It was a big day at Bagna
(Bangkok) College. After pronouncing their First Religious Vows two new Thai brothers became
part of the big de La Salle Institute.
Founded in France in the 18th Century by Saint John Baptiste de la Salle, the
brothers devoted themselves to give free
schooling to poor boys, first in France and later on through Europe , America,
and those countries they used to
call “Mission countries”.
The Brothers arrived in Thailand in the middle
fifties. They were originally French Brothers detached from obvious reasons
from their original posts in Vietnam.
They founded a school in Nakhonsawan which became very soon the
best reputed private school in the city . A few years later they started a second school in Chantaburi,
and in 1963 they moved to
the capital with a school that has
grown from the original 500 students to
the more than 4.000 today. Along these years, the original “missionaries”
but for one exception, have been substituted by Thai Brothers
who at present number about
twenty of them.
I was happy to join in the welcome feast of the latest two new comers and I couldn’t help thinking that
everything looked very much like a wedding feast. Two young men were pledging their lives, consecrating
themselves to God and giving themselves to others through
their religious vocation. As in a wedding
there was joy and feasting and
since the two young Brothers came from the Northeast of Thailand what could be more enjoyable than to watch
the traditional Isan dances?
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