Joseph Calasanz, Sch.P. (September 11, 1557 – August 25, 1648), also known as Joseph Calasanctius and Josephus a Matre Dei, was a Spanish Catholic priest, educator and the founder of the Pious Schools, providing free education to the sons of the poor, and the Religious Order that ran them, commonly known as the Piarists. He is honored as a saint by the Catholic Church.
In 1592, at 35, Calasanz moved to Rome. He hoped to further his ecclesiastical career and secure some kind of benefice. He lived there for most of his remaining 56 years. In Rome, Calasanz found a protector in Cardinal Marcoantonio Colonna, who chose him as his theologian and charged him with the spiritual direction of the staff, once he managed to express himself in Italian. The city offered a splendid field for works of charity, especially for the instruction of neglected and homeless children, many of whom had lost their parents. He joined the Confraternity of Christian Doctrine and gathered the boys from the streets and brought them to school. The teachers, however, being poorly paid, refused to accept the additional labor without remuneration.
After convincing the pope of the need to approve a religious order with solemn vows dedicated exclusively to the education of youth, the congregation was raised to that status on November 18, 1621, by a papal brief of Pope Gregory XV, under the name of Ordo Clericorum Regularium Pauperum Matris Dei Scholarum Piarum (Order of Poor Clerics Regular of the Mother of God of the Pious Schools). The abbreviation "Sch. P." following the name of the Piarist stands for Scholarum Piarum, Latin for "of the Pious Schools".[6] The Constitutions were approved on January 31, 1622, by Pope Gregory XV, and the order had all the privileges of the mendicant orders conferred upon it, Calasanz being recognized as superior general. The Order of the Pious Schools was thus the last of the religious Orders of solemn vows approved by the Church. The Piarists, as do many religious, profess vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience. In addition, according to the wishes of St. Joseph, members of the Order also profess a fourth vow to dedicate their lives to the education of youth.
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Žil v 16. - 17. století. Byl rímskokatolickým španelským knezem, pedagogem, zakladatelem a prvním generálním predstaveným rádu piaristu, jenž poskytoval bezplatné vzdelání. Ucil v chrámech, ale i na verejném prostranství. Otevrel první bezplatnou krestanskou základní školu v Evrope. Osobní prítel olomouckého biskupa kardinála Františka Dietrichstejna, který byl poradcem ctyr habsburských panovníku vcetne Rudolfa II. Je patronem krestanských škol.