1. Any person, even someone living in the world, at home, in the bosom of his family, can belong to our society.

2. He does not take vows; but he will try to put into practice that part of the rule that is compatible with his age, status and circumstances such as teaching or promoting the teaching of catechism to poor children, spreading good books; organising triduums, novenas, retreats and other similar works of charity aimed especially at the spiritual good of the young or the common people.

3. In order to share in the spiritual benefits of the society the member should at least promise the rector that he will be involved in those things that the rector judges to redound to the greater glory of God.

4. Such a promise of course shall not be binding under pain of sin, not even venial sin.

5. Every member of the Society who leaves the same for a reasonable cause is regarded as an external member and can still share in the spiritual benefits of the entire Society, so long as he practices that part of the rule prescribed for external members.

As soon as the work of the Oratories began in 1841 some pious and zealous priests and lay people soon came to help work in the harvest which was then an abundant one amongst the class of young people at risk. These collaborators or cooperators were always the support of the pious works that Divine Providence had put in our hands. Each one tried to work and fit in with the discipline in force and the norms proposed, but they all asked for a rule that would serve as a basis and a bond for preserving uniformity and spirit in these popular institutions. We hope that this desire will be satisfied by the present small booklet. It does not contain rules for the festive Oratories or houses of education, which have separate rules, but is a commitment by which Catholics who so desire can be associated with the Salesians and work according to common and stable norms until such time as these become fixed and stable enough to preserve the traditional practice and purpose. …

Thus those who wish to exercise their charity by working for the salvation of souls beyond the great reward proclaimed by Saint Augustine: animam salvasti, animam tuam praedestinasti,³ will ensure a great treasure for their souls thanks to the holy indulgences.

May the Lord God, rich in graces and blessings, pour out his abundant heavenly favours on all those who lend their efforts to win souls for Jesus our Saviour, do good for youth at risk, prepare good Christians for the Church, upright citizens for civil society, so that one day they may all be fortunate inhabitants of Heaven. Amen.

Turin, 12 July, 1876.

Fr John Bosco

Christians need to come together in good works

Good [Christians] have at all times seen the necessity of uniting in order to help one another in doing good and in avoiding evil. This is the example that the faithful of the early Church left us. Faced with impending dangers every day, they did not give up. United as one heart and one soul, they encouraged one another to be steadfast in the faith and to stand ready to overcome the assaults that relentlessly threatened them. This is also what the Lord taught us when he said: “Feeble forces that unite become strong. A single strand may be easily broken, but a three-ply cord is hard to break: Vis unita fortior; funiculus triplex difficile rumpitur.⁴ Even men of the world are used to doing this in their temporal affairs. Should the children of the light be less prudent than the children of the dark? Certainly not. We Christians must unite in these difficult times to foster the spirit of prayer charity administered by religion in every way possible and so remove or at least mitigate the evils that threaten the morality of growing youth, in whose hands lies the destiny of civil society.

The Salesian Congregation, bond of union 

The Salesian Congregation, having been definitively approved by the Church, may provide a sure and stable bond uniting the Salesian Cooperators. Its primary purpose is to work for the good of young people, on whom the happy or evil future of society depends. We make no claim that what we are proposing is the only means to achieve that end. There are a thousand other ways, and therefore we urge everyone to freely use the means that seem most conducive to that great goal. The way we are proposing, one of the many, is the Work of the Salesian Cooperators. We are inviting good Catholics living in the world to join their efforts to those of the members of this our Congregation. True, the number of Salesians has grown considerably, but it is unequal by far to the numerous requests for help that we are receiving every day from various parts of Italy and of Europe, from China, Australia and the Americas, from the Argentine Republic in particular. These insistent requests are for sacred ministers who would undertake the care of young people at risk, who would open houses and schools, and who would initiate or sustain missionary activity in places where evangelical workers are greatly needed and desired. It is in order to respond to all these needs that we are looking for cooperators.

Purpose of the Salesian Cooperators 

The principal purpose of the Salesian Cooperators is the spiritual good of the members themselves through their embracing a way of life similar, in so far as it is possible, to that of religious living in community. Many people would willingly embrace the cloistered life, but cannot do so because of age, health or state in life, but mostly for lack of opportunity. They may, however, while continuing in their daily occupations and living with their family, become Cooperators and so live in effect as members of the Congregation.

Because of this, the Supreme Pontiff regards this association as a kind of traditional Third Order, but with a difference. While in those third orders Christian perfection was made to consist in exercises of piety, in this association the principal purpose is the active life engaged in the exercise of charity toward neighbor, especially toward young people at risk.

Style of cooperation 

The Salesian Cooperators share the same harvest as the Congregation of St. Francis de Sales, to which they wish to be associated.

1. The members shall promote novenas, triduums, spiritual retreats and catechetical instruction, especially in places where material and moral means are lacking.

2. The scarcity of priestly vocations in these times of ours is felt in all its severity. Hence, those members who are in a position to help shall take special care of youngsters, and adults as well, who have the necessary moral qualities and an aptitude for study, and show signs of a vocation. They can help them with timely advice, and by directing them toward those schools and boarding establishments where they may receive nurture and guidance. The Work of Mary Help of Christians is directed precisely to this purpose.

3. [There’s an urgent need to] counter the irreligious press by good press. Hence members can help by spreading good books, leaflets and all kinds of printed matter, in those places and among those families in which acceptance may prudently be expected.

4. Finally there is the exercise of charity to youth at risk by taking them in, instructing them in the faith, getting them to take part in religious functions, advising them of dangers, taking them to where they can be instructed in religion. These are all are part of the harvest for the Salesian Cooperators. Those who are personally unable to carry out these works might do so through others, such as by encouraging a relative or friend to do so. Everything recommended for boys at risk is also recommended for girls in a similar situation.

5. One can cooperate through prayer or by providing material means where needed, following the example of the early faithful who laid their goods at the feet of the Apostles so they could be used on behalf of widows, orphans and others in serious need.

Constitutions and government of the Association 

1. Whoever is at least sixteen years old can become a Cooperator, so long as this person has the firm intention of abiding by the rules proposed here.

2. The Association is humbly commended to the kindness and protection of the Supreme Pontiff, bishops, parish priests on whom it will be absolutely dependent in all things pertaining to religion.

3. The Superior of the Salesian Congregation is also the Superior of this Association.

4 The rector of each house of the Congregation is authorised to enrol members. He will pass on on the name, surname and place of residence to the Superior who will note everything down in the common register.

5. In towns and cities where none of these houses yet exist and where there are at least ten members, one will be appointed as group leader [called a 'decurion'], preferably a priest or an exemplary lay person. He will correspond with the Superior, or with the rector of the nearest house.

6. Each Cooperator if necessary may indicate to the Superior things that he believes should be taken into consideration.

7. Every three months and even more often, by means of a bulletin or printed leaflet, members will be given a report on things proposed, done or indicated for future action. At the end of each year members will be advised of projects that should be given priority in the coming year, and at the same time will be advised of the members who were called to eternal life in the previous year. They will be recommend to the prayers of all. On St Francis de Sale's Feast day and on the Feast of Mary Help of Christians each rector, each decurion [group leader] will bring his Cooperators together for mutual encouragement in devotion to these heavenly protectors, calling on their patronage so they may persevere in the works they have begun according to the purpose of the Association.

Particular obligations 

1. The members of the Salesian Congregation will regard all Cooperators as brothers and sisters in Jesus Christ and will turn to them any time their work could redound to the greater glory of God and to the advantage of souls. Cooperators, when necessary, will turn to members of the Salesian Congregation with the very same freedom.

2. All members, then, since they are all children of our heavenly Father, all brothers and sisters in Jesus Christ, will do what they can with their own material means or those collected from charitable people, to promote and support the works of the Association.

3. Cooperators have no financial obligation but will make a monthly or annual offering as the charity of their heart may prompt. These offerings will be sent to the Superior to support works promoted by the Association.

4. At least two conferences will be given each year: one on the Feast of Mary Help of Christians, the other on the Feast of St Francis de Sales. A collection will be taken up at each of these conferences, as indicated in the preceding item (3). In places where the Cooperators have not yet reached ten in number or where someone cannot attend the conference, the offering will be sent to its destination through whatever means is easiest and safest.

Advantages 

1. His Holiness, Pius IX currently reigning, in his decree dated 30 July 1875, grants the benefactors of this Congregation and the Salesian Cooperators, all the favours, spiritual graces and indulgences granted the Salesian religious, except for those referring to common life.

2. They will share in all the Masses, prayers, novenas, triduums, retreats, sermons, teaching of catechism and all the works of charity that Salesian religious carry out by their sacred ministry anywhere in the world.

3. They will also share in the Masses and prayers offered each day in the church of Mary Help of Christians in Turin, calling down Heaven's blessings on their benefactors, families and especially those who morally or materially offer charity to the Salesian Congregation.

4. On the day following the Feast of St Francis de Sales all Salesian priests and priests who are Cooperators will celebrate Holy Mass for deceased members. Those who are not priests will endeavour to go to holy Communion and recite a third part of the Rosary.

5. When a member is ill, the Superior will be quickly advised. He will quickly see that special prayers are offered to God for him [or her]. The same will be done in the case of the death of any Cooperator.

Religious exercises 

1. No external practices are prescribed for Salesian Cooperators, but so their lives may be somewhat similar to those who live in the religious community they are encouraged to be modest in attire, frugal at table, simple in their domestic arrangements, blameless in speech, exact in carrying out the duties of their state, and see that people who are dependent on them observe and keep Sundays holy.

2. They are advised to make some days of retreat each year. On the last day of each month or on another day that is more suitable, they will make the exercise for a happy death, going to Confession and Communion as if it were really the last day of their life. Both at the retreat and on the day they make the exercise for a happy death they will acquire the plenary indulgence following what the Church prescribes.

3. Each one will say each day an Our Father, Hail Mary to St Francis de Sales for the intentions of the Supreme Pontiff. Priests and others who say the canonical hours or the office of the Blessed Virgin are dispensed from this prayer. It is sufficient for them to add this intention in the divine office.

4 They should endeavour to go more often to the holy Sacraments of Confession and Communion; that way each one can gain a plenary indulgence each time.

5. These plenary and partial indulgences can be applied in suffrage for the souls in purgatory, except for the indulgence 'in articulo mortis' which is exclusively personal and can only be gained when the soul has left the body for eternity.

Turin, September 1877

In our Regulations, my worthy Cooperators, it is laid down that a monthly Bulletin is to be published, giving you a report on things done or to be done in view of the aims proposed for us. We are now following up this common desire, so that each one can carry out his work in unity of spirit and address all our concerns to one common end: the glory of God, the good of civil society.

We consider that the Booklover [Bibliofilo cattolico] will serve this purpose, a bulletin printed at our printing press in Turin from this year onwards and which in future will be printed at our Hospice in Sampierdarena. This Bulletin of ours will offer:

1. Things that members and their rectors want to offer for the general and particular good of members, and practical norms for Cooperators.

2. Exposition of facts that are fruitful for members and can serve as an example for others. So, things that have happened or that we have heard about or read so long as they are tied to the good of humanity and religion; news and letters from missionaries working for the faith in Asia, Australia and especially from Salesians spread throughout South America amongst the savages - all this is good material for us.

3. Communications, notices of various kinds, projects we have in mind; books and maxims which should be spread around, will make up a third of the Bulletin.

By presenting our thinking this way we are responding to the question coming from everywhere, wanting to know what the practical purpose of the Cooperators is.

The title of the certificate or booklet given to Cooperators explains the purpose. But we will give a brief explanation here just the same. Salesian Cooperators are those who want to get involved in charitable works, not just generally but specifically, in unison with and according to the spirit of the Congregation of St Francis de Sales.

A Cooperator can do good by him or herself; but the results are very limited and mostly do not last long. By contrast, when working together with others there is support, advice, courage, and often with simple effort much can be done, because even weak forces become strong when they work together. Herewith the great saying that united efforts bring strength, vis unita fortior.

Therefore our Cooperators, by following the purpose of the Salesian Congregation, work according to their strengths to bring together youngsters at risk and left to their own devices in the streets and squares; teaching them catechism, being with them on Sundays and holy days, seeing that they are with an upright employer, guiding them, advising them, helping them as much as possible to become good Christians and upright citizens.

The guidelines to be followed in works proposed for Cooperators to this end will be material for the Salesian Bulletin.

We add the words: in a practical way, to note that here we are not setting up a confraternity, nor a religious, literary or scientific association, not even a newspaper; it is a simple union of benefactors of humanity who are ready to dedicate not promises but deeds, concerns, sacrifices and disturbances to help our neighbour. The words in a practical way, are there because we do not intend to say that this is the only way of doing good in the midst of civil society; indeed we approve of and have the highest praise for all institutions, unions, public and private associations aimed at benefiting humanity and we ask God to send all of them the moral and material means they need to continue on, make progress and achieve their purpose.

We in turn intend to propose here a way of working and this way is proposed through Salesian Cooperators Association.

The words: useful for morality, make it even more clearly known what we want to do and what our common intention is.

Outside of politics, we constantly keep away from anything that might go against someone constituted in civil or ecclesiastical authority. Our program is this and unalterably so: let us look after poor and abandoned youth, and we will make every effort to do the greatest good we can for them, knowing that it can be useful for morality and civilisation.

Fr. John Bosco

16 May 1878

I do not know, worthy Cooperators - I do not know if I should first thank you or invite you to thank the Lord together for having brought us together in this compact body and put us in the position of being able to do great good and for having brought us here together this evening for the first conference for Salesian Cooperators in Turin.

But before coming to anything else, I want to tell you a little bit of the history of what the Salesian Cooperators here in Turin have already done and what their task is at this time. So listen.

Thirty five years ago the area presently occupied by this church served as a place for gathering young people at risk. They came here to fight and curse. There were two houses nearby which gave great offence to the lord: one was a tavern where drunkards and all kinds of bad people came; the other, right here where the pulpit now stands and extending off to my left, was a house of ill-repute and immorality. Then a poor priest arrived and rented two rooms in this very house at an exaggerated price. The priest was accompanied by his mother. Their aim was to see if they could do some good for the people in the vicinity. All the assets they had were a hand-basket they carried, with a number of items in it. Well then, this priest saw young people coming here to get into mischief, and he was able to approach them and the Lord saw that what he said was listened to and understood. He immediately saw the need for a chapel for divine worship. Starting from the epistle side of this high altar and going off to the right as you look, there was a shed that served as an outhouse. He was able to get hold of it and having nothing else, adapted it as a church. These problematic youngsters, little by little were attracted to and came to church, and their number soon grew so much that it was filled, and in the little square where this church is now, we taught catechism, since the church couldn't hold them all.

Now this priest was alone. But he had the very zealous priest Fr Borel, who had done so much good in Turin, come to help; but working as he was in the prisons, helping those condemned to death, in work at the Cottolengo, with the Marchioness Barolo, the Refuge and other things, he could only be there for a while since his life lay elsewhere. The Lord provided for what was lacking and gradually various worthy ecclesiastics joined the poor priest, some hearing confessions, some preaching, others teaching catechism, lending a hand. And that is how the work of the Oratory was supported by these worthy ecclesiastics. But this was not enough. Given the growing need also for Sunday and evening schools, a handful of priests was not enough. Then various gentlemen also began to lend a hand. It was Divine Providence that sent them and through them good work was multiplying. These first Salesian Cooperators, priests and lay people, were not concerned about discomfort and effort, but seeing the good that was done and how many rough boys set out on the path to virtue, they sacrificed themselves. I saw many of them leave their comforts and come not only every Sunday, but even every day in Lent, even at very inconvenient times for them, but the best time for the boys, and they came and helped the work of the Oratory.

Meanwhile time passed and there was an even more felt need to help these children, including materially. Some had their pants and jacket in tatters and hanging off them, even at the expense of their modesty; some had no change of clothing, just the torn shirt on their back. This was when the kindness and usefulness of the Cooperators began to shine out. I would now like, to the glory of these good people from Turin, to tell you how many of them, even though their families were hard up, saw no shame in taking those jackets and pants and patching them with their own hands; they took the torn shirts, which had maybe never seen water before, they themselves took them, I say, and washed them, patched them up to give them back to the boys again. The boys were attracted by this Christian charity and stayed on at the Oratory and persevered in the practice of virtue. Many of these worthy people then sent clothing, money, food and whatever else they could. Some of them are here at the moment listening to me and many others have already been called by the Lord to receive the reward for their labours and charitable works.

So this is how, with the help of many people, Cooperators, men and women, things could be achieved that each one separately could never have done. With such powerful help of priests, men and women, what happened then? Thousands of boys came for religious instruction to the very same place where earlier they had learned to curse; they came to learn virtue in this very place that had been the focus of immorality. We were able to open Sunday and evening schools and the poorest and most neglected of the boys were taken in, and in 1852 the little square became this church And the house became a hospice for poor boys. All this is your work, my worthy Cooperators.

They continued to help and others were added to their number every day. We were able to open another two oratories in two other parts of the city, one in Vanchiglia called the Guardian Angel which, after the parish church of St Julia was built, moved next to the parish; the other, called St Aloysius, was opened at Porta Nuova. The church of St John the Evangelist is being built next to this.

But these deeply felt needs in Turin were beginning to be felt in other cities and towns too and given the constant help of the Cooperators, they were able to establish a rule and then extend beyond Turin. It was necessary for the great lack of clergy felt throughout Piedmont and beyond to be compensated for by the Cooperators. How could they do that? The Catholic religion does not look to just a place, city, town; it is universal and wherever it wants good to be done and wherever the need is greater, there the religion asks for greater efforts. So a house was opened at Mirabello, then another at Lanzo, then more and more elsewhere. There is now a hundred or more that have been opened, counting churches and houses and more than 25 thousand boarding or day boys receiving religious instruction in our houses. Who does all this? One priest? No! Two, ten, fifty? Not even that. They would not have achieved so much There were so many Cooperators who banded together to help these few priests in every town, city. Yes, it was them, but not only them. Ah yes! We need to recognise God's hand. He wanted so much good work to come out of nothing. Yes, it is Divine Providence that sent so many means to save so many souls. If it hadn't been the Lord who wanted this, I would say that it would have been impossible for anyone to have done so much. But the need was real and great and the Lord sends great help for great needs. And these needs are growing greater and more demanding by the day. Will the Lord abandon us?

This is what I tell you. It is a firm reality that the needs are growing by the day. Oh if you could only see how many requests from all over the world are answered because we can open houses for poor and abandoned youth. If you only knew how many places feel a need which in times past only seemed to be obvious in the big cities. You would be astonished. And how much the mission need is growing now. Note that it is no longer a case of life being challenged amongst the savages by the dangers of martyrdom or great suffering. Now they themselves are beginning to appreciate their miserable state and want to be educated. It is they themselves, I say, who are reaching out to us, asking us to go and civilise them, teach them the religion without which they acknowledge their life is unhappy. These requests for missions are coming from everywhere. From India, China, Santo Domingo, Brazil, the Argentine Republic, heart-rending requests are coming, such that if while talking to you now I were able to say I had two thousand missionaries, I would immediately know where to send them, and would be sure of the results they would bring. So even in the missions good has been done through the work of the Oratories and we hope that with the support and help of the Cooperators this good work can be increased a thousand times for the greater glory of God.

Then there is another work done by these Oratories, a work that I don't want published, but it would be good for you to know about it. This is the work of looking for boys with good will and giving them the means to become priests. The number of the Lord's ministers, as you see, is decreasing daily by frightening proportions. So we have looked for boys everywhere that give real signs of hope, we have brought them together, got them to study and now, with the Lord's blessings on this work, hundreds and hundreds of priests have come from our houses. Do you want me to secretly tell you how many clerics we had last year? Listen. From all of our houses in Italy, France, Uruguay and the Argentine Republic last year we had 300 clerics. Most of these go back to their dioceses but just to tell you of one, look at the Casale diocese: out of 42 clerics in the seminary, 34 came from our houses. Others become religious, others go to the missions or stay with us and help us with everything they can. So do you see where your alms, your help and charity goes?

Another and no small effort is to shore up against the heresy that threatens to invade our cities and towns. It is devastating Catholic countries and spreading further as freedom spreads in the world of politics; because when in the name of freedom we give open slather to evil to operate, and we put restrictions on the work of the good, there will always be sad consequences. So we sought to challenge heresy and impiety with books well adapted to this purpose, and with much effort and at great expense we printed them and disseminated them amongst the Catholic people. But the books don't achieve everything. We saw the need, like a sentry keeping watch in places where there is greatest danger, to place a squad of soldiers at least to paralyse evil, and so near the Protestant church, since 1847 we have opened the Oratory of St Aloysius, and now after so much research and effort we have managed to start building the church of St. John the Evangelist. Construction is under way.

At S. Pier d’Arena heresy was also threatening and here we built a hospice. In Nice, right next to the Protestant church, we built the Patronage of St Peter. Heresy had already made extraordinary inroads at La Spezia: here we made every effort and now there are some appropriate schools. I don't want to talk about everything along these lines, but I want to tell you what happened at Ventimiglia. Here, given the increase in the population, a valley known as Valle Crosia filled up with homes. The number of inhabitants grew to a hundred, then to a thousand. Since they were all new homes, nobody thought of a church or they were unable to build one. The Protestants, seeing how convenient this was, built a nice centre or large building there which served as a hospice and school, and also a church. Given that there were no other schools, the inhabitants of the valley were attracted to them and many started attending their church. The bishop did not know what to do; building a church, setting it up as a parish are things that the private individual can no longer do these days. We were called on and we willingly began work. We did not have the means, but Providence helped us, and since we could not do anything else, we rented a house, adjusted the ground floor a bit, made an altar and then we had a church. In the rooms off to the right and on the first floor we opened two classrooms for boys; in the rooms on the left of this little church we called in the Sisters of Mary Help of Christians and they opened classes for girls. What a change! The festive oratory attracted big and small, and all the people living around could attend Mass; the boys' classrooms filled up immediately; those for the girls as well. Things then took such a turn that now the Protestant schools are absolutely closed because there is nobody, not a single boy or girl, attending them. Many who had started going to the Protestant church, able to come to the Sacraments for Easter, abandoned the place that had become a centre of heresy in Liguria.

All these various works would be impossible for one person alone. We need to have Cooperators. Their subsidies for example help us go out there and set up the early stages: then the Cooperators come and set up in the place itself and things make progress. Without the work of the Cooperators, the Salesians would be stranded and unable to exercise their zeal. It is true that we always encounter many difficulties in achieving these works but the Lord sees that they can always be overcome.

This year, then, the difficulties have multiplied; just the same we see that the Lord's hand is always supporting us. Our incomparable benefactor, Pius IX, died this year; it was Pius IX who approved the Cooperators Association and enriched it with so many wonderful indulgences; it was Pius IX who wanted to be enrolled as the first Salesian Cooperator; it was Pius IX who never missed a good occasion to benefit us. He died, but the Lord saw that his successor was Leo XIII. I presented myself to him and spoke to him of the Salesian Cooperators. I asked him to allow his august name, like the name of his predecessor of happy memory, to appear amongst the Salesian Cooperators. And once he was well informed of their spirit, he added: “I do not intend to be only a Salesian Cooperator, but an operator. Should not the Pope be the first to contribute to works of charity?” So this is how, when we had lost a father, the Lord saw that we would have another no less kind than the first. This very year a number of worthy people have died who have been of great help to the Oratory; but the Lord saw that others took their place and the charity of the faithful has not left us lacking what we need.

So now, here is what has to be the more direct purpose of the Salesian Cooperators; this is what they need to take up. They need to continue the works begun, the ones I have spoken of; indeed these works need to increase a hundredfold. We need people and means for this. We sacrifice our people: every day the Lord sends us personnel who are ready for any kind of sacrifice, even giving their lives for the salvation of souls. People are not enough: we need the means. And this is your task, worthy Cooperators. I give you the task of finding the material means; see that they are not lacking. Note well how great the Lord's grace is; he puts the means in your hands for cooperating in the salvation of souls. Ah yes, the salvation of many souls is in your hands. We have seen, from what I have told you, that the salvation of so many souls results from the cooperation of good people.

So now it is time for me to thank you. But what thanks can I give? I cannot do it. If I were to thank you for your good works it would be too little a recompense. So I will leave the Lord to thank you for it. Yes, I have said many times that he considers what is done for our neighbour as done to himself. and it is also certain that charity which is not strictly corporal but which also has a spiritual aim, has even greater merit. I could say that it not only has a greater value, but a divine one. The Fathers agreed with what St.. Dionysius said: Divinorum divinissimum est cooperari Deo in salutem animarum.⁷ And explaining this passage with St Augustine, he says that this divine work is an absolute pledge of one's own predestination: Animam salvasti, animam tuam praedestinasti.⁸

Do you want to do something good? Educate the young. Do you want to do something holy? Educate the young. Do you want to do something very holy? Educate the young. Do you want to do something divine? Educate the young. Amongst divine things, this is the most divine.

Oh! If you are part of all this good I have been hinting at, you can be sure of saving your own soul. So I leave him to give you special thanks. Just know that in the church of Mary Help of Christians morning and evening, and I could say all day, there are special prayers for you, that the Lord may be able to thank you with the words that he will say to you on that decisive day of judgement. Euge, serve bone et fidelis…⁹ make sacrifices, but keep in mind that Jesus Christ sacrificed himself far more and that we will never ever get even near to the sacrifice he made for us. Those who make the effort to imitate him in making sacrifices to save souls can have the peace of mind that animam salvasti, animam tuam praedestinasti is no exaggeration and that they will certainly be crowned with the intra in gaudium Domini tui¹⁰ that I so earnestly desire and pray for all of you.