Saint of the Day, August 26: Saint Joseph Calasanz

St. Joseph Calasanz (1556-1648): Joseph was a friend of the astronomer Galileo. A brush with death in his twenties caused a young Joseph to re-examine his life and realize his vocation. He spent 52 years as a priest; moved by the hardships faced by the poor children of Rome, he began a free school for them, open to all no matter their religion, which is today considered the first modern elementary school. He organized teaching priests into a religious order called the Piarists.

The Last Communion of St. Joseph of Calasanz, by Francisco Goya