 Ostrogski envisioned a lay school, that would however strengthen the Eastern Christian spirit in the country and prevent conversions to Protestantism and Catholicism, a process in full swing at the time and as such was first mentioned in Piotr Skarga's 1577 "On the Unity of God's Church under the Single Shepherd and on Greek Secession from this Unity".The school was founded some time between 1576 and 1580, but it did not start full activities until 1585.Initially tasked only with translation of The Bible to Ruthenian (later published as the Ostrog Bible), with time it grew to become a permanent institution of secondary education.