喇沙修士的教育传统
January 27, 2015
In 1680, St. 施洗约翰·德·拉萨在他的祖国法国创建了一个新的宗教团体，他和他的第一批追随者称之为“基督教学校兄弟会”.这个名字强调了他们的教育工作的基础是 fraternal, Christian, and that it focused on schools. 德拉萨敏锐地意识到穷人和工人阶级家庭孩子的状况, 所以他和兄弟会开办了免费学校，让学生接受基督教和人文教育, 启发他们的思想和心灵，从而引导他们获得救赎，同时成为对社会有贡献的成员.
兄弟会的学校是神圣的地方——是上帝对学生关怀的延伸——在那里，教师的角色被视为一种职业, a spiritual calling from God. Using the language of St. 保罗，德拉萨指示兄弟会视自己为耶稣基督的大使. 他告诉教友们要在学生身上崇拜上帝, 并敦促他们每天在学生的心里写一封由上帝的圣灵口授的信. 兄弟会的学校是强调师生关系的地方, 在哪里，老师们会以身教为先, 在那里神的话语光照和加深人的经验, 在那里，学生们在老师身上遇到了上帝. 1950年，教会将圣. 施洗约翰德拉萨教师赞助人.
Beginning with elementary education, 兄弟会逐渐发展了中学, polytechnic institutions, colleges and universities. In the 19th century, 兄弟会在中东开办了学校, Asia, Canada and the United States, 因此，他们的工作现在在超过83个国家继续进行. 世界范围内的教育使命的兄弟是一个引人注目的一个，并在20th century, 平信徒和女性——他们的背景和我们的学生一样多样化——都选择与弟兄们合作，分享弟兄们的事工. Today they number more than 89,000. 作为喇沙修士大学机构, 圣玛丽学校以学生的社区意识开始, professors, and staff, 既然大家一起教，一起学. 这个社区来自不同的信仰传统, ethnicities, and social and economic backgrounds. 它参与了一种教育冒险，这种冒险渗透到整个大学环境中，并以相互尊重和理解为基础, openness of mind in dialogue, eagerness to find the truth, 接受他人的独特性和局限性. 这样的社区培养了对智力成长的参与, 有信仰和为他人服务的精神, an active concern for justice, 以及对人的尊严的敏感.
The Brothers’ Declaration frames the Lasallian mission in this way: it “awakens in students a serious attitude toward life and the conviction of the greatness of human destiny; it makes it possible for them, 具有智慧、诚实和责任心, to exercise the autonomy of personal thought; it helps them use their liberty to overcome their own prejudices, 先入为主的观念和社会压力, as well as the pressures that come from disintegration within the human person; it disposes them to use their intelligence and their training in the service of their neighbors; it opens them to others; it teaches them how to listen and to try to understand, to trust, and to love; it instills in them a sense of trustworthiness, brotherhood, and justice; it opens them to the world and to life, to the wonder and beauty of nature, 对艺术的多样性和丰富性, 为科学技术的成就干杯, to a deep thought and reflection, to the varieties of civilizations, 为友谊和为他人奉献的快乐干杯.” [Declaration [6:41]在这一切方面，甚至更多, 喇沙修士的兄弟和那些谁加入他们的使命带来了他们和他们的学生面对面的上帝创造, loves, and saves them.
Lasallian educators embrace four characteristics gleaned from De LaSalle’s writings: they view their teaching ministry as a call from God; they see themselves as coworkers with God; they have a special concern for the instruction of the poor; and they are guided by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. 他们也欣赏德拉萨的基本原则和精神, 神的教育工作在许多地方得到了进一步的发展，他们对此感到欣慰, 在许多层面和许多类型的教育中. 他们展望一个未来，学生们将因教育的惊人进步而获得力量, in arts and technology, 在全球意识和对耶稣基督的启示和爱给予我们的人类命运的更全面的理解中.