“If from the very earliest years, a child is instructed in both religion and letters, it can be reasonably hoped that his life will be happy.”
Saint Joseph Calasanctius
Saint of the Day Quote: Saint Joseph Calasanctius
- Donald R. McClarey
Donald R. McClarey
Cradle Catholic. Active in the pro-life movement since 1973. Father of three, one in Heaven, and happily married for 43 years. Small town lawyer and amateur historian. Former president of the board of directors of the local crisis pregnancy center for a decade.
The story of S. Joseph Calasanz’ life (d. 1648) is both harrowing and uplifting. There is no question of his holiness, his piety, and his sincere goodwill to educate poor children often without charging for their education.
Unfortunately, as some may know, his order was infiltrated (history repeating itself), by a cadre of men who decided they preferred to be pedophiles. The worst of the lot was a very clever devil, Fr. Stefano Cherubini, who was a sociopathic molester, but from a family of very powerful nobles and attorneys who made him untouchable.
He succeeded in outmaneuvering S. Joseph Calasanz, becoming even superior general of the order, and effectively suspending the saint And preparing to expel him from the order, he had founded. However, before he could do so, Cherubini came down with a terrible wasting disease that covered his body with intensely painful scales, and died after a few months, according to the order’s own history (cf. Dr. Karen Liebreich’s book, “Fallen Order” [2005, Grove Press]: Liebreich is no friend of the Roman Catholic Faith, but nonetheless documents a difficult but instructive historic account).
Before St Joseph passed away, he was re-admitted to the order and there remains a famous painting of him with his faithful followers, him receiving the Last Rites and Holy Communion by (of all artists) Francisco Goya (1819).