Saint John Baptist de La Salle, Priest
by VP
Posted on Monday May 15, 2023 at 12:00AM in Saints
"Slowly and carefully St. John Baptist de la Salle prepared himself for ordination. He felt, as he approached unto the altar of God, the truth of the holy words: "How terrible is this place! This is no other than the house of God and the gate of heaven." He remembered that some of the holiest men who ever lived trembled at the thought of the awful responsibilities and the sublime dignity of the Catholic priest; that the singing saint of Italy, Francis of Assisi, through humility refused to take the final step; and that St. Vincent de Paul had exclaimed: "Had I known what a priest is, I should never have consented to become one.
The happiest day in his long and troubled life was Holy Saturday, April 9, 1678, the sixth anniversary of his father's death. On that day he was ordained a priest in the historic Cathedral of Reims and for the first time exercised the priest's most august function of changing the bread and wine into the Body and Blood of Our Blessed Lord. And his first Mass he offered in one of the cathedral chapels with intense devotion and fervor.
From that blissful day the holy sacrifice of the Mass became and remained his one supreme consolation. In the future years he never failed to celebrate daily, no matter how ill or weary he might be, or how far away from home.
He had approached unto the altar of God; and God had given joy to his youth."
Source: The Story of St. John Baptist de la Salle Founder of the Institute of the Brothers of the Christian Schools By Francis Meehan · 1921 pages 33 and 34
