New interest and translations (Fr: 1978; Br: 1982; It: 1985; Eng: 1989…)
DB wanted to define his understanding of an overall educative experience and formulate an “action programme” (Braido)
He highlighted the purposes of the Oratory which God wanted: It is a religious and pedagogical poem; a re-reading of the past in a theological mode (Stella)
The MO are DB’s richest book in terms of content and preventive directions; a handbook of pedagogy and spirituality in story form (Braido)
In the MO:
Don Bosco reviews his personal formational journey;
And at the same time his mental schemes emerge,
Spiritual traits of his interior world,
The model of educator and pastor dear to him,
The most original and distinguishing style of his Oratory.
By command from above [authority] (MO, Introduction)
Belief: The Oratory was willed by God for the salvation of the young, therefore a need to present its beginnings, purposes, method…
A critical moment for Don Bosco’s work:
For external reasons. Approval of the Congregation and tensions with Archbishop Gastaldi: Need for an historical reflection and basis
For internal reasons. The development of Salesian work: Spiritual and pedagogical formation of his disciples and to clarify charismatic identity