Childhood and early years Nicolas Roland was born in the small town of Baslieux-les-Reims in the ancient province of
Champagne, 9 kilometers away from
Reims, son of Jean-Baptist Roland (1611–1673), Commissioner for wars and old cloth merchant. His godfather, 23 July 1643, was his uncle, Matthieu Beuvelet. In 1650 he joined the Jesuit College at
Reims, by the church of St. Maurice, where he showed an active intelligence and the wish to become a
priest. In 1653 he obtained the tonsure from the
bishop Pouy at the abbey of Saint Pierre les Dames. Completing his preliminary studies, he traveled around
France for while. A particularly difficult sea voyage persuaded Roland to return and complete his studies. The young student moved to
Paris in 1660 to continue his studies in Philosophy and Theology, staying at the college of Bons Amis. He joined several pious associations such as the “Friends Association” of the
Jesuit Jean Bagot and one of
Vincent de Paul. He even considered joining the Jesuits. He was also quite interested in the work of the missionaries for a time and considered going to
Siam after finishing his doctorate on theology. He was given a well-endowed canonry at
Reims Cathedral, before being ordained a deacon and was highly regarded as a preacher, but realized that his elegant style reached few of the faithful. In 1664 he received the
diaconate and on 3 March 1665 he was ordained a priest.
Apostolic Life In 1666 he left his parents' house, moving to a house on Barbâtre Street in Reims, where he began a life of poverty dedicated to charity. He established contacts with the
Saint Nicolas-du-Chardonnet seminary where his uncle worked, and there he was exposed to the ideas of Adrian Bourdoise,
Jean-Jacques Olier and the movement for the renewal of the French clergy. Of all his apostolic activities, education was the activity to which the young canon is most attracted, especially after the publication in 1668 of “Bans” by Charles Démia, an early advocate of schools for the poor. He also spent some months living at the church of Saint-Amand in
Rouen under the staircase in complete poverty, following the teachings of Antoine de la Haye. In
Rouen he met yet another clergyman passionate about education for the poor, the
Minim Father
Nicolas Barre, who arrived in the city in 1659. Barre had organized a group of men and women who worked in free schools located in several neighbourhoods of the city. Roland returned to Reims with the intention of starting similar projects there. On 15 October 1670 a Reims' orphanage founded by Marie Varlet was entrusted to him and he gradually transformed it into a real school. He asked Fr. Barre to send two teachers from the
Sisters of the Infant Jesus to help. On 27 December 1670 the teachers, Francoise Duval and Anne Le Coeur, arrived. Roland would later found with them the Congregation of
Sisters of the Holy Child Jesus, dedicated to the education of poor and abandoned girls.
La Salle In 1672 he met a young canon,
John Baptist de la Salle, and for a time became his spiritual advisor. They stayed in touch while La Salle studied at the seminary of
Saint-Sulpice in Paris. Roland influenced La Salle to learn a type of spiritual detachment that he would later demonstrate when he became founder of the
Institute of the Brothers of the Christian Schools. ==Sisters of the Holy Child Jesus==