holidays
August 25,
Christian feast day: Joseph Calasanz
Joseph Calasanz
Joseph Calasanz, also known as Joseph Calasanctius and Iosephus a Matre Dei, was a Spanish Catholic priest, educator and the founder of the Pious Schools, which provided free education to poor boys. For this purpose he founded the religious order that ran them, commonly known as the Piarists. He became a close friend of the renowned astronomer Galileo Galilei. Joseph is honored as a saint by the Catholic Church, following his 1767 papal canonization.