To the Rector of the St Nicolás de los Arroyos College, Fr Domenico Tomatis

E IX, 4238

"Always be a friend and father to our confreres; help them in every way you can in spiritual and temporal matters; but know how to use them in everything that can contribute to the greater glory of God."

Mathi, 14 August 1885

My dear Fr Tomatis,

Receiving your letters so rarely leads me to believe that you are very busy; I believe this to be true; but giving news of yourself to your dear Don Bosco certainly deserves to be among the matters not to be neglected. What to write? You ask me. Write about your health and the health of our confreres; whether the rules of the Congregation are being faithfully observed; whether the exercise for a happy death is being practised and how. The number of pupils and the hopes they give you for success. Are you doing anything to cultivate vocations, do you have any hope? Is Monsignor Ceccarelli still a friend of the Salesians? I await these answers with great pleasure.

As my life is rapidly drawing to a close, the things I want to write to you in this letter are those I would recommend to you in the last days of exile: my will and testament for you.

Dear Don Tomatis: keep in mind that you became a Salesian to save yourself; preach and recommend the same truth to all our confreres. Remember that it is not enough to know things, but you must practise them. May God help us that the words of the Saviour do not apply to us: Dicunt enim et non faciunt.

Try to see your own affairs with your own eyes. When someone makes mistakes or is negligent, warn them promptly without waiting for the evil to multiply.

With your exemplary way of life, with charity in speaking, in commanding, in bearing with the faults of others, you will win many to the Congregation.

Recommend constantly receiving the sacraments of confession and communion.

The virtues that will make you happy in time and in eternity are humility and charity.

Always be a friend and father to our confreres; help them in every way you can in spiritual and temporal matters; but know how to use them in everything that can contribute to the greater glory of God.

Every thought I express in this letter needs to be explained at some length. You can do this for yourself and for others.

May God bless you, my dear Fr Tomatis; give my warmest regards to all our confreres, friends and benefactors. Tell them that I pray for them every morning at Holy Mass, and that I humbly commend myself to the prayers of all.

May God grant that we may still see each other in this mortal exile, but that we may one day praise the holy names of Jesus and Mary in blessed eternity. Amen.

I will write to you shortly or have other things of some importance written to you.

May Mary keep us all steadfast and guide us on the path to heaven. Amen.

Yours most affectionately in Jesus Christ,

Fr John Bosco