Fr. Leon Dehon and school of holiness Cover Image

Ojciec Leon Dehon i szkoła świętości
Fr. Leon Dehon and school of holiness

Author(s): Łukasz Grzejda
Subject(s): Christian Theology and Religion, Education, History of Church(es), Theology and Religion, School education, History of Education, Systematic Theology, Pastoral Theology
Published by: Wyższe Seminarium Misyjne Księży Sercanów
Keywords: the Christian education;faith, the God;holiness;human;Leon Dehon;love;pedagogy;school;society;teaching;upbringing

Summary/Abstract: Care for the upbringing of youth has always been a key issue. For people to survive in the world, they need to constantly develop. The inclination to invest in oneself coincides at the same time with the commitment in the field of education and upbringing. The inter-generational co-operation creates an adequate potential, which serves the whole society. One of those who devoted themselves to pedagogical activity was Father Leon Dehon. He, due to social and cultural circumstances, as well as motivated to confide in the Heart of Jesus brought forth by his faith, organised an educational apostolate in Saint-Quentin. Considering the difficult times in which he lived, he undertook with courage initiatives that particularly influenced the shaping of new social, cultural and religious order. Thanks to his education and good interpersonal skills he established a school which trained France’s future social elites, as well as gave rise to a new religious congregation, organising mainly priestly formation. The aim of this article is to present a model of Dehonian education, which gave a new impulse to both the ecclesial environment and the working-class society of the 19th-century France. Due to the fruitfulness of his work, which promulgated an ideal of charity and social equality, today we also want to peruse the treasures of Father Dehon’s experiences. An attempt to invoke his thought allows us to rediscover the contemporary demand for education and formation aiming to guide humanity to holiness.

  • Issue Year: 38/2020
  • Issue No: 1
  • Page Range: 233-249
  • Page Count: 17
  • Language: Polish