Lanzo dream

When he was instructing his boys “Don Bosco did not venture into definitions, schemes, theoretical systems”, but “preferred story, narration”.¹ He is skilled at narration and dramatisation. He used narration in a masterly way in his writings and discourses. He created evocative settings, built up intricate and lively dialogue, made good use of metaphors, symbols and all kinds of images. Sensitive to the supernatural and the extraordinary, uncommonly gifted, he also knew how to tell dreams well, and these were especially adapted to impressing his messages about growing up on the hearts and minds of his boys. The dreams make interesting material for discovering the depth and range of features of Don Bosco's spiritual language and his way of thinking, also because the content was fully “consistent with other forms of expressing and communicating his thinking – preaching, conferences, Good Nights, writings – if anything, enhancing their emotional and existential implications”.² We only offer some of them here, to give an idea of his unmistakable style of communication. In this case too we draw from original testimonies directly, with notes indicating where they were written up in the Biographical Memoirs [but note that references are always given to the complete Italian edition].