BOGOTA - COLOMBIA - THREE SPECIAL CELEBRATIONS AT LA SALLE UNIVERSITY: On November 15, 2007, La Salle University in Bogota, Colombia, held three special celebrations. The first one was the 43rd anniversary of the University's foundation. The central event of this celebration was a Te Deum ceremony of thanksgiving to God for the successful 43 years of history of La Salle University in training professionals in service of Colombia and the world. This ceremony of thanksgiving was presided by His Eminence the Cardinal Primate of Colombia Pedro Rubiano Sáenz, the metropolitan Archbishop of Bogota.

The second celebration consisted of the awarding of Brother Fabio Gallego Arias, Rector of the University, with the University Order of La Salle in the degreee of the Great Cross in recognition for his work as Rector of the University since December 1996 as well as for his witness as a Brother of the Christian Schools and as a Lasallian educator. In addition, the administration building of the University was named in his honor: "The Brother Fabio Gallego Arias Building."

The third celebration involved honoring University personnel who had completed 20 years of service to the institution. Parchments of thanksgiving were awarded to nine workers.
^{(Br. Edgar Figueroa Abrajím, Vice-Rector of Promotion and Development)}

ST. LOUIS – USA – 34th ANNUAL HUETHER LASALLIAN CONFERENCE ADDRESSES LITERACY: Three hundred Lasallian educators from all over the United States gathered in St. Louis, Missouri, for the 2007 Huether Lasallian Conference.

The three-day event, from November 15 to 17, focused on Literacy as the Gateway to a Human and Spiritual Education. Keynote addresses presented by Fr. James DiGiacomo, S.J. on spiritual literacy, Sr. Kathleen Ross, SNJM on literacy in a multicultural environment, and Mr. Michael Sullivan on the culture of literacy among boys and girls, plus over 30 break-out sessions provided participants with many opportunities to enhance their skills in teaching, assess literacy and understand its critical role for Lasallian educators.

BR. LUIS AROZ PASCUAL 1912 - 16.11.2007: Br.Luis was born in Ágreda, near Soria, in the province of  Castilla Vieja, Spain.

Luis Antonio Aroz Pascual had a brother, Felix José, who was three years older and who entered the Juniorate and Novitiate of the Brothers of the Christian Schools in Irun. Luis decided he too would become a Brother, but as a missionary: this is why he e did his formation entirely in French, at the Mother House of Lembecq, in Belgium. On October 6th 1928 he became Br.Léon de Marie.

Hi intellectual ability and his perseverance in his work allowed him to push his studies in Literature and Theology very far but it was his preparation for his Doctorate in Missiology which he achieved at the Gregorian in 1955, which revealed to his superiors his qualities as a researcher. At their request, instead of going on the missions, he was to devote most of his efforts to discovering, publishing and commenting on in French, the original documents relating to St.John Baptist de la Salle and his family.

Between 1966 and 1981, Br. Léon de Marie Aroz edited the impressive number of 20 Cahiers Lasalliens (CL 26-42): in 1991 Br.Michel Sauvage published the detailed list in CL5 (pp. 160-161). Starting out from CL 40-1, the inventory of the series concerning the Founder, in the Mother House Archives, led him to drawing up, in CL 41-1 (pp.26-27), a vast plan, too vast for a single person. A special issue of La Salle Intercom (Jan-Feb. 1980) gives an example of what may be found in this harvest of documents.

  “ A gifted researcher, Br.Léon proved to be  incomparable at tracking down sources. His flair was exceptional but it was thanks to relentless work that he managed to find documents buried in public archives or passed on to families of lawyers. On September 24th 1964, Br. Léon ‘stumbled upon’ the Comte de tutelle (Guardianship accounts) which John Baptist presented showing his management of the family goods after giving up his position as guardian of his brothers and sisters” (CL 5, p. 161). CL 39 in 1972, allowed him to publish an unpublished letter of Saint John Baptist de La Salle, discovered in Reims, in the study of Maitre Claude Thiénot.

His work on La Salle led him to live for a long time in Rome, Reims and especially Paris (in all, he spent 24 years in the capital). Other works, in Spain, on the seals and arms of the Spanish Bishops, are now in the National Historical Archives of Madrid.

After this break, Br.Louis Marie Aroz, as he henceforth signed himself, took up again, at the request of the Superior-General, Br.John Johnston, the publication of the Cahiers lasalliens: in 1983, he finished CL 51 which appeared in 1889; in 1993, the publication of Dix années de prétoire (10 years of courtrooms) [CL 52], revealed John Baptist’s dealings with his family; CL 53 in 1995 presented unpublished documents (damaged by water during a fire) on Canon Roland, for whom John Baptist de La Salle had been the executor of his will; it was with CL 54 on Jean-Louis, Pierre and Jean-Remy de la Salle, that he ended his publications (10,000 pages) in the Cahiers lasalliens. Br.Aroz would later himself publish three books on the different branches of the La Salle family of Reims.  

We regret that he was not able to publish the documents which he had collected on the court cases between St.de La Salle and the teachers and on the “Clément affair”: this great researcher would not have failed to help us discover, as he often did, unexpected aspects of our Founder and of his time. The whole Lasallian Family owes him a lot.
^{(Br. Alain Houry, Director of the Archives)}

FRENCH-SPEAKING CANADA - RENEWAL OF COMMITEMENT BY THREE ASSOCIATES: On the occasion of a weekend get-together of present and former staff of Camp De La Salle, on November 11th at the Brothers’ Residence of St.Alphonse-Rodriguez, three young Lasallians renewed their commitment as Associates of the Brothers of the Christian Schools of French-speaking Canada.

In the course of a ceremony which was simple but very significant for the participants, Catherine Déry, Étienne de Villers and Lucas de Villers renewed their commitment for two years. They also committed themselves to explicitly announcing Jesus Christ, to promoting - individually and collectively – the educational project of the works in which they are involved (Camp De-La-Salle, ‘Camp de la Poursuite’ and the Young Lasallians International Committee) and inspiring themselves from the Lasallian charism, to act in such a way that Lasallian pedagogy and spirituality becomes for them a permanent resource.
^{(Br. Gaston Dubé, Secretary of the French-speaking District of Canada)}

NEW ZEALAND - WORLD YOUTH DAY FUNDRAISER  -  MUSIC CD: Over two days in the school holidays, 23 students from De La Salle College Mangere East, Francis Douglas Memorial College New Plymouth and John Paul College Rotorua gathered in Taranaki to make music together. 

The result is a CD project called “LASALLIANZ – HERE AS ONE” that features the musical gifts of our youth.  It also contains a DVD with images and footage from the days the WYD Cross and Icon came to our schools.

The aim of the project is to raise funds that will go towards sending our youth to the International Lasallian Youth Gathering, Melbourne and World Youth Day, Sydney next July.  The album will be available at the college from November 12 for a minimum donation of $20.00.

Contact Br. Tony Cummins (brtony@delasalle.net.nz) or Andrew Ulugia (andrew@delasalle.org.nz) for ordering information – a great Christmas gift idea!
^{(www.delasalle.org.nz)}

MIAMI - USA - THE CENTENNIAL OF THE NATIVITY SCHOOL (DE LA SALLE) IN MIAMI, LETTER TO BROTHER SUPERIOR:

Dear Brother Álvaro Rodríguez,

We former students of the Holy Spirit Nativity School were delighted to be present at a special Mass in honor of our centennial, celebrated by Bishop Felipe Estévez, Auxiliary Bishop of Miami. Father Francisco Villaverde, a former student of the Colegio del Vedado in Havana, Cuba, was the concelebrant at this festive liturgy.

The Bishop's homily was perfect for the occasion and at the end of the celebration, I had the opportunity to read your message to those present. Your message was so full of hope and encouragement to continue following in the footsteps of Christ and of the Founder. I hope that your words will serve as a springboard for reflection and as an incentive to continue our mission as Lasallian Christians.

After the liturgy there was a reception during which we former Lasallian students, who had not seen one another for many years, were reunited. We spent some quality time together as we recalled, by means of photos of the school and of the Brothers who taught us, those days when, in addition to subjects studied, we received the seed of our faith which has given us the strength we required to be away from our homeland for so many years, and to adapt to another country.
^{(Pedro Cruz)}

MANCHESTER - ENGLAND  - ENGLISH COURSE FOR LASALLIANS: Perhaps you would profit from an English course given by the Brothers, or you might have friends who would like to improve or begin their English. Could you contact those friends and tell them about Elanico?

We arrange set periods for English courses of around six weeks, but persons who find difficulty in fitting into set times, can be accommodated at a period which suits them best. There are en suite bedrooms here for each student (maximum of six students) and the costs are very reasonable.

For details please contact Brother Gerald by post, email, fax or phone.

Here are the addresses you need:                     

ELANICO Language Centre
19, Ellesmere Road
ECCLES, MANCHESTER M30 9JY, England
Phone +44 (161) 789 2550
Fax +44(161) 787 7662
gjfoghml@aol.com 
^{(Br. Gerald Fogarty)}

If you have news notes that you would like us to consider publishing, please email us:
lasallew@lasalle.org