On 28 September 1724, exactly 300 years ago, the Institute of the Brothers of the Christian Schools received Letters Patent signed by King Louis XV, which “granted it legal existence as an established entity” and “officially guaranteed to the Brothers the ownership of St Yon and the possibility of possessing all the funds and inheritances which could be bequeathed or donated to them”.
In this way, with the Royal Patent, the nascent community received official recognition from the King of France, and a significant step was taken towards obtaining the papal bull of approval, which was signed by Pope Benedict XIII on 26 January 1725.
Brother Timothy, who was the Superior General of the Institute at the time – and the second successor of St John Baptist de La Salle – was determined to obtain official and ecclesiastical recognition of the Institute “for the consolidation of our little community…”.
The process of receiving the Letters Patent began in Rouen, where the Brothers’ educational mission was widely recognised and appreciated. However, “after some initial rapid progress, the process was paralysed by the opposition of the Duke [Philip] of Orléans, regent of the Kingdom during the minority of Louis XV”, according to Brother José Antonio Villalabeitia, vice-postulator of the Institute. However, “the death of Philippe d’Orléans unravelled the problem” and within a few months the Brothers received the Royal Patent from the King.
With this legal recognition, some property which was in the name of persons close to the Brothers gradually came to belong legally to the Institute. Likewise, although the Letters Patent initially referred expressly to the property of St. Yon, “over time, Royal Patents were obtained, endorsed by the parliaments of other French regions, thus broadening the legal possibilities of action”, Brother José Antonio points out.
Today, as we commemorate 300 years since the approval of the Letters Patent, we give thanks to the Lord for the determined commitment of so many Brothers and Lasallian partners who over three centuries have carried forward this ‘work of God’ in the service of human and Christian education, and in a spirit of faith, zeal and community.
At the Generalate, a temporary exhibition of the La Salle Museum in Rome is available for the Tercentenary of the Bull of Approbation of the Institute of the Brothers of the Christian Schools.
