In this paper we shall accompany John in his private exodus to his short-term exodus to his priesthood. We shall see how the same Lord had guided John to the realization of this dream-vision. We shall encounter persons and circumstances that were guided mysteriously to that short term goal: John becoming a priest for the young.

The First Dream

“It was at that age that I had a dream. […] …a dignified man appeared, a nobly-dressed adult. He wore a white cloak, and his face shone so that I could not look directly at him. He called me by name, told me to take charge of these children, and added these words: "You will have to win these friends of yours not by blows but by gentleness and love. Start right away to teach them the ugliness of sin and the value of virtue."

[….] Hardly knowing what I was saying, I asked, "Who are you, ordering me to do the impossible?"

"Precisely because it seems impossible to you, you must make it possible through obedience and the acquisition of knowledge."

[…]"I will give you a teacher. Under her guidance you can become wise. Without her, all wisdom is foolishness."

[…..] At that moment, I saw a lady of stately appearance standing beside him.[…] She took me kindly by the hand and said, "Look." Glancing round, I realised that the youngsters had all apparently run away.[…]

"This is the field of your work. Make yourself humble, strong, and energetic. And what you will see happening to these animals in a moment is what you must do for my children."

I began crying. I begged the lady to speak so that I could understand her,[…] "In good time you will understand everything."[…] Each one gave his own interpretation.[…] My mother commented, "Who knows, but you may become a priest." [….]¹

This dream was for John Bosco the blueprint for the rest of his life. Not only did it give him the basic paradigm and direction for his life and mission but also the means to achieve them. He had to equip himself for the mission.

The Lord gave John another dream to guide him. John was torn between the possibility of becoming a diocesan priest or a religious. He was attracted to the Franciscan order.

So I applied to enter the Reformed Conventuals. I took the examination and was accepted. All was ready for my entry into Chieri's Monastery of Peace. A few days before I was due to enter, I had a very strange dream. I seemed to see a multitude of these friars, clad in threadbare habits, all dashing about helter-skelter. One of them came up to me and said: ‘You're looking for peace, but you won't find it here. See what goes on! God's preparing another place, another harvest for you.’²

Fr. Lemoyne has a splendid summary of the development of the various dreams that wondrously followed one after another.

At the age of nine, John Bosco learned of the great mission that would be entrusted to him; at sixteen he hears the promise of material means for sheltering and feeding countless boys; at nineteen a peremptory order makes it clear that he is not free to refuse the mission entrusted to him; at twenty-one he is told about the type of boys whose spiritual welfare he must especially look after; at twenty-two a big city, Turin, is pointed out as the field and headquarters of his apostolic works.³

The majestic person of the dream when Johnny was just nine wanted him to acquire two great virtues: obedience and the acquisition of knowledge. The noble Lady added some more: Make yourself humble, strong, and energetic. We shall see presently that that was what Johnny set out to do.

Acquisition of Virtue: Obedience

John went about acquiring these virtues in a systematic manner. One type of obedience that every Christian should acquire is obedience to the Lord in all that regards his life, especially as regards one’s spiritual life.

John cultivated this virtue to a great degree. His dear mother was his first teacher in this. She taught her sons the value of obedience, obedience not only to one’s parents and teachers but above all to God and his commandments. Jesus said: “If you love me, keep my commandments” (Jn 14.15). John showed this obedience especially in the choice of his vocation. He sought the help of priests to help him to decide God’s will for him. Most were not very helpful. But some outstanding people were: Fr. Calosso, Fr. Cafasso and his own mother with her wise and prudent counsel.

Not many were there to help a youngster seeking to do God’s will. He lamented that he had no one to guide him in the choices that lay before him. Should he become a diocesan or a religious priest? He felt that becoming a religious would have been the better option as it would help him solve the financial problem tied to entering the seminary. At the same time he felt that given his temperament, being inclined to pride and vanity, life as a diocesan priest would have been dangerous for him. John was still confused. He bared his soul to his bosom friend Luigi Comollo. Together they sought help in prayer. Luigi wrote to his priest uncle to help John. Soon the reply came telling John to go ahead and don the cassock in preparation for entering the diocesan seminary at Chieri.⁴

Knowledge

Knowledge can be of at least two kinds: human wisdom and divine wisdom. Human wisdom can be acquired by many means, especially reading and listening to others and reflecting on one’s experiences.

Knowledge was not an end in itself for John. It was for a mission. He wanted to be a priest. Once his fellow cowherds wanted to play and invited him to join them but he refused. Even when they beat him for not joining them, he would not yield. When they again insisted that he play with them, he retorted: “Hit me again if you want to, but I’ll never join you in playing because I want to study and become a priest.”⁵

John had been given a phenomenal memory. For him to listen to a teacher in class or reading a book was the same as memorizing.

He loved reading. He read books borrowed from other people while he tended cows. Even when he was into the farm work of hoeing and weeding, he kept reading. He was greedy for knowledge and so he read whenever he could. He could keep groups of youngsters and adults spellbound listening to narration of stories he had read. This was an apostolate he engaged in even when he was small. “My studies, extensive reading, and coaching of students took most of the day and a good part of the night. Often when it was time to get up in the morning, I was still reading Livy, which I had taken up the previous evening.”⁶

John was a very keen observer of people even when young. He learnt much wisdom from this ability he had. Regarding the friends he chose, he said that he divided his schoolmates and later on the seminarians into three distinct categories. He made friends with only the best, the best in character, piety and studies. This knack of observation he carried into other areas too. When he watched magicians and other village entertainers he observed how they did the tricks and when he got home, he tried them out until he could beat them in their own trade. All this had a purpose: to attract people to listen to a sermon or say some prayers.

John had started his formal schooling much later than others of his time. When he finally got to school he was already fifteen years old (1830). He was able to make up for lost time by doing three classes in one year alone. He was a very intelligent student and his keen memory helped him enormously. During his studies at the seminary, he always topped his class with ease and carried away the prizes given to the best students both in character and studies.

Humility

The Majestic Lady of his first dream told him that he must become humble. This was an advice much needed for a highly talented lad. He had enormous physical strength and he gave a demonstration of it in defence of his friend Comollo.⁷ In his first dream, when he encountered young fellows cursing and using foul language, he hit them. He was intolerant of bad behaviour. One reason he thought of becoming a Franciscan was, as he says, “I will renounce the world, enter the cloister, and dedicate myself to study and meditation; thus in solitude I will be able to combat my passions, especially my pride, which had put down deep roots in my heart.”⁸

Fr. Lemoyne had this to say regarding John’s struggle to be humble:

John had a great mind and heart: he was obedient through virtue, not by nature. The poorest man on earth feels like a lord in his own home. . . . God would deal with John as he had dealt with Moses. . . . God likewise would prepare John through a long practice of heroic humility. H, too would have to leave home and for about two years be forced to work elsewhere as a hired hand. How could he help not feeling keenly this humiliation?⁹

Providence provided several chances to John to practise this virtue of humility and to ground himself in it deeply. John learnt humility by accepting humiliations that were very much part of his life at home.

Discipline and Abnegation

These are not values thought much of nowadays. For John they were very necessary. His mother had trained him in this right from childhood. When he was clothed in the clerical habit, he took resolutions to check activities not consonant with the clerical state:

I will no longer play games of dice or do conjuring tricks, acrobatics, sleight of hand, tightrope walking. I will give up my violin-playing and hunting. These things I hold totally contrary to ecclesiastical dignity and spirit.

I will love and practise a retiring life, temperance in eating and drinking. I will allow myself only those hours of rest strictly necessary for health.

In the past I have served the world by reading secular literature. Henceforth I will try to serve God by devoting myself to religious reading.

I will combat with all my strength everything, all reading, thoughts, conversations, words, and deeds contrary to the virtue of chastity. On the contrary, I will practise all those things, even the smallest, which contribute to preserving this virtue.¹⁰

John Bosco’s life of temperance was prompted by two loves: love of mortification and love of study. He was of the opinion that one should be able to apply oneself to serious study after some twenty minutes. He did not approve of fellow seminarians grumbling about food or much more, making escapades into the storerooms to take choice morsels to be eaten on the sly. When he got gifts of eatables, he did not eat them himself but sought permission to share them with his friends.¹¹

Spiritual Direction

John Bosco was very clear from the outset that he wanted to be a priest. This purpose in life took a very firm and clear direction from his dream/vision at nine years of age. In his dream he was assured that to fulfil the “divine” command he was being given a Teacher “under whose guidance you will learn and without whose help all knowledge becomes foolishness.”¹² In Don Bosco’s mind this teacher was none other than our Blessed Mother towards whom he had a very tender and filial devotion. It would seem that this Mother had taken things into her own hands to direct John towards the destiny that was pointed out to him in the dream. Mary used several means for this purpose. One certainly was the saintly persons who were put in his path to guide him.

The Role of Mary in John Bosco’s Preparation for the Priesthood

Don Bosco’s life and ministry among the young were full of the efficacious maternal presence of Mary. She was a true mother to him and his boys taking them by hand towards the promised land the Lord had prepared for them.

After his clothing in the priestly habit, just before entering the seminary at Chieri, Mamma Margaret spoke to her son in words that burned into his sensitive soul. Among other things she said this regarding the place of Mary in his life:

When you came into the world, I consecrated you to the Blessed Virgin. When you began your studies, I recommended to you devotion to this Mother of ours. Now I say to you, be completely hers; love those of your companions who have devotion to Mary; and if you become a priest, always preach and promote devotion to Mary.¹³

John Bosco was entrusted to Mary, Mother of Jesus, right from his birth. Mamma Margaret fostered this love for the Virgin in many ways. This was the solid foundation for John’s love for and child-like devotion to the Mother of Jesus. It is no wonder that at his first recorded destiny dream, he was entrusted to her by none other than the Majestic Person who bid him do the impossible. The man in the dream gave him a teacher under whose guidance he could become wise. At that moment, John saw a Lady of stately appearance standing beside him. She beckoned him to approach her. She took him kindly by the hand. She said very sweetly: "This is the field of your work. Make yourself humble, strong, and energetic. And what you will see happening to these animals in a moment is what you must do for my children."¹⁴ She then placed her hand on his head and assured him, "In good time you will understand everything."

The Lady of his dream was none other than Mary, the Mother Jesus. She was assigned to him as teacher and guide. That is what she was to him right through his time of preparation for the priesthood and unto the end of his life. In the dream she asked John to take care of my children. John was to be her deputy for this colossal task. When John was sixteen, she came to him in another dream, called him by name and asked him to take care of the large flock of sheep that she was leading:

"Look, dear John," she said, "I entrust this entire flock to you."

Frightened, John answered, "But how can I take care of so many sheep and lambs? Where shall I find pastures for them to graze on?"

The Lady replied, "Do not worry. I will help you." Then she disappeared.

On the occasion of his being clothed with the clerical habit, John wrote out some resolutions that would guide him in life. To fix them firmly in his mind and evidently to entrust them to our Blessed Mother, his teacher and guide, he says, “I went before an image of the Blessed Virgin and, having read them to her, I prayed and made a formal promise to my heavenly benefactress to observe them no matter what sacrifice it cost." ¹⁵ In his choice of friends, he became close only to those who were devoted to the Blessed Virgin as his mamma had instructed him.¹⁶

John was ordained on Saturday, 5^th of June 1841. On the following Monday, he celebrated Mass at La Consolata, the Marian Shrine that was very dear to him all his life. He went there “to thank the great Virgin Mary for the innumerable graces she had obtained for me from her divine Son Jesus.” ¹⁷

In 1858 Don Bosco narrated another version of the dream at nine. Here again he met a gang of young people who fought and cursed. John tried to intervene. This time the young thugs turned on him and attacked him viciously so that he had to run for his life. Just then a man stopped him and asked him to go back and teach those boys how to be good and avoid evil. When John complained that he was beaten up by them and they would do it again, the man introduced him to a noble lady who was just then coming forward. The man said, “This is my Mother. Listen to her.” She said lovingly: “If you wish to win over these boys, do not hit them: be kind and appeal to their better selves.”¹⁸ Here, as in the first dream, John was being given the basic elements of his system of education.

Mamma Margaret

One can never adequately calculate the tremendous spiritual and moral influence that Margaret had on John’s early life and education, discipline, vocation, reception of the sacraments, especially the Holy Eucharist. This is common to all deeply Christian mothers, ours included. We can all trace back our vocation to religious life and priesthood to the saintly influence of our mothers. John was given a marvellous mother in Margaret Occhiena. Even though she lacked much formal schooling, she was endowed with uncommon wisdom and sound common sense. She became a widow at the early age of thirty with two sons of her own and a step-son, Anthony. Early in her widowhood, Margaret received a very attractive proposal to marry. But her response to that was very characteristic of her whole life: “God gave me a husband and took him from me. As he lay dying he entrusted three sons to me; I would be a cruel mother were I to abandon them when they need me most…I would not desert them for all the gold in the world. My duty is to dedicate myself to their Christian upbringing.” ¹⁹ That is what Margaret did for the rest of her life for her children.

Margaret was John’s first spiritual director. Child psychologists tell us that the first five years of a child’s life are the most important years of one’s life. The impressions and messages that it gets both by word and most importantly by example stand in good stead for the rest of its life. If it gets good God-centred education, that tilt will benefit the whole of the child’s life. Margaret was a wise, loving and firm teacher for John. She loved him deeply and educated him to a discipline that was compatible with his age. He had to do his share of work in the house and on the farm. When he was too small to hoe and work the field for cultivation, he tended cows.

John modelled himself on his mother…he had the same faith, the same purity, the same love for prayer. Margaret’s patience, fearlessness, constancy, trust in God, zeal for the salvation of souls, simplicity and gentleness of manner, charity toward all, untiring diligence, prudence in managing one’s work, careful supervision of dependents and serenity in the face of adversity will, in time, be revealed in John Bosco.²⁰

It was Margaret who taught John to pray from his youngest years; she taught him the truths of faith. She sent him to the Sunday Catechism classes in the parish. She it was who prepared him for his first confession and first Holy Communion. She had impressed upon him the importance of this first step in his journey to God. They were also the first steps towards his priesthood and holiness of life.

John’s high school studies were nearing their successful end when he had to choose what he would do after he left school. John was sure that he wanted to become a priest. To enter the seminary of the diocese meant that he had to have a wardrobe, money to pay his fees, buy books, etc. He knew that his beloved mother could not afford that. After much deliberation, he thought he could become a Franciscan. He did the entrance exam. But Fr. Dassano, his priest-friend, was not at all happy about John’s choice. He tried to influence Margaret so that she could dissuade him from joining the Franciscans. Part of his argument to convince Margaret was that she needed his financial help. So it was more practical that he became a diocesan priest. After hearing what Fr. Dassano had to say, she made no comment. At once she set off for Chieri to see and talk to John. She selflessly advised her son:

I want you above all to consider carefully the step you will take. Then follow your vocation without regard to anyone. The most important thing is the salvation of your soul.[…] I want to tell you that in this matter I am not to be considered because God comes first. Don’t worry about me. I ask nothing of you, and I expect nothing from you….. ²¹

There was another significant moment in John’s journey to the Priesthood when his mother intervened in a directive way. The night before his departure, she spoke these burning words to John:

My dear John, you have put on the priestly habit. I feel all the happiness that any mother could feel in her son's good fortune. Do remember this, however: it's not the habit that honours your state, but the practice of virtue. If you should ever begin to doubt your vocation, then —for heaven's sake!—do not dishonour this habit. Put it aside immediately. I would much rather have a poor farmer for a son, than a priest who neglects his duties…When you came into the world, I consecrated you to the Blessed Virgin. When you began your studies, I recommended to you devotion to this Mother of ours. Now I say to you, be completely hers; love those of your companions who have devotion to Mary; and if you become a priest, always preach and promote devotion to Mary.²²

John commenting on this memorable advice concludes: “My mother was deeply moved as she finished these words, and I cried. Mother, I replied, I thank you for all you have said and done for me. These words of yours will not prove vain; I will treasure them all my life.”²³

After his priestly ordination and after celebrating his first Mass in his village, John came home to be with his dear ones, especially his mother. She spoke to John from her motherly heart:

You are now a priest, and you celebrate Mass. You are, therefore, closer to Jesus Christ. But remember that to begin to say Mass is to begin to suffer. You will not become aware of this immediately, but little by little you will realize that your mother was right. I am sure that you will pray for me every day, whether I be still living or dead, and that is enough for me. From now on you must think only of saving souls; never worry about me.²⁴

Fr. Joseph Calosso

Fr. Calosso will remain the first kindly priest and benefactor that John had the great fortune to meet in 1826. John was just 11 years old. That year a mission was preached at Buttigliera as part of the great Jubilee of Redemption proclaimed in 1825. People from all over that region flocked to hear the missionaries. John was one of them. After a day’s retreat, John was returning home when he met a kindly priest who stopped to talk to the lad who was walking pensively. The saintly priest struck up an animated conversation with the boy. He was astounded at the precocious child who could repeat the sermon of the missionary word for word. The next day John kept his word to meet Fr. Calosso at his residence and dictated word for word the entire sermon. This so impressed this worthy priest that he took special interest in him and did all he possibly could to help John study so that he could become a priest. At the side of Fr. Calosso he learnt not only Latin and Italian but many other things so necessary to become a priest. Let Don Bosco himself narrate what this meant to him in his journey to the priesthood:

I put myself completely into Fr Calosso's hands. He had become chaplain at Murialdo only a few months before. I bared my soul to him. Every word, thought, and act I revealed to him promptly. This pleased him because it made it possible for him to have an influence on both my spiritual and temporal welfare…It was then that I came to realise what it was to have a regular spiritual director, a faithful friend of one's soul. I had not had one up till then. Amongst other things he forbade a penance I used to practise; he deemed it unsuited to my age and circumstances. He encouraged frequent confession and communion. He taught me how to make a short daily meditation, or more accurately, a spiritual reading. I spent all the time I could with him; I stayed with him on feast days. I went to serve his Mass during the week when I could. From then on I began to savour the spiritual life; up to then I had acted in a purely mechanical way, not knowing the reasons.²⁵

Fr. Calosso not only did this but assured John that he would take care of his financial difficulties that hindered the way to priesthood. He would not let such a talented young one be deterred from his ardent desire to become a priest. Quite unexpectedly Fr. Calosso was suddenly struck by a cerebral stroke that incapacitated his speech. But even in his disabled state, he handed over the key of his safe to John so that he could take care of his studies. John was heartbroken at the untimely demise of his father and benefactor so quickly and so suddenly. At his first Mass Don Bosco recalled at the memento for the dead especially “the ever lamented Fr. Calosso, whom I have always remembered as my greatest benefactor.” ²⁶

When the relatives of Fr. Calosso came to claim his patrimony, John gave away the key of the safe that contained six thousand lire – a great fortune for anyone, especially for a penniless lad wanting to study saying : “I don’t want anything. I’d rather have heaven than all the riches and money in the world.”²⁷

The Lady of his dream would not let him be without a guide of exceptional holiness.

Fr. Joseph Cafasso

When John Bosco was a lad of twelve there was another saintly young man in Castelnuovo d’Asti : Joseph Cafasso. Providence would bring these two saints together for mutual benefit. They met for the first time in 1827 during a parish feast at Murialdo. John saw a cleric, a student of philosophy in the seminary, not taking part in all the merrymaking of the feast, leaning against the church door. His whole comportment drew John to him and the former offered to show him around. The young seminarian declined. Their souls would be knit together in holy friendship from then on. Fr.Joseph Cafasso would play a very important part in John’s choice of vocation and spiritual maturing. Cafasso would become Don Bosco’s great benefactor, teacher, spiritual director and a model in holiness. What Joseph Cafasso said on that occasion got imprinted on John’s mind: “One who becomes a priest gives himself to the Lord. Of all things in this world, nothing should he take more to heart than what may serve the glory of God and the benefit of souls.” ²⁸

When John, on reaching home told his mamma about their meeting and the impression that Cafasso was a saint, Margaret exhorted: “Then try to be like him. I have a feeling that one day he may be of great help to you.”²⁹ Prophetic words from a godly mother! It was Mr. Evasio Savio, a blacksmith, who knew John quite well during his school days, who suggested that he consult Fr. J. Cafasso to resolve his dilemma regarding his vocation. So John went to Turin to see Fr. Cafasso at the Convitto Ecclesiastico. After listening carefully to all that John had to say and how he was planning to join the Franciscans, Fr.Cafasso told him: “Enter the seminary and go along with whatever Divine Providence may ordain for you.”³⁰

John Bosco kept contact with Fr. Cafasso all through his seminary days and used to visit him at his home in Castelnuovo d’Asti when Fr. Cafasso came there for his summer vacation away from the busy days of teaching at the Convitto. Fr.Cafasso introduced Don Bosco to the young prisoners in Turin and it hurt the young priest to see so many young people locked up for small crimes like stealing bread because they were hungry. These visits matured in Don Bosco the validity of his system of education that was taking shape in him. Fr.Cafasso gave full consent to his ministry among the poor boys and young men of Turin. He not only supported him morally but often financially too.

John’s Friends

In the choice of friends, Mamma Margaret had advised John as he was about to enter the seminary: “Choose your friends among those who love her (Mary, most holy).”³¹ John had many friends as he had such a loveable character full of fun and frolic but tempered with Christian virtue. “His company was a constant lesson in prudence; whatever he did, whether of greater or lesser importance, he did with greatest care. He weighed his words and never spoke thoughtlessly. Once he had reached a just decision, nobody could dissuade him from it.”³²

Here we cannot but mention his Societa’ dell’Allegria (Society for a Good Time). When John was doing his high school studies at Chieri, he had to lodge with Lucy Matta who had a son studying one class above that of John. By doing odd jobs for her and especially taking care of her son who was none too fond of studies, John was able to pay for his boarding fees. The lad was fonder of playing than studying. But John tackled him so well that he began to do well in studies and eventually got awards for his studies. Eventually he became the mayor of his home town. Now many others came to John for help in studies or just to be in his happy company. John started a society called Societa’ dell’Allegria. This society’s members were encouraged to read good books, keep God’s laws in all they did, and sadness or anything that brought sadness was forbidden.³³

Because his friendship was so wholesome and educative, parents of both rich and not so rich families wanted their sons to become his friends. “All this time I had to use my own initiative to learn how to deal with my companions. I put them in three groups: the good, the indifferent, and the bad. As soon as I spotted the bad ones, 1 avoided them absolutely and always. The indifferent I associated with only when necessary, but 1 was always courteous with them. I made friends with the good ones, and then only when I was sure of them.'”³⁴ But he made deep friendship with very few. One of these was Luigi Comollo.

Luigi Comollo

Peter Luigi Comollo was born April 7, 1817, in the hamlet of Pra in the commune of Cinzano. From his childhood he hoped to become a priest and was noted for his piety. In the autumn of 1834, when John first met him, Louis was seventeen.³⁵

John met Comollo for the first time in his own school (1833-34). In class some ruffians wanted Comollo to join them in their wild games and he resolutely refused. Even though he was manhandled and slapped twice, the boy refused to retaliate although he was older and of a much bigger build. This calm behaviour aroused John’s desire to know such a brave youngster. “From that moment on, he became my close friend, and I can say that from him I began to learn how to live as a Christian. I trusted him completely and he trusted me. We needed each other: I needed spiritual help; he needed a bodyguard”³⁶

When the ruffians wanted to attack John for standing up to them in defence of Luigi, John lost his cool and grabbing a companion, used him as a club to wallop the gang. They ran for their dear lives as a few of them were floored. While some admired his sheer physical strength, Comollo had other thoughts for him. He advised him to forgive and repay evil with good.

Comollo died young. John assisted him at his saintly death. What is memorable is the agreement they had made earlier that whoever died first would return to inform the survivor of his state of soul in the after-life. They had talked of it often and even drew up a contract. They had renewed it during Comollo’s last illness. Let Don Bosco himself narrate what happened:

I did not realise the gravity of such an undertaking; and frankly, I treated it lightly enough… About 11:30 a deep rumble was heard in the corridor It sounded as if a heavy wagon drawn by many horses was coming up to the dormitory door. It got louder and louder like thunder, and the whole dormitory shook…Then, above the violent and thundering noise, the voice of Comollo was heard clearly. Three times he repeated very distinctly: "Bosco, I am saved."… It was the first time in my life that I remember having been afraid. The fear and terror were so bad that I fell ill and was at death's door.³⁷

Don Bosco published a small biography of Comollo. He recalled that Comollo used to carry a little card with the motto: “He does much who does little if he does what he has to do. One does nothing who does much if he does not do what he ought to do.”³⁸ According to Fr. Caviglia, an expert on Don Bosco’s system of education, the biography revealed a great deal about the inner life of the writer himself.

Prayer Life

No one can pursue God’s call in any walk of life, especially the vocation to priesthood without solid piety. John was fortunate to have had a saintly mother who inculcated in him a great desire for prayer right from his childhood. The Bosco family was God oriented. God was a household word. Margaret led her children by her own example. The greatest care was given to instructing her sons in their religion, making them value obedience, and keeping them busy with tasks suited to their age. John recalled that while he was very small, she herself taught him to pray. John recalled:

As soon as I was old enough to join my brothers, she made me kneel with them morning and evening. We would all recite our prayers together, including the rosary. I remember well how she herself prepared me for my first confession. She took me to church, made her own confession first, and then presented me to the confessor. Afterwards, she helped me to make my thanksgiving. She continued to do this until I reached the age when she judged me able to use the sacrament well on my own.³⁹

Sundays were special days in the Bosco household. She would dress the children in their Sunday best and she herself would lead them to church. She said that she dressed them in special clothes to reflect the joy of the day and to reflect the beauty of their souls. She inculcated that cleanliness was next to godliness. God was uppermost in her thoughts and conversation. Margaret often used to repeat the saying: God sees you. Later Don Bosco used to repeat the same to his own Oratory boys to make them aware of the wholesome and caring fatherly presence of God. He had learnt it from his mamma. It was from her that John learnt the omnipresence of God. Often Margaret used to remind her children of the beauty of God reflected in the beauty of nature. Margaret was an expert at drawing moral lessons from what happened around her.

When John started to entertain his friends with his bag of tricks, he always began with the sign of the cross and ended with a prayer to our Blessed Mother. When he would tell yarns in the hay-loft during winter days when there was no outdoor work on farms, he welcomed only those who would join him in prayer, especially the rosary of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Prayer became second nature to John.

At the side of Fr. Calosso John learnt more about the spiritual life. He learnt what it meant to have a spiritual guide, a trusted guide for his soul. John learnt what benefits accrued to him from revealing his soul to the holy priest. He told him to give up penances not suited to his age. He learnt to meditate and have good and profitable spiritual reading. This holy priest guided John to taste the joy of spiritual life.⁴⁰ When John came to Chieri he found another great holy priest in Dr Maloria who became John’s regular confessor. He allowed him to make confession and communicate more often. It was his wise direction that helped him not to be led by bad companions.⁴¹

Conclusion

In the exodus event in the Old Testament, God began the process, guided it with fatherly care, and brought it to fulfilment. What was required of Moses was that he be in constant touch with the Lord, like a commanding officer reporting to his General. Moses became aware of God’s utter otherness, his mercy, his providence in times of want, his forgiveness in times of rebellion and disobedience. John Bosco too in his life was deeply aware of this constant care of the Lord “your God carried you, as a man carries his child, all along the journey until he arrived…”(Deut 1.31).

John’s personal exodus experience was a time of spiritual maturing. It was a journey to holiness of life that would stretch into his last days. On entering the seminary at Chieri, John learnt two very useful lessons: importance of the right use of time. He learnt it from the sundial where it was written: Afflictis lente, celeres gaudentibus horae (the hours drag for the sad, fly for the happy). When John met Dr. Ternavasio, his professor of philosophy, he asked him for some guidance in the life of the seminary. The wise teacher said: “the exact fulfilment of all your duties.”⁴² This became a very practical way to holiness for John and he suggested it to his boys and Salesians in the Oratory of Valdocco.

One idea that seems to repeat itself in John’s preparation for the priesthood was that God was calling him to be a priest for the young. This was the theme that explained all his efforts. This one idea so gripped him that it gave him all the energy he needed to overcome the many seemingly insurmountable difficulties he encountered. The dream at nine and the subsequent ones gave him enormous energy that spurred him to do what God wanted him to do. John was sad when he could not find someone to help him discern God’s will for him regarding his vocation. This problem is faced today too by many serious Christian young men and women. Priests with the needed competence and skills could lead many young people to holiness of life.

For John, the formative period was not a time for marking time to be anointed a priest but a time of intense preparation to do what the Man and the Lady in his dream/vision had asked him to do: getting ready “to teach them[ young people] the ugliness of sin and the value of virtue… obedience and the acquisition of knowledge...learning to be humble, strong, and energetic”. For the whole of his life this was his programme of action. This is also a programme of life for anyone wanting to do what John was asked to do.

The acquisition of knowledge was a passion with John. He had acquired an excellent habit: reading. It gave him enormous advantages in life. John had learnt the art of listening to the inspirations of the Lord for his growth in union with God. It was a gift that he sought after and got. John renounced the money of Fr. Calosso in favour of the relatives of the deceased. It was not only an act of generosity and heroism but also an act of detachment. Was it because of that that Don Bosco would administer many thousand times that amount in his life? God is never outdone in generosity.

John not only took great care of his own vocation to priesthood but looked out for other boys he knew would be good candidates for the priesthood.

John keenly appreciated the singular favour bestowed on him by God’s call to His service. In his conversations with boys at Chieri, Castelnuovo and other places he always found the right moment to instil in them a high regard for the priestly vocation and the serious obligation to obey such divine summons. He shared St. Paul’s wish: ‘For I would that all were as I am myself; but each one has his own gift from God, one in this way, and another in that’ (1 Cor .7). And he often wondered what gift God might have in store for his young friends. If in them he noticed a great love of that virtue which makes men into angels, he regarded that as the surest sign of a vocation. He would then study them closely to see if they showed any leaning toward the priesthood; if not, with appropriate words he would kindle their desire for it. If this inclination was already there, he fostered it with wise counsel, leaving to God the task of bringing it to bloom.⁴³

Don Bosco took his preparation for the priesthood most seriously. Peter Stella, a scholar of great repute, summed up his preparation in these words:

Conscious of the holiness that was specifically demanded of one approaching the altar, John Bosco was driven to detach himself from habits and attitudes that seemed to him to be incompatible with the priestly state. All of this took place in a general atmosphere of ascetic tension, of ongoing control and inhibition. His was an ongoing ascetic effort that drove him to fasts and abstinences and to fits of anger with himself when he found himself indulging in his former worldly abilities such as feats of agility or violin-playing. This ascetic tension helped to drive his friend Comollo to his death, and John Bosco himself to the very limits of his strength⁴⁴.

1 Memoirs of the Oratory – The Autobigraphy of Saint John Bosco Translated by Daniel Lyons, Don Bosco Publications, New Rochelle, New York 1989. Pp18-19. Here abbreviated to MO. Highlights by the present writer.

2 MO, pp 110, 111.

3 The Biographical Memoirs of St. John Bosco by Giovanni Battista Lemoyne, SDB, Salesiana Publishers, INC., New Rochelle, New York, 1965, Vol.I I, 317 ( Henceforth referred to as BM 1).

4 Cf. MO pp 110-111.

5 BM I, p 78.

6 MO p 108.

7 Cf MO p 79.

8 MO 110.

9 BM I, 142; MO p 45.

10 MO pp 122-123.

11 Cf Giovanni Bosco Studente – Chieri 1831-41; Dieci Anni che Valgono Una Vita by Secondo Caselle, Edizione Acclaim, 1988, p 157.

12 BM I p 95.

13 MO p 126.

14 MO 19.

15 MO p 123.

16 cf. MO p 131.

17 MO p 166.

18 Cf BM I, 316.

19 BM I, p 31.

20 BM I, 31-32.

21 BM I, p 221.

22 MO p 126.

23 MO 126.

24 MO p 171, note 18; BM I, 388.

25 MO p 36.

26 ^? MO p166.

27 BM I p 162.

28 BM I, p 140.

29 BM I, p 140.

30 BM I, p 229.

31 BM I, p 279.

32 BM I, p 168.

33 cf MO pp 67-68.

34 MO p 67.

35 MO p 82, note 17.

36 MO p 78.

37 MO p151-152.

38 Caselle, p 168.

39 MO p 9.

40 cf MO p 36.

41 MO p 72.

42 BM I, 127-128.

43 BM I, p 337.

44 MO p 154, note 4; [LW, p 66].

Fr. Tom Polackal is spiritual director, Sacred Heart College, Shillong.

Tom Polackal Don Bosco’s Journey to PriesthoodPage 12/23