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The founder
Father Lawrence Rodrigues S.J. (1895-1990)
Father Lawrence Rodrigues was born on August 10th, 1895. He was a goan priest of the diocese of Damaun who joined the Society of Jesus for Calcutta. His great years were at Boitakhana, where he ran the Little Flower Press, and the St Ann's School and Orphanage. He was a man of vision. He had a great capacity to raise funds and he knew how to use them profitably. His purchase of the land of St Lawrence High School was an example of his far sightedness. It was a part of his vision of building up a strong local church. So too was Dhyan Ashram - a place for spiritual retreats - and his efforts to buy land for Morning Star College, where candidates to the priesthood could be trained. After Boitakhana, he worked for many years in the villages of the 24 Parganas, in the South of Bengal. He spent many years in retirement in St Xavier's College, Calcutta, and died at the age of 94 on March 27th, 1990.
The origins of St Lawrence High School.
(Quoted from an interview of the founder by Mr
S.V. Raman.)
I was in charge of St John Chrysostom High School, at 146 Bow Bazaar Street. It was both a boarding and a day school. This was in the 1930s. But the place was congested. There was no playground. The ground floor of the school building was occupied by a printing press, on the first floor were the classrooms, the third floor was for the boarders. The only thing that could be done was to build another school. I came to know that St Xavier's College was selling a plot of land at Ballygunge. I approached the Rector, Father Roeland, who offered the plot for two lakhs. I went to Martin & Co. Martin himself was still there and took an active interest. His engineers prepared the plans. They said it would cost two lakhs. I said all right. Archbishop Perrier came to bless the school in January 1937. Fr Arimont was named Director of the school. That's how it began.
As a priest in my early thirties in Mapusa, Goa, I had a great desire of becoming a Jesuit. One day enjoying a walk with a friend of mine, I heard him saying : "What will you do when you become a Jesuit ?" Just then we were facing the fortress hill of Aguada near Panjim. On top of that hill was a chapel in honour of St Lawrence the Martyr. The feast of St Lawrence on 10th August was celebrated solemnly with the firing of 21 guns and a procession to the bar formed by the monsoon sands across the river. Without a second thought I said, "If it does happen that I become a Jesuit, I will build a very big school in honour of St Lawrence."
I collected money through lotteries which were organized every Sunday at Boitakhana. There was a committee in charge. Lots of people used to come. Tickets were sold at 25 Paise or one Rupee. The first prize fetched sometimes up to Rs 3000. That was a lot of money those days. That's what made the lottery so attractive. It was easier then than now because there were no taxes attached to such activities. This is how I collected all the money required for the purchase of the land, the building and the furnishing of the school. Of course, the Little Flower Press also came to the rescue with its earnings.
Most of the residents of the boarding came from Dhaka, Padrishibpur, Chittagong and other places of the present Bangladesh. Increasingly also a good number came from various areas of the 24 Parganas District. The Boarding was reserved for Catholics only. The day school was open to all. In the Boitakhana days, however, there were relatively few non Catholics. What the school has become now, is the result of the hard work of the teachers and fathers of St. Lawrence.