don.bosco.vocation.discernment


don.bosco.vocation.discernment

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Notes for a Novena of Don Bosco
By Gianni Asti
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Contents
A Teenager Guides his Companions
in Vocation Discernment
5
The Role of Good Friends in Vocation Discernment 12
The Role of the Confessor and the Spiritual Director 18
The Eucharist: Foundation of a Teenager’s Vocation 24
Mary in the Heart of the Teenager
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This Teenager Points to the Source of True Joy
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Teenagers getting Used to Work to Prepare for Life 43
A Formative Ambient for our Teenagers
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Finding Real Joy in the Saints
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Guarding their Eyes to See the Beauty of God
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Don Bosco Educates his Boys
A Teenager Guides his Companions
in Vocation Discernment
Ten years, worth a life time
I would like to draw your attention to the touching vo-
cational discernment that Don Bosco went through be-
tween the ages of 16 to 26 in Chieri. I hope it will be of
help to our teenagers and even more their dear parents
and also a confirmation of what the Church teaches us in
order to support our faith. We believe that Don Bosco, be-
cause of the gifts he received from the Lord, continues to
be an invaluable guide to many youngsters, teenagers and
young adults even as he was during his lifetime, especial-
ly as he accompanied thousands of vocations to the conse-
crated life and to the priesthood. The precious Synodal
document that the Pope, the bishops together with young
people have given us, contains some precious suggestions
on accompaniment that we want to offer our teenagers to
sustain their faith during this vocational journey.
We see this reflected in Don Bosco’s own personal voca-
tional quest; in the difficulties he encountered; the help he
received from those who supported him in his mission
and his priestly ministry that was especially directed to-
wards the poorest and most abandoned youngsters.
Little Johnny who, already at the age of two lost his fa-
ther, felt a strong desire for paternal affection that he im-
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agined could come from a priest. He confided: “It often
happened to me when I met my parish priest with his assistant
walking by on the road. I greeted them from afar and as I got
closer I bowed toward them. But they returned the greeting in a
serious but courteous manner as they went on their way. Sever-
al times I wept and said to myself and to others: ‘If I were to be-
come a priest, I would be very different. I would want to ap-
proach children, speak kindly to them, giving them some good
advice. I would be so happy if I could chat a little with my parish
priest.”
Even when he was in the Seminary he would yearn to
open his heart to a priest: “How many times have I wanted to
speak to them and ask their advice or resolve my doubts but they
were too austere and distant. All this more fueled my desire to be
a priest as soon as possible so I could be in the midst of young
people to help them and be with them in all their needs.” We
know how this yearning became a reality in his priestly
vocation. He was always attentive to youngsters, being
always concerned about them. He would truly be a spir-
itual father to them.
The Role of Parents in the Vocation of their Children
Before that of a priest, youngsters need the paternal
presence and attention of a father in order to live out their
vocation fully. The deep root of John’s vocation and his
spirituality was already present in the educative activity
of Mamma Margaret who, being widowed already at the
age of 29 took on the role of both mother and father to her
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children thus confirming what is stated in the Synodal
document in article 72: “The family is the first community of
faith in which, despite its limitations and shortcomings, the
young person experiences the love of God as he begins to discern
his own vocation.”
Of course, little Johnny, already at the age of 9 received
a sign from heaven for his life through a dream that he
had in the Becchi house during which he was visited by
Jesus the Good Shepherd and Mary. Here is the first voca-
tional comment from his family: I wasted no time in telling
all about my dream. I spoke first to my brothers, who laughed at
the whole thing, and then to my mother and grandmother. Each
one gave his own interpretation. My brother Joseph said,
“You’re going to become a keeper of goats, sheep and other ani-
mals.” My mother commented, “Who knows, you may become a
priest.” Anthony merely grunted, “Perhaps you’ll become a rob-
ber chief.” But my grandmother, though she could not read or
write, knew enough theology and made the final judgment, say-
ing, “Pay no attention to dreams.” I agreed with my grand-
mother. However, I was unable to cast that dream out of my
mind.”
We think of the dreams and desires that parents have
about the vocation of their children; to realize it according
to the mentality of the world and rarely consider and de-
sire what God has destined for their happiness from all
eternity.
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The Vocation passes through the heart of the mother
It has been said that a vocation passes through a moth-
er’s heart, especially when this mother has God in her
heart, as was the case with Mamma Margaret. And that
was precisely how this mother prepared the heart of her
son John for the sacramental encounters of his First Con-
fession and Communion. She also recommended that he
have total trust in the confessor. Given the importance of
this in the education of her child it is useful to recall her
recommendations to John at the time of his First Com-
munion which we find in the Memoirs of the Oratory
written by Don Bosco himself: “Amongst the many things
that my mother repeated to me many times was this: ‘My dear
son, this is a great day for you. I am convinced that God has re-
ally taken possession of your heart. Now promise him to be good
as long as you live. Go to communion frequently in the future,
but beware of sacrilege. Always be frank in confession, be obedi-
ent always, go willingly to catechism and sermons. But for the
love of God, avoid like the plague those who indulge in bad
talk.’”
For those who know little of Don Bosco’s life and his
spirituality, one finds that these are the tips that he would
later teach his boys. They seem to be useful directives for
Christian parents who want to accompany their children
in that vocation to holiness that they have been initiated
in, when they asked for their child to be baptized.
These tendencies already manifest themselves in little
Johnny as he strives to help his companions when they are
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having fun and his mother courageously goes along with
him. That was how little Johnny improvises as a juggler,
having learned some simple tricks at the village fairs, en-
tertaining this friends and even repeating the parish
priest’s sermon in the courtyard of his house.
How to ensure children are adequately prepared
Thus, this mother attentively supports his vocation
through the difficulties that John meets in his studies and
even occasionally with his teachers. He has to deprive
himself of his family in order the ease the tensions that
arise with his older brother who hinders his studies. She
entrusts him to a good family of the Moglia farmstead in
Moncucco. Then followed a more painful detachment
which first took him to Castelnuovo and then to Chieri to
further his studies in view of his priesthood as she en-
rolled him in public schools for the year 1831-1832.
With an encouraging smile, she tells him her decision
and starts preparing his kit. John knowing that his family
is in dire economic straits and knowing too that pursuing
his studies could embarrass his mother, he asks her per-
mission to go around to every family in the village to ask
for their donations. Margaret agrees. For John it would be
a great sacrifice to beg for charity for himself but he over-
comes this reluctance. That would be the same thing that
he would do throughout his life when he would beg for
funds to support his poor boys.
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The following morning heaving a bag of flour and an-
other of maize he set off to sell them at the Castelnuovo
market to make some money to buy notebooks and text
books and part of it the sixteen year old used to secure his
accommodation with Ms. Matta in Chieri. He pays his rent
with the fruit of his work in the countryside: two emina of
wheat and a half of millet.
Margaret knew that some young adults at that time
took up studying at the seminary to have a secure life
from an economic point of view but she dreamed of her
son as a poor priest totally dedicated to his ministry.
When John experienced a moment of uncertainty
whether he should stay at the friary of the Franciscans,
where he had a more recollected life than one of priestly
service in a parish. Not wanting to burden his mother to
support his studies, he received an unexpected visit.
Mamma Margaret donned her shawl and went down to
Chieri to take John by surprise and she said: “The pastor
was good enough to come and tell me that you want to become a
religious. Is that true?” “Yes, Mother. Surely, you are not ob-
jecting to it, are you?” “I want you above all to consider careful-
ly the step you will take. Then follow your vocation without re-
gard for anyone. The most important this is the salvation of your
soul. The pastor urged me to make you change your mind be-
cause I might need your help in the future. But 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 am nothing to you, and I
expect nothing from you. Remember this: I was born poor, I have
lived poor, and I want to die poor. What is more, I want to make
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this very clear to you: if you decide to become a secular priest
and should unfortunately become rich, I will never pay you a
single visit! Remember that well!” Don Bosco would never
forget those words. And later on, when he would need
help, he would seek out his mother who, instead of enjoy-
ing the quieter life of the countryside, would give the last
ten years of her life in the service of the poorest young-
sters in Turin, eventually dying in extreme poverty. What
lessons parents can learn from this mother who favoured
her son’s priestly vocation at the cost of great sacrifice!
How can parents on their part renounce their dreams for
the future of their children in order to support God’s plan
for them from all eternity?
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Don Bosco Educates his Boys
The Role of Good Friends
in Vocation Discernment
In educating youngsters to the faith, parents and teach-
ers play a primary role but an important role, especially
during the teenage years, is played by friends. This takes
place especially in parish youth groups and church youth
movements when teenagers come to live together in a cli-
mate of real friendship, moments of prayer, Christian
formation and of service to the poor.
John Bosco felt this sense of friendship already as a boy,
living in a special relationship with his peers. Here is how
he recalls this period in his memoirs: “Though I was still
pretty small, I was studying my companions’ characters. When
I looked closely at someone, I could easily gauge what he was
thinking. This gift won me the love and esteem of the boys my
own age, and I was thus in demand as judge or friend. For my
own part, I tried always to help and never to hurt. So my com-
panions were quite fond of me. I would take their side when
quarrels broke out. Though I was not very big, I was strong and
brave enough to stand up even to older companions. Whenever
arguments, questions, or quarrels of any kind arose, I acted as
arbiter, and everyone accepted my decisions with good grace.”
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Bad Companions
Mamma Margaret, like a good teacher, followed him
discreetly, giving him the space he needed. In fact, John
confided that his companions behaved better when he was
around. Meanwhile, she taught him how to choose his
friends. This explains his behaviour when he was 15 years
old among his peers at school in Castelnuovo. He record-
ed it in his memoirs: “That year some of my companions tried
to tempt me into danger; they wanted to take me gambling dur-
ing school time. When I said I had no money, they suggested
stealing it from my landlord or even my mother. One of them,
pressuring me, said, ‘My dear chap, it’s time you woke up. You
must learn to live in the world. Putting your head in a sack gets
you nowhere. Just get the money and you can have the same fun
as the rest of us.’ I well remember what my reply was: ‘I fail to
understand what you’re getting at. Am I to believe you’re urg-
ing me to play truant and steal? But in your daily prayers,
don’t you say, ‘The seventh commandment, ‘You shall not
steal?’ Anyone who steals is a thief, and thieves come to a bad
end. Besides, my mother loves me dearly, and if I need money for
lawful purposes she gives it to me. I’ve never done anything
without her permission, and I have no intention of starting to
disobey her now. If your pals are doing that, they’re evil. And if
they’re not doing it but recommending it to others, they’re
scoundrels. […] Many boys’ relatives heard of it and urged their
sons to associate with me. I was therefore in a position to choose
my friends, who loved me and would listen to me like the boys of
Murialdo.
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The same negative experiences surfaced again in Chieri
where, at the age of 16 he shows an increasing maturity in
his choice of friends:
“All this time I had to use my own initiative to learn how to
deal with my companions. I put them into three groups: the
good, the indifferent, and the bad. As soon as I spotted the bad
ones, I avoided them absolutely and always. The indifferent I as-
sociated with only when necessary, but I was always courteous
with them. I made friends with the good ones, and then only
when I was sure of them....As I knew few people in the town, I
made it a rule to keep to myself. I sometimes had to discourage
people I did not know too well. Some wanted to get me to a
show, others into some gambling, and still others to go swim-
ming. An there were suggestions that I should steal fruit from
town gardens or country orchards.”
How we would like our teenagers to open their eyes,
distinguishing true friends from those who immediately
manifest themselves as bad companions! How many of
them, forced by their peers, are already beginning to steal
from their home and their parents. These are their first ex-
perience of getting easy money for their amusements or
maybe for their first puffs at soft drugs.
Whoever finds a true friend, finds a treasure
John Bosco experienced the truth of this proverb, expe-
riencing a totally spiritual friendship with Louis Comollo
who was a year younger than him: “I was so fortunate to
have that wonderful boy in my life. He knew how to choose the
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most suitable moment to warn me, to correct me or to say a
word of encouragement to me. He did everything with such
kindness and love that I was happy to be corrected by him. We
were very close friends. I was trying to imitate him but I was
hundreds of kilometres behind him. However, if I have not been
ruined by very devious companions, if I have seriously been able
to persevere in my vocation, I owe it to him. I have not been able
to imitate him in one thing: his spirit of mortification… He en-
dured with sweet patience rude words and cold contempt. In
church and school he was precise in what he did. It seemed im-
possible for me to do that. More than a friend he was for me a
model of virtue, a continuous stimulus to shake off laziness and
to strive to be a little like him…he made me pray, visit the
Blessed Sacrament, pray for the suffering, recite the Rosary, the
Office of Our Lady for the Souls in Purgatory.
I greatly admired his spirit of charity, and put myself entirely
in his hands, letting him guide me as he wished. Together with
another friend of ours Garigliano, we went to confession and to
Communion. We met for meditation and spiritual readings, vis-
ited the Blessed Sacrament and served Mass. Comollo knew how
to invite us to these activities with such goodness, gentleness
and courtesy that it was quite impossible to refuse him.”
For a teenager this is the sign of true friendship: emu-
lating goodness, sharing beautiful spiritual experiences;
this kind of real love in friendship comes from God and
leads to God.
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A very precious help to follow one’s vocation
“So the end of the rhetoric year approached, the time when
students usually ponder their vocations. […] Oh, if only I had
had a guide to care for my vocation! What a great treasure he
would have been for me; but I lacked that treasure. I had a good
confessor who sought to make me a good Christian, but who
never chose to get involved in the question of my vocation.” We
will return to this suffering of John, but in the meantime
let us see how Divine Providence used his friend Louis
Comollo to guide his vocation. After reflecting on entering
the Franciscan Order, he was distracted by a dream to de-
viate him from this plan after which he decided to make a
clean breast of everything to his friend Louis: “He advised
me to make a novena. Meanwhile he would write to his uncle the
provost. On the last day of the novena, I went to confession and
communion with this incomparable friend. I attended one Mass
and served another at the altar of Our Lady of Grace in the Ca-
thedral. Then I went home and found a letter from Fr Comollo
which went something like this: ‘Having given careful consider-
ation to what you wrote me, I advise your friend not to enter a
monastery at this time. Let him don the clerical habit. As he goes
on with his studies he will better understand his vocation be-
cause aloofness from the world and earnest piety will help him
overcome every obstacle.’ I followed this wise advice and applied
myself seriously to those things which would help prepare me to
take the clerical habit.” Here we see the role of good friends
in important life choices, especially in the delicate instance
of one’s vocational discernment which is a prelude to a life
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to be lived according to God’s plan which the teenager
ought to discover.
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The Role of the Confessor and the Spiritual Director in
Vocational Discernment
In the ambit of our Lenten journey this conversation re-
garding the vocational discernment of our youngster
seems to fit perfectly. It is always moving to welcome the
confidences of fourteen year olds when they can still man-
age to communicate their spiritual experiences. Here some
of the reflections the teenager, John Bosco left us:
A trusted friend of the soul
Notice the joy that the fourteen year old felt at his provi-
dential encounter with Father Calosso. By revealing it he
tells us about his first experience of what we might call
spiritual direction:
“I put myself completely into Fr Calosso’s hands. He had be-
come chaplain of 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 realize 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 circum-
stances. He encouraged frequent confession and communion. He
taught me how to make a short daily meditation, or more accu-
rately, 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 spir-
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itual life; up to then I had acted in a purely mechanical way, not
knowing the reasons.
Here we see that his meetings with Fr Calosso clearly
support the spiritual accompaniment of his faith and his
vocation. It is the confessor that really gives the penitent
spiritual direction together with vocational orientation.
After his own conscience, it is to the voice of God that the
young person must listen. In this regard the Synod on
young people in n. 98 recalls how the Sacrament of Recon-
ciliation plays an indispensable role growth in one’s life of
faith that is fraught not only with limitations and fragility
but also with sin. The ministry of Reconciliation and spir-
itual accompaniment must be appropriately distinguished
because they have different purposes and forms, even
though at the beginning they may come together for the
adolescent. We are following Don Bosco during these past
months in our reflections as he discerns his vocation as a
16 year old teenager in Chieri. He has been in Chieri for
the past ten years during which through painful discern-
ment he has prepared himself for his priestly ministry and
the mission entrusted to him by Jesus already at a the age
of nine. After Father Calosso, John would seek the help of
a confessor for his vocation but it will not be easy for him
to find one. He himself admits: So the end of the rhetoric year
approached, the time when students usually ponder their voca-
tions… Oh, if only I had had a guide to care for my vocation!
What a treasure he would have been for me; but I lacked that
treasure. I had a good confessor who sought to make me a good
Christian, but who never chose to let involved in the question of
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my vocation.” It is sad to read these expressions of the
teenager John Bosco and the attitude of some priests who,
in the sacrament of Confession take very little care to offer
these youngsters the necessary assistance they need to
help them discover their future vocation to the married
state or the consecrated life.
Some very useful mementos for the soul
In this regard, Don Bosco will write in a special way, in
Michael Magone’s life, some extremely precious pages for
teenagers: My beloved teenagers, here is some advice that I
think will be very useful for your souls. Consider them a token of
affection from a friend who ardently desires your eternal salva-
tion. First of all, I recommend that you do what you can to avoid
falling into sin; but if, unfortunately you do, never let the devil
induce you to keep silent about it in confession. Remember that
the confessor has from God the power to forgive your every sin
and whatever their number.
My dear boys remember that the confessor is a father who fer-
vently desires to do all the good he can and tries to remove all
sorts of evil from you. Don’t be afraid of losing his esteem by
confessing serious things, or that he will reveal them to others.
Because the confessor cannot use any of the material he has
heard in confession for any gain or loss in the world. Should he
even lose his life, he will not say anything, nor can he tell any-
one anything related to what he has heard in confession. Indeed I
can assure you that the more sincere you are and the more con-
fidence you have in him he will be increasingly able to give you
that advice and warning that will seem most necessary and op-
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portune for your soul. If ever one of you is going over your past
and you come to discover some sin voluntarily omitted or that
you had a doubt of the validity of some confession, I would im-
mediately tell him: “My friend, for love of Jesus Christ and for
the precious blood that he shed to save your soul, please relieve
your conscience and take the first occasion to go to confession,
sincerely revealing how sorry you would be were you to find
yourself on your deathbed in this state. If you don’t know how to
express them, just tell the confessor that you have something
that weighs heavily on your past life. The confessor knows what
to do. Just go along with what he tells you and then be sure that
everything will be sorted out.
Friend of the Soul
Go frequently and seek out your confessor, pray for him, follow
his advice.
Then when you have made the choice of a confessor you know to
be suitable for the needs of your soul, do not change him unnec-
essarily. Until you have a stable confessor whom you trust con-
fidently you will always miss the friend of your soul. Trust also
in the prayers of the confessor who, during Holy Mass prays
every day for his penitents so God grants them the grace of good
confessions and perseverance in being good. You too pray for
him. However, you can unscrupulously change your confessor
when you or the confessor change residence and you find it diffi-
cult to go to him or if he is ill, or on a solemnity there are many
penitents to see him. Likewise, if you have something on your
conscience that you do not dare to reveal to your regular confes-
sor, rather commit a sacrilege change your confessor not once
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but a thousand times.” Hold on to these very precious piec-
es of advice. Don Bosco practiced them during his delicate
teenage years and then while he was in the seminary.
Concerning frequency Don Bosco suggested once a fort-
night but many of his boys confessed every week. What
help can young people have today who in parishes or ora-
tories are invited to confession three times a year, with oc-
casional confessors, not always the same ones who know
the youngsters better! The new priest Don Bosco will say
of Father Cafasso: For six years he had been my guide, and
was especially my spiritual director. If I have been able to do any
good, I owe it to this worthy priest in whose hands I placed eve-
ry decision I made, all my study, and every activity of my life.
(From the Memoirs of the Oratory). Some may think that this
advice is valid for those who have a vocation to the conse-
crated life, but experience tells us, and the Synod on
young people confirms it, that teenagers and youngsters
called to marriage and the vocation to form a family need
the guidance of holy confessor to accompany them in their
formation even more. So the most valuable advice we can
offer to youngsters during these most important years of
their life is to intensify their confessions; choose confessors
they can trust and with whom they find it easy to always
be open. This is precisely the age at which they habitually
neglect if not give up prayer and the sacraments especially
confession. We tell priests to make themselves more avail-
able for this particular category of penitents by creating
opportunities to facilitate this encounter in confession.
Call it the sacrament of Reconciliation or confession
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whichever is most comfortable because it highlights the
fundamental attitude required of the penitent who is not
only confessing his sins but encountering how much the
Father loves us in Jesus and in this context of love very
beautiful vocations are born: of penitents wanting to give
one’s whole life to Jesus.
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Don Bosco Educates his Boys
The Eucharist: foundation for a teenager’s vocation
In the joy of Easter, the most beautiful gift that the Ris-
en Lord left us has certainly been the Eucharist. The indis-
pensable preparation for a youngster or for any other
Christian to encounter the Eucharistic Jesus is the sacra-
ment of Reconciliation on which the summary of the pre-
vious reflections rests. So we recall the words of the Bish-
ops in the recent Synod on young people: Number 135
reads thus: The practice of the Sacrament of Reconciliation is of
importance on their journey of faith. Young people need to feel
loved, forgiven, reconciled and they have a secret longing for the
Father’s merciful embrace. That is why it is fundamental that
priests make themselves generously available for the celebration
of this sacrament. Community penitential celebrations help
young people to approach individual confession, making the ec-
clesial dimension of the sacrament more explicit.” The teenager
needs frequent Confession and Communion, especially
when he shows a particular delicacy of conscience. When
his heart has been purified, he finds the strength to love
the Risen Lord in this Eucharistic encounter. Jesus, giving
himself in his body and his blood, supports them in their
struggle with their passions (this prevents them from
opening up to others), thus preparing them for their future
vocation.
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The Eucharist: Highway to Paradise
So it is precisely at this point in their growth, when they
are developing their ability to love, that teenagers need to
receive Communion at least a few times during the week.
The testimony of the fifteen-year-old Carlo Acutis from
Milan, who died of leukemia on October 12, 2006, wit-
nesses to this. He received Jesus every day and so he
wrote: “The Eucharist is my highway to Heaven... Each Eucha-
rist brings us closer to the goal of holiness. We go straight to
heaven if we approach the Eucharist everyday… The more com-
munions we receive, the more we will become like Jesus and al-
ready on this earth we will have a foretaste of heaven;” expres-
sions that confirm what the Synod on Young People left us
in 114: “From listening to the Word we pass on to the joy of an
encounter that fills the heart, gives meaning to our existence
and a new energy. Faces light up and the journey is taken up
once more with the strength of a vocational response of the mis-
sion to the community and the whole world. Without delay, and
without fear, the disciples retrace their steps to reach their broth-
ers and narrate to them their meeting with the Risen Jesus.”
While, sadly, it must be said that so many teenagers
first abandon prayer, then confession, then Holy Mass and
Communion which so weakens their faith and sometimes
for years abandon all religious practice. This does not pre-
pare them well to take up their future vocation in life. That
is why it is useful to know the eleven-year-old John
Bosco’s experience as he was preparing himself to receive
his First Holy Communion. This was his mother Marga-
ret’s advice to him which he repeated to his boys: “My dear
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son, this is a great day for you. I am convinced that God has re-
ally taken possession of your heart. Now, promise him to be goo
as long as you live. Go to communion frequently in the future,
but beware of sacrilege. Always be frank in confession, be obedi-
ent always, go willingly to catechism and sermons. But for the
love of God, avoid like the plague, those who indulge in bad
talk.”
That is how this mother summarized what we have
said so far about the difficulties that young teenagers ex-
perience. Lack of sincerity in confession and therefore ne-
glect of prayer and Communion has been because of the
influence of bad companions. Armed with these teachings
of his mother, it was no wonder that on Saturday evening
the twelve-year-old John at the Moglia farmstead, asked
the owner permission to go to Moncucco the following
morning. He returned for breakfast and at ten o’clock ac-
companied Mr. Luigi and his family to the Mass. Since on
the following Saturdays he asked for that strange permis-
sion, Signora Dorothy who felt responsible for the boy,
wanted to see where he was going. She went to Moncucco
before dawn, and from the house of a friend she saw John
enter the church, approach the confessional of the parish
priest, hear the first Mass and receive communion. In
those days they rarely received communion. During the
‘High Mass’ (in which the whole village took part) Com-
munion was not even distributed. Those who wanted to
communicate had to participate in the ‘Low Mass’ which
the parish priest celebrated very early. Signora Dorothy,
walking with him back home said to him: “From now on if
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you want to attend the ‘low Mass,’ just go ahead. You don’t
even have to ask permission.’
Frequent Confession and Communion
While confessing to the parish priest, Father Cottino,
John confided to him his desire to become a priest and al-
so his difficulties. Father Cottino encouraged him to make
his Confession and receive the Eucharist every week; to
pray throughout the day and to trust in the Lord and his
difficulties would be resolved. In Chieri, during the period
we recall Don Bosco’s teenage years he receives new en-
couragement. At sixteen he receives an invitation from his
regular confessor Father Maloria from the collegiate
church of Chieri to make his Confession and receive
Communion frequently. John remembers: “I had the great
fortune of choosing as my regular confessor Doctor Maloria,
canon […] He always had a warm welcome for me. Indeed, he
encouraged me to go to confession and communion more often.”
This expression reminds us of what we said earlier about
the need for a stable confessor and the trust one needed to
possess. I do not remember that any of my teachers ever advised
me along these lines. Those who went to Confession and Com-
munion more than once a month were considered very virtuous;
and many confessors would not permit it. Consequently, I have
to thank my confessor if I was not led by my companions into
certain unfortunate pitfalls that inexperienced boys in large
schools have to regret.”
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In the five years that he was a student John always
made time to receive Communion at the Cathedral in
Chieri often also serving Mass and he shared the benefits
of that most precious sustenance with his best friends in
the Cheerfulness Society as he recalls: “Moreover, not only
did we gather in friendly meetings, but we also went often to-
gether to Confession and Communion.” (EBM 1, 195-198)
The Most efficacious food for one’s vocation
How wonderful it would be if our teenagers could as-
sociate with friends who received Communion frequently
because of their own personal initiative.
The rigidity that existed about receiving communion
rarely was surprising; it was the remnants of Jansenism
and it had also entered the seminaries. Here is how John,
the young seminarian described it: “We could only receive
Holy Communion, however, on Sundays and on special feasts.
We did receive communion sometimes on weekdays, but doing
so meant that we had to act contrary to obedience. It was neces-
sary to slip out, usually at breakfast time, to St. Philip’s Church
next door, receive Holy Communion, and then join our compan-
ions as they were going into the study hall or to class. This in-
fraction of the timetable was prohibited. But the superiors gave
tacit consent to it since they knew it was going on and some-
times observed it without saying anything to the contrary. In
this way, I was able to receive Holy Communion much more fre-
quently, and I can rightly say it was the most efficacious sup-
port of my vocation.”
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For a young man to skip breakfast everyday is no small
sacrifice and yet for John it was a great support for his
priestly vocation.
Taking up once more the comments of Carlo Acutis,
and before that St. Dominic Savio, we must say that the
teenager needs this Eucharistic encounter to inflame his
heart for Jesus as happened to the disciples of Emmaus
who recognized him in the breaking of the bread. Chil-
dren and the little ones have a special sensitivity to feel the
presence of Jesus and make spontaneous prayers that
leave us amazed. In the presence of the Eucharist, the
teenager begins to be moved with faith and love for Jesus
and then he feels the need to receive communion often
even if, through his sensitivity, he sometimes seems un-
worthy of it.
It is the Eucharist that nourishes in his heart the desire
to love, to be open to the poorest and the little ones. It is in
intimacy with Jesus that the teenager dreams of forming a
family, of having children or of consecrating his entire life
in the service of the poorest, by imitating Jesus through a
life of chastity, poverty and obedience.
“Once Professor Borel suggested that John make the Spiritual
Exercises and with the aid of that retreat and frequent Commun-
ion he confirmed and preserved his vocation.”
Thus Don Bosco realized his priestly vocation and
pointed it out to his youngsters.
It is enough for us to think of Dominic Savio and recall
his many Eucharistic ecstasies which were closely linked
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to his daily reception of Holy Communion, but above all
his weekly confession.
It was through these intimate conversations with Jesus
that Dominic Savio nourished his priestly vocation as it
was for Don Bosco who suggested it to him.
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Don Bosco Educates his Boys
Mary in the Heart of the Teenager
In this article I want to reflect with you how the teenag-
er John Bosco lived his fondness for Mary, especially dur-
ing the ten years he lived in Chieri (1831-1841).
Of course, his encounter with her, beginning with his
dream at the age of nine made a deep impression on him
but it was also fuelled by family devotions. Mamma Mar-
garet was able to communicate to her children the sense of
Mary’s presence through the recitation of the Angelus
three times a day and the daily recitation of the Rosary.
John would be faithful to these Marian moments even when
he was 12 years old and would have to leave home and go
as a farm hand to the Moglia farmstead. When he moved
to Chieri later, his mother recommended him to have de-
votion to Mary and John nourished this by going daily to
the Cathedral of Chieri. There before the altar of The Ma-
donna of Grace he knelt and expressed to her his filial affec-
tion. He asked her to comfort him in the difficulties he en-
countered in his loneliness and he asked for favours nec-
essary to succeed well in his studies and the fulfilment of
the mission that he was entrusted with.
For as long as he would be a student in Chieri he faith-
fully kept this Marian appointment, especially celebrating
the novenas in her honour.
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During those years, it was normal to celebrate novenas
to Mary. They were not just expressions of trust in her, but
also to obtain special favours for life and for one’s voca-
tion.
John felt it was important to particularly invoke the
Immaculate in his struggle to preserve the virtue of purity,
knowing the dangers that bad companions presented. He
found them here in Chieri as he had found them in the
past in Castelnuovo.
He asks for help for the same virtue that Dominic Savio,
already at the age of twelve would have in mind when he
renewed his consecration to Mary in the Church of St.
Francis of Sales at Valdocco, repeating the resolutions he
made at his First Communion at the age of seven: death
but not sin. “Mary I give you my heart and my soul. Make it
all yours. Let me die rather than commit a single grave sin”
(and that is to be understood as a sin against the virtue of
purity). We must seek her help once more for our teenag-
ers that they may live with innocent hearts of children and
express their affection like children when the address
Mary. You have to get them to look for her presence in
places most familiar to them, starting with the statue they
see in the church, to the picture hung on the wall of their
home, in places of pilgrimage, to places where she made
herself known in a special way, right up to the tops of hills
and mountains, where popular piety has erected statues in
her honour.
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Friends devoted to Mary
The importance of Marian devotion practiced by the
teenager’s companions is significant to the youngster.
Mamma Margaret in her wisdom recommended to him:
always be friends with those who love Mary.
So, John Bosco lived these moments of Marian intimacy
by himself and with his companions like Louis Comollo,
Paul Braja and others in the Society of Cheerfulness. We re-
call a curious episode linked to Louis during a walk with
his companions and Professor John Bosco, his namesake,
in the meadows of Balermo 3 km from Chieri. During one
of the games in which they had the most fun was that the
rumor was spread that Comollo had disappeared. Re-
membering the misfortune that had happened the previ-
ous year when a companion of theirs had drowned in the
waters of the Red Fountain, not far from there, they were
full of fear and began frantically looking for him. They
eventually found him in a nearby chapel between a bush
and a pillar. When they told him how worried they were
Louis replied: “I’m sorry you were so concerned but I had
not yet recited the Holy Rosary and I wanted to pay this
tribute to the Blessed Virgin Mary.”
It is so beautiful to meet teenagers who daily live this
kind of a life sometimes even on public transport on their
way to school, or simply having the habit of formulating
some prayer to entrust their day to Mary. Certainly that
was the simple, deep and trusting devotion of John. He
would help his boys to live like this, telling them: “Dear
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young people, what a great support it is for you to have devotion
to Mary Most Holy. Listen to how she invites you: whoever is a
child comes to me. She assures you that if you are her devotees,
she will count you among her children. She will cover you with
her mantle and shower you with blessings in this world and give
you Heaven in the next.” Love this heavenly Mother of yours.
Go to her with all your heart and be sure that you will receive
many graces, as long as you do not ask for things that are a det-
riment to you.” He would recommend the recitation of the
three Hail Marys before going to bed at night, asking for
three graces: the salvation of one’s soul, the escape from
bad companions and the virtue of purity.
Mary’s Face is ever new
Our teenagers need to rediscover this kind of maternal
affection, though in a different way. Certainly for Don
Bosco it was normal to introduce Mary to his boys as a
mother because several of them were orphans and felt the
need of this affection.
Immediately after that he recommended to them the
Immaculate Conception. This fascinated the teenager in a
special way especially because he was so discouraged be-
cause of his falls in the area of purity, while his heart
longed for pure love.
He invited them to gaze at her as a strong woman who
teaches them to fight.
And finally he would present Mary as the Help of
Christians and of the Church and a great help in family
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problems, work and life choices. We have already men-
tioned the novena to Mary that he made on the advice of
his friend Louis Comollo, to help him come to a decision
about his vocation whether to join the Franciscans or to
enter the seminary. For such an important decision
Comollo suggested a novena to Mary while he would
write to his uncle priest for his advice. The novena con-
cluded with Mass and Communion at the altar of Our La-
dy of Grace. The letter of Fr. Comollo arrived with the sug-
gestion that he should enter the seminary.
On the day of his clerical vestition, while waiting to en-
ter the seminary Mamma Margaret said to him: “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.” 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.
We know how faithfully John kept this promise, so
much so that he is now famous all over the world for the
spread of devotion to Mary Help of Christians.
We must recommend that our teenagers continue their
vocational discernment with the help of Mary, while there
are many mirages that will appear before their minds.
Pope Francis in the exhortation summarizes the experi-
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ence of the Synod of young people entrusting them pre-
cisely to Mary and he concludes with this wish that we
make ours: “May she renew your youthfulness by the power of
her prayers and accompany you always by her maternal pres-
ence” (Christus vivit, post synodal apostolic exhortation, n.
298).
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Don Bosco Educates his Boys
This teenager points to the source of true joy
Holidays for our teenagers are a time of relaxation, rest
from school work, a time for generous service and healthy
fun. Certainly they can also become, as Don Bosco said,
harvest time for the devil: it is therefore important that we
give them useful suggestions to live these days of holiday
well. The years of his adolescence lived in Chieri come to
our aid in this regard. Although he was burdened with
economic distress, having to go from house to house to
beg for what he needed for his studies and his mainte-
nance, even though he was busy with work, we see how
wisely he used his free time with his friends, without los-
ing the opportunity to demonstrate his joy. He should
have had many reasons to be withdrawn, depressed about
his family affairs relating to the death of his father when
he was just two years old, the poverty of his family, the
poor prospects of that peasant life, having to deprive him-
self of so many amenities and to that vocational dream
that seemed impossible to fulfill.
The Cheerful Society
Instead, precisely in that context of privation and hu-
miliation he founded the Cheerful Society among his com-
panions, giving birth to deep friendships. He capitalized
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on their kindness, affection and esteem and helped them
in their studies and at school. In the Biographical Memoirs
we recall the testimonies of his friends: “Little by little, they
began coming to him, first to play with him, then to hear his sto-
ries or to do their homework. Finally, as in Morialdo and
Castelnuovo, they just came for no special reason. It was like a
club of their own and they started calling it The Cheerful Soci-
ety, a most appropriate name because each one was expected to
bring in only those books, topics or games that would add to the
general cheerfulness. Everything contrary to it was banned, es-
pecially anything not in accordance with God’s law. Whoever
cursed, took the Lord’s name in vain, or carried on improper
conversations could not remain a member and was forthwith ex-
pelled. John was acknowledged leader of all these boys. By com-
mon consent membership in this club was dependent upon two
basic conditions: (1) the avoidance of every word and deed unbe-
coming a Christian; (2) the exact fulfilment of one’s duties
whether scholastic or religious. (EBM 1, 194-195)
Among the members of the Cheerful Society there were
some who were truly exemplary in their conduct and we
have already spoken of them. Already a priest, he would
recall: “Garigliano and Braje took part in games willingly but
never at the expense of their school work. Both were devout and
reserved and constantly gave me valuable advice. Every Sunday,
after the usual church services, we would go to St. Anthony’s
church where the Jesuits conducted excellent catechism classes.
The illustrative episodes were so well chosen that we never for-
got them. During the week the Cheerful Society met at the
house of one of the members for discussion on various religious
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topics. Attendance at these meetings was optional. Garigliano
and Graja were the most diligent. We passed some time in pleas-
ant recreation, in discussion of religious subjects, in reading
spiritual books and in prayer. We advised one another and mu-
tually pointed out personal faults we had observed or had heard
others mention. Unconsciously, we were putting into practice
the wise admonition: “Blessed is he who has a mentor,” or that
of Pythagoras: “If you have no friend who will correct your
faults, pay an enemy to do so.”… Moreover, not only did we
gather in friendly meetings, but we also went often together to
Confession and Communion.” (EBM 1, 195-196)
When our teenagers experience such beautiful friend-
ships where they compete in human and Christian virtue
and love each other so much that they can correct in one
another their defects, they experience one of the most
beautiful expressions of friendship and love of God. The
joy of Lord that they draw from the sacraments of Confes-
sion and Communion then transpires into the games they
enjoy competing in. Unfortunately, in our day, several
teenagers are more drawn to live their summer holidays
with their peers, regardless of their choice of friends, in-
stead of spending time with their family. They rarely
know how to organize their get-togethers and entertain-
ments. Often left to chance or to the initiative of a group
leader they can be influenced by the choice of language or
entertainment which draws the so-called friends to por-
nography, the use of alcohol or drugs or just stunts that
compete in vandalism or reckless motorbike races.
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The Most Beautiful Choices even in entertainment
John’s choices and those of his friends were very differ-
ent. Even during that most difficult time when, at the age
of eighteen he was a tenant at the Café Pianta, he enjoyed
his recreation with a small group of peers who met in an
adjacent house, six or seven of them who were guests of
Canon Joseph Caselle. Some of them later recalled: “Practi-
cally every night,” Joseph Caselle recalled, “especially on winter
evenings after supper, John Bosco used to spend some time with
us whenever his work allowed it. We would all wait for him in
the hallway, or if the weather was good, in the courtyard. I can’t
tell you how happily we swarmed around him when he appeared.
And he, always full of fun, would start us off laughing with a
joke. Always ready to oblige he would launch out with some
charming and yet edifying story; he was able to keep us en-
tranced for several hours without our being aware of it. Some-
times he would repeat some catechism lessons or explain them.
Occasionally he would ask in a nice way if we had been to con-
fession, he was delighted, and he would encourage us to perse-
vere in our good spirit. We were actually ready to do anything
for him. No matter how late, we were quite reluctant to leave
him” (EBM 1, 219).
That was how the teenager John spent the only free
hour he had in the day because at night he went back to
his studies in the basement of the Cafe Pianta where he
slept. He knew how to keep them happy with his jokes
filled with healthy humour and edifying episodes suited
to keep their attention and feed their imagination and then
to share his spiritual experiences. We might ask how
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many of our teenagers are capable of having fun like this?
Don’t they know that real friendship comes from God and
leads back to him?
The Secret of Joy
Little boys normally communicate joy and can appreci-
ate simple games and enjoy clean fun. Teenagers on the
other hand, live at a particularly beautiful age during
which they can be open to the gift of self and true love but
only when they recover that joy of the little ones and the
humble of heart by just being together; that true joy that
comes from God. These teenagers alternate between mo-
ments of unbridled cheerfulness and moments of sadness
and closing in on themselves. They bring out the most
beautiful expressions of their character and of the educa-
tion they have received but also defects normally linked to
pride, a pride that brutalizes them. They often live out
their narcissism that extinguishes the joy of loving and of
giving themselves. Serious sin takes hold of them and is
seen in attitudes of vulgarity and sensuality which deform
their features and their beauty. When they are with their
peers they must learn to fight idleness, boredom, vulgarity
by enhancing their artistic, musical and above all their
physical abilities whenever they can, making it to the
beach or to treks in the mountains. In particular, the
mountains give them the possibilities of treks and short
excursions. For more experienced climbers there are even
serious treks which offer good possibilities to strengthen
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their wills and endurance. Above all, they must learn to
open themselves up to others in generosity. Many of these
teenagers are involved in being of service to their younger
brothers and sisters, and this can be a very rewarding ex-
perience as well as becoming an opportunity of making
the most of their free time.
This is why our teenagers must imitate Don Bosco
when he was a teenager and emulate the clever manner in
which he used his free time, enjoying them in carefree joy,
a joy which is a gift from God.
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Don Bosco Educates his Boys
Teenagers getting used to work to prepare for life
Teaching teenagers the value of work, helping them to
discover their aptitudes and talents especially during the
months of holiday can be an excellent opportunity not just
to keep them well occupied but above all to prepare them
for life. We are assisted in this venture by being able to
look at the life that John Bosco lived as a teenager in Chieri
Let’s start with the beautiful testimony of his professor
a certain Ph.D. Father John Bosco, who though not linked
by kinship ties was very happy to have had a pupil who
honoured his name and surname so much with such a
sterling character, piety and commitment to study. Here is
what he himself said: “On a beautiful spring morning, during
the holidays, while going for a walk through the hills, I suddenly
heard a loud monotonous voice of someone reciting something
from memory and this was accompanied by a kind of rhythmic
sound that seemed like a hoe being swung with strong arms.
Fascinated I set off to find who this labourer was and I found the
young Bosco hoeing in the vineyard of Cumino, his landlord.
Having kept a book open supported by a branch he was studying
his lesson. The sight astonished Professor Bosco whose esteem
and affection for his dearly loved pupil only increased.”
From such clues that we put together, we could deduce
that this was what John ordinarily did for several hours a
day during his vacations. That was why this great educa-
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tor (Don Bosco) praised manual work as a means of pre-
serving mental and moral health.
Work as a means of education
In particular, contact with the world of work and its
struggles reduces the teenager’s tendency towards lazi-
ness, pride and jealousy which are vices that favour a
sense of superiority making a person unpleasant. Here is
how John tried to contribute to the economic situation of
his family while also treasuring his work experience. So,
not only was he a student, but he committed himself to
acquiring more skills as he had already done in Castel-
nuovo by becoming a tailor, a cobbler, a carpenter, as well
as a stable hand. He also practiced shaving beards having
learned this skill to save himself the expense of a haircut
and to be able to be of service to his friends. The same was
true of his ability to play musical instruments, his motive
being to learn it in order to entertain his friends. He
played the violin pretty well.
On entering the service at the Café Pianta in the middle
of the year he was already capable of making liqueurs and
jams, preparing coffee, chocolates and he knew the pro-
portions for making all kinds of pastries, pastas, cocktails,
ice creams and snacks. He was so good that the owner
considered that it would be profitable for him to leave his
other occupations and devote himself entirely to that pro-
fession.
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However, John who did these jobs only for fun decid-
edly refused, protesting once more that his resolute inten-
tion was to continue his studies and become a priest. With
that family he also learned to cook and without realising it
he was preparing himself with the necessary skills that he
would need to administer the houses of the boys that Di-
vine Providence would soon send him, especially during
those early days when he would have to prepare their
meals for them.
Favoured by parents, several teenagers, like John Bosco,
even today, spend their holidays making useful at home
or look for holiday jobs at shops, restaurants, or family-
run businesses. Some even devote themselves to learning
music and perfecting their skill at playing a musical in-
strument. Others offer themselves to tutor youngsters
with their homework.
That was how John Bosco, aged seventeen now, already
in November 1832 returned to Chieri to the house of Mrs.
Lucia Matta who entrusted her son to him for tuitions. She
exempted him from paying his rent and she provided him
food out of consideration for the fact that her son was
making good progress in school. Mrs. Josephine Valimber-
ti Radino, a widow in 1889 still remembered: “My brother
priest always spoke at home with admiration of a certain pupil
named John Bosco. Although he was a professor he sent this pu-
pil to his pupil for tuition. Our brother had this student who
was last in the class of humanities and distracted and annoying.
He was an annoyance to his family but thanks to the goodwill
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and hard work of John his conduct changed completely. He be-
came serious, studious, attentive and a lover of duty. My father
was very consoled by it.”
Everything at its time
During the time he lived at the house of Mr. Joseph Pi-
anta, John never allowed himself to get involved with oth-
er rowdy teenagers even if he found the time to have fun
with friends of the Cheerful Society. He followed the maxim
he had taken for himself: Everything at its time and he
never broke that rule which he had set for himself. He had
set a time for meetings with the Cheerful Society, time for
tuitions of his companions who turned to him for help;
time to take care of the affairs of his guests; time that he
devoted to prayer; to the Church and to the sacraments.
And he did all this without losing his ardour for his stud-
ies.
Mrs. Clotilde Vergnano testified concerning John that
he was never idle. He enjoyed the company of his neigh-
bours but he was also committed to bringing water to a
very elderly priest, Fr. Arnaud who was so impressed by
the young man’s modest and edifying life he wrote to the
parish priest of Castelnuovo to find him a more comforta-
ble and safe place. From these comments, we can draw
some suggestions to help our kids organize their time
well; making a schedule of things to do, being faithful to
their schedules and commitments. Some teenagers are in-
clined to disorder from the time they get up in the morn-
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ing, to carrying out their chores, their time for meals to re-
specting the curfew and their night entertainment.
The Spiritual Dimension
Despite his many commitments John managed to go to
serve Masses every morning at the nearby church of St.
Anthony. The famous visits to Jesus present in churches,
was what John habitually stuck to. The fact that he was
able to take his friends along, was marvellous. He himself,
in particular, was coaxed by his dearest friend Louis
Comollo. Everyday Louis went punctually to the Cathe-
dral of Chieri to visit the Blessed Sacrament and John went
there for several months to be edified. This is how he re-
membered it: “Louis usually knelt in a corner near the altar,
his hands clasped in prayer, his head humbly bowed, his eyes
lowered. He was completely still and oblivious of any voice or
sound. Quite often after having finished my own devotions, I
wanted to ask him to come with me and accompany me home.
No matter how I tried to catch his attention by making motions
with my head or passing close to him and coughing, he would
not stir until I came up to him and nudged him. Then only
would he move as though awakened from sleep, and accept my
invitation, albeit reluctantly. He loved to serve Mass whenever
he could, even on school days; on holidays it was not unusual for
him to serve as many as four or five Masses in one morning.
Weather permitting, he would attend every religious service that
was held in the churches of the city. Although he was so im-
mersed in spiritual things, his expression was never gloomy or
sad, but always lighthearted and serene. His affability gladdened
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all hearts and he often said that he loved greatly the words of the
Prophet David: Servite Domino in laetitia, [Serve the Lord
with gladness]” (Ps. 99, 2).
The summer vacations can offer our teenagers the op-
portunity to personalize their prayer and take care of their
daily Eucharistic meeting, if not at least some days of the
week. We have mentioned several times that the teenager
needs this personal encounter with Jesus. This is what
transfigures him and even his physical deportment and
makes him always cheerful. This is the most effective
pointer that we recommend.
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Don Bosco Educates his Boys
A Formative Ambient for our Teenagers
The Religious Atmosphere of Chieri
For the teenager, the educational environment that wel-
comes and accompanies him over the years is fundamen-
tal for his growth and spiritual formation.
Certainly, the education in the family is the most pre-
cious, but it must then be supported by school education
to which parents abdicate the education of their children,
often without requiring or at least verifying that their
children have the most conducive environment.
We believe it would be useful to recall what John Bosco
found when at sixteen he found himself in Chieri, a city
rich in history and significant religious presences. Histori-
ans of the time tell us what the education of young people
of the time was like: “Such was the programme for secondary
school students as promulgated by King Charles Felix’ decree of
July 23, 1822. It was based on the principle that education
should have a religious character since God is the source of all
knowledge and morality. Teaching was under the supervision of
the bishops. No one could apply for a teaching post or retain it
without presenting every year a certificate from his own Bishop
vouching for his good moral character and attesting that he had
discharged his duties properly to the benefit of religion and the
state. At this time, also, measures were taken to shield young
people from the dangers to which today’s youth is constantly ex-
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posed” (EBM 1, 197). In another prescription we read: “At
this time the sectaries had introduced and were spreading
throughout Piedmont a great number of antireligious, immoral
and subversive publications, but Charles Albert wasted no time
in putting an end to this. In September 1831, he appointed a
five-man commission to prevent the spread of such literature
throughout his kingdom. His orders were zealously carried out.”
It goes without saying that teachers were very vigilant concern-
ing their pupils’ reading matter (EBM 1, 197).” We must
therefore remember that in those days in the Schools of the
kingdom it was mostly clerics who taught on behalf of the
bishop. Religion was a fundamental part of education. A
professor who even cracked a lewd joke or uttered an irre-
ligious word was immediately expelled from office. If this
was what was done to professors, one can only imagine
how much more severely this was used on unruly and
immoral students. For the students, weekday and Sunday
prayers were compiled in a book which was to be read
with devotion. On feast days, the Mass, and the gospel
would be explained and in the evening there would be re-
ligious instruction and vespers. Easter Confession and
Communion was the admission pass to the exams at the
end of the year. That was how young people had to get
their certificate that they had regularly attended the spir-
itual retreats that had been planned throughout the year
(MB 1,263-264).
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The Fruits of Past Education
This was how Don Bosco described the fruits of this
education: “This strict religious supervision produced marvel-
ous results. Years would go by without hearing a blasphemy or
improper conversation. The pupils were obedient and respectful
both in school and at home. IT was a common occurrence even
in very large classes for every pupil to be promoted. In my third
year of high school all my classmates passed (EBM 1, 197) How
different are our times today with lay education which,
even when well conducted thinks about the human for-
mation of the young person without going any further. A
secular training is proposed for teachers who should first
be models that should inspire the students. The more seri-
ous hazards that our teenagers face is that their school en-
vironment is being manipulated by ideologies that distort
historical data and insert the principles of the party. In fact
they should be directed to the constant search for truth
and the common good of the students. Let us try to think
about what educational principles inspire those who are
called to educate our youth. They are certainly very far
from the inspiring principles of the past and those of Don
Bosco which can be summarized for his boys in making of
them Good Christians and honest citizens.”
A Necessary Revision
A revision is necessary, looking at the fruits that we are
reaping among the teenagers in our society which is so
advanced; where not only the phenomenon of bullying,
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but in extreme cases scholastic indiscipline comes symbol-
ize the presence of public force in classrooms among the
more agitated students which were once like breezy Eng-
lish school classrooms. In an increasingly secularized soci-
ety, religious education seems to be banned and religious
culture that the past generations acquired is being set
aside and ignored. History is reinterpreted, without parti-
san prejudices and it no longer becomes a teacher of life.
That was why when Pope Francis suggests to young peo-
ple to rediscover the charms of I Promessi Sposi he seems to
sound almost anachronistic. Yet it is a useful novel to edu-
cate youngsters to the family vocation.
Throughout the apostolic exhortation Christus Vivit, the
Pope reminds us that the school is the privileged place for
the human person, and for this reason the Christian com-
munity should give it great attention but by training
teachers and leaders and by setting up its own schools
with all kinds of degrees.
Even in a state which defines itself as secular attention
to the human formation of adolescents should be the guid-
ing principle of the rulers themselves, committed to de-
fending the good, protecting them from media bombard-
ment that is inspired by violence, contempt for moral val-
ues, the spread of pornography and sensuality.
In our days, among groups of teenagers we often hear
them talking crudely, full of vulgar blasphemies uttered
by very young people who are not even aware of the of-
fence against the One blasphemed and in the presence of
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those who still have a sense of Christian moral sensibility.
Often adults are bad teachers who flaunt their vulgar and
crude language even on television shows and during pub-
lic entertainment. The same celebrities of sports and film
who are idolized by teenagers are not real models that we
should propose. They are often conditioned by the corrupt
world that often pushes them to end their lives miserably
driving them even to suicide.
Real models to propose to our youngsters
The Church has always had a precious spiritual herit-
age that should be made available to our teenagers. How
effective this spiritual patrimony would be, were it offered
to them as suggested by Pope Francis in the recent exhor-
tation Christus Vivit, the fruit of the Synod on Young peo-
ple: n. 229: “These and various other opportunities for evange-
lizing the young should not make us forget that, despite the
changing times and sensibilities of young people, there are gifts
of God that never grow old, for they contain a power transcend-
ing all times and places. There is the word of the Lord, ever liv-
ing and effective, the nourishing presence of Christ in the Eu-
charist, and the sacrament of Reconciliation, which brings us
freedom and strength. We can also mention the inexhaustible
spiritual riches preserved by the Church in the witness of her
saints and the teachings of the great spiritual masters. Although
we have to respect different stages of growth, and at times need
to wait patiently for the right moment, we cannot fail to invite
young people to drink from these wellsprings of new life. We
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have no right to deprive them of this great good.” (CV 229) In
this regard, we consider the teachings that John Bosco as-
similated as a teenager during the five years he spent in
Chieri as a student and then the five years he spent in the
seminary preparing himself to be a priest dedicating him-
self entirely for the good of youngsters and their educa-
tion.
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Don Bosco Educates his Boys
Finding Real Joy in the Saints
The month of November opens with the feast of All
Saints which demands that we think seriously about our
baptismal vocation which is our vocation to holiness.
It appropriately presents to us suitable pastoral pro-
gramme which can and must be directed to our teenagers:
“You can be holy wherever you are.”
This invitation is valid for all of us, but especially for
our youngsters whose hearts are still pure and innocent;
who still feel the fascination of striving for high ideals;
they are not made for mediocrity.
The Recipe for Holiness
Don Bosco believed in youthful sanctity and proposed
it to his youngsters. Remember his famous sermon: “It is
God’s will that we become saints. It is very easy to achieve this.
There is a great reward for those who strive for holiness.”
We know Dominic Savio’s reply: “I feel a great desire to
be a saint. I absolutely want to and I must be a saint… The gift I
ask for is to become a saint.” Don Bosco’s recipe was simple.
He told the lad that it was ‘easy’ to become a saint. It
meant living for the love of God, doing all one’s duties of
study, classes, play and the most ordinary tasks well. To
live continuously in a state of cheerfulness, with joy in
one’s heart so that others see the love that God has for
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each of us. He asked Dominic to be cheerful (he knew that
teenagers were like the sky in springtime: one moment
peaceful and the next dark and windy…). He invited him
to take part in recreation so as to become an apostle
among his companions. He protected him from premature
asceticism to which Dominic tended (it almost seemed
that Don Bosco repeated to him what Father Calosso told
him when he was 14 years old, advising him not to take on
a penance that was not suitable for his age.
It became contagious. Dominic would repeat to his
companions: “Here we make holiness consist in being very
cheerful.” It was precisely supposed to be a joy that comes
from God and is manifested in the exact fulfilment of
one’s duties done well for love of God. The most beautiful
fruit above all was winning the souls of his companions
for God. This involved a struggle against sadness which is
typical among teenagers. This meant removing the diabol-
ical temptation that finds its way into their souls telling
them that this is what happens when they let God enter
their souls. It makes them sad and depressed. Before pro-
posing these goals to his boys Don Bosco lived what he
taught and that was during his teenage years in Chieri,
despite the many constraints imposed on him by poverty
that would always accompany him not only during his
studies but throughout his life.
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Humility, a difficult virtue for a teenager
A teenager, especially if he is intellectually and physi-
cally gifted, is tempted to feel superior. He begins to mani-
fest it first to his parents at home then to his teachers and
his companions. He wants to assert that he is right and
this causes family clashes which might be boisterous and
sometimes there are violent confrontations with his eve-
ryday companions. Jealousy and arrogance prevent him
from recognizing his limitations and his mistakes and he
hardly thinks of apologizing, admitting that he is wrong.
This attitude is sometimes driven by his family itself and
for this reason he is ready to trample on others in order to
dominate the scene. Don Bosco said that such a teenager
makes himself so unpleasant; and with such attitudes and
intelligence, jealous and proud students turn out to be
seen as stupid and ignorant.
The sixteen year old John Bosco in Chieri was totally
different. Here is a significant testimony of a certain doc-
tor Carlo Allora of Castelnuovo d’Asti one of his compan-
ions at Chieri: “In 1888 he very clearly recalled that our John
during those years was never given to pride because of his tal-
ents. He never showed even a shred of affectation or ambition in
his demeanor and from his person transpired, I don’t know,
something extraordinary and supernatural. As a student he was
like a prefect over all his companions and although he had no
special charge, he was held as superior because that was what
everyone said. He was already a saint then!” That was what he
exclaimed enthusiastically concerning John’s teenage years.
Here is a significant episode concerning his humility: “Among
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his (John’s) other virtues John manifested humility in dealing
with his companions. In that same year a companion secretly
stole a notebook, copied a sonnet, changing a few words, after
which he sent it around to his companions attesting that it was
his work. While savouring the praises that everyone showered
on him, after a few days, that sheet reached John who, not claim-
ing the honour of such a work, kept silent, reluctant to shame his
friend but wrote at the bottom of the work the quote: ‘Est ne de
sacco ista farina tuo? [Was that wheat from your sack?] He
folded the sheet and returned it to the braggart” (Giovanni
Bosco a Chieri, Marco Bay, Las-Roma).
To excel in the capacity to be loved
In the school environment the desire to excel is normal
among teenagers and those who do not have great possi-
bilities in studies try to dominate the sports field or worse
use vulgarity and coarseness. John Bosco emerged very
differently through his capacity for friendship and kind-
ness.
“He was known in Chieri for his piety and gentleness, his
ability to excel in studies so much so that many families sought
him as tutor to their children, not just his classmates but even
those in the upper classes in humanities and rhetoric.
We have heard it said more than once about him during those
years: He was so good, he couldn’t be any better!
Among his companions he was considered a trusted advisor,
a wise guide and also a teacher in the ways of perfection.” (Gio-
vanni Bosco a Chieri, Marco Bay, Las-Roma).
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Intimacy with God is the fount of true joy and a prereq-
uisite for a fruitful apostolate
Getting our teenagers to rediscover intimacy and a
deep friendship with Jesus is urgent to detoxify them from
that moral pollution that fills their eyes, their thoughts
and their life’s ideals with spiritual smog.
The teenager John, certainly combined prayer and his
commitment to study, sometimes even at night, while he
waited for dawn to be of service so he could support him-
self.
He never forgot his mother’s advice when she accom-
panied him to the schools of Castelnuovo: Be devoted to the
Madonna. That was why, when he was in Chieri he went
every day to the Cathedral to kneel at the altar of Our Lady
of Grace as a tribute of filial affection and to obtain those
favours necessary for him to succeed well in the mission
she had entrusted to him. We know what a great help de-
votion to the Immaculate Conception is to a teenager liv-
ing the virtue of purity. He will feel Mary beside him in
his spiritual struggles and his temptations.
As long as he was an ordinary student in Chieri, John
Bosco persevered faithfully in his pious practice: visits and
prayer at the Cathedral, daily Masses and frequent Con-
fessions were the source of constant joy and it was a joy
that infected his peers. Doctor Gribaudi, his companion
told the superiors at the Oratory: “We were so relieved and
sighed when we were able to stay with him. Because of his beau-
tiful ways he was able to exert an irresistible charm over our
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hearts. Whenever I or my other companions surrounded him to
hear his advice, he would urge us to flee from evil and do good,
encouraging us with some appropriate examples, and this made
us happy.
He was most concerned about the poorest youngsters. On
feast days he went to the squares and streets in search of them,
to lead them with holy fervour to catechism. He sometimes ap-
peared in places where the most riotous people gathered and
placed himself in their midst to play their games, winning mon-
ey which he promised to return provided they followed him to
church. It was no wonder that he stole the hearts of so many
friends.
Doctor Marucco of Chieri said of him: “I admired him for
his modesty and meekness. I never heard him utter an inappro-
priate or impatient word. He was kind to everyone and was most
sought after by the students of the lower classes.
No one could say ‘no’ to him. He corrected his companions,
who after he had spoken, never dared to contradict him. There
was always a competition between professors and companions to
show him affection and to desire his company. He couldn’t have
been better than he was.” (Giovanni Bosco a Chieri, Marco Bay,
Las-Roma).
He sought to bring his friends to God, even adults, like
the sacristan of the Cathedral of Chieri whom he helped in
his studies and to pursue his priestly vocation. Following
some Jewish boys with their studies was his way of win-
ning their friendship and bringing them out of the ghetto
they had erected around themselves. This was the fruit of
his prayer and the secret of his joy. This seems to be the
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advice that needs to be given to youngsters so that they
are able to live their vocation to holiness here and now.
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Don Bosco Educates his Boys
Guarding their eyes to see the beauty of God
In preparing for Christmas every child’s eyes look for
the baby lying in teh manger. The beauty of God was
manifested in that child, in that teenager and in that
young man. We should help our teenagers to let their gaz-
es fall on the teenage Jesus there in that house of Nazareth.
We can imagine the captivating beauty of his face and es-
pecially his eyes, bright, pure and brimming with joy. The
feast of Christmas should encourage our reflection on the
importance of looking into the eyes of our children be-
cause they are the mirror of their souls. We can read in
them innocence, the joy of living and purity. Pope Francis,
in Panama, while addressing the young people from all
over the world recalled that Don Bosco learned to look, to
see everything that was happening in the city and to see
with the eyes of God and we can add read them in the
eyes of his boys.
The Eyes are the Mirror of the Soul
Don Bosco admits in his memoirs how he made use of
his eyes: “Though I was still pretty small, I was studying my
companions’ characters. When I looked closely at someone, I
would usually gauge what he was thinking. This gift won me
the love and esteem of the boys and I was in demand as judge or
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friend.” (MO, 27) The eyes are truly the mirror of the soul.
To look into the eyes of preadolescents and adolescents is
a bit like entering their inner worlds. Some have clear eyes
that reflect the innocence of the adolescent Jesus. Others
already show aggression, jealous, pride and sensuality.
Don Bosco also read the sins he saw there; that special gift
came from above. While we share the demonstrations of
young people in support of ecology and care for the envi-
ronment and its defence, we hope that our young people
will courageously protest against the moral pollution of
creation. This starts from the media that daily highlights
the evil that is being perpetrated around the world, while
they are not interested in showing the good that is being
done in families, by many voluntary groups, the solidarity
initiatives with the poorest of the poor. While we should
protect the eyes and hearts of our children, teenagers and
young adults from getting dirty through rampant pornog-
raphy. This is a scourge that is polluting the world, it is
making their ability to love die within them. We should at
least cultivate the hope of raising the eyes of our children
everyday to see the light which is always around us in the
good things that many Christians do in hiding, in their
everyday lives, in the love that the saints have sown in the
world. We should educate them to savour the beauty
around us and also notice the ugliness and evil in the way
they dress and their tattoos. This is the pollution that con-
trasts with the beauty of God and of his nature, but few
have the courage to talk about it and even less to start a
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campaign in defence of the spiritual creation and the true
beauty that reflects that of God.
Christmas manifests the goodness of God
The goodness of God our Saviour and his love for hu-
mankind appears at Christmas. Everyone feels better at
least for a day. To develop this goodness in our teenagers
is to help them to see the goodness of God in their actions
and in their eyes. If the image of the Child Jesus antici-
pates that gentleness and humility that he will ask of all
those who intend to follow him, we must imagine his face
and his teenage attitudes. While our kids see the seeds of
pride, jealousy, violence already in the family where their
personality develops with their little rebellions and their
provocations. In some of them the desire to dominate, to
tease, to provoke fear and submission in the most timid,
triggers the phenomenon of bullying which, above all in
the school environment, manifests itself more easily. Al-
ready in Don Bosco’s day when he was seventeen years
old these things occurred, so they are not so new and they
are becoming more frequent. Let’s see how he reacted to
these provocations inflicted on his weaker companions.
Here is how he speaks in particular of a friend two
years younger than him, Louis Comollo: “For several days
now I had been observing a boy about fifteen, a student who be-
haved so modestly as he walked through the streets, and who
spoke with such charm and courtesy to those who addressed him
that it filled me with wonder. My curiosity increased when I had
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an opportunity to observe the neatness of his work and his punc-
tuality at school. As soon as he had taken his assigned place, he
never stirred except to do something that duty prescribed.
“It was customary among students to joke and indulge in
horseplay in the classroom while the pupils entered. The wilder
ones among them and those least interested in their studies were
particularly fond of such pastimes, and generally acquired quite
a reputation for themselves. They would invite this gentle look-
ing boy to take part in their high jinks but he would always ex-
cuse himself, explaining that he was not good at that, not skillful
enough. Nevertheless, one morningone of thse fellows ap-
proached him while he was absorbed in a book, praying no atten-
tion whatever to the uproar the others were making around him.
Taking him by the arm, and shaking him rudely, this companion
demanded that he take part in their horseplay.
‘No, thanks,’ said the youth quietly, greatly embarrassed. ‘I
don’t know how. I’ve never played such games before. I would
only look very awkward.’
“’I don’t care,’ insisted the bully. ‘You have to join us, be-
cause if you don’t I’ll kick you and beat you until you do.’
“’You may beat me if you wish, but I don’t know how’ I can’t
and I won’t.’
“Upon realizing that the boy had no intention of giving up,
the bully gripped his arm, shoved him and then slapped him
twice across the face. The sound echoed through the classroom, I
was disgusted at the sight, and felt my blood boil. I was afraid
that the victim would give that insolent companion a taste of his
own medicine for he was much older and stronger than the ag-
gressor. But instead, the boy displayed another kind of spirit.
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Imagine my surprise when the youth, his face still scarlet and
smarting from the blow, cast a look of deep compassion on his
assailant and said: ‘If this makes you happy, you may go now
that you have and your way. I don’t care and have already for-
given you.’
“His heroic gesture reminded me of the words I had heard,
about a saintly student who was expected in town. I asked who
he was and where he came from, and then at once I realized that
this boy, Louis Comollo, was the nephew of the pastor of Cinza-
no and the very same boy whose virtues were praised in the
Marchisio boarding house.” The germs of violence are also
found in good young people who especially in the face of
injustice feel their blood boiling and that was how it was
for John Bosco. Here is his story again: “He was studying
the humanities, and therefore was a grade below me.” Don
Bosco wrote further, “but we were in the same school and had
the same teacher. From that time on we were close friends and I
can truly say that, thanks to him, I began to live as a real Chris-
tian. I put all my trust in him, and he put his in me. We needed
each other. He gave me spiritual assistance, I gave him physical
protection. Because of his great shyness, Comollo never even at-
tempted to defend himself against the insults of his rougher
schoolmates; but they respected me, even those who were older
and bigger than I, because I was very strong and not afraid to
take them on.
A Violent Provocation
“This was made all the clearer to them one day when several
of these bullies planned to annoy and beat up Comollo and an-
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other harmless boy named Anthony Candelo. I decided to inter-
vene but no one paid attention to me. ‘Whoever keeps bothering
these two had better watch out,’ I said loudly. Thereupon several
of them more brazen and strong among them assumed a threat-
ening and defensive stance toward me, while another dealt
Comollo two resounding slaps across his face. At that I com-
pletely forgot myself. Brute force and not reason was now mov-
ing me. I could not grab a chair or a stick because there was not
and so I gripped one of them by the shoulders and used him as a
battering ram against those bullies. I knocked four of them to the
floor and the others lost no time in taking to their heels. But that
wasn’t all. At that very moment our teacher entered the room,
and upon seeing arms and legs waving wildly amid a terrible
din he, too, began to swing right and left to restore order. The
storm was about to burst over my head, too, when he stopped to
ask the cause of all this commotion. After I had told him, he
wanted me to reenact my defence. It amused him greatly and he
began to laugh. Everybody else joined in and no further thought
was given to the punishment I might have deserved.”
Here we admire John’s humility in disclosing this fact.
It is difficult to persuade oneself that in his generous soul
there was no room for strong emotion on seeing his friend
being treated in this way. After the narration of the above,
we read again in Don Bosco’s own manuscript: “Comollo
taught me many other lessons. ‘John,’ he said to me as soon as
we were alone, ‘your strength scares me. Believe me, God didn’t
give it to you for slaughtering your companions. He wants us to
love one another, to forgive one another and to do good to those
who do evil to us.’ Mild-tempered as he was he was never seen
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to quarrel with his companions, but remained patient and affa-
ble. I greatly admired his spirit of charity and put myself entire-
ly in his hands, letting him guide me as he wished. Together
with another friend of ours [William] Garigliano, we went to
confession and to Communion. We met for meditation and spir-
itual readings, visited the Blessed Sacrament and served Mass.
Comollo knew how to invite us to these activities with such
goodness, gentleness and courtesy that it was quite impossible to
refuse him.” This is how true friendships are born among
teenagers.
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