Joseph Calasanz

Joseph Calasanz was born on September 11, 1557, in Peralta de Calasanz in the Kingdom of Aragon, Spain. The youngest of eight children, he received a strong education and, despite early family resistance, pursued priesthood, earning advanced degrees in law and theology. Ordained in 1583, he served the Church in Spain with notable administrative skill and a tender concern for the poor. At thirty-five he moved to Rome, where the plight of neglected children stirred his heart. Gathering boys from the streets for catechesis and learning, he opened in 1597 what is often considered Europe’s first free public school. After the devastating Tiber flood of 1598, his charity only deepened, and the “Pious Schools” quickly grew. In 1602 he formed a community to sustain this mission, and papal approval soon followed, giving rise to the Order of the Pious Schools, the Piarists—religious dedicated above all to educating the young, especially the poor, with love rather than fear. He died in Rome on August 25, 1648, and is honored as the founder and patron of the Piarists and institutions such as Colegio Ponceño. His feast day is August 25.