The Christian brothers; their origin and work, with a sketch of the life of their founder the venerable Jean Baptiste de la Salle

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1883 Excerpt: ...give himself up entirely to the service of God, but without any distinct idea, how, or where, or in what kind of life. Fearing opposition, he said nothing of his intentions, but left the regiment secretly, sold his horse, and came to Grenoble, where he spent about ten months nursing the sick in hospitals, praying in the churches, and trying to learn something of the life (so new to him) to which he wished to devote himself. At the end of this time, he applied to the Capuchins at Grenoble, and asked to be received as a lay-brother in their convent. They asked for his baptismal register and the consent of his parents. The latter he had no hope of obtaining, and to have taken steps to procure the former would have revealed to his friends where he was. As he could not produce either, he was refused admission. He next knocked at the door of the Grande Chartreuse. But the Cistercians also feared that it would bring trouble upon them if they received him without the sanction of his family; so they refused him, on the ground that, not having learned Latin, he could not say the Breviary. He then made a pilgrimage to Italy, visited manysacred places on foot, leading a life of great hardship, and returned to Grenoble more eager than before to enter a religious Community. He sought admission to another house of the Cistercian order, but was again refused, not, however, on the same grounds as before. The Abbot told him that he could not receive him, because he was persuaded that God was calling him elsewhere. After this he retired to the Hermitage of Parmenie, and was there in retreat, when De la Salle came to the house of M. Saleon. The Chaplain of the Hermitage, who heard the young man's confessions, and knew of his difficulties, introduced him to M. de la Salle as on...