto (in famiglia), dall'ebraico
Martirologio
Romano: San Giuseppe Calasanzio, sacerdote, che istituì scuole popolari
per la formazione dei bambini e dei giovani nell’amore e nella sapienza del
Vangelo, fondando a Roma l’Ordine dei Chierici regolari Poveri della Madre di
Dio delle Scuole Pie.
A Peralta del Sal, in
Aragona, si pensa che José de Calasanz sarà presto “canonigo”. O chissà,
vescovo. E’ prete dal 1583, dopo ottimi studi, con l’aiuto dei facoltosi
genitori, ed è assai stimato dai vescovi, che gli danno incarichi d’importanza:
tra essi, nel 1592, quello di andare a Roma per certe pratiche con la Santa
Sede. Ma è un viaggio di sola andata. Giuseppe Calasanzio (come lo chiamano a
Roma) durante l’iter delle pratiche fa catechesi e assistenza nei rioni
popolari, scoprendo un universo giovanile di miseria e di ignoranza, con la criminalità
conseguente. Il Concilio di Trento ha fatto nascere molte scuole festive di
catechismo, a cura di parrocchie e confraternite; si fa già molto, rispetto a
prima. Ma in lui matura un progetto completamente nuovo: salvare i giovani
realizzandoli, con l’insegnamento della fede e della morale insieme a quello
delle scienze umane, in scuole quotidiane e gratuite, con programmi graduati,
classi successive, esami. Non è un progetto da lui studiato: ne realizza il
modello novità dopo novità, mentre insegna nella scuola fondata dal parroco di
Santa Dorotea in Trastevere, e trasformata via via da lui nella prima vera
scuola popolare d’Europa (1597).
Si trova fondatore quasi
senza averlo voluto, con scolari che si affollano e per i quali trova nuove
sedi. Per risolvere il problema capitale degli insegnanti, con l’approvazione
di papa Paolo V, fonda nel 1617 la “Congregazione Paolina dei Poveri della Madre
di Dio delle Scuole Pie”, formata da sacerdoti ed educatori, votati alla
formazione cristiana e civile dei giovani mediante la scuola. (Sono i Padri
Scolopi, che nel XX secolo saranno diffusi in oltre 20 Paesi di 4
continenti).
Nel 1622 Gregorio XV costituisce
gli Scolopi in Ordine Regolare con voti solenni e riconosciuta autorità, che
favorisce la loro espansione in Italia e in Europa. Una crescita forse troppo
impetuosa, non esente da imperfezioni, come ogni iniziativa nuova.
A questo punto, ecco
un’esperienza terribile per il Fondatore: veder morire la sua opera. E non per
mano di nemici della fede: sono uomini di Chiesa, sono anche uomini suoi,
quelli che lanciano durissime accuse all’opera e a lui. Denunciato al
Sant’Uffizio, spogliato della sua autorità, vede l’Ordine declassato a semplice
Congregazione senza voti, abbandonata da molti dei suoi figli spirituali. Lui
fa coraggio ai pochi rimasti: "L’Ordine risorgerà!". Lo ripete fino
alla morte, che lo coglie a 90 anni.
Sant’Uffizio o no, i romani
lo tengono per santo e vogliono che cominci al più presto la causa
canonica. E Giuseppe sarà canonizzato: nel 1767, da Clemente XIII. Un po’
tardi. Ma già da cento anni l’Ordine è risorto, come lui aveva previsto. Nel
1948, Pio XII lo proclamerà anche “Patrono davanti a Dio di tutte le scuole
popolari cristiane del mondo”.
Autore: Domenico
Agasso
SOURCE : http://www.santiebeati.it/dettaglio/29050
Roma, Chiesa di San
Pantaleo, dove riposano le spoglie del santo
GIUSEPPE Calasanzio,
santo
Enciclopedia Italiana (1933)
Nato nel castello di Calasanza presso Peralta in Spagna l'11 settembre 1556 (o
1ss7?) di famiglia nobile, ma ridotta in modesta condizione, compì i suoi studî
in patria e a Estadilla, studiò filosofia e diritto in Lérida, teologia a
Valenza e ad Alcalá, e nel 1583 fu ordinato sacerdote. Dopo avere esercitato
importami uffici in Urgel, nel 1592 venne a Roma; fu teologo del card.
Marcantonio Colonna, e attese a opere di personale devozione e di assistenza
sociale. Sulla fine d'autunno del 1597, in due povere stanze attigue alla
chiesa di S. Dorotea in Trastevere, iniziò le sue scuole gratuite e giornaliere
che erano non di solo catechismo ma vere e proprie scuole e dovevano
nell'intenzione del santo diffondere l'istruzione anche tra i figli del popolo.
Ivi ebbe origine "la prima scuola popolare gratuita d'Europa" (L.
Pastor, Storia dei papi, XI, p. 440). Cominciò con un centinaio di alunni
e col nome di "scuole pie", che restò poi definitivo e diede origine,
per i suoi religiosi, al nome di "scolòpio". Ben presto, con il
crescere degli alunni, ebbe altri sacerdoti, che si associarono con lui a
quell'insegnamento. Tale istruzione, perché gratuita e perché subito
acclamatissima tra il popolo, destò gelosie e incontrò sospetti: sicché
Clemente VIII dové commettere ai cardinali Baronio e Silvio Antoniano di
prendere in esame l'iniziativa e riferirgliene: in seguito al loro parere
favorevolissimo, la approvò e incoraggiò. Rendendosi necessario, in vista della
sua stabilità, affidarla a una congregazione religiosa formata, si tentò, con
la sanzione di Paolo V, nel 1614 di fondere in uno l'istituto del Calasanzio e
quello del beato Giovanni Leonardi; ma il tentativo non ebbe esito, e lo stesso
papa nel 1617 distaccava le due opere, lasciando quella del Leonardi nello
stato primitivo e costituendo quella calasanziana in "Congregazione
Paolina delle scuole pie". Il 25 marzo il card. Benedetto Giustiniani
rivestiva dell'abito scolopico il fondatore, nella cappella di Palazzo
Giustiniani: e questi, alla sua volta, nell'oratorio di S. Pantaleo, dove
risiedeva dal 1612, vestì i suoi primi quattordici compagni. Nel 1617 stesso,
ll Calasanzio aprì scuole a Frascati, e queste trovando accoglienze
entusiastiche dappertutto, furono aperte anche fuori dello stato del papa, in
Toscana, nel Napoletano, in Liguria, in Moravia, in Polonia. Nel 1621 Gregorio
XV promosse la congregazione a dignità e grado di "ordine religioso"
propriamente detto; volle che il santo ne dettasse le costituzioni, e gl'impose
di assumerne per nove anni il governo supremo. Urbano VIII gli confermò
l'incarico a vita. Ma l'istituto, rapidamente ingrandito, andò incontro a una
crisi assai grave, provocata all'interno soprattutto dai fratelli laici,
aspiranti al sacerdozio e all'esterno da un deciso attacco di emuli coperti e
di nemici aperti, cagionò da parte di Urbano VIII la deposizione del Calasanzio
da superiore generale (l'8 agosto del 1642 il santo, di 86 anni, fu fin portato
alle carceri del Sant'Uffizio); e poi, da parte di Innocenzo X, un
"breve" del 17 marzo 1646, che imponeva la regressione dell'ordine a
semplice unione libera di varie case tra loro indipendenti, con piena facoltà a
ciascuno di entrare a farne parte o uscirne. Il colpo fu assai rude per il
Calasanzio, che il 25 agosto del 1648, quasi novantenne, morì con la tristezza
di lasciar l'opera sua in tali condizioni. Nel 1748 Benedetto XIV beatificò il
Calasanzio, e nel 1767 Clemente XIII lo santificò. La sua festa si celebra il
27 di agosto.
Per la storia ulteriore
degli scolopi, restituiti al grado primiero nel 1669, per l'importanza
dell'opera calasanziana, e per le caratteristiche dell'istituzione "la
prima nella Chiesa che espressamente e interamente si consacrasse alla
scuola", v. Scolopi.
Bibl.: I. Cinacchi, Vita
del V. Giuseppe della M. di Dio, Roma 1734; V. Talenti, Vita del B. G. C.,
Roma 1753, rist. Firenze 1917; U. Tosetti, Compendio della vita di S. G.
C., Roma 1767, 20ª ed., Firenze 1930; W. E. Hubert, Der h. J. C., Magonza
1886; Timon-David, Vie de S. J. C., 2 voll., Marsiglia 1883; G.
Giovannozzi, Il C. e l'opera sua, Firenze 1930.
© Istituto della
Enciclopedia Italiana fondata da Giovanni Treccani - Riproduzione riservata
SOURCE : https://www.treccani.it/enciclopedia/santo-giuseppe-calasanzio_(Enciclopedia-Italiana)/
Andrea Sacchi, San
Giuseppe Calasanzio con i bambini (prima metà del XVII secolo), olio su
tela
GIUSEPPE Calasanzio,
santo
di Silvano Giordano
Dizionario Biografico
degli Italiani - Volume 57 (2001)
Nacque a Peralta de la
Sal, piccolo centro del Regno di Aragona nella diocesi di Urgel, ultimo degli
otto figli del fabbro Pedro Calasanz e di María Gastón. È incerta la data di
nascita: tradizionalmente fissata l'11 sett. 1556, dai biografi più recenti è
collocata invece nel 1557.
La famiglia, appartenente
al primo grado della scala nobiliare ("infanzones"), godeva di una
situazione economica sufficientemente agiata da poter avviare agli studi
l'ultimo rampollo. Dopo aver appreso i primi rudimenti alla scuola del paese,
G. iniziò gli studi letterari presso i trinitari a Estadilla. Successivamente
si iscrisse all'Università di Lleida, dove sembra abbia studiato arti e diritto
per poi frequentare un anno di teologia a Valencia e continuare il corso ad
Alcalá de Henares. Non è possibile stabilire l'esatta cronologia del periodo
universitario, che dovette correre tra il 1571 e il 1580, anno in cui, in
seguito alla morte della madre e del fratello maggiore, erede del casato, G.
fece ritorno alla casa natale. Il padre cercò di convincerlo ad assumere
l'eredità familiare, ma egli preferì la carriera ecclesiastica.
Tale orientamento era già
stato auspicato dal testamento paterno rogato nel marzo 1571. A Balaguer, il 17
apr. 1575, G. aveva ricevuto la tonsura; ripresi gli studi di teologia a Lleida
nel 1581, il 17 e il 18 dic. 1582 ricevette gli ordini minori e il
suddiaconato, il 9 apr. 1583 il diaconato e il 17 dic. 1583, a Sanaúja, il
presbiterato. Entrò quindi al servizio del vescovo di Barbastro, Felipe de
Urríes y Urríes; dopo la morte di questo, avvenuta il 19 giugno 1585, ottenne
un posto nella famiglia del vescovo di Lleida, Gaspar Juan de la Figuera.
Nell'ottobre 1585 accompagnò il presule nella difficile visita canonica al
monastero di Montserrat, travagliato da discordie tra monaci catalani e
castigliani, fino a quando, il 13 febbr. 1586, Figuera morì in circostanze non
chiare; G. tornò quindi al suo paese e vi rimase per circa un anno. Dopo la
morte del padre, avvenuta in data imprecisata, trovò un impiego nella sua
diocesi di origine; il 12 febbr. 1587 iniziò a svolgere l'ufficio di segretario
del capitolo di Urgel e maestro delle cerimonie.
Nel gennaio 1589 giunse a
Urgel il nuovo vescovo, Andrés Capilla, e G. fu assunto al suo servizio. Il 28
giugno 1589 il vescovo lo nominò, insieme con il canonico Pedro Gervás de las
Eras, visitatore di Tremp, proprietà della diocesi, con il potere di esercitare
la giurisdizione ecclesiastica e civile (dal 5 maggio 1590 i suoi poteri furono
estesi a Sort, Tirvia e Cardós).
All'inizio del 1592 G. si
imbarcò da Barcellona diretto a Roma, dove arrivò prima del 27 febbraio, alla
ricerca di un beneficio ecclesiastico. Poco prima di lasciare la Spagna aveva
conseguito il dottorato in teologia, probabilmente a Barcellona. A Roma fu
ospitato in casa del cardinale Marcantonio Colonna, che lo nominò suo
consulente in questioni di teologia. La ricerca del canonicato fu più
travagliata di quanto egli si attendesse: le occasioni presentatesi tra il 1592
e il 1597 svanirono una dopo l'altra. Nel frattempo fece conoscenza con
l'ambiente religioso romano. Nel 1595 si iscrisse all'Arciconfraternita dei Ss.
Apostoli, con sede nella chiesa omonima - votata all'assistenza dei poveri, dei
"vergognosi" e dei malati -; rimanendone membro fino al 1601, ebbe
l'occasione di visitare tutti i rioni della città. Il 18 luglio 1599 si affiliò
all'Arciconfraternita delle piaghe di s. Francesco, della quale rimase membro
fino alla morte. Il 10 luglio 1600 aderì alla Confraternita della Ss. Trinità
dei pellegrini e convalescenti e il 17 sett. 1600 si iscrisse
all'Arciconfraternita della Madonna del suffragio. Entrò in contatto con
l'oratorio di S. Teresa, istituito presso la chiesa di S. Maria della Scala dai
carmelitani scalzi, che lo avrebbero aiutato nella sua opera di fondatore.
Particolarmente significativa per la maturazione della sua opera fu
l'affiliazione alla Confraternita della Dottrina cristiana, avvenuta alla fine
del 1597 o all'inizio del 1598.
La partecipazione alle
attività di tali sodalizi diede occasione a G. di constatare la povertà di
larghi strati della popolazione e l'impossibilità per molti ragazzi poveri di
ricevere un'istruzione elementare. Dopo ripetuti dinieghi da parte di
istituzioni scolastiche consolidate, nel corso del 1598 G. convinse Antonio
Bandini, parroco di S. Dorotea in Trastevere, che gestiva una piccola scuola a
pagamento per i bambini della parrocchia, ad accogliere gratuitamente piccoli
alunni provenienti da tutti i rioni della città. L'iniziativa conobbe un certo
successo: per ospitare gli alunni, oltre ai due locali messi a disposizione dal
parroco, se ne dovette affittare un terzo e G. divenne il responsabile
dell'Opera. Preoccupato per la continuità dell'iniziativa, chiese alla
Confraternita della Dottrina cristiana di prenderla sotto la sua protezione, ma
ricevette una risposta negativa dalla congregazione pubblica del 1° ag. 1599.
Morto il Bandini, il 26
febbr. 1600, prima che fosse nominato un successore G. trasferì la sede della
scuola, frequentata da circa cinquecento alunni, nella Fonda del Paradiso,
presso Campo de' Fiori. Nel corso del 1601 sollecitò nuovamente, ma invano,
l'appoggio della Confraternita della Dottrina cristiana, e quindi decise di dar
vita alla Congregazione delle Scuole pie, che dovette essere costituita nella
seconda metà del 1601 e appare menzionata per la prima volta il 4 apr. 1602.
Dato il continuo aumento
degli alunni, fu affittata per 200 scudi all'anno la casa di monsignor Vestri,
segretario dei brevi, presso la chiesa di S. Andrea della Valle. Clemente VIII
appoggiò anche finanziariamente l'iniziativa delle scuole, ma non concesse la
richiesta approvazione ufficiale alla Congregazione. Nel 1602, quando il
cardinale Ascanio Colonna fu nominato viceré d'Aragona, G. lasciò palazzo
Colonna per stabilirsi nella casa del Vestri. Il gruppo dei suoi collaboratori
si organizzò come una sorta di congregazione religiosa senza voti, con
regolamenti scritti, che elesse G. come superiore. A causa del crescente numero
di alunni, che nel 1602 arrivò a settecento, il 1° nov. 1605 la sede della
scuola fu trasferita a piazza S. Pantaleo, nella casa presa in affitto per 350
scudi da Ottavio Mannini. Nel 1606 G. ricevette dal papa la facoltà di chiedere
l'elemosina in città per il sostentamento della sua opera.
Superata con l'appoggio
dei cardinali Alessandro Peretti e Cinzio Aldobrandini l'opposizione dei
maestri di quartiere, il 24 marzo 1607 Paolo V concesse un cardinale protettore
nella persona di Ludovico Torres. Tuttavia il problema più serio rimaneva la
precarietà dei collaboratori: tra il 1604 e il 1612 furono 73, e di questi
furono in 54 ad abbandonare il campo, sia perché non sopportavano l'ambiente di
estrema povertà, sia per mettersi in proprio. Nel 1612, per togliere alle
Scuole pie il carattere di precarietà che le distingueva, si decise di
acquisire una sede. Per mezzo del carmelitano scalzo Domenico di Gesù Maria fu
acquistato un palazzo, situato nella piazza di S. Pantaleo, da Vittoria Cenci
marchesa de Torres, per la somma di 10.000 scudi, pagata in buona parte dai
cardinali Benedetto Giustiniani, che il 12 genn. 1613 divenne protettore delle
Scuole pie, e Orazio Lancellotti. Nel 1614 la chiesa parrocchiale adiacente fu
concessa in uso perpetuo. Nel 1623 Gregorio XV vi soppresse la cura d'anime e
ne riservò l'uso alle Scuole pie.
Nel 1613, quando il suo
gruppo constava di undici persone, preoccupato per la continuità della sua
opera, dietro consiglio di Domenico di Gesù Maria e del cardinale Benedetto
Giustiniani, protettore della Congregazione della Madre di Dio, G. pensò di
appoggiarsi a quest'ultimo istituto, fondato da Giovanni Leonardi, con il quale
era entrato in contatto nei primi anni della sua residenza a Roma.
Gli accordi stipulati
durante l'inverno del 1613 nel convento di S. Maria della Scala, alla presenza
di Domenico di Gesù Maria, tra i rappresentanti delle Scuole pie e i
rappresentanti della Congregazione della Madre di Dio, lasciavano a G. la
direzione perpetua delle scuole, che avrebbero continuato a operare secondo le
modalità al momento in vigore, e prevedevano che egli e i suoi compagni
potessero continuare a osservare le regole che si erano dati in precedenza. I
nuovi adepti invece avrebbero osservato le costituzioni dei lucchesi e
l'istituto si sarebbe chiamato Congregazione della Madre di Dio. Paolo V
approvò l'unione con un breve del 14 genn. 1614. Il 21 Pietro Casani, membro
della Congregazione lucchese, fu nominato rettore di S. Pantaleo.
L'unione non diede i
frutti sperati: il nuovo gruppo non ottenne la desiderata approvazione pontificia
come ordine religioso, mentre i lucchesi si mostrarono poco propensi
all'insegnamento e non disposti ad accettare le difficili condizioni di povertà
materiale in cui esso si svolgeva.
Nel settembre 1615 G.
presentò a Paolo V un progetto tendente a modificare la natura del nuovo gruppo
religioso, esigendo che l'insegnamento fosse indirizzato esclusivamente ai
bambini, che abbandonasse la cura d'anime e osservasse uno stretto regime di
povertà, in contrasto con le indicazioni di Giovanni Leonardi, il quale aveva
proibito ai suoi seguaci l'insegnamento ai bambini e aveva escluso il voto di
povertà. Il progetto di G. era appoggiato dal cardinale Giustiniani e da
Domenico di Gesù Maria. Fu stabilito di convocare una congregazione generale
nell'aprile del 1616, allo scopo di elaborare un compromesso che componesse gli
indirizzi calasanziani e l'identità dei lucchesi. Fallito questo tentativo,
l'unione fu annullata e Paolo V, con un breve del 6 marzo 1617, eresse la
Congregazione paolina dei poveri della Madre di Dio delle Scuole pie, avente lo
scopo di istruire gratuitamente i bambini, e nominò G. superiore generale del
nuovo istituto. Fu data la possibilità ai lucchesi di divenire membri della
nuova Congregazione e Pietro Casani, con pochi altri, accolse l'invito. Il 25
marzo 1617, alla presenza del cardinale Giustiniani, i primi quindici membri
del nuovo istituto ricevettero l'abito, primi tra tutti G. e Casani. Altri
compagni di G. lo avrebbero ricevuto più tardi.
Immediatamente fu
costituito il noviziato, la cui responsabilità fu affidata a Pietro Casani. Nei
successivi quattro anni vi entrarono 153 candidati, dei quali 66 furono dimessi
e 22 morirono. Tale incremento permise la fondazione di nuove case, la prima
delle quali fu stabilita a Frascati nell'estate del 1616. Tra il 1618 e il 1621
seguirono quella romana di Borgo, quelle di Narni, Mentana, Morione, Magliano,
Norcia, Carcare presso Savona, e Fanano in Toscana. Nell'autunno del 1620 G. si
ritirò a Narni, dove si trattenne fino al febbraio del 1621, per comporre le
costituzioni della Congregazione, ispirandosi agli statuti dei gesuiti, dei
caracciolini e dei cappuccini. Dal nuovo papa, Gregorio XV, con breve del 18
nov. 1621 G. ottenne l'elevazione della sua Congregazione a Ordine religioso di
voti solenni e l'approvazione delle costituzioni il 31 genn. 1622. Nel decennio
successivo furono fondate nuove case a Napoli (1626), Firenze (1630), Palermo e
Messina (1633). La casa di Napoli fu aperta personalmente da G. nella seconda
metà di ottobre del 1626: fu il suo ultimo viaggio lungo, data l'età ormai
avanzata.
Nel 1630 G. iniziò
l'espansione fuori dei confini italiani. Giovanni Battista Gramay, per conto
del cardinale Franz Dietrichstein, vescovo di Olomouc e governatore di Moravia,
chiese religiosi per il collegio da lui costituito a Mikulov, la città dove
viveva. Gramay si era già messo in contatto con G. nel 1625, quando, per conto
del cardinale Melchor Klesl, aveva richiesto una fondazione a Vienna, poi non
realizzata a causa dell'opposizione dei gesuiti.
I primi sette scolopi
(così chiamati dal nome delle Scuole pie) giunsero a Mikulov ai primi di luglio
del 1631. Fu l'inizio di una promettente espansione, all'ombra del cardinale
Dietrichstein, funestata però nei decenni successivi dalla guerra dei
Trent'anni. Alcune richieste, provenienti dai principi Gundakar von
Lichtenstein, Albrecht von Wallenstein e dal vescovo di Gurk, non furono prese
in considerazione a causa dei limiti posti da Propaganda Fide, che esigeva un
consolidamento dell'istituto per poter sostenere efficacemente le opere già
avviate. Le vicende della guerra dei Trent'anni, che nel 1642 portarono
all'espulsione degli scolopi dalla Moravia in seguito alla sconfitta subita
dagli Imperiali a Schweidnitz, furono all'origine delle fondazioni in Polonia.
Di passaggio da Vienna per tornare in Italia, il provinciale di Moravia Onofrio
Conti fu convinto dal nunzio Gaspare Mattei a dirigersi in Polonia per venire
incontro alle richieste del re Ladislao IV. Ottenuto il benestare di G., Conti e
altri cinque religiosi ripresero la via del Nord e, nel 1642, fondarono una
scuola a Varsavia e la casa di noviziato a Podolinec.
Nonostante la promettente
vitalità, non mancarono difficoltà interne, evidenziate dalla visita apostolica
del 1625. In seguito a un memoriale presentato dall'assistente generale Paolo
Ottonelli a metà del 1625, la visita, condotta da monsignor Antonio Seneca, fu
rivolta a verificare le condizioni interne del giovane Ordine. Vennero alla
luce alcuni problemi strutturali che affliggevano l'Opera e sarebbero stati
all'origine di successive difficoltà in relazione alla selezione degli adepti,
all'adeguata formazione degli insegnanti, all'impegno esclusivo nel lavoro
scolastico e alla partecipazione effettiva al governo degli aventi diritto.
Tali aspetti furono esaminati dal primo capitolo generale, riunito nell'ottobre
del 1627, in cui erano presenti sei religiosi; come presidente onorario, per i
meriti acquisiti nei confronti dell'istituto, fu invitato Domenico di Gesù
Maria. Il principale provvedimento adottato in questa circostanza, per
sovvenire alle crescenti esigenze delle numerose scuole elementari, fu la
creazione di una terza categoria di religiosi, denominata chierici operai, che
potevano ricevere solo la tonsura e dedicarsi all'insegnamento elementare, pur
restando obbligati a svolgere le mansioni tipiche dei laici. Nel 1631 fu
convocato il capitolo generale, destinato a eleggere il nuovo superiore
generale, dato che il 28 apr. 1622 G. era stato nominato dal papa solo per nove
anni e non a vita, come prevedevano le costituzioni. Tuttavia la peste impedì
l'arrivo di tutti i convocati, per cui nell'ottobre 1631 i presenti trattarono
le questioni più urgenti con il cardinale vicario Marzio Ginetti; fu convenuto
di inviare al papa un memoriale con la richiesta della nomina vitalizia del
fondatore a superiore generale, coadiuvato da quattro assistenti del cui
consiglio si sarebbe dovuto valere in tutte le decisioni. Il 12 genn. 1632 il
papa nominò G. superiore generale a vita, affiancandogli come assistenti Pietro
Casani, Francesco Castelli, Giacomo Graziani e Juan García, ma senza
riconoscere loro le prerogative chieste nel memoriale.
Particolare importanza
ebbero i capitoli generali del 1637 e del 1641, quando l'Ordine contava 6 province
e oltre 400 religiosi. Il primo, presieduto da Giulio Rospigliosi, ufficiale
della congregazione della Visita apostolica e futuro Clemente IX, abolì i
chierici operai, la cui istituzione aveva introdotto serie incertezze nei
rapporti tra i membri. Il secondo capitolo fu convocato con due anni di
anticipo sulla scadenza prevista in quanto G. pensava di rinunciare al governo
per affidarlo a un vicario generale, ma il suo progetto fu respinto
dall'assemblea.
Nuovi problemi vennero, a
partire dal 1639, da padre Mario Sozzi, promettente giovane di trentatré anni,
il quale, per aver scoperto gli intrighi orditi dalla vedova fiorentina
Faustina Mainardi con il canonico Pandolfo Ricasoli, si era guadagnato la
fiducia dell'assessore del S. Uffizio Francesco Albizzi e ne utilizzava i
favori per i suoi scopi personali. L'8 ag. 1642 - dopo intricate vicende,
durate per quasi un decennio, in cui ebbero larga parte le passioni personali -
G., con tre assistenti generali e il suo segretario, fu arrestato dall'Albizzi
e condotto al palazzo del S. Uffizio; in serata fu ricondotto a casa per
intervento del cardinale Cesarini, che per questa ragione si vide sospese le
sue funzioni di protettore. In seguito alle complicazioni sopravvenute, la
congregazione del S. Uffizio, tenuta in presenza del papa il 15 genn. 1643,
ordinò una visita canonica all'Ordine scolopio, affidò il suo governo a Mario
Sozzi e dichiarò G. sospeso dalla carica di generale. La visita, iniziata il 4
marzo 1643 e condotta dal somasco Agostino Ubaldini, mise in luce la buona fede
di G. e i problemi provocati dal governo di Sozzi, ma il visitatore fu deposto
dal suo incarico e il 9 maggio 1643 in suo luogo fu designato il gesuita
Silvestro Pietrasanta. Tra la metà di agosto e i primi di settembre 1643 Urbano
VIII nominò una commissione cardinalizia con il compito di decidere il destino
dell'Ordine. Da G. fu inviato un memoriale in difesa del suo istituto e il
responso della commissione fu emesso il 17 luglio 1645, ormai sotto il
pontificato di Innocenzo X. I cardinali proposero di reintegrare G. nelle sue
funzioni e di apportare solo alcuni ritocchi alle costituzioni e alle norme
sulla vita quotidiana. Tuttavia, l'8 sett. 1645 il papa decise la riduzione
delle Scuole pie a Congregazione e una successiva riunione dei cardinali,
tenuta il 3 febbr. 1646, stabilì di trasformare l'istituto in una Congregazione
senza voti simile all'oratorio di Filippo Neri, con case sottoposte agli
ordinari dei luoghi.
I religiosi potevano
chiedere il transito ad altri istituti e si proibiva di ricevere novizi senza
il permesso della S. Sede. Il breve di esecuzione, emesso il 16 marzo 1646,
escluse totalmente la possibilità di ricevere novizi, destinando quindi
l'istituto all'estinzione, anche se all'inizio di gennaio del 1648 la proibizione
fu moderata. Le forze del nonagenario G., duramente provate da anni di
amarezze, stavano ormai declinando e un lieve incidente, accadutogli a metà
luglio del 1648, lo costrinse a letto.
Il 2 agosto, ultimo suo
atto pubblico, ricevette dal discepolo Vincenzo Berro la comunione, gesto
immortalato in un celebre quadro di V. Goya, e spirò nelle prime ore del 25 ag.
1648.
Durante quegli anni
convulsi, G. mantenne un atteggiamento di obbedienza, invitando anche i suoi
seguaci ad accettare provvedimenti contrari agli interessi della sua Opera.
Probabilmente non ebbe molte possibilità di scelta: alle divisioni esistenti
nel suo gruppo si aggiunsero le difficoltà create da ambienti aristocratici
contrari all'insegnamento popolare e le pressioni dei gesuiti che non gradivano
la concorrenza. L'Ordine da lui fondato fu parzialmente ristabilito da
Alessandro VII con un breve del 26 genn. 1656 e in modo completo da Clemente IX
il 21 ott. 1669. Il processo di beatificazione, iniziato nel 1650, condusse il
18 ag. 1748 alla beatificazione e il 16 luglio 1767 alla canonizzazione. La
commemorazione liturgica ricorre il 25 agosto.
Fonti e Bibl.:Epistolario
di s. Giuseppe Calasanzio, I-IX, a cura L. Picanyol, Roma 1950-56; X, a cura di
Claudio Vilá Palá, ibid. 1988; A. Armini, Vita del ven. servo di Cristo
padre G. della Madre di Dio, Roma 1710; I. Cinacchi, Della storia della
vita, virtù e fatti del venerabile padre G. della Madre di Dio, Roma 1734; V.
Talenti, Vita del beato G. della Madre di Dio, fondatore delle Scuole pie,
Roma 1735; P. Pujol i Tubau, S. Josep de Calasanç, oficial del capítol
d'Urgell (1587-1589). Estudi històric, Barcelona 1921; G. Calò, Campanella
e gli scolopi a proposito dell'Apologia delle Scuole pie, in Rendiconti
dell'Accademia nazionale dei Lincei, s. 6, XI (1935); L. Picanyol, Le
Scuole pie e Galileo Galilei, Roma 1942; C. Bau, Biografía crítica de s.
José de Calasanz, Madrid 1949; G.L. Moncallero - G. Limiti, Il Codice
calasanziano palermitano, Roma 1965; G. Sántha, Epistulae ad s. Iosephum
Calasanctium ex Europa centrali 1625-1648, Romae 1969; Id., Epistulae ad
s. Iosephum Calasanctium ex Hispania et Italia 1618-1648, I-II, Romae 1972;
Id., Ensayos críticos, Salamanca 1976; G. Cinafrocca - G. Ausenda, G.
C., in Diz. degli istituti di perfezione, IV, Roma 1977, coll. 1343-1351;
G. Sántha - C. Vilá Palá, Epistolae coetaneorum s. Iosephi Calasanctii
(1600-1648), I-V, Romae 1977; VI, Supplementum, ibid. 1981; VII, Indices,
ibid. 1982; D. Cueva, Il C. e le sue costituzioni, Roma 1981; T.
Campanella, Liber apologeticus contra impugnantes institutum Scholarum
piarum, a cura di K. Jensen - A.K. Liebreich, in Archivum Scholarum piarum,
1984, n. 8, pp. 29-76; M.A. Asiain, Relación de Calasanz con Centroeuropa
en el momento de la fundación, ibid., 1990, n. 14, pp. 127-170; S. Giner
Guerri, S. José de Calasanz maestro y fundador. Nueva biografía crítica,
Madrid 1992; O. Tosti, Cinque stralci dell'epistolario di s. G. C. ed
altri scritti autografi inediti, in Archivum Scholarum piarum, 1992, n.
16, pp. 11-16; Bibliografía calasancia, a cura di M.A. Asiain - J. Lecea -
J.A. Miró, in Analecta Calasanctiana, 1995, n. 73, pp. 5-250. Sulla figura
di G. si vedano inoltre: Analecta Calasanctiana, dal 1959; Archivum
Scholarum piarum, dal 1936; Ephemerides Calasanctianae, dal 1932; Dict.
d'hist. et de géogr. ecclésiastiques, XXVIII, coll. 191-195.
© Istituto della
Enciclopedia Italiana fondata da Giovanni Treccani - Riproduzione riservata
SOURCE : https://www.treccani.it/enciclopedia/santo-giuseppe-calasanzio_(Dizionario-Biografico)/
Retaule
dedicat a Sant Josep de Calassanç, al Monestir de Montserrat, obra de Francesc
Berenguer i Mestres. (1891)
Joseph
Calasanctius - Basilica de Montserrat - Montserrat
Каталония, монастырь Монсеррат – Базилика Девы Марии (часовня Святого Жузепа Калассанса)
Retaule
dedicat a Sant Josep de Calassanç, al Monestir de Montserrat, obra de Francesc
Berenguer i Mestres. (1891)
Joseph
Calasanctius - Basilica de Montserrat - Montserrat
Каталония,
монастырь Монсеррат – Базилика Девы Марии (часовня Святого Жузепа Калассанса)
José de Calasanz, San
José de Calasanz,
San. Peralta de la Sal (Huesca), 1557 – Roma (Italia), 25.VIII.1648. Santo
y fundador de la Orden de las Escuelas Pías (SChP).
Archivero, raEscolapio,
pia (Orden de las Escuelas Pías, SchP)Filósofo, faFundador, ra de orden o
congregación religiosaPedagogo, gaReligioso, saSanto, taTeólogo, ga
Biografía
Su nombre de pila era
José Calasanz y Gastón. Nació en el seno de una familia infanzona y se
consideró siempre “aragonés de nación”. Estudió Humanidades con los trinitarios
de Estadilla (Huesca), Filosofía y Derecho en la Universidad de Lérida, y
Teología en Valencia, Alcalá de Henares y Lérida. Coronó estos estudios con el
doctorado en Teología. Consecuente con una muy definida vocación sacerdotal,
recibió el presbiterado en Sanahuja (Lérida) el 17 de diciembre de 1583. Inició
su actividad en Barbastro como familiar del obispo fray Felipe de Urriés y
ayudante de estudio, o maestro de pajes del palacio. En 1585, familiar ahora
del obispo Gaspar Juan de la Figuera, asistió a las Cortes de Monzón,
convocadas por Felipe II. Nombrado secretario de una comisión especial,
intervino en la reforma de los agustinos de la Corona de Aragón. En 1637, a
petición de los interesados, lo asegura por escrito Calasanz: “[...] y yo fui
llamado, como Secretario, para hazer los despachos, que se avían de embiar a
Roma: y esto fue el mes de Agosto o setiembre del dicho año 1585; y los papeles
fueron embiados por orden del Rey a su Embaxador”.
Gaspar Juan de la
Figuera, recién nombrado obispo de Lérida, tuvo que abandonar las Cortes de
Monzón y partir para Montserrat el 22 de octubre de 1585.
Designado, de común
acuerdo entre Felipe II y el papa Sixto V, visitador apostólico del famoso
monasterio benedictino, se llevó consigo a Calasanz. Como familiar y
examinador, ayudó sabiamente a su obispo, hasta que éste murió el 13 de febrero
de 1586 “con harta priesa y no sin sospecha”.
Entre 1587 y 1591 estuvo
Calasanz al servicio de la diócesis de Urgel. En La Seo fue secretario del
Cabildo y maestro de ceremonias de la catedral. Como secretario del Cabildo,
escribió Calasanz a Felipe II urgiendo la venida del nuevo obispo a su
diócesis, y doce cartas al virrey de Cataluña sobre el peligro inminente de
bandoleros y hugonotes. En 1588 recibió el nombramiento de párroco de Claverol
y Ortoneda, sin obligación de residencia. El nuevo obispo de La Seo de Urgel,
Andrés Capilla, nombró a Calasanz en 1589 su familiar y sucesivamente visitador
de los oficialatos de Tremp, Sort, Tirvia y Cardós, y oficial eclesiástico y
vicario general de Tremp.
En 1592 comenzó el
período romano de su vida. En febrero estaba ya Calasanz en Roma. Renunció
antes a sus cargos en la diócesis de Urgel y se detuvo en Barcelona, donde
probablemente se examinó y obtuvo el doctorado. Hizo por mar el viaje entre
Barcelona y Civitavecchia. A Roma llegó como procurador de la diócesis de Urgel
ante la Santa Sede, con ánimo, además, de conseguir una canonjía y volverse
pronto a España. El cardenal Marco Antonio Colonna le introdujo en su palacio
con el triple cargo de teólogo consultor, capellán de su familia y preceptor de
sus sobrinos, especialmente de Felipe, el más joven. Cuando murió el anciano
cardenal, el 13 de marzo de 1597, Calasanz continuó con iguales tareas hasta
1602 en el espléndido palacio, regido ahora por el cardenal Ascanio Colonna.
Estos años fueron
cruciales en la vida de Calasanz.
Resolvió positivamente
los problemas de su diócesis, pero fracasó en la concesión de una canonjía. En
su correspondencia con el sacerdote José Teixidor, párroco de Peralta, contaba
su nostalgia de España, el mundillo que se agitaba en Roma y el fracaso de sus
pretensiones en las catedrales de Urgel, Lérida, Albarracín, Teruel y
Barbastro, la más sonada. Pero estos fracasos materiales le hicieron dirigir su
mirada a otros horizontes. Desde el principio mantuvo una estrecha amistad con
los franciscanos del vecino convento de los Doce Apóstoles: durante los diez
años de su permanencia en el palacio Colonna, se unió con frecuencia a sus
actos de piedad y asimiló de tal modo su espiritualidad que, como declaró un
testigo en el proceso de beatificación, fue allí donde “concibió el espíritu de
la perfección evangélica por intercesión del Seráfico Padre San Francisco, de
quien fue devotísimo”.
Por estos mismos años,
difundió Calasanz entre personas selectas copias del Itinerario de la
Perfección Cristiana del jesuita Antonio Cordeses, obra maestra de la
oración afectiva, rechazada en esa época por la cúpula de la Compañía. Se
inscribió también y colaboró en las principales cofradías romanas: Doce
Apóstoles, Doctrina Cristiana, Llagas de San Francisco, Trinidad de Peregrinos
y Convalecientes, Virgen del Sufragio. La de los Doce Apóstoles le nombró
visitador y pudo así patearse los trece barrios de la ciudad y hacer una
radiografía estremecedora de la pobreza, física y espiritual, que estaba
viviendo la Roma profunda.
Llegó a la conclusión de
que el único remedio estaba en la escuela. Recurrió a los maestros rionales, al
Capitolio, a los jesuitas del Colegio Romano, a los dominicos de la Minerva, a
los socios de la Cofradía de la Doctrina Cristiana, a la que pertenecía desde
mediados de 1597. Todo en vano. Por fin en una visita al barrio del Trastévere,
“el más pobre de Roma”, descubrió su vocación y fundó en el otoño de 1597,
junto a la iglesia de Santa Dorotea, “la primera escuela pública, popular,
gratuita de Europa”, en frase del gran historiador alemán Ludovico Von Pastor.
Desde este momento, el
tiempo, el talento y los dineros de Calasanz fueron para sus niños,
principalmente para los pobres. Ni pretensiones personales, ni vuelta a su
patria. De tal manera que cuando poco después le comunicaron desde la Embajada
de España, que Felipe III le ofrecía la pingüe canonjía de la Seo zaragozana, respondió
agradecido: “He encontrado mejor modo de servir a Dios, ayudando a estos pobres
muchachos.
No lo dejaré por nada del
mundo”.
La escuelita de Santa
Dorotea en el Trastévere romano fue la cuna de las Escuelas Pías. Tres años de
experiencia fecunda. Maestros y alumnos cruzaron el Tíber en el año santo de
1600 y se establecieron en el centro de Roma. En 1612 aquella primera escuelita
era ya colegio completo y tenía su sede en el palacio Torres, comprado por
Calasanz, junto a la plaza Navona.
La dirección era suya y
los cooperadores, maestros seglares, buenos en general, pero con frecuencia
interesados y siempre inestables. Aunque formaban todos una Congregación
secular, comprendió que la obra, admirada por los romanos, visitada por los
cardenales Antoniano y Baronio y bendecida por el papa Clemente VIII, podía
perecer cuando él faltase.
Por eso, en 1614 buscó
una congregación religiosa, que aceptase el trabajo de la escuela como fin de
su apostolado. Le pareció hallar la solución en la joven Congregación de la
Madre de Dios, llamada también Congregación Luquesa, fundada por san Juan
Leonardi.
La iniciativa parecía
acertada. Calasanz fundó en agosto de 1616, a petición del Papa, un nuevo
colegio en Frascati. Pero, después de tres años de experimento, todas las
esperanzas depositadas en la unión con la Congregación Luquesa resultaron vanas.
Y Calasanz, que no quería aparecer como fundador, prudentemente aconsejado, se
vio obligado a serlo. El 6 de marzo de 1617 firmó Pablo V la bula
fundacional Ad ea per quae y aparecía en la Iglesia la nueva
Congregación Paulina de los Pobres de la Madre de Dios de las Escuelas Pías. La
bula define con precisión el objetivo de la nueva fundación: educación de los
niños y jóvenes, principalmente pobres. Nombrado general, el 25 de marzo,
fiesta de la Anunciación de la Virgen, vistió Calasanz el hábito religioso de
manos del cardenal Benito Giustiniani y momentos después se lo vistió él a
catorce compañeros, entre los que se hallaba el hoy beato Pedro Casani. Desde
ese día se firmó siempre José de la Madre de Dios. La sustitución de
apellido tiene tradición e influencia carmelitanas, pero la elección de la
Madre de Dios indica la raíz mariana de su espiritualidad y de su pedagogía.
La Virgen Santísima será
la madre de sus escuelas y de sus alumnos. Y cuando arrecie la tormenta,
repetirá que la barca no se puede hundir, porque no ha sido él sino María quien
ha fundado el Instituto.
Surgieron enseguida
nuevos colegios, dentro y fuera de Roma. En el de Narni, redactó las Constituciones de
la naciente Congregación (1620-1621), que fueron aprobadas por Gregorio XV el
31 de enero de 1922. Pero ya meses antes, el 18 de noviembre de 1621, el mimo
Pontífice había elevado la Congregación Paulina a la máxima categoría de orden
religiosa, para llamarse en adelante Orden de los Clérigos Regulares Pobres de
la Madre de Dios de las Escuelas Pías. El padre José sigue siendo superior
general de la Orden, ayudado por cuatro asistentes. Ante sus compañeros y ante
la Iglesia él es el fundador.
Conseguir el título de
orden religiosa, con todas sus consecuencias canónicas, no fue tarea fácil.
Calasanz disipó todos los recelos con un inspirado memorial al cardenal Tonti. Leído
con reposo y meditadas sus razones, Tonti se transformó de enemigo acérrimo en
defensor y bienhechor de la Orden y de su fundador.
Favoreció la aprobación
pontificia de la Orden, matizó algunos detalles de las Constituciones y dejó en
herencia a los escolapios buena parte de sus bienes con el fin de erigir un
colegio para niños pobres y bien dotados intelectualmente, que pudo abrirse en
1930 con el título de Colegio Nazareno y que sigue siendo en Roma referencia
obligada de calidad pedagógica.
La Orden de las Escuelas
Pías nació en la Iglesia con características muy concretas. Sus escuelas son
gratuitas: Pías igual a gratuitas. Sus miembros, al profesar, añaden a los tres
votos comunes un cuarto voto específico de dedicación exclusiva a la
instrucción y educación de la juventud. Y como, según el espíritu de Calasanz y
el compromiso de sus Constituciones, entre los jóvenes deben ser preferidos los
pobres, el voto común de pobreza adquiere matices de radicalidad impresionante.
Tal vez este doble detalle, más la calidad y gratuidad de la enseñanza que
ofrecían sus maestros, impresionaron fuertemente a la sociedad del siglo xvii,
y explica la multitud de peticiones que urgen a Calasanz desde distintas
naciones de Europa para que abra colegios en sus pueblos y ciudades.
Sólo pudo aceptar una
mínima parte. Las llegadas de España, por ejemplo, quedaron a la espera y no
pudieron concretarse en vida del fundador. Aún así, una estadística de 1646
presenta el siguiente cuadro: las Escuelas Pías cuentan con seis provincias
canónicas —Roma, Liguria, Nápoles, Etruria, Germania, Sicilia- Cerdeña—, con
treinta y siete colegios y con quinientos religiosos educadores.
Resulta difícil resumir
el contenido, novedoso y a veces revolucionario, del pensamiento pedagógico de
Calasanz. Aunque no escribió tratados pedagógicos sistemáticos, a través de sus
Constituciones, del Comentario a esas Constituciones, de los reglamentos que
preparó para organizar la marcha de los colegios, de los memoriales enviados a
la Santa Sede, cardenales y hombres de gobierno, y de manera especial a través
de sus más de cinco mil cartas conocidas, cargadas de iniciativas y consejos
prácticos, se puede saber con toda certeza cuáles fueron sus ideas y los fines
de su fundación. Buscaba la felicidad del hombre, educándole desde “su más
tierna infancia”, y la reforma de la sociedad, partiendo de la escuela.
Para lograrlo, fundó por
primera vez en Europa la escuela pública y popular, gratuita y obligatoria,
ajena a toda segregación social, étnica o religiosa. Quería una educación
integral, que formase al alumno intelectual y espiritualmente, y de ahí su lema
de “Piedad y Letras”.
Aceptó únicamente
maestros por vocación, de “perspicaz inteligencia” y buena salud, a quienes
definió como “idóneos cooperadores de la Verdad”. Les encomendó la búsqueda de
nuevos métodos didácticos, “sencillos, eficaces y, en lo posible, breves”. Para
encontrarlos les relacionó con los mejores especialistas.
No le preocupaba que
aparecieran éstos como sospechosos ante los poderosos del momento. Le
importaban sus métodos y saberes para incorporarlos a sus escuelas y al
progreso formativo de sus alumnos: Galileo por sus descubrimientos matemáticos,
Campanella por sus avances teológicos, Scioppio por sus progresos humanísticos.
Junto a Galileo nació en Florencia un cenáculo de “Escolapios galileanos”, y
uno de ellos, Clemente Settimi, acompañó día y noche como secretario y
amanuense al ciego maestro en su retiro de Arcetri. La llamada ciencia nueva,
aprendida en la misma fuente, la iban a difundir los hijos de Calasanz en los
colegios y cátedras universitarias por Italia y Centroeuropa. En la Breve
relatione, llamada también Documentum princeps de la pedagogía
calasancia, estableció ya Calasanz las normas de conducta de maestros y
discípulos y la organización disciplinar y curricular del colegio. A las
secciones completas de primera enseñanza y bachillerato, añadió asignaturas de
formación profesional. Ordenó que todo colegio tuviera su registro escolar.
Fomentó entre los alumnos la emulación, aplicó el método preventivo y suavizó
los castigos. A los más pobres los proveyó gratuitamente de papel, pluma, tinta
y algunos libritos esenciales.
Y para todos, organizó
las “filas”, en las que los maestros después de las clases acompañaban a los
niños hasta las puertas de sus casas. Como la escuela había de mirar al hombre
y prepararle para la vida, Calasanz añadió al programa de materias clásicas,
otras materias “de adorno”, necesarias para que pudieran los pobres encontrar
un puesto de trabajo: la música, la caligrafía, la aritmética... El aprendizaje
de la doctrina cristiana lo estructuró en un triple proceso catequético:
acomodada diariamente al ritmo escolar con método uniforme, profundizada como
catequesis sacramental en los grupos selectos de la “Oración Continua”, y
ampliada a familias y adultos mediante disputas dirigidas las tardes de
domingos y días festivos.
Para Calasanz, la
catequesis no entraba en el campo de lo devocional, sino en el de la razón y la
cultura.
Era un hombre de la
Contrarreforma y, por temperamento, más inclinado a la idea que al fervor. La
tarea era dura y surgieron dentro de casa rechazos y ambiciones. Y como el
programa era comprometido y revolucionario, fue torpedeado fuera por el poder y
la envidia. Sólo la incomprensión hacia la persona y obra de Calasanz explica
el calvario que le tocó sufrir. Pero en el calvario aparecen en toda su
grandeza la magnitud de su obra y la santidad de su persona. La crisis empezó a
generarse en 1636 con el llamado caso de los clérigos operarios, y se
recrudeció a partir de 1642. El viernes 8 de agosto, a instigación de monseñor
Albizzi y por orden de Urbano VIII, fue llevado preso al Santo Oficio. Horas
después, volvió libre de culpa en la carroza del cardenal Cesarini. Pero las
hostilidades habían rozado intereses muy delicados en las altas esferas y ya no
cesaron.
El 16 de enero de 1643 se
destituyó a Calasanz de su cargo de general de la Orden, se decidió el
nombramiento de un visitador apostólico y el padre Mario Sozzi quedó
constituido primer asistente general, que gobernará la Orden junto al
visitador. Los escolapios padre Mario Sozzi y su amigo y sucesor padre Esteban
Querubini, el visitador jesuita padre Silvestre Pietrasanta y el poderoso
asesor del Santo Oficio monseñor Francisco Albizzi, fueron más lejos en una
compleja y dolorosa carrera, que sólo tenía un fin: destruir para siempre las
Escuelas Pías. El 16 de marzo de 1646 firmaba el papa Inocencio X el breve
definitivo: todos los religiosos podían pasar a otras órdenes, aunque fueran
más laxas; prohibido admitir novicios; destituidos de todas sus funciones los
actuales superiores, empezando por el padre José Calasanz. Sometidos
religiosos, casas y escuelas a la jurisdicción de los obispos, la orden quedó
reducida a simple Congregación, a manera del Oratorio de San Felipe Neri.
Debían redactarse nuevas Constituciones y el gobierno del Colegio Nazareno
quedó en manos de la Rota.
La destrucción intentada
parece lograda. La tarde del 17 de marzo se leyó en el Oratorio comunitario el
breve pontificio. La expectación y el clima eran dramáticos.
La única voz de respuesta
fueron estas palabras de Calasanz: “El Señor nos lo dio, el Señor nos lo quitó.
Como plugo al Señor así se ha hecho. Bendito sea su nombre”. Y en la carta que
había escrito por la mañana al padre Alejandro Novari, rector del colegio de
Nicolsburg, añadió una postdata, contándole el contenido y la lectura del
breve. Y añadió esperanzado: “Pero Usted no se desanime, porque esperamos en el
Señor que todo se arregle, mientras permanezcamos unidos”. Desde ese momento se
transformó en un profeta de esperanza. “Dejemos obrar a Dios, que todo volverá
a ser más perfecto y hermoso que antes”.
No defendió su persona,
pero luchó con todas sus fuerzas por sus niños pobres, porque no se cerrara
ningún colegio y porque no aparecieran las constituciones blandengues que ha
redactado el padre Cherubini.
Lo consiguió plenamente.
Dentro y fuera de casa le
llamaban las gentes el Santo Viejo. Rondaba los noventa años,
cincuenta y uno gastados en la escuela. El 2 de agosto de 1648, sin fuerzas
físicas, recibió rodeado de alumnos, la última comunión pública en el mismo
oratorio donde se había proclamado el breve destructor. Francisco de Goya
inmortalizó la escena con sus pinceles. Al amanecer del 25 de agosto falleció,
rodeado de sus mejores hijos. Cuando bajaron el cadáver a la iglesia, un niño
que rezaba sus primeras oraciones antes de pasar al colegio, reconoció al padre
José y salió gritando por las callejitas romanas: “¡El Santo! ¡El Santo! ¡Ha
muerto el Santo!”.
La Iglesia tardó más en
reconocerlo. Le beatificó Benedicto XIV el 7 de agosto de 1748. Clemente XIII
le canonizó el 16 de julio de 1767. Y Pío XII le proclamó el 13 de agosto de
1948 “Patrono de todas las escuelas populares cristianas del mundo”. En 1949,
el Congreso de Argentina aprobó la ley 13.633 que declara “a San José de
Calasanz protector de todas las escuelas públicas argentinas, tanto primarias
como secundarias, y las privadas incorporadas a las mismas”.
Y ya en nuestros días, al
conmemorarse en 1997 el IV centenario la apertura en el Trastévere romano de la
primera escuela pública, popular y gratuita, el papa Juan Pablo II ha escrito
que “José de Calasanz, sabio intérprete de los signos de su tiempo, consideró
la educación, dada con método breve, sencillo y eficaz, garantía de éxito en la
vida de los alumnos y fermento de renovación social y eclesial”. Hoy sus Escuelas
Pías siguen educando en la piedad y en las letras a miles de alumnos en treinta
y una naciones de cuatro continentes.
Y once Congregaciones
más, identificadas con su carisma educativo, le tienen por padre y protector.
Obras
“Modo di recitare la
Corona delle Dodici Stelle della Beatissima Vergine”, en Parva Biblioteca
Calasanctiana, 2 (1933), págs. 11-13
“Breve relatione del modo
che si tiene nelle Scuole Pie per insegnar li poveri scolari li quali per
l’ordinario sono più di settecento non solo le lettere ma ancora el S.to timor
di Dio”, en Monumenta Historica Scholarum Piarum, II (1938), págs.
5-9
“Informazione intorno
alle Scuole Pie dai loro inizi al 1622”, en L. Picanyol y C. Vilá Palá, Epistolario
di S. Giuseppe Calasanzio, Roma, E. Calasanctianae, 1950-1988, t. II,
págs. 170-172
“Nuevas Cartas”, en
G. L. Moncallero y G. Limiti, Il Codice Calasanziano Palermitano
(1803-1648), Roma 1964
“Formula degli atti
necessarii per aparecchio alla divina gratia e a i Santi Sagramenti”, en A. García
Durán, Itinerario espiritual de San José de Calasanz (1592-1622), Barcelona,
1967, págs. 108-109
“Sententiae spirituales
sexaginta (1920)”, en D. Cueva, Calasanz. Mensaje espiritual y
pedagógico, Madrid, Biblioteca de Autores Cristianos (BAC), 1973, págs.
177-183
Constitutiones S. Josephi
Calasanctii, a. 1622, text. orig. lat., Salamanca, 1979
“Costituzioni del
Collegio Nazareno (1630)”, en Quaderni degli Accademici Incolti, 2
(1979), págs. 37-47
“Alcuni Misterii della
vita e passione di Cristo Signor Nostro”, en Analecta Calasanctiana
(AC), 50 (1983), págs. 551-557
“Orologio della Passione
di Cristo”, en AC, págs. 557-559
“Qualità del vero
Religioso”, en AC, págs. 194-195
“Otros Memoriales a
Pontífices, Santa Sede y Cardenales (1602/05-1646)”, en S. López, Documentos
de San José de Calasanz, Bogotá, Editorial Calasancia Colombiana, 1988,
págs. 122-413
“Reglamentos para
diversos Colegios (1604-1638)”, en V. Faubell Zapata, Antología Pedagógica
Calasancia, Salamanca, Universidad Pontificia, Publicaciones, 1988, págs.
147-175
“Dichiarazioni circa le
nostre Constituzioni, Regole e Riti Comuni”, en Archivum Scholarum
Piarum, 27 (1990), págs. 11-80
Memoriale al Card.
Michelangelo Tonti, Ib., 29 (1991), págs. 21-27.
Bibliografía
E. J. de Soto Real, Vida
del Bienaventurado P. y Venerable Siervo de Dios Joseph Calasanz de la Madre de
Dios, Fundador de la Orden de los Clérigos Regulares de la Madre de Dios de las
Escuelas Pías, Madrid, J. Paredes, 1675
Vida del venerable siervo
de Cristo Padre Joseph de la Madre de Dios, fénix aragonés, trad. del padre A.
Ginés, Madrid, 1726
Resumen de la vida del
beato Padre Joseph Calasanz de la Madre de Dios, Valencia, J. Lucas, 1749
La vida del beato P.
Joseph Calasanz de la Madre de Dios, fundador de la Religión de los Clérigos
Regulares de la Madre de Dios de las Escuelas Pías, Barcelona, Piferrer,
1751
Vie de S. Joseph
Calasanz, Fondateur des Escoles Pies, Marseille, Blanc et Bernard, 1884, 2
vols.
Vita del Beato Giuseppe Calasanzio
della Madre di Dio, Florencia, 1917
Orientaciones pedagógicas
según el espíritu de San José de Calasanz, Barcelona, Torres Amat, 1921
(Madrid, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, 1945, 2 vols.)
La pedagogia
Calasanziana, Roma, Tipografia Campitelli, 1925
Il Calasanzio e l’opera
sua, Firenze, Felice le Monnier, 1925
El educador católico
según el espíritu de San José de Calasanz, trad. de J. Jofre, Barcelona,
Ediciones Gala Calasancia, 1943
Letras Apostólicas en las
que se nombra a S. José de Calasanz Patrono de todas las escuelas cristianas
del mundo (text. lat., 13 de agosto de 1948), en Ephemeides
Calasanctianae, 4-5 (1948), págs. 94-107
Biografía crítica de San
José de Calasanz, Madrid, Compañía Bibliográfica Española, 1949
San José de Calasanz. Su
obra. Escritos, Madrid, BAC, 1956
Fuentes inmediatas de la
pedagogía calasancia, Madrid, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas
(CSIC), 1960
Itinerario espiritual de
San José de Calasanz, Barcelona, 1967
Calasanz. Mensaje
espiritual y pedagógico, Madrid, BAC, 1973
El proceso de
Beatificación de San José de Calasanz, Madrid, Ediciones ICCE, 1973
San José de Calasanz. Una
vida entregada a la infancia, Madrid, Coculsa, 1975
et al., Cartas selectas
de San José de Calasanz, Salamanca, Ediciones Calasancias, 1977, 2 vols.
en VV.
AA., Escuelas Pías. Ser e historia, Salamanca, Ediciones Calasancias,
1978, págs. 25-34
Documentos fundacionales
de las Escuelas Pías, Salamanca, Ediciones Calasancias, 1979
La escuela calasancia,
Salamanca, Ediciones Calasancias, 1980
José de Calasanz,
Presbítero, n.º extr. de Analecta Calasanctiana, 50 (1983), págs.
241-691
Annotazioni della
Fondazione della Congregatione e Religione dei Clerici Regolari Poveri della
Madre di Dio delle Scuole Pie eretta dal P. Gioseppe della Madre di Dio nel
secolo D. Gioseppe Calasanzio aragonese racolte nel 1623, ed. de O. Tosti,
Roma, Editioni Calasanzianae, 1988
Analecta Calasanctiana,
65 (1991), págs. 7-422
San José de Calasanz,
Maestro y Fundador, Madrid, BAC, 1992
Analecta Calasanctiana,
73 (1995), págs. 5-250
Ephemerides
Calasanctianae, 8-9 (1997), págs. 366-371
José de Calasanz,
Zaragoza, Publicaciones Caja de la Inmaculada, 2000
José de Calasanz el
pionero de la escuela popular, Madrid, Ciudad Nueva, 2002.
Autor/es
Dionisio Cueva González,
SChP
SOURCE : https://historia-hispanica.rah.es/biografias/24746-san-jose-de-calasanz
.jpg)
Nef
de la Sagrada Família. Statue of Saint Vincent de Paul cachée par un
échafaudage et statue of Saint Joseph Calasanctius
Nave
of the Sagrada Família, Statue of Saint Vincent de Paul hidden by a scaffolding
and statue of Saint Joseph Calasanctius
Estatua
de San José de Calasanz
Statue
of Saint Joseph Calasanctius in the Sagrada Família
Josep de Calassanç
Josep Calassanç i Gastó
(Peralta de la Sal,
Llitera, 11 de setembre de 1557 — Roma, 25 d’agost de 1648)
Eclesiàstic, educador i
fundador.
Estudià jurisprudència i
filosofia a la Universitat de Lleida (1571-77) i teologia a les de
València i Alcalá de Henares i l’acabà a Lleida el 1583. Ordenat de sacerdot el
17 de desembre de 1583 a Sanaüja. Residí a Barbastre com a familiar del
bisbe Felipe de Urríes. A Montsó actuà com a redactor de les actes de la
comissió per a la reforma dels frares agustinians (1585), durant les Corts de
la Corona d’Aragó que allí se celebraven. Acompanyà el bisbe electe de Lleida
Juan Gaspar de la Figuera a la visita apostòlica de Montserrat (1585-86).
Traslladat a la seva diòcesi d’Urgell, fou mestre de cerimònies de la
catedral i secretari del capítol de canonges (1587-89), càrrec que li
permeté d’intervenir en els afers diocesans, com també d’actuar contra els
bandolers i els hugonots. Tenia el nomenament de rector no residencial de
les parròquies de Claverol i d’Hortoneda. El 1589 fou nomenat familiar del
bisbe Andreu Capella i uns quants mesos després arxiprest de Tremp i visitador
de les oficialitats de Tremp, Sort, Tírvia i Cardós en missió de reforma.
El 1591 renuncià els
càrrecs de la diòcesi d’Urgell i passà a Roma, on fou preceptor de la família
Colonna, actuà en representació del seu bisbat i continuà l’exercici del
ministeri pastoral a través de diverses confraries; recorrent els barris romans
captà el problema d’una infància i joventut abandonada, inculta i abocada a la
misèria. Obrí a la parròquia de Santa Dorotea en el Trastevere (1597) una
escola gratuïta, que es convertí més tard (1617), ja establerta a la casa de
Sant Pantaleó, en la Congregació Paulina de la Mare de Déu de l’Escola Pia
(escolapi), elevada a
orde religiós per Gregori XV el 1621 i destinada a l’educació de les classes
populars, seguint les directrius de reforma del concili de Trento (la reforma
de la societat serà a través de l’educació). Fou el primer a agrupar infants
desvalguts i a procurar-los, a més d’ensenyament (escriptura, lectura,
aritmètica i doctrina cristiana), menjar i vestit. Graduà també aquestes
ensenyances i establí per part dels mestres un control d’assistència i
qualificacions i exàmens. No es limità al primer ensenyament sinó que també
volgué a per a tots el llatí i la retòrica.
L’obra s’estengué aviat,
començant per la fundació el 1616 d’un col·legi a Frascati. Moltes poblacions
d’Itàlia, de nord a sud, tingueren col·legi escolapi. Una de les
fundacions més emblemàtiques fou la de Florència (1630) perquè a través de la
comunitat d’aquella casa es relacionà amb Galileu i li envià religiosos perquè
es formessin en les matemàtiques. Eren els anys de la guerra dels Trenta Anys i
prínceps i purpurats demanaren fundació escolàpia a l’imperi Austrohongarès i a
Polònia, a poblacions que avui pertanyen als estats de la República
Txeca i d’Eslovàquia. El 1638 envià Melchiore Alacchi a Guissona per obrir-hi
el primer col·legi de l’Escola Pia a la península Ibèrica, però la guerra dels
Segadors i la malaltia de l’escolapi ho impediren, de moment.
Calassanç fou pres
sense fonament i jutjat pel tribunal de la Inquisició. L’orde fou reduït a
sacerdots sense vots, perquè Calassanç es negà sempre a deixar d’impartir en
les seves escoles el llatí i la retòrica, ja que considerava que tots els
infants tenen els mateixos drets a rebre un ensenyament complet i a entrar a la
universitat.
Fou canonitzat pel papa
Climent XIII el 1767. La seva festa se celebra el 25 d’agost. Es conserven
diverses cartes seves en català.
SOURCE : https://www.enciclopedia.cat/gran-enciclopedia-catalana/josep-de-calassanc
Filiální
kostel sv. Josefa Kalasanského v Kyjově
NEUVAINE À SAINT JOSEP
CALASANZ : https://www.parroquiasescolapias.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/NEUVAINE-A-SAINT-JOSEP-CALASANZ.pdf
Antonio Lezaun. Saint
Joseph de Calasanz, un mystique dans l’action : https://edicionescalasancias.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/Calasanz_mi%CC%81stico_france%CC%81s_web.pdf
Buenaventura Pedemonte i
Feu. La Pensée de Saint Joseph Calasanz : https://edicionescalasancias.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/La-pensee-de-saint-Joseph-Calasanz.pdf
