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Newsletter for Salesian Missionary Animation
DON BOSCO’S MISSIONARY DREAMS
D ear
missionaries,
Salesian
confreres, friends of
the Salesian missions!
Cordial greeting
from Rome during
the summer session of the
General Council!
As we contemplate the
missionary heart of Don Bosco
we are invited to rediscover,
this month, his second
missionary dream. In fact every
missionary dream of our Father
reveals his heart beating to
bring the Gospel to the young
of the whole world. Let us
learn from his way of thinking!
Probably the materials for the
Salesian Mission Day 2011
(DVD, poster, etc) have already
arrived in the Provinces, with
the theme Volunteers to
proclaim the Gospel [download
from www.sdb.org].
We make Don Bosco’s dreams
a reality with the formation of
a missionary group in every
house, and of the missionary
volunteer service in every
Salesian Province all over the
world!
One of the missionary dreams of Don Bosco - the second - was a dramatic alle-
gorical representation about the future of Salesian Missionary work through-
out South America: Those who were with Don Bosco had already an intuition
that there was something more than human in these epic dreams. Don Bosco
narrated this dream on September 4, 1883 during the afternoon session of the
General Chapter. [For the full text see MB XVI, 385-398; SDL.SDB.ORG].
«My young friend continued: - Well: these mountains are
like a bank, a boundary. So far, there is the harvest prom-
ised to the Salesians. There are thousands and millions of
people awaiting your help, they are waiting for the faith.
These mountains were the Cordilleras of South America
and the sea is the Atlantic Ocean ... And without knowing
how, I found myself at a railway station. ... We got on the
train. I asked where we were. .... The beautiful new train
moved on, always going forward. ... we travelled through
forests, going into tunnels, we passed over huge viaducts,
we went through mountain gorges, lakes and swamps using bridges, we
crossed wide rivers, run through prairies and plains. We passed along the
shores of Uruguay. I thought it was just a short river, but instead it is very long.
At one point I saw the river Paranà which flows close
to Uruguay ... And the train was always going down, it
was turning on one side and then to another. After a
long period of time it stopped a second time...
The train resumed its journey across the Pampas and
Patagonia. The cultivated fields and houses scattered
here and there indicated that civilisation took posses-
sion of those deserts.
In the place where Patagonia begins we passed a
branch of the Rio Colorado or the Rio Chubut. ... Finally
we reached the Straits of Magellan, I looked at it. We went down. Before us
was Punta Arenas. ... My friend mentioned to me all these things. Then I asked:
- And now what do you mean by that?
He answered: - What is being planned in the future, will one day be a reality. ...
Given the wonderful progress of the Catholic Church, of our congregation and
of civilisation in those regions, I thank Divine Providence that he had deigned
to use me as an instrument of his glory and salvation of so many souls …»
Fr. Václav Klement, SDB
Councillor for the Missions
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