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San Francisco Province, USA
May 2009
Dear Friends,
As we continue this year of the
anniversary of the founding of the
Congregation, Arthur Lenti has given
us two segments this month, entitled
respectively Part One and Part Two,
for they belong together as “history
of the founding. Part Two can exist
without Part One, but not the other
way around. We thank him for the
scholarship and throughness which
gives us all something to reflect upon
in our continuing formation.
Gael E Sullivan, SDB
Office of ongoing Formation
Don Bosco Hall, Berkeley
DON BOSCO FOUNDER
by Arthur J. Lenti, SDB
PART I. EXISTENCE OF AN EARLY CON-
GREGATION OF ST. FRANCIS DE SALES
(SINCE 1841) AND ITS SIGNIFICANCE
IN RELATION TO THE FOUNDING OF
THE PIOUS SALESIAN SOCIETY (1859)
Francis Desramaut, The Founding of
the Salesian Family (1841—1876)
(New Rochelle, N.Y.: A Don Bosco
Pamphlet Publication), 1985. — This
is a translation of “La Fondazione
della Famiglia Salesiana,” in Costruire
insieme la Famiglia Salesiana Atti del
Simposio di Roma, 19-22 Febbraio
1982, ed. M. Midali (Roma: LAS,
1983), p. 75-192. — This in turn is a
rewriting of “La storia primitiva della
Famiglia Salesiana secondo tre esposti
di Don Bosco,” in La Famiglia Sale-
siana. Colloqui sulla Vita Salesiana,
5, Lussemburgo 26-30 Agosto 1973
(Torino-Leumann: LDC, 1974), p. 17-45
and 337-343.
1. The Case for a Preexisting
Broadly-Based “Congregation”
In the essays of 1973 and 1983 Fr.
Francis Desramaut cites documents
that tend to prove the existence since
1841 of a broadly based “Congrega-
tion” composed of priests and lay
people, men and women, engaged
collaboratively in the work of the ora-
tory with Don Bosco as religious supe-
rior. This Congregation of St. Francis
de Sales of cooperators is said to have
received ecclesiastical approval from
Archbishop Fransoni by Decree of
1852. On the strength of this decree
as well as of indulgences and spiritual
favors repeatedly granted by the Holy
See Don Bosco describes this eccle-
siastical approval as “de facto official
and canonical.” This same “Congrega-
tion” is said to have been the matrix
out of which arose this Salesian
Society, when in 1858/1859 the preex-
isting Congregation was divided into
two families—one that opted to live
in community and professed the three
canonical vows; the other (“promot-
ers, benefactors, cooperators”) that
did not form community or take vows,
but continued to help, in a variety
of ways and with various degrees of
commitment, with the work of the
oratories.
Two of the documents, on which
this scenario is based, stemming
from Don Bosco himself, are the most
important and relevant, but also the
most problematic. One is entitled
Cooperatori Salesiani, the other is
the chapter appended to Don Bosco’s
early Constitutions with the title of
Extern Members.
2. The Document Cooperatori Sale-
siani (Salesian Cooperators) of 1877
The document entitled, Coopera-
tori salesiani, is a manuscript in Don
Bosco’s own hand dating from 1877.
1
It was probably meant for publication
in the Salesian Bulletin, but it was
set aside and replaced with a softer
document (“Storia dei Cooperatori
Salesiani” in Bollettino Salesiano 3,
September 1877, p. 6). The rejected
document, filed in the Central Salesian
Archive (Rome), was first published by
Ceria in IBM XI, 84-86, and translated
in EBM XI, 73-75.
To be noted: In this document that
the terms “Congregation of St. Francis
de Sales” or “Salesian Congregation”
refer to the collaborative ministry
in the work of the oratories (Sale-
sian Cooperators). This designation
must be carefully distinguished from
“Society of St. Francis de Sales” or “Pi-
ous Salesian Society” of Don Bosco’s
constitutions.
Significant excerpts follow.
[(1) The Congregation of St. Francis
de Sales]
The history of the Salesian Cooper-
ators dates back to 1841 when a start
was made in gathering together poor

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homeless boys in the city of Turin. […] Several lay persons
joined together to perform the many and varied tasks [on
behalf of these boys], and they contributed to the support
of the so-called Festive Oratories either by their personal
services or with donations. […] They were called benefac-
tors, promoters, and also Cooperators [members of the
Congregation of St. Francis de Sales.
The Superior of these Oratories was the Rev. [John]
Bosco, who acted under the immediate supervision of
Archbishop [Louis Fransoni] and with his authorization.
The necessary faculties for the exercise of his duties were
granted to him both orally and in writing. […]
The so-called Salesian Promoters and Cooperators, who
had banded together in a regular Congregation known as
the Congregation of St. Francis de Sales, first received a
few spiritual favors from the Holy See by a rescript dated
April 18, 1845. […]
In 1850 Don Bosco informed His Holiness that a Congre-
gation had been legitimately established in the city of Turin
with the name and under the protection of St. Francis de
Sales and implored more extensive favors on behalf of its
members, as well as other spiritual benefits for the non-
members. These favors were granted by rescript dated
September 28, 1850. […]
The Congregation of Salesian Promoters was thus estab-
lished de facto in the eyes of the local ecclesiastical author-
ity and of the Holy See. […]
To ensure unity of spirit, of discipline, and of adminis-
tration, and to establish the oratories on a firm basis, the
Archbishop appointed the Rev. [John] Bosco as director
and granted him all necessary and proper faculties by de-
cree or certificate dated March 31, 1852. After this declara-
tion the Congregation of Salesian Promoters was always
considered as canonically instituted. […]
[(2) The Division of 1858/59: Salesian Congregation and
Salesian Society)]
Several favors and spiritual benefits were granted to
the Congregation of Salesian Promoters between the years
1852 and 1858, when said Congregation was divided into
two branches, or rather, families. Those who believed they
had a vocation and had no impediment joined together to
live in community, forming the association known as the
Pious Society of St. Francis de Sales (a name that the Holy
Father himself suggested and by which it has been known
to this very day). The rest, that is the lay externs, kept on
living in the world with their own families but continued to
work on behalf of the oratories. They retained the title of
Union or Congregation of St. Francis de Sales, Promoters or
Cooperators. However, they were subject to the members
[who were living in community] and worked jointly with
them on behalf of destitute boys.
In 1864 the Holy See commended the Pious Salesian
Society and appointed [Don Bosco] its Superior [for life].
In this commendation of the Salesian Society was also
included the part that concerned the Extern [non-religious]
members, who were always referred to as promoters or
benefactors and recently as Salesian Cooperators.
In 1874 [the Holy See] gave definitive approval to the
constitutions of the Pious Society, continuing to regard the
members of the original Salesian Congregation as promot-
ers and cooperators of the works that the Pious Society
undertook. Then on July 30, 1875 the Sacred Congregation
of Briefs empowered the Superior of the Salesian Society
“to extend the indulgences and spiritual favors of the Soci-
ety (granted to him by the Holy See) to his benefactors, as
if they were Tertiaries—with the exception of those favors
that pertained to life in community.”
These benefactors are none other than those who
were always known as promoters or cooperators. In the
first Salesian Constitutions a chapter is dedicated to them
under the title of “External Members.”
Therefore, when the Holy See graciously granted new
and more generous favors to the Salesian Cooperators, ref-
erence was made “to the pious Association of the Faithful,
canonically erected, whose members have the special aim
of caring particularly for poor and neglected boys.”
This reference was to be understood as applying to:
1. To the original promoters, who for ten years were
accepted and considered de facto as genuine cooperators
in the work of the oratories, a work formally recognized
by the decree of 1852. To this work they continued to give
[of their time and effort] as laypersons, even when some
of the cooperators in 1858 began to live a community life
under their own rules.
2. To the religious members, that is, the Pious Salesian
Society, which always regulated the activities of these
benefactors. In compliance with the rules given to them,
the latter offered themselves with zeal and charity to give
moral and material assistance to the religious members.
3. External Members: Last Chapter or Appendix in Don
Bosco’s Constitutions (1860-73)
Francesco Motto, Costituzioni SDB, Testi Critici (Roma:
LAS, 1982), 210-211. The articles on External Members first
appear in constitutional draft of 1860 and were first pre-
sented in Rome in the Text of 1864. One of the 13 critical
observations received at this time called for the removal of
these articles. Don Bosco, however, persisted in retaining
them and resubmitted them in 1867 and 1873, at which
time they were forcibly removed.
External Members,
External Members,
Text of 1860
Text of 1864
1. Any person (persona),
even one living in the world,
in one’s house, in the bosom
of one’s family, can belong
to this Society.
1. Any person (persona),
even one living in the
world, in one’s house, in the
bosom of one’s family, can
belong to this Society.
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2. He (Egli) takes no
vows, but shall try to
practice those portions of
the present rule that are
compatible with his age
and condition.
3. In order to share in
the spiritual benefits of
the Society he must at
least promise the Rector
to use his wealth and his
powers in the manner
that, in his judgment, will
redound to the greater
glory of God.
4. Such promise, how-
ever, shall not be binding
under pain of sin, not
even venial sin.
2. He (Egli) takes no vows,
but shall try to practice those
portions of the present rule
that are compatible with his
age and condition. He might
teach or promote the teach-
ing of catechism in behalf of
poor children, work for the
spreading of good books; he
might help organize triduums,
novena, retreats and similar
works of charity that have the
spiritual good of the young
and of the common people
especially in view.
3. In order to share in the
spiritual benefits of the society
he must at least promise the
Rector to engage in those
things that, in his judgment,
will redound to the greater
glory of God.
4. Such promise, however,
shall not be binding under pain
of sin, not even venial sin.
5. Any member of the
Society who leaves from the
same for a reasonable cause
is regarded as an external
member, and shares at once
in the spiritual benefits of the
Society, provided he keeps
those parts of the rule that are
binding on external members.
4. Fr. P. Stella’s Critique to Fr. F. Desramaut’s
Interpretation of the Documents
Fr. Pietro Stella, in reviewing the matter [Cf. Ricerche
Storiche Salesiane 2 (1983) 451-454] maintains that no
officially approved society of any sort existed before the
approval of the Society of St. Francis de Sales by Rome in
1869; and that no project for such a society was set forth
officially before the constitutions of 1858 and the found-
ing of 1859. (As will be seen, unofficially Don Bosco was
gathering and cultivating some young people through the
1850s in view of binding them to himself and to the work
of the oratory.)
Neither the granting of indulgences, nor Archbishop
Fransoni’s decree of 1852 amounted to an ecclesiastical
(canonical) approval of a society. It follows that if there
was no society, neither was there a “division” of a society
in 1858/1859. Hence the documents cited by Desramaut
should be read in a different light. Stella makes the follow-
ing comments:
(1) There is no record of the existence of such a “con-
gregation.” In his Memoirs of the Oratory (which, written in
mid-1870s, tell the story up to 1854) Don Bosco speaks of
groups and societies, but never mentions a “congregation”
dating back to 1844 or 1841, presided over by himself and
made up of priests lay people, both men and women. Sec-
ondly, contemporary documents, such as letters, registra-
tions, public and private appeals, lottery circulars, news-
papers, etc. are completely silent on the existence of such
a “congregation.” Thirdly, apart from the documents on
the Cooperators cited by Desramaut, we find no mention
of such a “congregation” in the archives of the Salesian
Society, of the Turin Chancery or of Murialdo’s Society of
St. Joseph, etc.
(2) How, then, is one to explain the language of the
documents cited by Desramaut, chiefly of the document,
Cooperatori Salesiani? It is noteworthy that this document,
probably meant for publication in the Salesian Bulletin,
was set aside and substituted by a milder one bearing the
title, Storia dei cooperatori salesiani.
Storia is a manuscript in the hand of Father Berto that
was corrected by Don Bosco and published in the Bol-
lettino Salesiano [# 3 (Sep.-Oct. 1877) pg. 6]. Here Don
Bosco speaks of “a kind of congregation” (una specie di
congregazione). Stella believes that this document merely
aims at encouraging the cooperators by reminding them
that they were part of the work from the beginning. The
readers knew well he did not mean that in the 1840s or
1850s he had established, and won approval for, a “con-
gregation,” over which he presided as Superior and that
included men and women from every walk of life.
The withdrawn document (Cooperatori Salesiani), on
the contrary, is a manuscript in Don Bosco’s own hand,
that is bolder and explicit, for in it there is mention of a
“congregation” that had been de facto and “canonically”
established. Stella points out that the basis for speaking
of the group gravitating around Don Bosco in these terms
was the concession of spiritual favors as well as Archbishop
Fransoni’s decree of 1852 appointing Don Bosco spiritual
director-in-chief of the three oratories. Neither of these
events, however, established a “congregation.”
(3) On the strength of the document, “Cooperatori
Salesiani,” Desramaut argues that in 1859 there was a
“restructuring” in the earlier, more generic society. This
restructuring was preceded by the first constitutions of
1858, and it entailed a division reflected in the distinction
between “internal members,” living in community in accor-
dance with those constitutions, and “external members”
as described in an appended chapter in the early constitu-
tions. (See above.)
Stella remarks that the chapter on the “external mem-
bers” was not part of the first constitutions, but was
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inserted later by Don Bosco [in 1860] and first presented
in Rome in 1864, when it was ordered removed. Therefore
the concept of the “external member” is to be understood
not as the carry-over from the earlier, more generic con-
gregation, but only in reference to the religious society of
men that Don Bosco was establishing and that won com-
mendation in Rome with the decretum laudis of 1864.
Stella’s conclusion is that in the two documents on the
Cooperators Don Bosco uses the term “congregation” in a
figurative and looser sense to describe a group engaged in
some form of collaborative ministry. Perhaps, according to
Stella, Desramaut did not take sufficiently into account the
“character” of the writer and the “bias” of the documents
in question.
5. The Salesian Cooperators of 1876 and the Case of their
“Approval”
Between 1874 and 1876, Don Bosco developed the con-
cept of the Cooperator apart from the constitutions, and
wrote appropriate regulations. The Association of Salesian
Cooperators was presented to Pius IX in early 1875, who
encouraged the project, and a few months later granted a
commendation and spiritual favors by a decree of July 30.
Don Bosco presented the associations on March 4, 1876
as already established, and therefore not for “canonical
approval” but only for “recognition.” Pius IX commended it
on these terms and granted copious indulgences by decree
of May 9, 1876. The papal brief was clearly worded to that
effect. It read as follows:
Pope Pius IX
For perpetual remembrance:
It has been reported to Us that a Pious Sodality of the
Christian faithful, which goes by the name of Sodality
or Union of Salesian Cooperators, has been canonically
established. Its members are pledged on the one hand to
undertake a great variety of works of piety and charity,
and on the other to care for poor and neglected children
in a special manner. We, therefore, relying on the mercy of
our omnipotent God and on the authority of God’s blessed
Apostles Peter and Paul, in order that this Sodality may
grow from day to day, do hereby grant to the Christian
faithful of both sexes enrolled or to be enrolled in this
Sodality, [the following indulgences:]
Plenary, at the point of death;
Plenary, once a month, with Confession and Commu-
nion;
Plenary, applicable to the Faithful Departed;
In addition, all indulgences, both plenary and partial, of
the Franciscan Tertiaries.
These favors shall be valid, all things contrary notwith-
standing, for the present and for the future in perpetuity.
It is also Our will that copies of this Letter, handwritten or
printed, signed by a notary public and bearing the seal of
the ecclesiastical Authority, be given the same faith, upon
presentation, as would be given to this very Decree.
Given at Rome, at St. Peter’s, under the ring-seal of the
Fisherman on May 9, 1876, the thirtieth of Our pontificate.
[Seal]
[Signatures]
Don Bosco had not meant to request the Holy See’s
approval of a new association. He had merely requested
spiritual favors for an association already in existence
and (as far as he was concerned) canonically erected.
As discussed above, he argued this point in the famous
memorandum written in late 1876 or early 1877, entitled
“Salesian Cooperators.” Here Don Bosco argues that the
Salesian Cooperators were in existence since 1841, were
identified with the collaborative work of the oratories, and
were known as “the Congregation of St. Francis de Sales,”
of which Don Bosco figured as “Superior.” This “congre-
gation” received encouragement, faculties, and spiritual
favors at various dates from the Holy See. By decree of
1852 Archbishop Luigi Fransoni appointed Don Bosco Spiri-
tual Director-in-Chief of the three oratories (St. Francis de
Sales, St. Aloysius and Guardian Angel). This action of the
Archbishop confirmed Don Bosco’s position as director of
the three oratories, and at the same time gave approval to
the “congregation” of oratory workers (cooperators, pro-
moter, benefactors) over which he presided as “superior.”
It was Don Bosco’s understanding that the Archbishop’s
action amounted to a “canonical” approval.
In 1858/1859 this “congregation” was divided into two
families: one bound by vows and living in community (Sale-
sian Society), the other (still known as “Union or Congre-
gation of St. Francis de Sales, Promoters or Cooperators”)
continued “to live in the world while working on behalf of
the oratories.” This is the “congregation” that the 1876 pa-
pal decree of “approv)l” and granting indulgences assumes
to have been in existence and canonically approved.
6. Final Comments
(1) The term “congregation” as used in these docu-
ments does not have the connotation of “religious con-
gregation” in the modern sense, or even in the sense of
“sodality” or of “association of the Christian faithful.”
(2) However, these and other documents show that
a lot of people were involved collaboratively in various
capacities and with various degrees of commitment in the
work of the oratories (promoters, cooperators, benefac-
tors…).
(3) Neither spiritual favors received from the Pope nor
Archbishop Fransoni’s Decree of 1852 amounted to an
ecclesiastical canonical approval. That may be the reason
why Stella could not find any attestation of the existence of
such a “congregation,” apart from Don Bosco’s statements
in the documents cited above.
(4) That Don Bosco was convinced that a “congregation”
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of collaborators had been canonically established may be
confirmed by the manner in which he applied to the Pope
for “approval” of the Cooperators in 1875-76. He present-
ed the association as already in existence and approved by
the Church. This must have been his conviction, unless (as
Stella suggests) this representation was due “to the charac-
ter of the writer and to the bias of the writing.”
(5) The crucial point in any interpretation, however, has
to deal satisfactorily with the nature of the “division “ of
1859. Don Bosco writes:
“[In 1858] the Congregation [of cooperators, promot-
ers…] was divided into two branches, or rather, families.
Those who believed they had a vocation and had no
impediment joined together to live in community, […]
called the Pious Society of St. Francis de Sales. […] The
rest, that is the lay externs, kept on living in the world with
their own families but continued to work on behalf of the
oratories. They retained the title of Union or Congregation
of St. Francis de Sales, Promoters or Cooperators. In the
first Salesian Constitutions a chapter is dedicated to them
under the title of External Members.” [Crucial final portion
of the document Cooperatori Salesiani excerpted above]
We note, in the first place, that the people who in 1859
opted for living in community with vows (besides Don
Bosco and Father Alasonatti) were all in sacred orders or
aspiring to ordination, and were all young people trained
by Don Bosco at the Home. Hence realistically, in spite of
Don Bosco’s statement, the division (if any division there
was) was not a division in the broadly based “congrega-
tion” of cooperators or promoters involved in the work of
the oratories.
Secondly, the chapter on Extern Salesians, which (so
Don Bosco states) was “dedicated to the Union of Promot-
ers or Cooperators” (extern family resulting from the divi-
sion) even if not factually true may represent Don Bosco’s
(unsuccessful) attempt to unite all forces, old and new,
involved in oratory work under the constitutional umbrella
of the Salesian Society. If that is the case, Don Bosco’s
statement transcends historical factuality.
Finally, In 1864 the Salesian Society received the Decree
of Commendation (Decretum Laudis) together with 13
critical observations. One of these ordered the removal
of the chapter on Extern Salesians. Don Bosco, however,
persisted and retained the chapter (appendix) until forced
to remove it in 1873, before the definitive approval of the
constitutions in 1874. But the idea, under a different form,
was shortly thereafter more successfully realized in the re-
organization (the “founding”) of the Salesian Cooperators
(1876).
DON BOSCO FOUNDER
PART II. FOUNDING OF THE SALESIAN SOCIETY (1859)
Giovanni Bonetti, Don Bosco’s Early Apostolate (London:
Burns Oates and Washbourne, 1908) pp. 343-358
Biographical Memoirs (IBM and EBM)
P. Stella, Don Bosco: Life and Work (New Rochelle, NY:
Don Bosco Publications) pp. 133-179
F. Desramaut, Don Bosco en son temps (Turin: SEI, 1996)
pp. 495-508, 571-586
I. PROCESS BY WHICH DON BOSCO PREPARED
THE GROUND FOR THE FOUNDING
The process may be said to begin with the year 1849, at a
time when the oratory crisis was looming ahead. Bon Bosco
began to cultivate certain young men who could serve as
catechists and leaders in the oratories, as well as at the
Home (Casa Annessa). The process gains new momen-
tum in the year 1854, a watershed year that, Don Bosco’s
words, closes the book on the oratory era and opens the
era of the Salesian Society.
Biographer J. B. Lemoyne describes the process both in
Documenti and in the Biographical Memoirs. There we are
given a view of the process that is vastly different from that
gained from the documents on the Cooperators discussed
in Part I.
The summary that follows relies on the Biographical
Memoirs.
1. EBM III, 383-386, 402-403 (July 1849) — Don Bosco
picked out four young men for special consideration and
started them on Latin: Felix Reviglio, James Bellia, Joseph
Buzzetti and Charles Gastini. (Buzzetti became a Salesian.)
Don Bosco’s interest in these young men as a “group”
would indicate that he was looking for “helpers” among
promising lads as early as 1849. (These four should be dis-
tinguished from the second, vastly more important group
of four of 1854.)
2. EBM IV, 63-64 (September 28, 1850) — Don Bosco
submitted a petition and obtained the first papal docu-
ment addressed to the “Director of the Congregation of St.
Francis de Sales,” granting indulgences to oratory workers.
P. Stella notes the existence in the Central Salesian Archive
(ASC) of a similar document addressed to the Director of
the Congregation of the Guardian Angel. This shows that
the group of oratory workers is what’s meant.
[The editor of EBM notes: “This petition is particularly
important because Don Bosco for the first time mentions
the Salesian Congregation,” (meaning, “Salesian Society”)!]
3. EBM IV, 96-98 (October 1850) — Don Bosco petitioned
Archbishop Fransoni to have the above-mentioned “four”
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take examinations to don the clerical habit, hence with the
priesthood in view. Furthermore, Michael Rua is men-
tioned as object of Don Bosco’s special care. Other boys
are mentioned, but it is not clear just where they stood.
The “four” received the clerical habit in the Pinardi chapel
on the feast of the Purification (February 2, 1851), coupled
with the external celebration of the feast of St. Francis de
Sales. [EBM IV, 161]
4. EBM IV, 262 & 527 (March 31, 1852) — Archbishop
Fransoni’s decree confirmed Don Bosco as spiritual direc-
tor-in-chief of the three oratories. Don Bosco will hence-
forth refer this resolution of the “oratory crisis” in his favor
as an official “approval.”
5. EBM IV, 294-298 (June 5, 1952): The “Seven Joys of
Mary Group” — On this date Don Bosco gathered a group
of 15 select young men for a conference—during which
they resolved to recite the Seven Joys of Mary every
Sunday for a year. Michael Rua recorded the event and the
names. Six of these were in the founding group of the Sale-
sian Society in 1859: Michael Rua, John Cagliero, John B.
Francesia, Angelo Savio, Joseph Buzzetti, Joseph Rocchietti
(who left the Society).
6. EBM IV, 337-338 (October 3, 1952) — Michael Rua and
Joseph Rocchietti receive the clerical habit from Fr. Antho-
ny Cinzano in the chapel of the Holy Rosary, set up in the
house of Don Bosco’s brother Joseph’s at Becchi.
7. EBM V, 7-8 (January 26, 1854) — A new “group of
four” met in Don Bosco’s room. Fr. Rua later recorded the
event: “On the evening of January 26, 1854, we gathered
in Don Bosco’s room. Present were Don Bosco, [Joseph]
Rocchietti, [James] Artiglia, [John] Cagliero, and [Michael]
Rua. Don Bosco suggested that, with the help of the Lord
and St. Francis de Sales, we should engage in the practical
exercise of charity toward neighbor [i.e., the work of the
oratory]. This would be in view of making a promise of it—
and later, if possible and appropriate, a vow to the Lord.
From that evening on those who committed, or would in
the future commit, themselves to this exercise were called
Salesians.”
[This late note by Fr. Rua is not reported in Lemoyne’s
Documenti. It is thought that the name “Salesian” for this
early date probably is “read back.”]
[8. Transitional Comment — Significance of the Pivotal
Year 1854} — The year 1854 is especially significant for
the forward movement that culminated in the founding of
the Salesian Society. Speaking of the Memoirs of the Orato-
ry just completed, as Fr. Julius Barberis reports, Don Bosco
said: “Truly the story of the beginning of the oratories is at
once so memorable and so poetic that I myself would very
much like to gather our Salesians together and relate it in
detail. [...] I have set down the main events up to the year
1854 [in the Memoirs]. It was at that point that the Ora-
tory acquired stability and gradually took on the present
shape. One might say that with that year the imaginative
poetic period came to an end and the practical prosaic
period began.” [Barberis, Autograph Chronicle, January 1,
1876, Notebook III, 46-47, FDBM 835 D9-10]
During the Conferences of St. Francis de Sales of 1876,
Don Bosco again stressed the importance of the year 1854.
As Barberis reports, Don Bosco said: “As for me, I have set
down a summary account of events relating to the ora-
tory, from its beginnings to the present [referring to one of
several historical summaries he produced]; and up to 1854
[in the Memoirs] the narrative goes into details in many
instances. From 1854 on, the discourse begins to be about
the Congregation, and matters begin to loom larger and
put on a different face. […] I realize now that Don Bosco’s
life is totally bound up with the life of the Congregation;
and therefore we have to speak of things. [Barberis, Auto-
graph Chronicle, February 2, 1876, Notebook IV, 41, FDBM
837 D1].
It is significant that 1854 was the year in which the
Cavour-Rattazzi bill against religious corporations was in-
troduced in Parliament. It was the year of the first building
expansion of the Home (Casa Annessa), a new building,
capable of housing some 100 boys. (Don Bosco had plans
on the drawing board for a secondary school to be estab-
lished at the Oratory.) It was the year in which he drafted
the regulations for the boys’ oratory and for the Home.
That same year 1854, Don Bosco gathered the famous
second group of four for “a practical exercise in the work
of charity”—an event that marks Don Bosco’s resolve to
move forward with the formation of a religious society—
but how, and what sort of society?
II. THE SALESIAN SOCIETY COMES INTO BEING
(1854-1859)
Sources and Bibliographical Note
Besides the sources and literature listed above, in the paragraphs that
follow below use is made of the documents critically edited in Pietro
Braido, Don Bosco per i giovani…
EBM V, 452-464; 523-603 (based on Bonetti’s Storia); VI, 180-183
1. The Concept of a Group to Continue the Work of the
Oratories
In the early 1850s, Don Bosco was trying to find a way
to make his work permanent. A number priests and lay
people had been associated with him in the work of the
oratories; but the bond that united them among them-
selves and to him was loose at best. They each had their
commitments and their ideas. Don Bosco may indeed have
wished to band them together by some tighter bond under
him and under some kind of rule. The Regulations for the
“festive” Oratory of 1852-54 were written (so he states in
the Introduction) to “serve as a norm in the exercise of this
part of the sacred ministry, and as a guideline for the fairly
numerous priests and lay people who devote their labors
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to this ministry with love and concern.” [“Historical Sum-
mary,” in Braido, DB per i giovani, 33]
As late as 1852-54 (therefore the years in which those
regulations were elaborated) Don Bosco was still cherish-
ing the hope of being able to bind the group together.
Hence we may deduce that he had not succeeded in unify-
ing that charitable, devoted, but very heterogeneous group
of volunteers. In spite of statements by Don Bosco in later
documents, a society gathered under common rules and
recognizing Don Bosco as superior had never come into
existence either de jure or de facto. [See discussion in Part
One above.]
As he sought to make the work permanent, at one point
he may have considered a attaching the oratories to some
existing religious institute, such as Fr. Rosmini’s Institute
of Charity, provided he be allowed to continue the work
he had begun. However, his option lay in a different
direction—to look among his boys (the inner circle of the
students in the Casa annessa) for his helpers. In 1854, as
discussed above, he had judged “the four” to be suitable
candidates, and proposed to them the ideal of the “practi-
cal exercise of charity toward neighbor,” though he care-
fully avoided any reference to a religious congregation.
2. The Idea of a Religious Society
It should be borne in mind that by mid-1850s Don Bosco
had a small group of followers already converted to a form
of life that would even then be recognizable as a kind of
religious life. Don Bosco had a close associate at this time
in Father Victor Alasonatti, who had not been one of the
early oratory workers. There were also a few young men,
such as Rua, Cagliero and Francesia, that he could count
on.
Father Alasonatti and clerical student Michael Rua made
a vow or promise in 1855, and clerical student John Baptist
Francesia in 1856. Their commitment was to engage in
the exercise of charity toward neighbor, not in the nature
of canonical vows. But the little group that was gathering
lived at the Home (Casa Annessa) under the regulations in
force at the time and under Don Bosco’s direction. He may
by this time have been thinking of some kind of religious
congregation; but the available evidence suggests that Don
Bosco reached such a decision only in 1857, when he met
with Minister Urban Rattazzi and received illumination
from his suggestions.
3. Don Bosco’s Meeting with Minister of Interior Urbano
Rattazzi (1857)
Our source for the historic meeting between Don Bosco
and Minister Rattazzi is Father John Bonetti’s “Storia
dell’Oratorio,” referred to above. [DB’s Early Apostolate,
343-350] EBM V, 452-464 depends on Bonetti.
The meeting and connected conversation took place in
early May, 1857 at the ministry of the Interior, whither Don
Bosco had gone perhaps for the purpose of thanking the
minister for his support of the raffle and for the decree of
April 30. It may have been the minister himself, who was
deeply interested in the juvenile problem and admired Don
Bosco’s educational endeavors, who raised the question of
how Don Bosco’s “humanitarian” work might be continued
after his death.
We give essential excerpts of Bonetti’s report of the
exchange.
[Rattazzi:] “[...] You are mortal like everyone else. [...]
What measures do you intend to adopt to secure the per-
manent existence of your institute?”
[DB:] “To tell you the truth, your Excellency, […] I have
thought about procuring some help for the present, but
not about the means of carrying on the work of the Orato-
ries after my death. […]
“Now, […] by what means do you think it possible for me
to establish such an institution on a safe footing?”
[R:] “In my opinion,” replied Rattazzi, “you should select a
certain number of laymen and ecclesiastics, form a society
under certain rules, imbue them with your spirit, teach
them your system, so that they may not merely give you
assistance [now], but may carry on the work after your
departure.”
[Bonetti’s Comment I:] It seemed strange to Don Bosco
that this very same man [who had authored the law of sup-
pression of religious orders] should advise him to institute
another of these congregations. He therefore replied:
[DB:] “But does your Excellency believe it possible to
found such a society in these days? The Government two
years ago suppressed certain religious communities, and is
perhaps preparing now to do away with the rest!” [...]
[Rattazzi:] “It should not be a society that has the char-
acter of mortmain, but one in which each member keeps
his civil rights, submits to the laws of the State, pays the
taxes, and so forth. In a word, the new Society, as far as the
Government is concerned, would be nothing more than an
association of free citizens, united and living together, and
having the same charitable purpose in view.”
[DB] “And is your Excellency sure that the Government
will allow the founding of such a society, and its subse-
quent existence?”
[Rattazzi:] “No constitutional or regular Government will
oppose the founding and development of such a society,
just as it does not prevent, but rather promotes, commer-
cial, industrial and other similar companies. Any associa-
tion of free citizens is allowed as long as its purpose and
actions are not opposed to the laws and institutions of the
State.”
[DB:] “Well,” said Don Bosco, in conclusion, “I shall think
the matter over [...].”
[Bonetti’s Comment II:] — The words of Rattazzi [...] were
for Don Bosco as a ray of light, and made things that he
had thought impossible before appear feasible. [Bonetti,
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St. JB’s Early Apostolate, 1934, 344f.]
[Comment by this writer I] — In view of what was said
above, Don Bosco (contrary to his own disclaimer) had
indeed already considered the matter of how to make the
work of the oratories permanent. Furthermore he had
already banded together a group and bound it to himself
and to the work by a promise (or vow). He may have stated
the contrary so as not to show his hand. Bonetti [Comment
I above] seems to imply that Don Bosco at first understood
Rattazzi to be suggesting some kind of religious congrega-
tion. But his subsequent words [Comment III below] make
it clear that Rattazzi meant no such thing and Don Bosco
knew it.
Probably the minister himself had raised the question of
how Don Bosco’s humanitarian work might be continued
after his death. When Don Bosco expressed his fears that
an association, humanitarian but also clearly religious,
might be suppressed by the government, Rattazzi ex-
plained the point of law applicable to the case. An associa-
tion of free citizens exercising their individual inalienable
rights, regardless of their religious beliefs, would not incur
the government’s sanctions.
Here Rattazzi refers to the first of the two basic prin-
ciple of liberal jurisprudence. Individual right is inviolable
because it is from nature (God). Hence individual liberties
exercised within the state’s legitimate laws cannot be inter-
fered with. On the other hand, corporate right is from the
State, and from it alone. Therefore, only the State has the
power to approve any corporation, including religious cor-
porations (such as congregations). The Church is a spiritual
entity that cannot generate a juridical order of its own. It
was with this understanding that Don Bosco, even after re-
questing and obtaining the Church’s approval, maintained
(the fiction?) that the Salesian Society was an association
of free citizens making use of their civil right of association,
and was not a corporation of any kind.
It is with this understanding that Don Bosco wrote the
“civil right(s)” article into the constitutions, in the chapter,
Form of the Society. Naturally the Roman authorities would
have none of this, for they rejected the principles of Liberal
jurisprudence and claimed the right to establish religious
corporations by the principles of Canon Law.
Later Don Bosco would credit Rattazzi with making the
Salesian Society possible, indirectly. The much-quoted
passage is reported by Barberis. One evening, Don Bosco
was speaking of the providential guidance that enabled the
Salesian Society to come into existence and to survive “in
evil times.” In this connection he made comments on such
political figures as Camillo Cavour, Urban Rattazzi, Paul
Vigliani, etc. Don Bosco said:
Several ministers of state, the very worst types on the
political scene [dei più cattivi che ci fossero], gave me
encouragement and help: Cavour, Rattazzi, Vigliani. [...]
Rattazzi for one came to the Oratory several times and
had the greatest respect for poor Don Bosco. He even
spoke of me as a great man. One might say that it was
consequent to his suggestion that I could write into our
rules certain provisions that define our society’s stance
vis-à-vis the civil authorities and the State. One might
therefore truly say that if we never had any trouble with
the civil authority we owe it all to him. [Barberis, Auto-
graph Chronicle, January 1, 1876, Notebook III, p. 57,
FDBM 835 E8.]
Bonetti continues:
[Bonetti’s Comment II] — [Don Bosco] began by framing
and writing down certain rules according to the purpose
of the new Society. […] He then mentioned the matter to
his seminarians and to some of the best boys of the Ora-
tory, and in a short time he was surrounded by a dozen
individuals on whom he thought he could rely. Some
of these members stayed at their own homes, limiting
themselves to help in the Oratory [...]. Others, on the
contrary, lived at the Oratory in common with Don Bosco,
and were always at his beck and call. [Bonetti, St. JB’s
Early Apostolate (1934), p. 346.]
[Comment by this Writer II] — Looking down the road,
Don Bosco began to wonder whether such a society of free
citizens bound to him by a promise or vow and working to-
gether for a religious purpose, might not at the same time
figure as a religious congregation in the eyes of the Church.
For this additional element he would have to see the Pope.
Bonetti expresses this further “speculation” of Don Bosco.
[Bonetti’s Comment III] The foundations thus laid, Don
Bosco soon perceived that [...] much more was needed.
The society suggested by Rattazzi was a purely human
one [...]. He therefore began to reflect, and to ask himself:
“Cannot this society, whilst having a civil character before
the Government, acquire also the nature of a religious
institute before God and the Church; cannot its members
be free citizens and religious at the same time?” [Bonetti,
St. JB’s Early Apostolate (1934) 346]
[Comment by this Writers III] — Bonetti’s words in Bonet-
ti’s Comment II, above, would indicate that before his trip
to Rome in 1858 Don Bosco had already mentioned the
project for some kind of society to a number of individuals
who, though accepting the idea, made two different kinds
of commitment. (Note that no mention is made of vows or
promises).
Fr. Victor Alasonatti also, in a letter written before Don
Bosco’s Roman trip to clerical student Angelo Savio (work-
ing in a boys home in Alessandria), without making refer-
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ence to vows or promises confirms the existence of such a
group “united as confreres in spirit under the patronage of
St. Francis de Sales.” He cautions him not to speak about it
in public, “until we see more clearly whether it is the Lord’s
good pleasure to prosper the group or to dissolve it—and
this might shortly be decided when Don Bosco journeys to
Rome at the beginning of Lent.” [Letter of February 6, 1858
in ASC 270: Alasonatti.]
Likewise, in the Historical Summary (Origine di questa
Congregazione) in the earliest constitutions (Rua draft of
1858) Don Bosco states that 15 individuals had “professed”
(meaning, “pledged to observe”) “these constitutions, that
is, 5 priests, 8 clerical students and 2 laymen.” [Motto,
Cost. SDB, 70] Though written after Don Bosco’s audience
with Pius IX (March 1858) and his return from Rome, the
statement would certainly indicate the prior existence of a
group that had already made a commitment to Don Bosco
and to the future.
4. Don Bosco’s Trip to Rome on the Business
of the Congregation (February 19-April 16, 1958)
(1) Don Bosco and Pius IX according to Bonetti and Lem-
oyne’s Interpretation
Society would have to have vows “simple” and “easily dis-
solved” to be a true religious congregation according to
Church law. (Don Bosco’s understanding of “simple” and
“easily dissolved” is debated.)
Bonetti seems to have understood the above to mean
that the Pope worked over the manuscript of the constitu-
tions that Don Bosco (supposedly, see below) had submit-
ted. He writes:
Don Bosco, during the time that still remained to him in
Rome, revised the rules of the Pious Society of St. Francis
de Sales, already written in the previous year; some he
omitted, and made alterations here and there, in order
to make them more conformable to the sentiments of
Pius IX. His Holiness read them carefully, adding certain
observations in his own writing, and sent them to his
Eminence Cardinal Gaude. [...] Before leaving Rome, Don
Bosco held several conferences with him [Gaude] on the
subject, and they agreed together that the Rules should
be practiced for a time in their amended form, and then
forwarded to his Eminence [Gaude], who was to present
them to the Holy See for approval. Unfortunately the Car-
dinal soon afterwards was called to his reward. [Bonetti,
St. J. B’s Early Apostolate (1934), 358]
Don Bosco left for Rome on Ash Wednesday, February 18,
1858 with Cleric Michael Rua as “secretary.” According to
Rua’s incomplete diary, the two spent much time sightsee-
ing, for it was Don Bosco’s first visit to the eternal city! The
basic statement made by Bonetti is that Don Bosco went
to Rome with a previously written text of the constitutions
that he intended to present to the Pope. Apparently on a
first audience (March 9), Don Bosco did not submit the text
he had brought with him, but made a oral presentation the
burden of which may be deduced from the Pope’s reply:
Lemoyne follows Bonetti closely for the first audience
(March 9), but expands the scenario for the two subse-
quent audiences merely mentioned by Bonetti. He has
Don Bosco hand the manuscript to the pope in the second
audience (March 21), the audience in which Pius IX urged
Don Bosco to put his extraordinary experiences down in
writing. Then in the third audience (April 6) he has the
pope hand the manuscript back. [Audiences described by
Lemoyne: March 9 (EBM V, pp. 558-562); Sunday, March
21 (pp. 575-579), April 6 (pp. 594-596).
It is necessary that you should establish a Society with
which the Government cannot interfere. At the same
time, however, you must not be satisfied with binding its
members through mere promises, otherwise you would
never be sure of your subjects, nor could you count on
them for any length of time. [St. J. B’s Early Apostolate
(1934) p. 356]
Later Don Bosco stated that Pius IX had laid the founda-
tions (basi) for the society, [Appeal to Pius IX, Feb. 12,
1864, in Motto, Cost. SDB, p. 228] and that the Pope him-
self had traced out “its plan.” [Breve notizia, 1864, cf. IBM
VII, 892 (omitted in EBM)]
The two foundations (Don Bosco explains) are (1) that
the Society should such as to prevent government interfer-
ence. (Don Bosco “rephrased” this in terms of civil right(s),
as Rattazzi had explained, though there is no attestation
that the Pope ever mentioned “civil rights”); (2) that the
(2) Correction of Bonetti-Lemoyne Regarding Previously
Written Constitutions and Three Papal Audiences
It is now known how things fared in Rome. Don Bosco did
not bring with him to Rome a previously written draft of
the constitutions. At first he had intended only to present
his plan for a religious society orally. In Rome, however,
he asked his friend, Cardinal Gaude, for guidance in the
matter; and the Cardinal advised him not to see the Holy
Father without a written plan. Don Bosco then, on the
basis of what was already being done in Turin, worked up a
“brief plan for a religious congregation.”
Before his audience with Pius IX, Don Bosco wrote to the
General of the Rosminians, Fr. John B. Pagani, asking him
to review “a brief plan for a religious congregation” that
he had just set down. [Rosminian Archives, A1. Box 11: S.
Giov. Bosco 87-88; Motto, Epistolario, I, p. 339]
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[Rome], 49 Quirinale Street
March 4, 1858
Most Reverend and Esteemed Father General,
I need a big favor from you. Please read the enclosed
brief plan for a religious congregation, and make any
observation that you may think fit to make in the Lord.
My intention was simply to make an oral presentation of
my idea [to the Holy Father], but Cardinal Gaude advised
me to put something down in writing. Hence, in the past
couple of days, working from memory as well as I could,
I set down [this brief plan] guided by what is being done
in the Home of the Oratory.
I thank you for the great and kind help you are giving us
these days, and I pray God’s abundant blessings on you
and on the congregation entrusted to your care.
With gratitude and high esteem, I remain
Sincerely yours, — Father John Bosco
Don Bosco did most likely present the written plan (not
a copy of the constitutions!) to the Pope at the audience
of March 9 (first audience). But it is not very likely that the
Pope read it, personally annotated it, and returned it to
Don Bosco, as Lemoyne would have it. No such annotated
document is extant, nor did Don Bosco ever show such a
document to anyone, or even ever refer to it.
Then there is the matter of the audiences themselves
(according to the Lemoyne, on March 9, on Sunday,
March 21, and on April 6). Bonetti’s principal source for
Don Bosco’s activities in Rome is the Rua diary. [Viaggio a
Roma, 1858, in ASC 132, FDB 1,352 E3 - 1,354 A5]. Unfor-
tunately the diary is incomplete. It covers the period from
February 18 (departure from Turin) to March 20, in detail.
For the week of March 21-28 it provides only a summary in
an uncertain hand. The remaining days (to April 16, return
to Turin) are not chronicled.
If we are to credit the last summary entries, trivial sight-
seeing activities (and a social call on a cardinal) for March
21, Sunday, are briefly enumerated, whereas an important
audience with the Pope (if it took place) is overlooked! This
presumed audience therefore appears to be an inference
by Lemoyne (interpreting Bonetti) to make room, (1) for
a presentation to the Pope of the constitutional text that
supposedly Don Bosco had brought with him (audience of
March 9); (2) for revising the constitutional text in accor-
dance with Pius IX’s twin foundations, and returning it to
the Pope in an inferred second audience (on March 21),
and (3) for taking back the constitutions (annotated by the
Pope) in a third audience (on April 6).
This construction collapses when we learn that Don
Bosco had not brought a copy (nor even a written sketch)
of the constitutions with him to Rome, as his letter to the
Rosminian General makes clear.
After thanking the Pope in a second audience Don Bosco
and Cleric Rua left Rome on April 14th and were back in
Turin two days later. In late 1858 or early 1859, Cleric Rua
produced the earliest known draft of the constitutions
from texts authored by Don Bosco himself.
The first two articles of the chapter, “Form of the Soci-
ety,” reflect the Pope’s twin foundations: (1) that the Soci-
ety must have “simple” public vows, not mere promises, to
be a true religious congregation according to Church law;
(2) that the Society should be such as to prevent govern-
ment interference, which Don Bosco “rephrased” this in
terms of civil right(s), though there is no attestation that
the Pope ever mentioned “civil rights.”
1. All the associates live the common life, united only
by [the bond of] fraternal charity and the simple vows,
which bind them so as to form one heart and one soul in
order to love and serve God.
2. No one on entering the congregation shall forfeit his
civil right, even after taking vows; therefore he retains
ownership of his goods [...]. [Motto, Cost. SDB, p. 82]
The simple public vows of obedience, poverty and
chastity reserved to the Pope made the Society a religious
corporation in accordance with the juridical system of the
Church’s Canon Law—though Don Bosco claimed that the
Society was not a corporation of any kind, and believed
that as Superior he had control of the vows.
The civil right(s) clause that the Pope (in Don Bosco’s
interpretation) placed as one of the twin foundations met
with strong objections from the Roman authorities, since
the Liberal revolution the policy of the Holy See was to re-
ject any formula that could be construed as a capitulation
to the lay state’s legal system.
This first draft of the constitutions served as starting
point in the subsequent development of the constitu-
tional text. Over the next four years, Don Bosco labored
to improve and expand the text in view of obtaining the
Holy See’s approval. Over the next ten years (1864-1874)
the struggle for approval required many interventions by
Rome and many compromises and concessions on Don
Bosco’s part.
Through this process,the Salesian Society, a novel cre-
ation as conceived by Don Bosco in the years 1854-1858,
was forced by stages into the common ecclesiastical mold.
Don Bosco’s acceptance testifies not only to his realism,
but also, and above all, to his uncompromising spirit of
faith and obedience to the Church.
6. Immediate Developments after Don Bosco’s Audiences
with Pius IX in 1858 and the Founding of the Salesian
Society in 1859
5. First Draft of the Salesian Constitutions
and Form of the Society
The significance of the year 1858 with reference to the
origin of the Salesian Society and its immediate develop-
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ment may be gauged from the decisive forward movement
that followed. Referring back to the year 1858, Don Bosco
in 1877 described the first step taken in setting up the
society:
Italian Text
Nel Nome di Nostro Signor
Gesù Cristo. Amen
English Translation
In the Name of Our Lord
Jesus Christ. Amen
The Congregation was divided into two categories, or
rather two families. Those who were free and felt the
calling came together to live in community [...]. The oth-
ers, namely the externs, continued to live in the world in
the bosom of their families, but did not cease to promote
the work of the oratories.
This text (referring more appropriately to the year 1859)
raises a number of critical questions that have been ad-
dressed in Part One, above, with special reference to Des-
ramaut’s and Stella’s views. Suffice it here to say that the
group that had coalesced around Don Bosco prior to his
trip to Rome and the resulting constitutions, would have
existed as a religious association with a simple promise to
engage “in the practical exercise of charity” and with the
option of living in community or not. Don Bosco was not
slow in moving the group that had been forming around
him, and that was at least open to the idea of a religious
society, toward a decision.
At a historic meeting held on December 9, 1859, Don
Bosco finally announced to his group of twenty young men
his intention of founding a religious congregation. It would
be for those only “who, after mature reflection, intended
to take vows poverty, chastity and obedience in due time,”
and gave them a week’s time to come to a decision. The
thought of a religious congregation filled those young
men with apprehension. But in the case of most of them,
Cagliero’s struggle and final decision were typical: “Monk
or not, I’ll stay with Don Bosco.”
Out of the original twenty, eighteen returned to keep the
appointment on December 18, 1859. Don Bosco, as “initia-
tor and promoter,” was asked to accept the post of Rector
Major; he accepted on condition that he could appoint his
own Prefect-Vicar. He confirmed Father Victor Alasonatti in
that post, and the other officers were elected. The stated
purpose of this Society, as the founding document states,
was: “to promote and preserve the spirit of true charity
that is required by the work of the oratories on behalf of
young people abandoned and at risk. [...] [and] to help
one another toward personal holiness.”
THE FOUNDING DOCUMENT
Minutes of the Founding Meeting of December 18, 1859
The three-page Manuscript is in ASC 0592 Consiglio
Superiore Verbali, FDBM 1,973 D9-11. As stated in the
document, it is the work of Fr. Victor Alasonatti who
acted as secretary at the meeting. The text is edited in
EBM VI, pp. 181-183.
[p. 1] L’anno del
Signore mille ottocento
cinquantanove alli diciotto
di Dicembre in questo Ora-
torio di S. Francesco di Sales
nella camera del Sacerdote
Bosco Giovanni alle ore 9
pomeridiane si radunavano,
esso, il Sacerdote Alasonatti
Vittorio, i chierici Savio
Angelo Diacono, Rua Mi-
chele Suddiacono, Cagliero
Giovanni, Francesia Gio.
Battista, Provera Francesco,
Ghivarello Carlo, Lazzero
Giuseppe, Bonetti Giovanni,
Anfossi Giovanni, Marcel-
lino Luigi, Cerruti Francesco,
Durando Celestino, Pettiva
Secondo, Rovetto Antonio,
Bongiovanni Cesare Gi-
useppe, il giovane Chiapale
Luigi, tutti allo scopo ed in
uno spirito di promuovere
e conservare lo spirito di
vera carità che richiedesi
nell’opera degli Oratori per
la gioventù abbandonata
e pericolante, la quale in
questi calamitosi tempi vi-
ene in mille maniere sedot-
ta a danno della società e
precipitata nell’empietà ed
irreligione.
Piacque pertanto ai
medesimi Congregati di
erigersi in Società o Con-
gregazione che avendo di
mira il vicendevole ajuto
per la santificazione propria
si proponesse di promuo-
vere la gloria di Dio e la
salute delle anime special-
mente delle più bisognose
d’istruzione e di educazi-
one.
[p. 2] Ed approvato
In the year of Our Lord
eighteen hundred and fifty-
nine, on the eighteenth of
December, in this Oratory
of St. Francis de Sales, at 9
in the evening, the follow-
ing gathered in Father John
Bosco’s room: [Don Bosco]
himself, Father Vittorio
Alasonatti, the Seminar-
ians Deacon Angelo Savio,
Subdeacon Michele Rua,
Giovanni Cagliero, Gio. Bat-
tista Francesia, Francesco
Provera, Carlo Ghivarello,
Giuseppe Lazzero, Giovanni
Bonetti, Giovanni Anfossi,
Luigi Marcellino, Francesco
Cerruti, Celestino Durando,
Secondo Pettiva, Antonio
Rovetto, Cesare Giuseppe
Bongiovanni, and the young
man Luigi Chiapale. All [pres-
ent were] united in one and
the same spirit with the sole
purpose of preserving and
promoting the spirit of true
charity needed for the work
of the oratories on behalf
of young people neglected
and at risk. For in these
disastrous times of ours such
young people are liable to
being corrupted and plunged
into godlessness and irreli-
gion to the detriment of the
whole of society.
The Gathered group
then decided to form a soci-
ety or congregation with the
aim of promoting the glory
of God and the salvation of
souls, especially of those
most in need of instruction
and education, while pro-
viding the members with
mutual help toward their
own sanctification.
The project met with
unanimous approval. Hence,
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di comune consenso il disegno proposto, fatta breve
preghiera ed invocato il lume dello Spirito Santo, pro-
cedevano alla elezione dei Membri che dovessero costi-
tutire la direzione della società per questa e per nuove
Congregazioni se a Dio piacerà favorirne l’incremento.
Pregarono pertanto unanimi Lui iniziatore e promo-
tore a gradire la carica di Superiore Maggiore siccome del
tutto a Lui conveniente, il quale avendola accettata colla
riserva della facoltà di nominarsi il prefetto, poichè nes-
suno vi si oppose, pronunziò che gli pareva non dovesse
muovere dall’uffizio di prefetto lo Scrivente il quale fin qui
teneva tal carica nella casa.
Si pensò quindi tosto al modo di elezione per gli altri
socii che concorrono nella Direzione, e si convenne di
adottare la votazione a suffragi secreti per più breve via a
constitutire il Consiglio, il quale doveva essere composto
di un Direttore Spirituale, dell’Economo e di tre consiglieri
in compagnia dei due predescritti uffiziali.
Or fatto Segretario a questo scopo lo Scrivente, ei
protesta di aver fedelmente adempiuto l’uffizio [p. 3]
commessogli di comune fiducia, attribuendo il suffragio a
ciascuno dei Soci secondochè veniva nominato in votazi-
one; e quindi essergli risultato nella elezione del direttore
Spirituale all’unanimità la scelta nel chierico Suddiacono
Rua Michele che non ne ricusava. Il che ripetutosi per
l’Economo, riuscì e fu riconosciuto il Diacono Angelo Savio
il quale promise altresì di assumerne il relativo impegno.
Restavano ancora da eleggere i tre consiglieri, pel primo
dei quali fattasi al solito la votazione venne il chierico Ca-
gliero Giovanni. Il secondo consigliere sortì il chierico Gio
Bonetti. Pel terzo ed ultimo essendo riusciti eguali suffragi
a favore dei chierici Ghivarello Carlo e Provera Francesco,
fattasi altra votazione, la maggioranza risulto pel chierico
Ghivarello, e così fu definitivamente costituito il corpo di
amministrazione della nostra Società.
Il quale fatto come venne fin qui complessivamente es-
posto fu letto in piena Congrega di tutti i prelodati Soci ed
ufficiali per ora nominati, i quali riconosciutane la veracità,
concordi fermarono che se ne conservasse l’originale, a cui
per autenticità si sottoscrisse il Speriore Maggiore e come
Segretario
after a short prayer and the invocation of the light of the
Holy Spirit, the group proceeded to elect the members
that would make up the central body of the society and
would lead this and future communities, if it should please
God to grant increase.
The group then unanimously requested Him [Don Bos-
co] who has been the initiator and promoter [of the work]
to accept the office of Major Superior, as is becoming in
every respect. He accepted the office on condition that he
should have power to choose for the office of prefect the
present writer [Alasonatti], who has held that office in the
house up to the present.
The group then considered the method to be followed
in electing the other members of the central governing
body, and it was decided to hold the election by secret
ballot. This was deemed the speediest way of setting up
the council, which was to consist of a spiritual director, of a
financial administrator, and of three councilors, in addition
to the two already mentioned officers.
The writer [of these minutes] was appointed secretary
and [now] solemnly declares that he has faithfully dis-
charged the task entrusted to him by general agreement.
As the balloting progressed, he recordfed the votes by the
name of the individual concerned; and this was the result
of the elections: the Seminarian, Subdeacon Michele Rua
was unanimously elected spiritual director, and he accept-
ed [the appointment]. The same procedure was followed
for the financial administrator, with the result that Deacon
Angelo Savio was elected. He also accepted, pledging to
discharge the duties of that office.
Three councilors remained to be elected. The balloting
for the first of these resulted in the election of Seminar-
ian Giovanni Cagliero. The second councilor to be elected
was Gio[vanni] Bonetti. The balloting for the third and last
[councilor] resulted in a tie between seminarians Carlo
Ghivarello and Francesco Provera. A second balloting pro-
duce a majority favoring Seminarian Ghivarello. Thus the
central administrative body of our Society was definitively
established.
The report of these proceedings, as summarily de-
scribed herein, was read before the assembly of all the
members and elected officers and was approved as true
to fact. It was then unanimously resolved that this original
record should be kept on file, and to guarantee its authen-
ticity the Major Superior and the Secretary affixed their
signatures.
Sac. Bosco Gio.
Alasonatti Vittorio Sac. Prefetto
Father Gio Bosco
Father Victor Alasonatti, Prefect
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7. Towards Profession of Canonical Vows
F. Desramaut, Don Bosco en son temps, pp. 636-640
(detailed)
P. Stella, DBEcSoc, pp. 295-297
The General Council (then called “Superior Chapter”)
held its first meeting on February 2, 1860, and admitted to
the “practice of the rules” (that is, “novitiate”) the first Lay
Salesian, Joseph Rossi. It met regularly thereafter to pass
on admission of candidates to the “practice of the rules.”
Paul Albera (not quite fifteen years of age) was admitted
on May 1, 1860 and Seminarian Dominic Ruffino, on May
3, 1861. Financial Administrator Angelo Savio’s priestly or-
dination took place on June 2, 1860; and Spiritual Director
Michael Rua’s, on July 29, 1860, the first two Salesians of
the group to be ordained. The first Extern Salesian (Father
John Ciattino), referred to as a “tertiary,” was received on
May 21, 1861. [ASC 0592: Cons. Sup., Verbali 1860-1869,
FDB 1873 E3; EBM VI, 571. After the word “tertiary” Lem-
oyne interprets: “what today we would call a Cooperator.
Up to this point, these “clerics and priests of Don Bosco,”
as they were commonly known, were bound to Don Bosco
and to each other only by a personal commitment to the
exercise of charity (the work of the oratory), rather than by
any ideal or structures of religious life. This changed with
the first official profession of canonical vows in accordance
with the constitutions, which had been in the process of
development since 1858 took place on May 14, 1862. The
minutes read:
The confreres of the Society of St. Francis de Sales were
convened by the Rector [Major], and most of them
re-committed themselves to the Society by the official
profession of triennial vows. [...] Then [when the prayers
were over] the confreres in sacred orders all together
pronounced the formula of vows loudly and clearly,
[…] Then each signed his name in the book prepared
for that purpose. The following were professed: Father
Victor Alasonatti, Father Michael Rua, Father Angelo
Savio, Father Joseph Rocchietti, [Deacon] John Cagliero,
[Deacon] John Baptist Francesia, and [Subdeacon] Domi-
nic Ruffino; the seminarians Celestine Durando, John
Baptist Anfossi, John Boggero, John Bonetti, Charles
Ghivarello, Francis Cerruti, Louis Chiapale, Joseph Bon-
giovanni, Joseph Lazzero, Francis Provera, John Garino,
Louis Jarach. Paul Albera, and the lay members Cheva-
lier Frederick Oreglia di Santo Stefano and Joseph Gaia.
[...]. [ASC 0592: Cons. Sup. Verbali, May 14, 1862, FDB
1873 E5-6; EBM VII, 101]
In his chronicle, Bonetti also records the event: “Twenty-
two of us, not counting Don Bosco, [...] took vows as pre-
scribed by the rules. Because of the number, we repeated
the formula as Father Rua read it phrase by phrase.”
He also records Don Bosco’s words on that occasion.
Among other things Don Bosco is quoted as saying:
“Did Don Bosco,” someone may ask, “also take these
vows?” Yes! As you were making your profession before
me, I too was taking my vows in perpetuity before this
same crucifix. I offered myself to the Lord, ready for any
sacrifice for his greater glory and for the salvation of
souls, especially of the young. [ASC 110: Cronachette,
Bonetti, Annali III. FDB 992 E10; EBM VII, 102]
Scripture Reading: Mt 13: 44-52
44“The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure hidden in
a field, which someone found and hid; then in his joy he
goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.
45“Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in
search of fine pearls; 46 on finding one of great value, he
went and sold all that he had and bought it.
47“Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net that was
thrown into the sea and caught fish of every kind; 48 when
it was full, they drew it ashore, sat down, and put the good
into baskets but threw out the bad. 49 So it will be at the
end of the age. The angel will come out and separate the
evil from the righteous 50 and throw them into the furnace
of fire, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
51“Have you understood all this?” They answered, “Yes.”
52 And he said to them, “Therefore every scribe who has
been trained for the kingdom of heaven is like the master
of a household who brings out of his treasure what is new
and what is old.”
Salesian Reading
Draft Constitutions of the SS (1858, Preamble, It. Rua Ms)
At all times has it been the special concern of the
ministers of the church to promote, to the best of their
power, the spiritual welfare of the young. The good or evil
moral condition of society will depend on whether young
people receive a good or a bad education. Our Divine
Savior himself has shown us the truth of this by his deeds.
For in fulfilling his divine mission on earth, with a love
of predilection he invited children to come close to him:
Sinite parvulos venire ad me [Let little children come to
me].
The Supreme Pontiffs, following in the footsteps of the
Eternal Pontiff, our Divine Savior, whose vicars on earth
they are, have at all times by the spoken and written
word promoted the good education of the young; and
consequently they have favored and supported those
institutes that are dedicated to this area of the sacred
ministry.
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At the present time, however, this need is felt with far
greater urgency. Parental neglect, the abusive power of the
press, and the proselytizing efforts of heretics demand that
we unite in fighting for the Lord’s cause, under the banner
of the faith. Our efforts must aim at safeguarding the faith
and the moral life of that category of young people whose
eternal salvation is more at risk precisely because of their
poverty.
This is the specific purpose of the Congregation of St.
Francis de Sales, first established in Turin in 1841.
community of the baptized. Submissive to the bidding
of the Spirit we are resolved to carry out the Founder’s
apostolic plan is a specific form of religious life: to be in
the Church signs and bearers of the love of God for young
people, especially those who are poor.
By carrying out this mission we find our own way to
holiness.
Draft Constitutions of the SS (1860 Purpose of the SS, It.
Boggero Ms)
1. It is the purpose of this congregation to gather together
[into community] [as] its members: priests, seminarians
and laymen too, in order that they may strive for
perfection through the imitation, in so far as it is possible,
of the virtues of our divine Savior, especially in charity
toward poor young people.
Draft Constitutions of the SS (1873 Form of the SS, Latin
Printed)
1. All the members lead the common life bound only by
the bond of fraternal charity and of the simple vows,
which binds them (together] so that they form one heart
and one soul, in order to love and serve God by the
virtue of obedience, poverty and holiness of life, and by a
committed Christian way of living.
2. No one who has entered the Society, even after making
his vows, forfeits his civil rights. Therefore he retains
possession of his goods, and he shall likewise pay the
public taxes as prescribed by civil laws; he may validly
and licitly buy, sell, make a last will, and also succeed
into [possession of] goods of others. But for as long as
he remains in the society, he may not administer his
possessions except in the manner and within the limits
that the Rector Major will judge right in the Lord.
Constitutions of the Salesian Society (1984)
Art. 1. […] The Spirit formed within [Don Bosco] the heart
of a father and teacher, capable of total self-giving: “I have
promised God that I would give of myself to my last breath
for my poor boys.” [EBM XVIII, 216]
To ensure the continuation of this mission, the Spirit
inspired him to initiate various apostolic projects, first
among them our Society.
The Church has acknowledged God’s hand in this,
especially by approving our Constitutions and by
proclaiming our Founder a saint.
[…]
Art. 2. We, the Salesians of Don Bosco (SDB), form a
MESSAGES OF THE RECTOR MAJOR ON THE B.S. -
A VAST MOVEMENT FOR THE YOUNG
MAY : THE FRUITS OF THE GOOD SEED
Saints and Founders of the SF
In this way was born a true school of holiness which
continues in our own time. From Don Bosco the founder,
subsequent founders of new groups drew inspiration and
guidance, spirituality and pastoral method (CIC 1).
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A good tree does not give bad fruit (Lk 6,43). The
passage in Luke is significant for the history of the devel-
opment of the Salesian charism. Don Bosco gave his life
a gospel meaning putting it at the service of the young to
help them to be holy and to be upright citizens.
He stands for the good seed which became a good
tree whose fruit is excellent. He was the pattern on which
saints were modelled. His first successor Blessed Michael
Rua, was seen as a new Don Bosco; he made fidelity to the
Founder his own plan of life and action, and under him
the Salesians grew from 773 to 4000, the houses (schools,
institutes and missions) from 57 to 345, the Provinces from
6 to 34, in 33 countries. Paul VI beatified him in 1972, say-
ing: “He made the spring a stream, a river”. Blessed Philip
Rinaldi, his third successor, gave a new impetus to the
interior life of the Salesians, putting absolute trust in God
and in Mary Help of Christians; he sent 1800 Salesians to
the missions, founded the VDB – Volunteers of Don Bosco
Movement, who lived consecrated lives without leaving
their families or their places of work. Saint Mary Mazza-
rello, was the co-foundress of the FMA the Salesian Sisters,
intelligent, strong-willed, endowed with great emotional
balance. After a period of illness she devoted her life to
the education of the girls in Mornese, through a sewing
and dress-making workshop, a festive oratory and a home
for little girls without parents. A meeting with Don Bosco
(1864) was decisive as he suggested to her a way of broad-
ening her desire for the apostolate. Together therefore on
5 August 1872 they founded a new religious family for the
benefit of the young. From this splendid fruit grew a great
new apostolic enterprise which today numbers about 15
thousand Sisters with such splendid examples of holiness
as the three Blesseds Maddalena Morano, Maria Romero,
Eusebia Palomino and many other women of God …
Among the Salesians-Cooperators Blessed Alexandrina
da Costa whose life was marked by the serious accident
she had in escaping from a violent attack which left her
immobile for over 30 years, sustained spiritually, but also
physically by the Holy Eucharist (for 13 years her only food
was the consecrated host). She made her promise as a
Cooperator and offered her sufferings for the Salesian mis-
sion to the young. Then there is the Servant of God Attilio
Giordani who decided to leave for Brazil with his wife, and
with his children devoted his life to voluntary service; and
again Cardinal Giuseppe Guarino, who welcomed the first
Salesians to Sicily, and gave them an inheritance which
enabled them to open the houses at Alì for the FMA and
at Messina for the SDB, and with a Salesian spirit in 1889
founded the “Apostles of the Holy Family.” Blessed Luigi
Variara, a Salesian dedicated to the welfare of the least for-
tunate, especially the lepers in the leper colony at Agua de
Dios, where he transformed the lives of the eight hundred
sick people and the other inhabitants helping them in a
way that was both full of cheerfulness and deeply spiritual;
then he gathered together from among the lepers a group
of young women to share his apostolic passion and found-
ed in 1905 the “Daughters of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus
and Mary.” Also highly significant was the life of Bishop
Giuseppe Cognata, Bishop of Bova Marina, founder of the
“Oblates of the Sacred Heart”. The indescribable suffering
brought about by the calumnies which led to him having
to put aside his role as Bishop for 22 years, did not weaken
his faith. He was rehabilitated and now work is in progress
to move forward the cause of his beatification.
The few lines of an article are not enough to speak
about Salesian holiness; the list is a long one: Blessed Ar-
temides Zatti, Zephyrinus Namuncurà, Laura Vicuña, Simon
Srugi, Maria Troncatti, Fr Giuseppe Quadrio Bishop Stefano
Ferrando, Fr Carlo dalla Torre, Saint Luigi Versiglia, Saint
Callisto Caravario, Fr Vincenzo Cimatti, the martyrs in Spain
and in Poland. The tiny seed has indeed become a large
tree “weighed down” with good fruit! However, I should
like to finish with one of the “Volunteers with Don Bosco”,
Nino Baglieri, who died two years ago: a life considered
worthy of a future process of beatification. A builder, at 17
years of age falling from a scaffolding he was totally para-
lysed. At first he lived in a mood of rebellion, but then the
Spirit entered into his heart. He began to make of his situ-
ation an intense offering and prayer becoming for many
people a spiritual focal point. He had learned to write us-
ing his mouth and this enabled him to leave behind some
precious testimonies: “No one is excluded from holiness, it
depends on us, on how we say our “Yes” to the Lord. And
if someone hears in his heart the voice of the Lord calling
him to follow Him in consecrated life don’t be afraid to say
your own complete “Yes”. A yes to life!” Today the Salesian
Family has eight Saints, one hundred and ten Blesseds,
eight Venerables, twenty-eight Servants of God …
Holiness is waiting for us.
May
the
month
of
Mary,
Help
of
Christians
15