THE ORDER OF CLERICS REGULAR, THE POOR OF THE MOTHER OF GOD, OF THE PIOUS SCHOOLS.

We are a Religious Order of Priests and Brothers, a community that is dedicated to the education of children and youth, under the motto of Piety and Learning. 

The Founder....

St. Joseph Calasanz was born in Peralta de la Sal, Spain in 1557. Ordained a priest in 1583, he served as a Parish Priest until 1592 when he went to Rome looking for an ecclesial benefice.

The Call....

During the first years of his stay in Rome, providential circumstances led him to a special encounter with Jesus Christ. Aware of unjust social and economic conditions in Rome, he found God in the poor and abandoned children of the Trastevere. He was appalled and touched upon deeing children grow up ignorant of the most fundamental truths of the faith and knowledge. These experiences made him more sensitive to the needs of the people and developed in him new ways to grow in his spiritual life.

When the King of Spain offrered him one of the most important Canonries in the Kingdom he replied, "I have found the definitive way to serve God in the children and youth, and I will never leave it for anything in the world."

The Pious Schools...

St. Joseph Calasanz became an active member in different fraternities helping the sick and the indigent. In 1597, at the Church of St. Dorothy, he began his first public school in Europe which he called, in Latin, "Schola Pia" - Pious Schools. From "Pia" originates PIARISTS, and from "Schola Pia", ESCOLAPIOS or ESCOLAPIAS.

The Order...

St. Joseph Calasanz, inspired interpreter of the Signs of his Time, made his last step, when he shared with a small group of people his charism in a Religios life. The stability was secured when the Church approved its Constitutions in 1622 and conferred the status of a Religious Order.

He died on August 25, 1648, at the age of 91, in Rome in the house of St. Pantaleo. He was declared a Saint in 1767. His feast is on the 25th of August.