What happens when an image or a statue comes to life and starts to speak to us? We could look for answers in the literature and in the cinema and now with the initiative of the ARLEP District (Spain and Portugal) we can also tell our younger students what would happen if that picture in the classrooms and those statues of our chapels and courtyards that represent Saint John Baptist de La Salle were here and we could ask him some questions …
It is a pleasure for lasalleorg to present to you this biography in the form of a comicstrip and thus continue to fall in love with that “madman of schools” that brought so much goodness to the world with his initiative and that seed that he sowed in Reims and that now grows in 80 countries around the world.
As part of the Tercentenary Celebrations, the District of ARLEP (Spain and Portugal) has published a new and entirely original cartoon-strip about Saint Jean-Baptiste de La Salle, entitled “El loco de las escuelas”. With original drawings and script by Javier Nóbrega, a teacher in the Colegio La Salle San Ildefonso in Tenerife. In twenty four pages, it narrates the vicissitudes of the Founder, in a style that is informal but still faithful to history.
As the author himself says, « Saint Jean-Baptistede La Salle is much more than a statue. He was someone who renewed the Church and acted as a pioneer in education. But for many people of his time he was “the fool of the schools”, a passionate follower of Jesus who wanted all children, especially the poorest, to have access to education».
Through this comic-strip, we can approach his life story with humour and intimacy. De La Salle was not just a “fool”. He was the first of many “fools” who continue today to devote their lives to work through education to improve the world in which it is our lot to live.
Besides being a Lasallian educator, Javier Nóbrega is a professional illustrator, and he was employed by the organisers of the Carnaval de Tenerife in 2020, the most important fiesta on the Canary Islands. The idea for and the original script of the cartoon-strip were drawn up from Lasallian material by the District Team led by Brother Jorge Sierra.
The book is available in Spanish, Catalan, Basque, Gallego, Portuguese and Valenciano via Ediciones La Salle (ediciones@lasalle.es). The original texts are available for any Districts that might wish to translate them and publish them in their own language and country. They are obtainable from the Pastoral Delegation of ARLEP (pastoral@lasalle.es).
Br. Jorge A. Sierra Canduela
Delegado de Misión Pastoral del Distrito ARLEP
We also invite you to read the graphic novel “Brother” by De La Salle College of Saint Benilde in the Philippines.
https://www.benilde.edu.ph