Mission Today vol. Xlll (2011)

A SPIRITUAL PORTRAIT OF DON BOSCO

Jose Varickasseril

Introduction

The participants at the XXVI General Chapter of the Salesians of Don Bosco began their deliberations and reflections on a very relevant theme, namely “Starting afresh from Don Bosco.”¹ The point of departure for the reflections was article 21 of the Constitutions of the Salesian society. This article stresses the need to study and imitate Don Bosco and admire in him the splendid harmony of nature and grace. The participants of the General Chapter offered concrete guidelines in order to return to Don Bosco. The entire congregation was invited to avoid a superficial knowledge of Don Bosco and take up a serious and committed study of the history, pedagogy, ministry and spirituality of the Father and Founder of the Institute.² At the conclusion of the General Chapter, the Salesian family was also reminded of important events in the congregation like the 150^th anniversary of its founding (Dec 18^th 1859), the 100^th anniversary of the death of Blessed Michel Rua (Don Bosco’s successor), and the bicentenary of the birth of St. John Bosco (2015).

Given these varying contexts, we have multiple reasons to make a serious reflection on Don Bosco, priest and educator. I am happy to make a few reflections on the multi-faceted personality of Don Bosco, who was indeed a versatile genius. John Paul II declared him the father and teacher of the young. Don Bosco was a zealous priest concerned all the time for the salvation of everyone who came into contact with him and of the young in particular. He was a trusted liaison between the papacy and the emerging Italian nation. He was a Christian educator whose contribution to the cause of education was phenomenal. He was the founder of various congregations and movements which continue to render invaluable service in the Church and in the world. Pius IX rightly referred to Don Bosco as a “giant of sanctity”.³ Here we should like to highlight a few aspects of Don Bosco who was deeply human and deeply holy.

Don Bosco Treasured Knowledge

As a young boy John Bosco struggled on account of the ordeals that he had to face in order to study. The political and economic situation of Italy then offered to poor young lads little or no encouragement in the field of education. John Bosco himself narrates in his memoirs that when returning from school, he had the hoe in one hand and the grammar book in the other. He studied on the way to and back from the school.⁴ He covered twelve and a half miles a day in order to do his schooling.⁵ When studying in Chieri from 1830, he was even allowed double promotions because of his diligence and hard work.⁶ Despite poverty and penury he succeeded in reaching his goal. He became a learned and erudite person who could walk into any scholarly circle.

Endowed with a brilliant memory, John Bosco could quote extensively from famous Italian poets, historians and writers like Dante Alighieri (1265-1321), Francesco Petrarcha (1304-1374), Torquato Tasso (1544-1595), Giuseppe Parini (1729-1799), Vincenzo Monti (1754-1828) and several others.⁷ He had too a hunger for Latin classics. In fact two-thirds of the night he read books that he borrowed from a Jewish bookseller [Elijah by name]. Already as a young seminarian he devoured the Latin classics of Cornelius Nepos, Cicero, Sallust, Quintus Curtius, Livy, Tacitus, Ovid, Vergil, Horace etc.⁸ By reading the works of these historians and poets, John Bosco became a cultivated person.

His interest was not limited to reading the secular and the mundane. He read the Imitation of Christ. He perused the History of the Old and New Testaments by Calmet. He read Jewish Antiquities and the Jewish War of Flavius Josephus [37-101]. John Bosco also read other religious works like those of Marchetti, Frayssinous, Balmes, Zucconi, Cavalca, Passavanti, Segneri. He loved the history of the Church; so much so that he read Histoire générale de l’église, the twelve volume work of Mathieu Richard Auguste Henrion (1805-1862).⁹

During the seminary days at Chieri, besides Latin and Italian, John Bosco studied Greek, Hebrew and French. As a seminarian he even taught Greek to others. His companions used to consult him on various subjects because of his amazing learning. On May 15^th 1841, John Bosco completed his examinations and was awarded a plus quam optime.¹⁰ Later he would demand serious study of theology from his candidates to the priesthood. Regarding the admission to ordination of a candidate, Don Bosco had this to say: “Demand both moral stability and theological knowledge from him, and make sure he has adequate marks in the theological tracts on which he is examined. There should be no laziness.”¹¹

After his priestly ordination [June 5^th 1841], Don Bosco entered the St. Francis of Sales Institute for Higher Studies on 3 November 1841. It was known as the Convitto Ecclesiastico and was founded by Don Guala [1775-1848).¹² Here he studied further courses in moral theology and sacred eloquence, completing his programme of studies in 1844.¹³ For Don Bosco, this was a time to attain religious maturity and priestly qualities.

Don Bosco was a voracious reader not only as a young boy and seminarian but also later in life in the thick of a hectic life. He was able to bring into his writing ministry the fruits of all that he had read. He could engage in a conversation almost on any topic – politics, law, medicine, war, philosophy etc. On one occasion a lawyer referred to Don Bosco as “a walking encyclopedia”.¹⁴ Even the Popes and renowned ecclesiastics consulted him due to his wide knowledge and people from all walks of life came to see him because they took him to be a knowledgeable and holy priest.

Don Bosco Took his Priestly Formation Seriously

John Bosco put heart and soul into his preparation for the priesthood. He loved and respected his superiors. He gave great importance to his intellectual and spiritual preparation. He was mature, staid and orderly. With the diligent fulfilment of his duties he won the affection of his superiors. During the summer vacation, he continued his apostolic and pastoral formation by helping students with tuition. The tuition was gratis but he insisted on diligence, concentration and monthly confession from them. During the holidays, he also took up the ministry of preaching. His sermons were embellished with scriptural quotations.¹⁵ The resolutions that he took when donning the cassock [25 October 1835] and again on the day of priestly ordination [5 June 1841] are indicative of the seriousness that he brought into the preparation for his priestly life and ministry. Whatever smacked of a worldly mentality even when not objectively wrong he took care to avoid. Study, piety and apostolate characterized his days in the seminary.

Don Bosco narrates how he learnt from the professors whom he met at the Seminary and at the Convitto Ecclesiastico. There were eminent persons like Fr. Louis Guala, St. Joseph Cafasso, and Felix Golzio. They were knowledgeable and humble men. They visited prisons, hospitals and homes to help and to console.¹⁶ Don Bosco observed them and took them as his models.

Don Bosco’s Asceticism

There are two chapters in Volume IV of the Biographical Memoirs of St. John Bosco where Fr. G.B. Lemoyne presents Don Bosco’s Love of Penance.¹⁷ Here one finds a good description of his love for mortification. Don Bosco tolerated no complaints about the cook or the food. He believed in the maxim, “in wine is debauchery” (Eph 5:18). He was always on the look out for those who savoured the taste of wine or drank heady wine. He exhorted everyone to avoid gluttony and not to eat hastily. Don Bosco would say: “A boy who is moderate in eating, drinking, and sleeping will be upright, diligent, generous, and thoroughly good, but one who overeats or oversleeps will gradually acquire every vice.”¹⁸ The lifestyle at the oratory was Spartan. Life in the oratory was ascetic in the highest degree. The very overcrowding brought hardship and discomfort. However everything was taken in a stride. There was always room for one more youngster.¹⁹ Don Bosco was strict with himself in order to be more generous with others. He would invite his youngsters to eat fruit from the fruit-garden. However he himself refrained from doing so. His meals were downright simple. He refused preferential treatment even when ill.²⁰ However he provided nutritious food to his numerous youngsters. He slept little. One of the nine resolutions during the priestly ordination was in fact not to sleep more than five hours a night.²¹ Besides this he spent an entire night once a week in completing his work. When travelling by coach he would sit with the driver unprotected from the vagaries of the weather so as to say a good word to him.²²

His contemporaries have frequently spoken about his life of austerity. Through continual practice of penance and mortification of the senses Don Bosco attained to the highest perfection. Poverty, lack of food, deprivation of relaxation and of every comfort was commonplace for him. Despite several severe bouts of illness he never complained about the food that was served to him. When doing fund raising he used to be invited to banquets by the well-to-do. On such occasions he unobtrusively mortified his appetite. Furthermore, his delightful and edifying table talk which charmed the guests left him little time for eating. Don Bosco did not approve if meat was served twice a day [although it was the common food in a cold place] for he said that it would foment concupiscence.²³ He avoided all afternoon snacks of wine or fruit saying venter pinguis non gignit mentem tenuem [a full stomach does not produce a keen mind].²⁴ He was so totally oblivious of what he ate that on one occasion he took the starch thinking it was soup.²⁵

He was intermittently tormented by severe headaches, insomnia, infected teeth, weak lungs, palpitations of the heart, backbone problem, military fever etc. However no one ever heard him speak of these discomforts and illnesses. When advised to rest a little Don Bosco would respond, “I shall rest later – about a mile above the moon”. Physical afflictions, ecclesiastical and political opposition, murder attempts on his person, financial constrictions, the urgency of work, the interruption of his plans, the loss or defection of friends, unexpected adversities, loss of property – these were the crucible in which Don Bosco was purified. Don Bosco was convinced that no sanctity was possible without sacrifice and suffering.²⁶ As a sign of austerity he restrained his natural curiosity to see and know things which did not directly concern him. He loved cleanliness, but never used scented soap.²⁷

Charles Gastini found pieces of iron in Don Bosco’s bed. Cagliero found some pebbles and scraps of wood among the bed sheets. It is narrated that in imitation of St. Vincent de Paul, Don Bosco practised self-flagellation in order to obtain special favours from God.²⁸ He mortified himself with no display of it. He would do it instead with ease and delight. However, to a penitent who wanted to do some corporal penance, Don Bosco advised, “Just patiently endure cold, heat, sickness, troubles, people, happenings and so forth. There are always plenty of ways to practise mortification.”²⁹

Don Bosco’s Poverty and Detachment

On 21 November 1830, Johny Bosco was the inheritor of 6000 Lire. His benefactor and teacher, the 71 year old chaplain of Morialdo, Fr. John Melchior Calosso, while dying, showed signs to him, as he was unable to speak due to a stroke, to the effect that the money in the safe was for his education. One can understand how huge a fortune this was if one recalls that in those days the monthly salary of Johny who was working at the Moglia family was only 15 lire.³⁰ But when the family of Fr. Calosso claimed the money, Johnny raised no objections whatsoever and let them have it.

During his ten year long stay at Chieri, he boarded with various people – the Marchisio family, the widow Lucia Matta, Joseph Pianta [who was running a restaurant and taught him how to make pastries], and Thomas Cumino [a tailor].³¹ As a priest, millions of Lire came through his hands. However, Don Bosco never used them for his comfort. All was spent for the young and for the glory of God. In his last days, as he lay dying, one of his last requests to his secretary [Fr. Joachim Berto] was to see if there was any money in his cassock. He wanted to die poor.

For Don Bosco, work was an expression of his poverty. Even when travelling, his mind did not rest. He would proofread texts to be published, read letters, jot down memos for replies, and pray or meditate. If he missed the train he was only too happy to walk to his destination. On one occasion he missed the train to Villastellone. Here Don Michael Rua recalls how Don Bosco proofread while walking all the way to Villastellone. They were the manuscripts of a book to be published soon.³²

Don Bosco’s Tenacity and his Capacity for Endurance and Resilience

Capable of taking things in his stride, Don Bosco overcame the difficulties that came along his path. Harsh circumstances of life or opposition did not crush him. His trust in God and his creative use of human resources helped him to tide over difficulties of every kind. Here one could recall a few things: between 1841 and 1846, Don Bosco had to shift to numerous places to gather his children for recreation and catechesis. In the beginning it was at the Barolo’s Rifugio. Then he had to move successively to the unfinished Little Hospital of St. Philomena, to the Holy Cross Cemetery (St. Peter in Chains), to St. Martin’s at the Dora Mills, to Father John Baptist Moretta’s House, to the Filippi field. It was on the Palm Sunday of April 1^st 1846, that the negotiations were made for buying the Pinardi shed when Pancrace Soave came to negotiate for the sale of the property of Signor Francis Pinardi.³³

Two over-zealous priests, seeing Don Bosco going around with a crowd of hoodlums and waifs, decided to give him a little rest in an asylum. They thought Don Bosco was crazy. They in fact called him as mad as a March hare [totally insane]. They made arrangements with the asylum authorities to have Don Bosco locked up as soon as he reached. When the two priests came to see him, they advised him not to act mulishly. It did not take much time for Don Bosco to fathom their designs. Resourceful as he was, he invited them to board first the coach destined for the asylum since they were his seniors. It goes without saying that the two priests landed up in the asylum and it took quite some time to clear up the mistake with the asylum authorities. More important still, Don Bosco had no grudge against these his brother priests. However, it must be said that the two priests always took a different route if they chanced to see him.

On one occasion Don Bosco gave shelter to twelve youngsters who claimed to be poor and homeless. To his great chagrin in the morning long before he came to greet them, they had fled with the mattresses and blankets.³⁴ This did not prevent him from offering bed and lodging to another boy [a boy from Valesia] who sought shelter on a rainy day, dripping wet.³⁵ Don Bosco would not give in or give up.

On one occasion when anticlericalism was taking its toll (that was in 1849), one man shot at him while he was giving a sermon on a Sunday. The boys remained stunned. Luckily for Don Bosco, the bullet made only a tear in his cassock and did not harm him! On another occasion a man was paid $16 to feign madness and stab Don Bosco. The man was put in prison but released soon. A friend of Don Bosco offered the same man a sum of $ 32/ - this time to become the security guard of Don Bosco. He willingly agreed and became Don Bosco’s security guard. On yet another occasion the saint was called to assist a sick man. It was not for confession that they called him but to eliminate him. Don Bosco with his presence of mind managed to escape. However his thumb was badly smashed by a blow with a club.³⁶

If one were to speak of his capacity for endurance, more than the poverty and the difficulties involved in the multi-dimensional apostolate that he was carrying out, the most astonishing must have been his “ten-year long patient silence” when he was misunderstood by the Archbishop of Turin [Mgr. L. Gastaldi]. It was all the more painful since Don Bosco himself was at least partially instrumental in Gastaldi’s nomination as the Bishop of Saluzzo and eventually his transfer to Turin as its Archbishop.

Don Bosco’s ability to Befriend Persons who Mattered in order to Continue his Work

It should be noted that Don Bosco had the art of winning the good will of people who mattered so that his work and ministry would continue to progress. Don Bosco had trusted collaborators both priests and lay people who helped him with the work and lent moral and financial support.³⁷ Archbishop Louis Fransoni was his admirer and friend. When priests of Turin made several objections against the work that he was doing Mgr. Fransoni called for Don Bosco. One of the complaints was that his free-lance Sunday school was an encroachment on their parochial rights. Don Bosco told the Archbishop that the majority of his boys were orphans or children of Savoyards, Lombards, and of Swiss origin. They were not the sons of Turin-born parents. As for the Turin boys, they were street urchins and attended no church. The outcome of the interview was that the Archbishop dismissed all complaints by telling his clergy to imitate Don Bosco.³⁸

Fr. Ravina, the Vicar General of Turin was a friend of Don Bosco. He ignored the complaints of his contemporaries [of the priests in particular]. He held him in high esteem. Similarly, Don Bosco managed to win the good will of prominent priests like St. Joseph Cafasso, St. Joseph Benedict Cottolengo, Fr. John Borel, Fr. Vola [it was Fr. Vola who on seeing Don Bosco and Mamma Margret walking all the way from Becchi to Turin, parted with his watch so that Don Bosco could buy something for his boys], and Fr. Sebastiano Pacchiotti. The last three substituted him at the oratory when he went for convalescence after his illness in 1846. By 1847, he had already some 800 boys frequenting the oratory. Hence he opened another oratory near the River Po of which a certain Fr. Hyacinth Carpano was the director.³⁹ Yet another friend of Don Bosco was Fr. E. Amaretti who even joined the picnic when Don Bosco took 300 juveniles from the reformatory for a day out.⁴⁰ It goes without saying that his greatest support was his own mother who came away from her village in 1846 after Don Bosco’s illness and convalescence. She spent ten years with him spending herself for the ragamuffins of Don Bosco. She even used her wedding dress and other linen as house furnishings. She sold her ornaments to buy what was needed for the children at Valdocco.

King Charles Albert admired Don Bosco and assisted him financially.⁴¹ Count Cavour, the Mayor of Turin, changed over to his side after listening to what Don Bosco had to say about the complaints raised against him.⁴² The longstanding friendship between Pius IX [now blessed] and Don Bosco is well known. Similarly the Minister of State, Urban Rattazzi, gave full support to Don Bosco at a time when religious orders were being suppressed and he himself was party to the suppression.⁴³

Don Bosco’s Capacity to Make himself Loved

Don Bosco lay at death’s door. It was 1846. Mamma Margaret came to nurse him. The boys [by now there were some 500 of them who used to flock to Don Bosco on a regular basis] knelt in prayer, making the hospital into a place of pilgrimage. When he got well, they carried him to the oratory on a chair, scattering flowers all along the road from the hospital to Valdocco. He certainly knew how to win the affection of his youngsters with his deep-seated concern for their material and spiritual welfare.

Don Bosco always took keen interest in the religious upbringing of his boys. He enquired about their reception of the sacraments, whether they knew their prayers, etc. But he knew how to do it in a winsome manner. Interest in the spiritual progress of the young came to him spontaneously.⁴⁴ Don Bosco knew how to win the confidence of the young. On one occasion, he preached an eight-day retreat to the juvenile prisoners. They all lined up for confession. Don Bosco rewarded them by taking them out for a picnic to Stupinigi [4 miles south of Turin]. The hold Don Bosco had over such a group of boys became the talk of the town when they all returned to the reformatory after the picnic.⁴⁵

The love of Don Bosco for the young was proverbial. It was no empty saying when he said, “I have promised God that I would give of myself to my last breath for my poor boys.”⁴⁶ He had time for everyone. On numerous occasions due to his readiness to listen to the youngsters, he would reach the railway station as the train was pulling out from the platform. However, for Don Bosco, his plans were secondary to the wishes of others.⁴⁷

Don Bosco’s Goodness

Don Bosco lived in the nineteenth century! The times were anti-clerical. It was common to call at a priest dressed in a black soutane like a raven or crow. On one occasion, Don Bosco met a group of twelve youngsters who took delight in taking to such a custom of the day, namely, they cawed at him. He won them over by taking them to a tavern and serving them bottles of wine.⁴⁸ During the schooling time at Chieri, Johnny Bosco used to do the homework for a certain James Levi [alias Jonah] – the homework being forbidden on the Sabbath according to the tenets of the Jewish religion.⁴⁹ On another occasion when he was convalescing in Becchi, he went for a walk in the woods. A young man showed up with a knife in his hand demanding Don Bosco’s money or his life. To make a long story short, he heard his confession, and then brought him home where Mamma Margaret and Joseph served him a dinner. On the following day, Don Bosco bade him farewell and gave him a recommendation letter which helped him to get a job.⁵⁰

With limited financial resources, he put up a boarding house for boys who had no place to sleep except some stable or the floor of the railway station. In 1847-1848, he had already 30 boys staying the night at Valdocco (in Turin). There are other examples of his goodness. It was 1855. Dominic Savio returned from holidays. He looked pale and sickly. Don Bosco spoke to him thus: “This year you will not walk to school. Rain and snow might do you harm. You will attend Francesia’s classes here at home, so that you can rest a little longer in the morning…”⁵¹ In 1875 Giovanni Bonetti was slated for leading the missionary expedition to South America. His mother fell ill on account of which Don Bosco chose Don Cagliero as the leader of the missionary expedition. On another occasion he came to Valsalice. His first question was whether someone was sick in the infirmary. He turned to other duties only after visiting the sick person. Don Bosco had a great love and concern for the Salesian Sisters. He sought vocations for them. In fact, his niece was a Salesian nun. In 1885, he wrote to Mgr. Cagliero to promote vocations for the Salesian sisters.⁵²

Once, Don Bosco and another priest were travelling by coach. The words of the driver were anything but edifying. The advice of Don Bosco’s travelling companion only worsened the situation. On reaching the destination, he told his priest friend to go ahead. He chatted with the driver in such a pleasant and affable manner that the latter made his confession and left with tears of gratitude.⁵³

Don Bosco’s Resourcefulness and Creativity

Don Bosco found out ways and means of placing his boys in society. He held evening classes to teach the boys to read and write – the first evening classes to be conducted in Italy.⁵⁴ During the Sunday classes he chose the more capable boys who would teach Italian, French, Geography and History to the boys who had otherwise no other means of acquiring knowledge.⁵⁵ He taught his boys various trades for which there were the “little masters”, namely their companions. ⁵⁶

Here one could add his extraordinary capacity to identify gifted boys of sterling character who could be persuaded to join him in continuing his work. He had a deep insight into human character. Francesco Bodrato joined him at the age of 41. Later he led the second Salesian missionary expedition [a group of 22 Salesians] to South America. Eventually he became the provincial in South America.⁵⁷ Fr. Rinaldi who was adored by the confreres when he was the Provincial in Spain and later became the third successor of Don Bosco was also a late vocation. His vocation story is unique because Don Bosco repeatedly invited him, and wrote to him several times to join him at the oratory to become a priest. Rinaldi always refused. Finally, when his marriage was being arranged Don Bosco made yet another attempt to take him to Turin. This time he left everything and everyone and followed Don Bosco. That was in 1876, when Rinaldi was 20 years old.⁵⁸ Other late vocations [seniors who joined him] were Fr. G. Lemoyne, Fr. V. Alasonatti, and Count Cays. It is also important to mention how Don Bosco was preoccupied about nurturing local vocations. As early as 1876, he wrote as if the process was already operative: “The plan to train native missionaries seems to have God’s blessings. There already are native young men who have asked to join the missionaries and have been accepted…”⁵⁹

Don Bosco’s Capacity for Work

Work and temperance was the motto that guided Don Bosco in his ministry. Fr. Albert Caviglia [Salesian historian] says that “Ninety percent of his [Don Bosco’s] talks to the Salesians are on work, temperance and poverty.”⁶⁰ Don Bosco’s capacity for work was proverbial. Already as a little boy he looked after the cows and helped out with numerous household chores. He was just eleven when he went to stay at the house of Luigi Moglia where he performed every work possible with a dedication that was extraordinary for his tender age. Later when studying at Chieri, during the vacation, he worked in the field.

As mentioned earlier, one of the resolutions at his ordination was regarding sleep which he would limit to five or six hours.⁶¹ When Don Bosco returned to Turin from his convalescence (3^rd Nov. 1846), he was supposed to slow down the pace of his work. However he set himself to work as before saying that his friends Fr. Borel and others had more than enough work.⁶² Those who knew him have attested that Don Bosco was always willing to obey his great friend Cardinal Alimonda. However, if he were asked by the Cardinal to rest or reduce his volume of work he would venture to be disobedient.⁶³ Availability was another expression of his work. Don Bosco had time for everyone. Whenever people wanted to speak to him, he listened to them with admirable patience and calm.⁶⁴

Don Bosco was a prolific writer.⁶⁵ This was an example of his extraordinary capacity for work. The basilicas and the churches that he built, the foundations that he started in Europe and South America, the missionary expeditions, the maintenance of the youngsters in the oratory, the publications, the consolidation of the Congregation, the recruiting and follow up of candidates for himself and for the dioceses of Italy were a great financial strain. However he rose to the occasion due to his grit and determination as well as his tremendous tenacity and capacity for work.

According to Joachim Berto [Don Bosco’s secretary], in summer Don Bosco retired to bed at 11.30 and rose at 3.00 a.m. in the morning.⁶⁶ His work was not mere activity. He used to invite his collaborators to raise their thoughts to God in the midst of work so as not to lose the spiritual benefit of the work. His work had an aura of apostolicity and mysticism about it.⁶⁷ In his last testament Don Bosco reminded his sons that it is a triumph for the Society when a Salesian succumbed due to incessant work. To quote his words: “Whenever it may happen that a Salesian succumbs and dies while working for souls, then you will say that our congregation has gained deservedly a great triumph and the blessings of Heaven will abundantly fall on it.”⁶⁸

Don Bosco’s Love for the Young

The most distinguishing trait of Don Bosco is certainly his love for the young. He continuously sought them out. Even when he had as many as 500 youngsters at the oratory he kept moving around the lanes and streets of the city of Turin to look for more youngsters to get them to the oratory. He put at the disposal of this poor section of society, all that he learnt as a young boy and as a seminarian. Everything that Don Bosco did was directed towards their well-being. He tutored them; he offered evening classes for them; he provided food and lodging for them. Don Bosco’s preoccupation with their moral welfare as well as concern to provide a decent living for them led him to establish workshops. In the 1850s, he started workshops for training shoemakers and tailors. This was followed by bookbinders’ workshop and carpenters’ or cabinetmakers’ workshop. At the end of 1861 or in early 1862, he started the Print shop and the blacksmiths’ workshop.⁶⁹ He taught them various trades and sought out influential people to have them absorbed into factories and safe places of work so that they could earn their living with an honest work.

Don Bosco knew how to conquer the hearts of apparently difficult boys by taking them to a tavern for a drink of wine. He took notice of gifted youngsters and trained them to be priests and his own personal collaborators. In 1857, on one occasion when waiting to board the train at the Carmagnola railway station, he saw boys playing and went to meet them. There he met Michael Magone. Don Bosco missed the train but he did not miss the opportunity to chat with this boy in whom he noticed something very special.⁷⁰

He made the oratory into “a home, a church, a school and a playground” for the young. Unlike the oratories of the day, Don Bosco did not bring in only the best youngsters. Instead he had at the oratory the truly poor and abandoned, the juveniles released from prison, the unemployed and drifting youngsters at risk from the poorest strata of society.⁷¹ Don Bosco’s love for young people found its expression not only in that he sought “to educate” but also in his style and method of education.⁷² Fr. Lemoyne speaks in unforgettable terms about the way Don Bosco interacted with the young. He says: “Don Bosco was always kind…boys were won over by his noble, gentle manner, his cheerfulness and the timely graciousness of his words…”⁷³ He sacrificed himself for his boys. He maintained his large family only at the cost of untold sacrifice.⁷⁴ Fr. Cagliero speaks in glowing terms about his involvement in the life of the young: “Don Bosco’s example was an education in itself. He actually enjoyed waiting on us, tidying up our dormitory, mending and cleaning our clothes and performing other services for our benefit.”⁷⁵

Don Bosco’s Pastoral Aptitude and Missionary Enthusiasm

We have spoken about the saint’s interest in creating a Catholic atmosphere in his preoccupation for the spiritual progress of his young. Here one could speak of the sacrament of confession which was among the priorities of Don Bosco! He was a master at it. He would ignore his meals and sit for hours to hear his penitents. He would hear confessions anywhere and everywhere [including the playground, roadside, taverns, homes, prison etc). In 1868, when he got an opportunity to preach on Philip Neri and noticed that several priests were present there, he emphasized the duty of priests to imitate the saint in encouraging people to frequent confession. He spoke also of the willingness of Neri to hear confessions instead of delegating this task to someone else.⁷⁶ To hear confessions Don Bosco was ready to interrupt anything that he was doing. He never showed any impatience when asked to hear confessions.⁷⁷

He was confessor for the boys of a hostel run by the Christian brothers in Turin. When Don Bosco was recuperating from his illness in Becchi, some 200 boys came to meet him and make their confessions. Don Bosco ministered to them and prepared a dinner that Mamma Margaret and Joseph could manage and sent them back happy.⁷⁸

Once a young boy intending to go for confession filled an entire note book with his sins. Unfortunately he lost the note book. His friends took the weeping lad to Don Bosco. He told him that he had lost his sins! The tears ceased to flow only when Don Bosco took out from his pocket the copy book with the sins! Finally breaking into a smile, the boys said: “Oh Don Bosco, had I known that you had found my note book, I would have told you, ‘Father, I accuse myself of all the sins that you have in your pocket.’”⁷⁹

In 1844 Don Bosco studied German in order to hear the confessions of Austrian soldiers who were stationed in Piedmont.⁸⁰ He spent one month studying the language painstakingly. In fact he paid 20 Lire for 16 lessons of German.⁸¹ He himself tells us how he was able to hear confessions in Piedmontese, Italian, Latin, German, French and even Greek. In this context, he adds, “I urge you to take every opportunity to study languages. Every language that we learn removes a barrier between ourselves and millions of our fellow beings… and enables us to help a few and sometimes very many of them.”⁸² However busy Don Bosco was, he found time for his penitents at the confessional. He considered this as an essential and integral part of his priestly apostolate and educational system. Here one can see the pastoral heart and priestly spirit that he nurtured.

When he was a student at Chieri, he befriended a certain Jonah who was a Jew. He instructed him and eventually had him baptized.⁸³ Later on he managed to bring to the Catholic faith a Waldensian. Don Bosco tells us how he longed to go to the foreign missions. His confessor advised him not to do so. However it is interesting to note that when Don Bosco died, 20% of his confreres were in the missions.⁸⁴

Don Bosco was always a true pastor interested in the total well being of the young. The biographies (that of Luigi Comollo (1844), of Dominic Savio (1859), of Michael Magone (1861), of Francis Besucco (1864), and the histories that he wrote (History of the Church – 1845, History of Italy – 1855, Bible History – 1847) were all aimed at inculcating moral and spiritual values.⁸⁵ He was always and everywhere a priest.

Don Bosco’s Capacity to Make Religion Pleasant and Inviting

As a young lad, John Bosco read a lot in order to tell edifying stories to his friends. He also acquired acrobatic skills (somersaults, swallowing coins and then producing them in someone’s nose, multiplying eggs, changing water into wine, chopping a chicken and bringing it back to life, tight rope walking etc…) to attract his companions and lead them to God. He would conclude these programmes of his with a sermon, or a short prayer.⁸⁶ During the seminary days at Chieri too, he continued instructing youngsters who were ignorant of the faith. During the vacation, he also entertained them with stories, pleasant recreation, and sacred music.⁸⁷ He excelled in sacred chant and liturgical music. On one occasion Don Bosco came with a group of choir boys to the shrine of Our Lady of Consolation. He gave the score of the Mass he had composed to a renowned musician – Maestro Bodovia. Don Bosco had to replace him at the organ since the maestro could not manage.⁸⁸

Don Bosco had the ability to make religion pleasant to the youngsters. He was a strong believer in mixing religion with a healthy dose of recreation.⁸⁹ In a letter addressed to Vicar Marquis Michael Cavour, on March 13^th 1846, Don Bosco wrote: “The purpose of this catechetical programme is to gather those boys who, left to themselves, would not attend religious instruction in any church on Sundays and holy days. We encourage attendance by approaching them in a friendly manner, welcoming them with kind words, promises, gifts, and the like.” ⁹⁰

Don Bosco would take the youngsters for hikes. However he found time to celebrate a Mass for them and say Vespers with them. He would invite the youngsters to recite the rosary on the road when going for hikes. The good choir that he had organized made liturgical celebrations a delight for the members of the choir as well as for all participants.⁹¹ Sometimes he would invite them to recite just one decade of the rosary.⁹²

Don Bosco believed in the power of the prayers of the boys. When there was no place to gather them for his Sunday activity he invited them to pray fervently to obtain a place which the boys willingly did. So too, when he was sick and at the point of death, the boys even knelt on the streets in front of the hospital to pray for his recovery.⁹³ They did it since Don Bosco had made every place a place of prayer.

He had the enviable capacity to draw souls to God. On one occasion a man who could not stand the sight of a priest for 35 years asked for a blessing from Don Bosco and finally made his confession to him. Similarly lawyers and politicians who had no intention of making confessions approached Don Bosco for this sacrament.⁹⁴ He had the art of drawing them to God.

Don Bosco’s Love for the Word of God

Don Bosco loved the Word of God. In fact he could quote with ease or recite by heart large sections from the various parts of the Bible. Already as a seminarian he excelled in communicating the Word of God. It is agreed that among the best sermons of Don Bosco was the one that he gave impromptu as a cleric on the feast of St. Rocco [the patronal feast] on August 16^th 1837. The designated preacher did not turn up for some reason and cleric John Bosco gave the panegyric to the astonishment and satisfaction of everyone.⁹⁵

During his first Mass he had asked for the efficacy of the word. All his life he remained an indefatigable preacher whose word in the confessional and in the pulpit bore fruit. In 1847, he was giving a spiritual retreat in Ivrea. He had to deliver four sermons a day. He was asked to give two more talks to the seminarians. Don Bosco willingly agreed to do it. He had to give two more sermons a day in a boarding school nearby since the preacher got ill. Thus his zeal made him preach eight times a day.⁹⁶

He had prepared several sets of spiritual retreats for religious, seminarians, boys etc. He wrote down in entirety his sermons. He would say, “The most effective sermon is the one that is best prepared.”⁹⁷ He never refused when someone invited him to preach a sermon, a mission, a novena, a triduum, a panegyric, or a retreat. During those days, travel was by no means a comfort. On arrival at the place of preaching the conveniences were minimal or next to nothing. However, Don Bosco’s humility and patience in putting up with rebuffs, inattention and poor manners bore fruit. He preached early in the morning and after sunset in order to accommodate farmers and other workers.⁹⁸ Even Protestants loved to hear him. He had the ability to change his topic or manner of presentation after entering the pulpit in order to conform to unforeseen circumstances or the unexpected character of an audience. There is no doubt that the knowledge he had acquired and his personal sanctity helped him in such situations.

He avoided all irony and invective in his sermons. It is said that his sermons bore fruit also due to the sacrifices that he made. On one occasion he came to a church to preach about Saints Candidus and Severus. Don Bosco whose arrival was delayed went straight to the church and spoke for two hours although he had not yet had his lunch. He looked upon the ministry of preaching as his priestly and apostolic duty. In his sermons there were no poetic flights, no display of rare erudition, and no oratorical digressions. He spoke in simple language. He invited everyone to think about saving the soul. When in France, during a dinner on one occasion a guest remarked: “Don Bosco preaches at all times.”⁹⁹

Don Bosco a Man of God and a Maker of Saints

Biblical traditions refer to several people as “men of God” or as persons with whom God was. One could think of figures like Joseph (Gen 39), Moses (Deut 33:1), Elijah (2 K 4:7, 10, 25, 40). Don Bosco too was a man of God. He exhibited traits of true devotion and piety already from his early days as a little boy. This was intensified when he entered the seminary at Chieri [1835-1841]. It is enough to look at his resolutions when donning the cassock to have an idea of the deep interiority of Don Bosco.¹⁰⁰ Lemoyne says that his companions in the seminary thought highly of him because of his “saintly life.”¹⁰¹

Sacramental piety with a particular focus on the sacrament of reconciliation and the Eucharist was very important for him. Don Bosco would willingly serve Mass. Following the instructions of Pope Benedict XIV, he never took longer than half an hour or less than twenty minutes to say Mass. If he had to set out on a journey he would rise earlier in order to celebrate the Mass or say it on reaching his destination.¹⁰² The reception of the sacraments was the high point not only on Sundays and festive days but also during the triduum, novenas and even in the day to day life at the oratory. His Institute was founded on prayer: he baptized his house with the name “oratory” to teach clearly that prayer was the only force on which we could rely.¹⁰³

Prayer came spontaneously and naturally to him. He also invited everyone to raise their thoughts to God frequently so as not to lose the merit of their works and activities. He used to explain the meaning of the letters S.T. often seen in ancient cloisters. They mean silentium tene [observe silence]. Don Bosco was very particular about silence after the night prayers till the morning Eucharist.¹⁰⁴ Don Bosco was wont to tell his sons: “Do not remain lazy in the train, pray the breviary, recite the rosary or read some good book.”¹⁰⁵ He himself had a rare capacity to blend action and contemplation. One could recall here the famous saying of Pius XI – “Don Bosco as union with God”.

God protected his saintly servant in numerous ways. Don Bosco was saved from the hands of possible assassins by a huge dog, fondly called Grigio. Assassins were attacking Don Bosco. Suddenly from nowhere there came Grigio. He sprang at the miscreants – biting, growling, howling, snarling, springing, jumping and then throwing them down!¹⁰⁶ God protected his faithful servant in a miraculous manner.

Don Bosco was a mystic.¹⁰⁷ He was a contemplative. Here, we can recall, Fr. Ceria’s book, “Don Bosco: Union with God”. Ascanio Savio, one of his first students, to don the clerical habit says, “I am firmly convinced that he [Don Bosco] spent whole nights in prayer, writing books, studying, attending to his correspondence, and planning his works in prayerful consultation with God.”¹⁰⁸ Don Bosco had the ability for bi-location, reading of conscience, working miracles [multiplication of chest nuts and loaves of bread], healing people, resuscitating those who had died.

Already during his life he was considered a saint. The boys had declared him a saint as early as Nov 2^nd 1849 when he multiplied the chestnuts.¹⁰⁹ Francis Dalmazzo had sent for his mother in order to leave the oratory of Don Bosco. It was on the very day when she came to fetch him that Don Bosco distributed 20 loaves of bread for a group of 400 and the number of loaves in the basket had remained the same. The boy apologized for troubling his mother and opted to stay on with Don Bosco saying that he was a saint.¹¹⁰ This was as early as October 22^nd 1860. With the dreams and the premonitions which came true, there was an ever-increasing “supernatural aura” surrounding the saint.¹¹¹

Don Bosco visited France in 1883. Le Monde wrote: “The people run after him, desirous of seeing him, touching his clothes because they feel that a very special aura of sanctity emanates from him”. Pius IX called him “the treasure of Italy”, U. Rattazzi referred to Don Bosco as the “miracle of the century.” Already in 1881, Leo XIII referred to Don Bosco as a saint.¹¹²

Don Bosco was not only a saint. He knew how to transmit his holiness to others. The oratory had several who were models of virtue and sanctity. Pius XII in fact called him a “spiritual master.”¹¹³

Don Bosco’s Love for the Pope and for the Church

Leo XIII wanted to build a church in the heart of Rome. The work stopped at ground level due to several reasons. On 5^th April 1880, the Pope sent for Don Bosco on the suggestion of Cardinal Alimonda of Turin. Don Bosco agreed to build the basilica. He was 65. He was already in deep financial troubles. He was already committed to the construction of Salesian houses at Marseilles, Nice and Spezia.¹¹⁴ The Church of the Sacred Heart would cost him 1.5 million lire [indeed a large sum in those years].¹¹⁵ He undertook the work since he could not say “no” to the Pope.

Don Bosco’s love for the Church found expression in the sacrifices that he made for promoting vocations to religious life and priestly life. Regarding ecclesiastical vocations, he says, “Let us remember that whenever we procure a good vocation, we are giving an inestimable treasure to the Church; it does not matter if this vocation or this priest goes to the diocese, the foreign missions, or a religious order. It is always a great gift that we give to the Church of Jesus Christ.”¹¹⁶ He told the rectors to dissuade from the ecclesiastical life any youth who opted for priesthood in order to help his family that may have been poor. He also insisted on quality of the candidates to priesthood. He demanded the following qualifications from them by way of suitability: health, good morality, high degree of learning, docility, spirit of sacrifice and freedom from strong attachments to native land, family, etc.¹¹⁷ As mentioned earlier, he also took care that the Sisters had vocations. In his last testament (September 1884), he wrote, “Once a foreign mission has been founded, it shall be continued with energy and spirit of sacrifice. Always concentrate your efforts on opening schools, cultivating vocations for the priesthood and finding some Sisters among the girls.”¹¹⁸

Leo XIII tested the loyalty of Don Bosco by ordering him to write a letter of apology asking for forgiveness from Archbishop Gastaldi.¹¹⁹ The Pope asked this of Don Bosco although a commission of Cardinals reported two in favour of Gastaldi and four in favour of Don Bosco. Leo XIII said that authority should be safeguarded. Furthermore the Pope was of the view that Don Bosco being virtuous would be prepared to ask for pardon even though he was in the right. Don Bosco did obey the Pope and apologized to the Archbishop of Turin for something that he was not guilty of. Leo XIII remained ever a great admirer of Don Bosco and honoured the congregation by making Don John Cagliero a bishop.¹²⁰ The consecration of Don Cagliero [aged 46] took place in the basilica of Mary Help of Christians on Dec 7^th 1884. Among those present on the occasion was Cagliero’s 80-year old mother and a happy Don Bosco.¹²¹

One of the last words of Don Bosco [spoken on Dec 23^rd 1887] was addressed to Mgr. Cagliero. He told him to tell the Holy Father that “it has been the special mission of the Congregation and the Salesians to uphold the Holy See’s authority wherever they are and wherever they work…”¹²²

Don Bosco a shrewd Saint

Don Bosco was gifted with many human qualities and virtues. He was shrewd. That was one of his qualities. The word “shrewdness” can have a pejorative meaning. However, here we take it to mean intelligent common sense and subtle prudence to make sound use of all situations.¹²³ On one occasion Don Bosco sent some wine to the Archbishop of Buenos Aires to express his gratitude for favours bestowed. He instructed his secretary to sprinkle some dust on the bottles to make the wine look older than it was. He was lavish with his praise, gratitude and acknowledgement for favours received. Don Bosco printed a 200 page long history of the Church in 1845. It was a compendium and meant for the use of children in the school. Don Bosco culled the material from the Seventeen-Volume work of Rohrbacher’s Church History as well as the works of other historians like Bercastel, Henrion, Fleury, Salzano and the Bollandists. Shrewd as he was he dedicated his work to Bro. Ervé de la Croix (the Provincial of the Christian Brothers in Turin who were running several schools). It goes without saying that he did this in order to obtain his patronage in having the books sold in their schools. In fact in the subsequent years, the volume went into eleven reprints with a total of 50,000 copies.¹²⁴

Don Bosco would not allow others to take him for a ride. On April 26^th 1884, there was a magnificent exhibition in Turin. The best gallery was “Don Bosco Paper Mill, Print Shop, Type Foundry, Bookbinding Establishment and Salesian Bookstore.” The jury was partial in their evaluation and decided to award only the silver medal to Don Bosco. He wrote a polite letter stating that he was forgoing all prizes and certificates that were being given to him.¹²⁵ The jury did get the message.

Don Bosco’s Attachment to Mary in his Life and Ministry

Don Bosco was habitually devoted to Mary the mother of Jesus. It was a quality transmitted to him by Mamma Margaret already when he was a little child. In fact in the dream at the age of 9, Jesus introduced himself to Johny Bosco as the son of her whom his mother taught him to salute three times a day.¹²⁶ When Don Bosco spoke of the angelic virtue in order to honour the Virgin Mary he left his audience full of admiration for him. He never tired of speaking about Our Lady. Her name was never omitted from any sermon that he preached. On certain occasions the entire sermon was on Our Lady. When taking his youngsters for hikes and picnics he would stop at wayside Marian shrines to say a little prayer. He built the basilica of Mary Help of Christians precisely as a monument to Our Lady. The congregation of the Salesian Sisters of Mary Help of Christians (FMA) was a tribute to the Blessed Mother. When Prime Minister d’Azeglio visited Don Bosco at the oratory and told him to discontinue the recitation of the Rosary, he told him that he was prepared to forgo the friendship with the minister but not to cancel the recitation of the Rosary. Through confidence in Mary, he triumphed over the most severe persecutions and harassments and remained unperturbed under the most harrowing circumstances. He used to say that a love for Mary which did not cultivate the virtues of Mary was to him a sterile love. Don Michael Rua captures for us the tender devotion of Don Bosco towards Our Lady when he says, “Don’t you know that Don Bosco works hand in glove with the Madonna?”¹²⁷

Conclusion

Don Bosco was a great educator, a builder, an intermediary between the Holy See and the Italian states, the confidant of Popes, a missionary, an author, a writer, a Marian devotee, a saint – all rolled into one.¹²⁸ Perhaps it is no exaggeration to say that his spirituality was pivoted around his own motto, “Da mihi animas cetera tolle.” The salvation of souls was for him the supreme law. He constantly lived another of his favourite maxims, namely, Salve! Salvando Salvati! [by saving others save yourself].

Knowing Don Bosco is to discover and understand what is enshrined in the Salesian Constitutions. Don Rua reminded the Salesians on 1^st December 1909 how “when Don Bosco sent his sons to America he had himself photographed in the act of handing Fr. John Cagliero, who headed the expedition, the book of the Constitutions as though to say: ‘I should like to go with you myself, but since I cannot do so these Constitutions will take my place. Keep them as you would a precious treasure.’”¹²⁹ The Constitutions are a replica of Don Bosco. And Don Bosco is a replica of the Constitutions. One can read the Constitutions by looking at Don Bosco if we keep in mind the spiritual portrait that we have tried to paint. One can see before one’s eyes what is contained in the Constitutions when looking at the spiritual and human qualities and traits of Don Bosco. To the degree that one returns to Don Bosco, to that extent can one ensure the return of Don Bosco into today’s world. It is those who know and reproduce him who will be able to transmit to today’s young the legacy left behind by him. Stella, one of the greatest historians of the Salesian congregation, says: “His own person [Don Bosco] can still serve as a model for those who would plumb his secrets, follow his methods, and carry on his mission.”¹³⁰

Dr. Jose Varickasseril has completed his Master’s degree in Biblical Exegesis at the Pontifical Biblical Institute, Rome. He has doctorates in Biblical Theology and Spirituality. He can be reached at varicka@yahoo.co.uk