I. Charism - La Salle.org

IV. DISCOVERING, LIVING, SHARING THE GIFT OF GOD 139
We also know that the misunderstandings between himself and
Brother Barthélémy led to a loss of confidence on his part (temporary)
towards this Brother. Blain picks out four bad consequences
resulting from Monsieur de la Salle’s behaviour:
The first of these was that even though there did not arise among the
Brothers any dispute such as had arisen among the Apostles as to
which of them was the greatest, there was uncertainty as to whom the
Brothers should obey. De La Salle, not having made this clear, there
was no certain rule to follow on this point.
The second disorder which followed on the first, was that in the
absence of any clearly recognized authority a good many faults
remained uncorrected and thus the indocile remained unpunished.
The third difficulty was that some Brothers, weak in virtue and wavering
in their vocation considered their state as uncertain and unstable
and left it. Others suspecting that the holy Founder himself had abandoned
the Institute felt that they had a right to imitate his example.
The fourth source of trouble was even more dangerous, for it gave rise
to another form of government which De La Salle’s rival, of whom we
have so often spoken, finally managed to introduce into the Society.
The Institute seemed stricken. Undermined to its foundations, it was
threatened with collapse. Its ruin had indeed begun, and it is a sort of
miracle that it eventually managed to rise against with brighter
prospects and greater success than ever. 123
The first three bad consequences referred to the internal life of the
community and the relations between its members. But the fourth
concerned the core: this was a matter of a “new society” calling into
question the choices of 1694 (vows and the election of the
Superior). Later, Blain has “the rival” giving precise details of the
outline of the organisation which he was proposing:
123
Blain, op. cit., Book Three, p. 642. (CL 8, p. 108).