Wirth-Don-Bosco-and-the-Salesians


Wirth-Don-Bosco-and-the-Salesians

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DON BOSCO AND
THE SALESIANS
BY MORAND WIRTH
N BOSCO PUBLICATIONS

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DON BOSCO
AND
THE SALESIANS

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DON BOSCO
AND
THE SALESIANS
By MORAND WIRTH
From the translation by David de Burgh, S.D.B.
Don Bosco Publications
New Rochelle, New York

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FRONT COVER:
1. SAINT JOHN BOSCO
2. FATHER PHILIP RINALDI
3. SAINT DOMINIC SAVIO
4. FATHER PAUL ALBERA
5. LADY DOROTHEA DE CHOPITEA
6. CARDINAL JOHN CAGLIERO
7. BROTHER JOSEPH DOGLIANI
8. SAINT MARY MAZZARELLO
9. FATHER VINCENT CIMATTI
10. FATHER MICHAEL RUA
Don Bosco and the Salesians is translated from Don Bosco e i Salesiani
Centocinquant ’anni di Storia by Morand Wiith, published by Elle Di Ci
Torino-Leumann, Italy © 1969 Elle Di Ci, with permission of the publisher.
English edition by Don Bosco Publications,
a Division of Don Bosco Multimedia, New Rochelle, New York.
© 1982 Salesian Society, Inc. All rights reserved.
Library of Congress Catalog Number 82-072675
ISBN 0-89944-065-7
Printed in the U.S.A.
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Preface
This book satisfies a real need describing as it does the growth of
Don Bosco’s work with historical accuracy and in pleasant style.
There are almost too many books about Don Bosco, but hardly
any which tell us what he managed to achieve. Historians, bemused
by the personal charm of the founder of the Salesians, have forgotten
to mention his work. There are, of course, the thoroughly documented
and quite recent Annals of the Salesian Congregation industriously
compiled by Father Eugene Ceria. These four volumes, ending with
1921 are too detailed but, nonetheless, incomplete. Yet the world
has a right to know all about the development of the Salesian Congre­
gation, because it is a significant part of the Church today. Since it is
one o f the largest o f contemporary religious families, there should be a
published account of its history to date. Even though it is difficult
to write history in the making, it is, after all, contemporary history
which sheds most light on our time as well as on the immediate future
of mankind.
A short work appeared in French a few years ago which met this
need to a certain extent.1 Although it was little more than an outline,
it provided the incentive for Morand Wirth to write the present volume,
a product of thorough research and thoughtful writing. It is as complete
as possible and a pleasure to read.
Going back one hundred and fifty years, the Salesian story is one of
continuous growth. There was no need therefore to divide it into
different periods. Because Don Bosco’s childhood was the foundation
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o f his achievement, it seems only natural to begin with his birth in 1815
and to conclude with the Salesian General Chapter in 1965.
The chapter of 1965 elected a new rector major and made some
notew orthy decisions just before the close of the Second Vatican
Council. Arbitrary divisions have been avoided, because the hundred
and fifty years in question are naturally divided by Don Bosco’s death
in 1888. This was a decisive year in which the founding period ends and
development begins. His followers will always find their inspiration in
his early apostolate on the streets and in the prisons; in the first Con­
stitutions o f the Salesian Congregation; and in the first groups of
lay-helpers; in the founding o f the Institute o f the Daughters of Mary
Help of Christians and o f the Salesian Cooperators; in the apostolate
through the press and the early missionary expeditions to South Amer­
ica. Yet even in 1888, many new developments remained for the future,
and a great deal was open to change. Flexibility is inherent in any life
for God that is to remain meaningful. This is the fascination of the
Gospel and of the benefits Don Bosco bestowed on society. While he
lived, not even his m ost ardent followers could appreciate the scope of
his vision or the power o f his love. Men and women Salesians are now
established not only in southern Europe but in almost every country of
northern and central Europe, in North, Central, and South America,
Africa, Asia, and Australia. It took less than one hundred years for the
expansion of a few hundred followers into twenty-two thousand
Salesians and seventeen thousand Salesian Sisters.
Thus, there is no great difficulty in the arrangement of the material.
The chapters of Part I (1815-1888) trace the growth of Don Bosco’s
work during his lifetime; those of Part II (1888-1965) show consoli­
dation and world-wide expansion after his death. The chapters in Part
II take into account the work o f the various rectors major who suc­
ceeded Don Bosco in presiding over a highly centralized Congrega­
tion. They also describe the division of the Salesian family into three
branches: the Salesian Society, the Institute of the Daughters of Mary
Help of Christians, and the Association of Salesian Cooperators.
[An appendix by Father David de Burgh, S.D.B. carries the history of
the Society through the Age of Renewal, 1965 to 1977, mandated by
the Second Vatican Council.]
Many interesting facts had to be omitted from these pages. It would
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have been nice to know the details o f the daily life of the average
Salesian in Europe or South America in the last century, or to learn
more about the publications for which the members have been respon­
sible, the Salesian philosophy o f life, the style of their churches and
schools, the extent of their resources, etc. Some readers might wish to
hear about the weaker side of the Salesians in order to arrive at a better
estimate of their worth. This kind of book has not yet been written.
Every author has to make certain choices, and in an historical work
the options depend partly on the nature of the available sources; Father
Wirth’s book is no exception. In the years ahead more and more Sale­
sian material about the nineteenth and tw entieth centuries will be
published, and future authors will benefit accordingly.
The notes will enable the curious reader and the specialist to appre­
ciate the extent of the available documentation. The contributions of
Fathers John Baptist (Giovanni Baptista) Lemoyne, Don Bosco’s
secretary during the last years o f his life, Angelo Amadei and Eugene
Ceria (both official historians of the Salesian Congregation from 1920
to 1957) are particularly important for our understanding of the times
and o f Don Bosco and his immediate successor, Michael Rua ( t 1910).
The author has sifted their copious writings with discernment, and this
is not the least of his achievements. He has also drawn from Don
Bosco’s own writings and the Acts o f the Processes o f Canonization o f
Don Bosco, Dominic Savio, and Maria Domenica Mazzarello, on official
letters o f rectors major and mothers general, various editions of the
constitutions and regulations, Acts o f the General Chapters, biographies
of outstanding Salesians, particularly missionaries, as well as periodicals
like the Salesian Bulletin. A work based on such a solid foundation
inspires confidence.
Gratitude is due to Father Wirth for a book which manages to
compress into a few hundred pages an outline of the history of the
entire Salesian work.
FRANCIS DESRAMAUT, S.D.B.
Lyon-Fontanieres,
September 26, 1968
1.
Groupe Lyonnais de Recherches Salesiennes, Precis d ’histoire
salesienne, 1815-1960, Lyons 1961.
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INTRODUCTION TO THE ENGLISH EDITION
Don Bosco and the Salesians was translated in rough copy by Father
David de Burgh, S.D.B. in the early 1970’s and circulated in mimeo
form among his students and friends for nearly a decade. Continued
demand for the work is an indication of Father David’s wisdom in
selecting this above so many other available texts demanding the
attention o f a rapidly growing Salesian audience. Those who knew
Father David, and mourned his untimely death in 1980 at 62 years of
age, will find his love for Saint John Bosco and his knowledge of the
unparalleled Salesian tradition alive in these pages.
References in the notes to the Biographical Memoirs o f Saint John
Bosco are given in all cases to the Italian edition prepared by Fathers
Lemoyne, Amadei, and Ceria. English references have been added for
the first twelve volumes of the twenty volume Memoirs. Translation
o f volumes thirteen through twenty is still in progress.
References to the Life o f The Boy Dominic Savio are given in all
cases to the Italian edition of 1859 and 1880 prepared by Saint John
Bosco. Equivalent English references have been added when possible.
The best English text, translated with notes by Rev. Paul Aronica,
S.D.B., entitled Saint Dominic Savio by Saint John Bosco, is based
on the fifth edition of Don Bosco (1878).
More than forty prelates mentioned in this text served the Church
during the period o f Italian unification (when many Sees of North­
ern Italy had no bishops) and in mission territories administered by
Prefects Apostolic. Some held high office but were never bishops
(for example, Father Cimatti in Japan); some appear in our text for
the first time as bishops; others appear for the first time as apostolic
administrators and later become bishops. In referring to these prelates
we have generally retained the title Monsignor (Msgr.), which is widely
used in Italy, Spain, France, and most mission territories for all prelates
including bishops.
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TO THE MEMORY
OF
FATHER DAVID DE BURGH, S.D.B.
TEACHER,
AND FRIEND.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Preface .......................................................................................................... v
In tro d u c tio n .............................................................................................viii
PARTI
THE BEGINNINGS OF THE SALESIAN WORK
1815-1888
Chapter 1: JOHN BOSCO’S EARLY YEARS
1815 - 1 8 4 1 ....................................................................... 1
Chapter 2: THE BEGINNINGS OF THE ORATORY
1841 - 1847 ..................................................................... 15
Chapter 3: THE ORATORY HOUSE - 1847 AND 1862
THE ARTISANS ............................................................. 27
Chapter 4: THE ORATORY HOUSE - 1847 AND 1862
THE STU D EN TS............................................................. 38
Chapter 5: THE STUDENT SOCIETIES ........................................ 49
Chapter 6: DOMINIC SAVIO, 1842 - 1857 .................................. 61
Chapter 7: RECREATION ............................................................... 72
Chapter 8: BIRTH OF THE SALESIAN SOCIETY
1850 - 1864 ..................................................................... 84
Chapter 9: THE SALESIAN COADJUTORS.................................. 95
Chapter 10: THE SALESIAN CONSTITUTIONS
UP TO 1874 ..................................................................... 106
Chapter 11: THE APOSTOLATE IN ITALY
FROM 1863 TO 1875 ..................................................... 118
Chapter 12: BEGINNINGS OF THE WORK IN EUROPE
1875 - 1888 ..................................................................... 129
Chapter 13: SALESIAN REGULATIONS UP TO 1888 ................ 139
Chapter 14: MARY MAZZARELLO
1837 - 1881 ..................................................................... 150
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Chapter 15: THE SALESIAN SISTERS
UNTIL THE DEATH OF DON BOSCO ..................... 162
Chapter 16: THE SALESIAN COOPERATORS ............................. 175
Chapter 17: THE SALESIANS IN AMERICA
THE FIRST MISSIONS, 1875 - 1888 ........................ 187
Chapter 18: CONSOLIDATION OF THE CONGREGATION
1874 - 1888 ..................................................................... 200
PART II
CONSOLIDATION AND WORLD EXPANSION
OF THE SALESIAN WORK
AFTER 1888
Chapter 19: MICHAEL RUA , 1837 - 1910 ..................................... 215
Chapter 20: THE SALESIANS IN EUROPE
UNDER FATHER RUA ................................................228
Chapter 21: PROGRESS IN AMERICA AND
FIRST STEPS IN ASIA AND A FR IC A ........................241
Chapter 22: PAUL ALBERA AND PHILIP R IN A L D I...................257
Chapter 23: PETER RICALDONE AND RENATO ZIGG IO TTI. . 271
Chapter 24: GENERAL CHAPTERS;
REGULATIONS AND CONSTITUTIONS
OF THE SALESIAN SOCIETY AFTER 1888 ........... 285
Chapter 25: SALESIAN FO R M A TIO N ............................................. 296
Chapter 26: THE SALESIAN MISSIONS AFTER 1 9 1 0 ................ 307
Chapter 27: SALESIANS UNDER PERSECU TIO N........................321
Chapter 28: THE SALESIAN SISTERS AFTER 1888 ................... 332
Chapter 29: THE COOPERATORS AFTER 1888 ........................... 345
Chapter 30: THE PAST PUPILS...........................................................358
Chapter 31: NEW T R E N D S ................................................................371
Chapter 32: THE SALESIANS AFTER VATICAN I I ..................... 389
B iblio g rap h y .............................................................................................403
I n d e x ..........................................................................................................414
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PART I
THE BEGINNINGS
OF THE SALESIAN WORK
1815 — 1888

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1
JOHN BOSCO’S EARLY YEARS
1815 - 1841
When writing an account of his achievements in Turin, the Memoirs
o f the Oratory, Don Bosco began with the story of his boyhood.
These were the years when the seeds of Salesian life were storing up
energy derived from the country soil and from contact with a pro­
vincial town. The first twenty-six years of Don Bosco’s life saw the
gradual formation o f decisive patterns which subsequently became the
inspiration of those who followed in his footsteps.
Ita ly in 1 8 1 5
John Melchior Bosco was born on the 16th of August in 1815, a
year which ushered in a new era in the history of Italy and of Europe.
The battle of Waterloo on June 18 ended the saga o f Napoleon.
With the emperor gone, Italy was once again a mere geographical
expression, a fact which the Great Powers found convenient. Instead of
being restored to her former rulers, Italy fell under the powerful
protection of Austria.1 The rule o f Francis II extended as far as
Lombardy and Venice; he was represented in Parma, Modena, and
Tuscany; he assumed guardianship of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies,

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DON BOSCO
o f the Papal States (of which Pius VII had regained possession after a
lengthy term of imprisonment), and of the House of Savoy that ruled
once more in Turin through Victor Emmanuel I.
1815 was the end of an epoch and the start of a concerted effort to
put back the clock and restore the old order that had existed before the
French Revolution. The Great Powers hoped to consolidate their posi­
tions through the Holy Alliance, aimed against the principles of 1789,
and whoever supported them. The King, as ally o f the Church, was
regarded indispensable for the reconstruction.2
Meanwhile, a rival ideology grew in strength. In any case, the pres­
ence of the French in Italy, though not very welcome, was not entirely
unwelcome either. Napoleon had given the country security and a
sense o f the value, even the grandeur of life. The ideals of freedom
and individual civil rights had captured the people’s imagination while
enforced unification o f the nation promoted a growing sense of patri­
otism.
From 1815 onwards, Italy was destined to evolve towards freedom
and patriotism. The middle classes were particularly susceptible to new
ideas, because they wanted political influence and economic growth,
and thinking men were enthusiastic about the ideals of the revolution.3
Their aim was clear, they wanted to throw off the Austrian yoke, to
reform or overturn the absolute rulers, and to introduce secret societies
like masonry, the Carbonari, and other republican, anticlerical, and
revolutionary elements, which were to promote renewal.
Piedmont
In 1815 the new ideas had not yet won political acceptance. In
Piedmont, certainly, the monarchy was quite opposed to liberalism.
On the other hand, the House of Savoy already gave some indica­
tions of the central role it was destined to play in the unification of
the country. Most people welcomed the return of the old rulers to
Turin in 1814,4 and Sardinia experienced a second spring. Not only
had it regained Nice and Savoy, it had also annexed the territory of
Genoa, thereby reaching four million inhabitants. The rule of Victor
Emmanuel I was buttressed by the traditional supports of monarchy,

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THE EARL Y YEARS
3
the nobility, the clergy, and the army. The clergy seemed to have
favored close collaboration with a regime whose initial measures were
acceptable enough: return of feast days, punishment o f blasphemy,
restoration of church property, restriction of freedom of thought and
expression.5 Fortunately, Victor Emmanuel I was forced to abdicate
in favor of more liberal elements in 1821, but it was still necessary
to wait until 1848 for any real improvement in the system of govern­
ment.
The Small World o f the Hearth
and the Countryside
John Bosco grew up in Piedmont during this period o f restoration.
He was born in Morialdo, in the town and parish of Castelnuovo d’Asti
and, to be more precise, in the hamlet of Becchi, which consisted only
of a few shacks. Although Turin was only about twenty miles away,
a whole world separated the Piedmontese countryside from the capital
in those days.
His father, Francis (1784-1817), had two children by a previous
marriage: A son Anthony (1808-1849) and a daughter, Theresa, who
did not live very long.6 After his second marriage to Margaret Occhiena
(1788-1856), he had two more sons: Joseph (1813-1862) and John
(1815-1888). One should also mention the grandmother, Margaret
Zucca, Francis’ mother who, until her death in 1826, retained a clear
mind and great influence. There were also two servants.
The Bosco family was poor but by no means destitute. They pos­
sessed a small house and a piece of land. Nevertheless, in order to sup­
port his family, the father found it necessary to work for a neighbor
who was better off.
Fatherless
“ I was not yet two years old when God in his mercy allowed a great
misfortune to befall us.” 7 It is with these words that Don Bosco refers
to his father’s death on May 11, 1817.

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4
DON BOSCO
Francis, coming home from work one day, wet with perspiration,
had been careless enough to go into the cold underground wine-cellar.
He caught cold and, seized by a sudden fever, died a few days later at
the age o f thirty-three. Throughout his life John recalled his m other’s
words as she led him out o f the dead man’s room: “Poor lad, come
along, you no longer have a father.”
Fortunately for her family, Margaret had both a head and a heart.
The outstanding qualities o f Saint John Bosco’s m other were her even
temper, sense o f commitment, and piety.8 Perhaps the greatest quali­
ties o f this country woman were drive and determination. We are
told that even as a girl she succeeded in chasing away the horses some
Austrian troops had put to pasture on her grain. She was left a widow
at the age o f twenty-nine and faced her difficult situation with courage.
As a m other she was rather demanding. She taught her children never
to remain idle to the point of cutting down on sleep. On many occa­
sions she showed great forbearance with Anthony, a difficult son.
With John she was protective and patient. She could neither read
nor write but had a deep understanding of the catechism in its tradi­
tional interpretation. She placed no obstacles in the path of her young­
est son.
With the father gone, the family had periods o f difficulty and crisis.
There was material hardship when a terrible famine ravaged Piedmont
during the early years of the restoration. In 1817, while crowds of
starving people thronged the streets of Turin,9 the Bosco family at
Becchi went through very hard times. There were emotional problems
too when the unity and harmony of the family were disturbed by the
eldest son’s rebellion against the authority of his stepmother, and by his
lording it over the two younger stepbrothers. Given to violent out­
breaks, rude, and withdrawn, Anthony may well have been just a
disturbed lad shaken by the traumatic experience of the deaths of both
parents.10 Over the years, his relationship with the youngest boy
deteriorated to the point where it was impossible to have them both
under the same roof. Apparently Joseph, a prudent and peace loving
boy, was less of a problem.

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THE E A RLY YEARS
5
Early Years
John grew up simply in the small, unsophisticated village of Becchi.
At an early age he learned how to make himself useful around the
house and in the fields. He tied up the corn, and very soon his main
occupation was taking the cow and sheep out to pasture.
He made friends with the local boys, especially John Filipello and
Secondo Matta with whom he shared toys and games, fears and ex­
ploits. No one could match him when it came to snaring birds in a trap
or catching them in their nest! Nimble and strong, he liked to imitate
the clowns and acrobats he saw at neighboring fairs. He also tells us
how he came to be a leader of his peers and even of boys older than
himself.
His main traits of character were already emerging. John was alert,
imaginative, and quick to see the positive side o f people and situations.
He was very sensitive and subject to fits of temper. The death of his
pet blackbird touched him deeply. Father Lemoyne speaks o f his
serious turn of mind and his reserve. Nothing escaped him; he weighed
people’s words, tried to understand others, and to read their minds
so as to behave accordingly.11
It did not take long for him to develop a sense of vocation. When
he was only five years old, he wanted to “gather boys together for
catechism classes.” 12 His other gifts brought him success in this partic­
ular ambition, and he conveyed to his companions the lessons learned
from the parish priest or from his mother.
If Don Bosco’s dates are correct, an unusual incident took place
when he was nine or ten years old. Fifty years later, the founder of the
Salesians recounted in his Memoirs o f the Oratory a boyhood dream
that he had not forgotten.13 He had seen a group o f boys turned into
ferocious beasts become meek lambs. He had also seen a distinguished
personage advocating “meekness and love” when he was vainly trying
to correct the faults of others with words and gestures. In the second
part of the dream there appeared “a woman splendidly attired,” the
mother of the first mysterious personage. She entrusted him with the
care of her “children” and asked him to prepare himself by becoming
“humble, robust, and strong.” The dream ended with her words:
“In due time you will understand everything.”

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DON BOSCO
This was the first of Don Bosco’s many dreams. It gave him a lot to
think about throughout his life. As a little boy he might have been
content to follow his grandmother’s advice not to believe in dreams,
but now he felt the dream was an invitation from Christ and his Mother
to help abandoned children.
After telling this dream, Don Bosco recalls his experiences as a boy,
teacher, and apostle: “ At a very early age I was already sizing up my
companions. When I looked at somebody, I could usually tell what was
on his mind; this made my peers either admire or fear me; they wanted
me either as a judge or a friend, and I always did my best and never
hurt anybody.” 14 There can be no doubt that Don Bosco when in his
sixties enjoyed recounting in great detail his early successes which
had been quite spectacular.
By the time he was ten or eleven years old, he was already able to
draw a crowd o f about a hundred people or more. During the long
winter evenings, John read stories about the French kings to the chil­
dren on a neighboring estate, and when the weather was good, they
watched his acrobatics. His main concern however was always religion!
Nothing was more important to him than prayer, and a recitation of
the rosary probably always preceded and ended his performances.
In 1826 John made his First Communion, and we can well imagine
that it was on this occasion when he first expressed, probably to his
mother, his desire to become a priest.
First Steps in Education
Though John Bosco was very fond of the young, his childhood com­
panions soon found that he was also extremely fond of reading, which
was connected with his vocation. He wanted to study seriously without
wasting time.
Things were not easy just then. Three miles separated Becchi from
Castelnuovo, where the school of the district was located. In 1824
Margaret managed to have her son admitted to Father Lacqua’s school
at Capriglio which was a little closer to home. This arrangement,
however, did not last long because of Anthony’s increasing resentment.
He did not like the “little lord” walking around with a book in his hand

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THE E A R LY YEARS
7
all the time, forever thinking of great things to come. John’s athletic
skills only increased his jealousy. There was so much discord that their
mother thought it better to separate them; she sent the younger boy
away from home. When he was about fourteen, perhaps in 1828, John
went to live with the Moglias, a peasant family, in the village of Mon-
cucco.15 This was a time of great sorrow for him, which he doesn’t
mention in his Memoirs perhaps out of consideration for his mother.
On the Moglia farm he earned his keep as a farmhand, but he was al­
lowed to take lessons from the parish priest and to study in his spare
time. His uncle, Michael Occhiena, found him another place to live in
November 1829, but that still did not end the conflict with his older
brother.
A few days later, when he was returning from a mission service
in the village of Buttigliera, he met the new chaplain of Morialdo,
Joseph Calosso. The old priest at once appreciated the great gifts of
the boy who was able to recite by heart long extracts from each of the
two missionary sermons. He began to teach him Latin in 1829-30.
Unfortunately, just when John was beginning to enjoy a little security
in the company of this good and simple priest—so different from other
priests interested only in their career—Father Calosso died suddenly on
November 21, 1830.
Nevertheless, the year 1830 ended well. Margaret’s portion of the
inheritance was so small—her bedroom and part of the kitchen—that
she and Joseph moved out of Becchi to Sussambrino. John was now
free to attend the local school in Castelnuovo while preparing for high
school in Chieri.
When he was fifteen or sixteen years old, his life at last took a
turn in the right direction. Tried by misfortune and disadvantages
such as growing up without a father, suffering the hostility of an older
brother and the deprivations of poverty, he had emerged stronger and
wiser. Besides, these years had also brought substantial rewards. They
had provided him with a sound training in Christian values at the hands
of a strong woman, an ability to cope with the harsh realities of life,
first apostolic successes, and a growing awareness o f his vocation.

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8
DON BOSCO
A t School in Chieri, 1831—1835
Since the standards of the school in Castelnuovo were low, John did
not stay long. However, he did learn how to make clothes from Robert,
a tailor, who shared his room. He was also surrounded by a circle of
friends “who loved and obeyed him like the boys in Morialdo.” 16
By November 1831, he was in Chieri “ to apply himself seriously to
his studies.”
Situated halfway between Becchi and Turin, Chieri of the hundred
towers—although not more than a township full o f monks, students,
and weavers—was a pale image of the neighboring capital that had a
lot to offer an observant young man who was eagerly trying to learn
all he could.17 “ Everything was new and made a great impression on
him who had been brought up in the back-country, where he had
scarcely had a glimpse even of village life in the province.” 18
In 1831 part of Italy was shaken by momentous events. The dis­
turbances o f the previous year’s revolution in Paris echoed through the
country causing unrest everywhere. There was an uprising in central
Italy, followed by swift Austrian intervention. No sooner had Gregory
XVI become pope than he was told that he must introduce reforms or
abdicate. Throughout the peninsula the ideas o f political freedom,
national independence, and unity gradually took hold.
There was no official change in Piedmont, despite the liberal leanings
of Charles Albert, the new king. Tolerance was unheard of especially
in the field of education. The educational system and the conduct of
the pupils were regulated minutely by a decree of King Charles Felix,
issued on July 23, 1822. There were precise religious duties such as
prayers before and after school, daily Mass, confession tickets, certifi­
cates of good behavior, the obligation to have a prayerbook and use it
during Mass, etc.19
It would have been hard at that time to find a more religious or a
more clerical institution than the school in Chieri! Don Bosco, how­
ever, was not sorry that religion was the “basic premise of education.”
He was doing well in his studies. During the first year (1831-1832)
he made up almost completely for lost time, rapidly finishing the first
three courses of secondary education. The remaining time followed
the normal pattern: grammar (1832-1833), humanities (1833-1834),

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THE E A R LY YEARS
9
rhetoric (1834-1835). Don Bosco was an excellent student with a
marvelous memory. He was enthusiastic about the classics and de­
voured, preferably by night, the Italian and Latin authors of the Peo­
ple’s Library. Among the members of the staff, he admired Peter
Banaudi, who “without ever punishing anyone, managed to make
all the students love and respect him.” 20
Spare Time Activities
In Chieri, John lived at first at Lucia Matta’s, who came from his
part of the country. He paid for room and board by helping with
the housework. Later a certain Pianta, a friend of the family who
owned a cafe', invited John to live with him. He accepted, and came
to find the place “ quite dangerous.” Here he learned how to make
“all kinds of sweets, cordials, ice cream, and other refreshments.”
For a while he lived in the house of Thomas Cumino, the tailor. Father
Lemoyne relates that he also worked as a carpenter and blacksmith.21
His manual skills usually served to earn his keep, while tutoring
provided him with a little extra cash.
However, neither studies nor material needs absorbed all his atten­
tion. The account of his life at that time gives the impression o f an
endless round o f cultural and recreational activities. He delights in
describing himself during this period as a singer, an actor, an improviser
of verses, or a magician accused of possessing diabolical powers! His
prestige made him “the captain of a small private arm y” and enabled
him to establish the Merrymakers Society, a group of congenial com­
panions, who made a point of meeting in one another’s homes to
“talk about religion.”22
Vocation Problems
When the other students were choosing careers towards the end of
their studies, Don Bosco found himself rather at a loss, a fact that
merits emphasis, because he almost decided to follow a path which he
was certainly not cut out for. This is what he tells us in retrospect

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DON BOSCO
about this period of indecision: “My way of life, the inclinations of
my heart, and the utter lack of the qualities appropriate for an eccle­
siastical career made my decision very difficult. I finally chose to enter
the order of the Franciscans.” 23
In April 1834 John Bosco was received as a Franciscan postulant.
A year later when he was about to enter the Friary of Peace in Chieri,
he had a dream in which he saw confusion and discord and heard some­
one say: “You will not find peace here! Another place is waiting for
you.” This incident made him change his mind. Following the advice
o f trusted friends, he entered the major seminary o f the diocese.
Chieri Seminary, 1835—1841
The seminary at Chieri, established in 1829, was an expression of
the high hopes of Archbishop Chiaverotti of Turin. He believed, quite
correctly, that the quiet atmosphere o f Chieri would be less disturbed
by the ferm ent of liberal ideas and opinions than that of Turin.24
John Bosco was clothed in the clerical habit on October 30. He
entered the seminary with his m other’s heartfelt words of advice
and with firm resolution. “I must completely change my life. I have not
been wicked but I have been vain, and I have wasted too much time
with games and other amusements. . . .”25
His outlook was influenced by the ecclesiastical premises of the
day which were “rather bleak, even Jansenistic, with emphasis on piety
rather than study” to say the least!26 This was his first training for
the priesthood.
Six years at Chieri (philosophy from 1835 to 1837, theology from
1837 to 1841) gave John Bosco abundant cause for restiveness. It was
hard to make contact with the staff. Their theology was harsh—they
taught that only few were saved—and their teaching methods were
abstruse and wooden. Here again, most seminarians were interested
only in their career. Peter Stella may be right in thinking that, despite
his protestations to the contrary, young Bosco found this a time of
emotional constraint which affected his physical condition, because he
fought his growing frustration with rigorous self-discipline and asceti­
c is m .27

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THE E A R LY YEARS
11
He forced himself to live quietly and to avoid the games and amuse­
ments he was so fond of. After having been accessible to all, he now
limited himself to a small circle of intimate friends. Among them his
old schoolmate, Louis Comollo, occupied a special place. They were
very different in temperament. Louis’ reputation was based on restraint
and absolute devotion to duty. Bosco regarded him as the model
seminarian and sought to be like him in every way except for his severe
fasting and strict asceticism. Louis’ death on April 2, 1839 affected
him deeply. Years passed before he could bring himself to recount the
virtues of his friend and talk about the strange events which marked
his passing.28
He still read a lot, but the subjects he now chose were much more
serious. Indeed, he even reproached himself for spending time with the
“pagan” classics. One day he came across the Imitation o f Christ. It
harmonized perfectly with his new outlook and kindled his enthusiasm
for the Bible and for Church history. A lot o f his reading, as he realized
later, tended to make him rather strict with regard to moral theology
and somewhat pro-Gallican and anti-Roman in doctrinal questions.
His knowledge o f probabiliorism (a more rigid theory than probabilism)
came from Alasia, his Gallican leanings from Fleury’s Church History.
Priestly Ordination, 1841
On March 29, 1840, nearing the end of his third year of theology,
Don Bosco received the clerical tonsure and the four minor orders.
After studying the material required for the fourth year during summer
vacation, he was admitted, by special dispensation, directly into the
fifth term in the fall. On September 19, 1840, he became subdeacon,
and on June 5, 1841, Archbishop Louis Fransoni o f Turin ordained
him a priest of God.
On this occasion, as on so many others in his youth, it was his
mother who, soon after his ordination, briefly spelled out the tenor
of his life as a priest: work, renunciation, and apostolate.
The above account constitutes a fair summary o f his life so far. Work
had been his ever-present companion, and difficulties and trials had
helped to make a man of him. The apostolate had been the mainspring

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DON BOSCO
of all his acts. Matured by his experiences as a hardworking cleric,
John Bosco did not waste time to begin his priestly task. Although
he studied for three more years, from 1841 the story of his life can
no longer be separated from the story of his work.
NOTES ON CHAPTER 1
1. G. Bourgin, La fo rm a tio n de Vunite italienne, Paris 1948,
p. 69.
2. A.C. Jemolo, Chiesa e S ta to negli u ltim i cen to anni, 4th ed.,
Turin 1955, p. 16.
3. G. Bourgin, La fo rm a tio n de Vunite italienne, p. 70.
4. Victor Emmanuel I entered Turin on May 20, 1814. If we
can believe Canon T. Chiuso (La Chiesa in P iem on te dal 1 7 9 7 ai
giorni nostri, III, Turin 1888, p. 7), the king was “ welcomed not
only by the people, but by his subjects of all social levels.” The same
author refers, however, to C. Cantu as one who thought the citizens
had their reservations.
5. T. Chiuso, op. cit.. Ill, 10-13.
6. Revised dates based on Father Molineris’ table in D on Bosco
in the World, 3rd ed., Turin 1964. The dates given by Don Bosco
himself for the events of his boyhood are often mistaken. We follow
the chronology suggested by F. Desramaut, Les M em orie I de G io­
vanni B attista L em oyn e. E tu d e d ’un livre fo n d a m en ta l sur la jeunesse
de saint Jean B osco, Lyonss 1962, p. 231.
7. S. Giovanni Bosco, M em orie delV O ratorio de S. Francesco d i
Sales dal 1 815 al 1855, ed. Ceria, Turin 1946, p. 18. To avoid over­
loading the text we omit precise references to this basic work which
are easily traced. We also rely frequently on G.B. Lemoyne, M em orie
biografiche di Don G iovanni Bosco, I, San Benigno Canavese 1898,
[English edition: The Biographical M emoirs o f Saint John Bosco,
New Rochelle, NY: Salesiana Publishers, 1964 ff.] (taking into

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THE E A R LY YEARS
13
account the indispensable scientific critique of F. Desramaut, op.
cit.), and on Beatificationis et canonizationis Servi Dei sacerdotis
Joannis Bosco . . ., Summarium, Rome 1907.
8. G. B. Lemoyne, Scene morali di famiglia esposte nella vita
di Margherita Bosco, Racconto edificante ed ameno, Turin 1886.
9. Extract from a letter of the Vicar Capitular of Turin, in
T. Chiuso, La Chiesa in Piemonte, III, 41.
10. J. Klein and E. Valentini, “ Una rettificazione cronologica
delle Memorie di S. Giovanni Bosco,” in Salesianum, XVII (1955),
588.
11. G.B. Lemoyne, Memorie biografiche, I, 95. (English ed.,
pp. 72-73). Father Lemoyne’s judgment is based on what Don Bosco
confided to his secretary Viglietti and to Lemoyne himself, about
1884.
12. Don Bosco said this to Viglietti, according to F. Desramaut,
Don Bosco e la vita spirituale, Turin 1969, p. 15 (English ed., p. 14).
Evidence cited in Summarium, Rome 1907, p. 67.
13. Memorie delVOratorio, p. 22-26.
14. Ibid., p. 27.
15. F. Desramaut, Les Memories, pp. 229-30.
16. Memorie delVOratorio, p. 47.
17. A. Auffray, Un grand educateur, saint Jean Bosco, 6th ed.,
Lyons-Paris 1947, p. 50.
18. Memorie delVOratorio, p. 47.
19. T. Chiuso, La Chiesa in Piemonte, III, 81-84.
20. Memorie delVOratorio, p. 63.
21. G.B. Lemoyne, Memorie biografiche, I, 234 and 259. (Eng­
lish ed., pp. 175 and 193).
22. Memorie delVOratorio, pp. 50-53.
23. Ibid., pp. 79-80.
24. P. Stella, Don Bosco nella storia della religiosita cattolica,
Zurich 1968, I, 51. The first two chapters of this im portant study
(pp. 25-84) throw a lot of light on John Bosco’s adolescence.
25. Memorie delVOratorio, p. 87.

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DON BOSCO
26. F. Desramaut, Don Bosco e la vita spirituale, p. 19. (English
ed., p. 7).
27. P. Stella, Don Bosco nella storia, I, 58.
28. See John Bosco’s first book: Cenni storici sulla vita del
chierico Luigi Comollo . . . scritti da un suo collega, Turin 1844.

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2
THE BEGINNINGS OF THE ORATORY
1841 - 1847
The year 1841 can be considered to mark the birth of the Salesian
work. John Bosco, a young priest, scarcely out of the seminary, wanted
more than ever to devote himself to young people. A fortunate turn o f
events pointed him rapidly into the direction he yearned to go, and his
moving to Turin a few months after his ordination was quite a decisive
step.
Don Bosco in Turin
For several years Father Joseph Cafasso had been Don Bosco’s
“guide in both spiritual and temporal m atters.” 1 On his advice, John
turned down several offers he received in the fall 1841 (teacher in
Genoa, chaplain in Morialdo) and willingly entered the Convitto Eccle-
siastico in Turin, where Father Cafasso taught. He began his studies
there on November 3, 1841.
The Convitto had been established in 1817 by Father Louis Guala
who was still its rector. It aimed to complete the training of young
priests and to prepare them for their practical ministry.2 Don Bosco
praised it highly: “We learned how to be priests.” He thought the

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DON BOSCO
institute rendered a great service to the Church by “partly uprooting
the Jansenism which still flourished among us.” Following the example
o f Saint Alphonso de’ Liguori, the professors upheld the preeminence
of love over law. They encouraged a “ tender and sincere” love for the
Sacred Heart, the Madonna, and the Pope. They also recommended
frequent reception of the sacraments. These were all features of Don
Bosco’s own spirituality. It is good to learn where he got them from
and to see how he outgrew the rigors of the Chieri seminary to adopt
a more pleasing form of Christian living more in tune with his per­
sonality. As one can easily guess, it also facilitated his early work with
the youngsters in the capital of Piedmont.
Priests of the Convitto were not confined to study and meditation;
they were introduced to the pastoral ministry. Don Bosco devoted
himself to preaching, hearing confessions, and teaching religion at
various centers in Turin. At the same time, he felt instinctively drawn
towards something rather different. Michael Rua tells us that “from
the very first Sundays he made his way through the streets trying to
obtain some knowledge of the moral climate surrounding the young.”
His conclusions were mainly negative. Everywhere he saw “many
young people of all ages drifting through the streets and hanging around
public places; especially in the suburbs, he found them loitering, getting
into mischief, cursing and seriously misbehaving.”3
It was not only their morals that were deplorable. Their way of life,
their living quarters, their jobs were just as bad and often the root of
the trouble. Despite its imaginative style and overly pessimistic presen­
tation, the description o f the situation given by Father Lemoyne in
the Biographical Memoirs is fairly true.4 He attributes these condi­
tions to the exodus of people from the country into the cities brought
about by the beginning industrialization. Turin, a capital of 130,000
inhabitants, had several textile factories and commerce was predomi­
nant. The city was growing fast, and vast building projects were in
progress. Thousands of laborers, young and old, poured in from Biella
and Lombardy. Most o f them found employment at the building sites
as construction workers, plasterers, joiners, or painters. Father Le­
moyne gives a moving and detailed description of the lot of these
uprooted people, their quarrels, their promiscuity, their overcrowded
living conditions on the outskirts of the city, far removed from contact

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THE O R A TO R Y
17
with the churches.
Guided and advised by Fathers Guala and Cafasso, Don Bosco
saw this situation from close quarters and suffered accordingly. The
plight o f the young people moved him most of all. Father Lemoyne
speaks of the building sites crowded with “ children between eight
and twelve years of age, exposed to sun, wind, and rain, attempting
to help the workers by climbing up and down shaky scaffoldings or
rickety ladders loaded with hods of mortar, bricks, or other burdens,
and all of them w ithout any schooling whatsoever, save that jeers and
blows taught them to avoid mistakes.” 5
Young children, urged on by their parents, roamed the streets
begging for alms. Especially on Sundays, bands o f teenagers drifted
through the suburbs, loitered along the banks of the Po and in the
open fields. But Don Bosco was perhaps struck most of all by the
conditions in the prisons he visited with Father Cafasso soon after his
ordination. “I was horrified to see so many healthy, strong, and lively
youths between twelve and eighteen years of age without occupation,
crawling with lice, deprived of both spiritual and material nourish­
m ent.” 6 He was already telling himself: “What they need is a friend
who cares and helps.” Don Bosco also visited hospitals, especially
St. Joseph Cottolengo’s Little House of Divine Providence with
1,800 inmates, many of whom were orphans and most of them were
very young.
These early experiences awakened his deep concern for the poor
and abandoned young. He tried to find a way to help, and a happy
coincidence put him on the right track.
Origin o f the O ratory, 1841
One day, as he was putting on his vestments in the sacristy of the
church o f St. Francis of Assisi to celebrate Mass, someone had quietly
slipped in; it was a young lad, curious, no doubt, because the place
seemed a bit out of the ordinary.7 As he was watching from a corner,
the sacristan arrived and, mistaking him for the server, beckoned him
to come over. No sooner had the sacristan realized that the boy did
not know the Mass responses, than he threw him out unceremoniously,

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DON BOSCO
by the scruff o f the neck. “What are you doing? He is a friend of
mine,” the young priest protested, “bring him back at once, I want to
talk to him .” The boy approached warily, and, made to feel at ease by
Don Bosco, he agreed to wait for the end of Mass so as to “ talk about
something nice.” After the priest’s thanksgiving was over, an intimate
conversation took place. The lad’s name was Bartholomew Garelli. He
was sixteen years old and had no father or mother. He also had no
schooling and no religious training, but he was working. To quote
Francis Veuillot: “Don Bosco heard the cry for help of the poor and
homeless young.” 8 His talk that morning ended with the boy’s first
lesson in catechism.
Don Bosco never forgot this incident. He marked the day: Decem­
ber 8, 1841, Feast of the Immaculate Conception. This coincidence
was no t w ithout significance, for Don Bosco, always on the lookout for
the “ designs of Providence,” regarded the 8th of December as the
birthday of the Oratory.
First Meetings, 1841—1844
At Don Bosco’s invitation, Garelli returned the following Sunday
with six companions. The priest was friendly and gave them suitable
instruction. As one meeting followed another their numbers increased.
There were about twenty on February 2, 1842, Feast of the Presen­
tation; thirty on March 25 and so forth until due to lack of space, the
number had to be restricted to eighty for some time.
Most o f the lads were bricklayers who came from distant villages.
They returned home in winter, like Joseph Buzzetti, or stayed with
Don Bosco. Some were destitute, and the young priest tried to supply
them with clothing and food “for several weeks.” His intention was to
gather together only those who were “in dire need, especially the ones
who had been in prison.”
The meetings were held on feast days, i.e., on Sundays and holidays
(there were about twenty feast days determined by papal decree of
November 9, 1814). Characteristically, the meetings were partly recre­
ational, partly religious. The outings, games, and songs were just what
these youngsters needed. Catechetical instruction and the sacraments

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THE ORA TOR Y
19
(Confession, Mass, and Communion) occupied an im portant place in
the day’s program.
Right from the start, a suitable meeting place had to be found. For
three years Don Bosco taught catechism to the boys in rooms attached
to the church o f St. Francis of Assisi. Father Guala at first allowed
them to use the courtyard of the Convitto for their games and recrea­
tion. However, the increase in numbers meant an increase in noise, and
Don Bosco was obliged to lead his band out to the squares, into the
streets, and the countryside.
He soon called these meetings “ Festive O ratory,” because as he
saw it, their main purpose was spiritual and everything else was secon-
ary. In any case, he was glad to use a name that connected him with
Saint Philip Neri, the apostle of Rome, in the sixteenth century who
had also set up “oratories.” 9 More precisely, taking the recreational
aspect into account, he defined the term as follows: “ a place designed
to keep young chaps pleasantly occupied with wholesome pastimes
after their religious duties” 10 As for the adjective “festive,” this meant
initially that Don Bosco’s Oratory was open only on Sundays and feast
days.
The early days were very encouraging, but it was not long before
all sorts o f difficulties set it. As the number of the boys increased, it
became ever more urgent to find suitable meeting places. There were
also personnel problems, and Don Bosco could no longer get by with a
few “random and casual helpers” 11 such as Fathers Guala and Cafasso,
or “well-behaved and sufficiently trained” boys, whom he liked to
gather around him. Moreover, opposition to the new and rather noisy
happenings was gathering, and the history o f the years 1844-1846
is instructive in many ways.
Getting Things Organized, 1844—1846
In 1844, Don Bosco’s period of pastoral training at the Convitto
came to an end, and once more he had to choose his kind of ministry.
One thing was clear: “At that time I found myself surrounded by a
crowd of boys who needed my help.12 His young friends were afraid
that the archbishop would send him away from Turin. Nothing of the

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DON BOSCO
sort happened, and he was sent to the “Refuge” of the Marchioness
Barolo, as assistant spiritual director of a hostel for four hundred girls.
Although not much to his liking, this assignment made it possible to
continue his work with the boys. As of October 13, 1844, his meetings,
by permission o f the Marchioness, were held at the Refuge in a small
chapel consisting o f two vacant rooms, dedicated to Saint Francis de
Sales. Father Borel, the director o f the institute, was his best assistant.
However, the Marchioness eventually resented the disturbance caused
by the boys. Before dismissing Don Bosco from her service, she tried to
get him to send his boys away because she considered them to be a bad
influence on the girls. After seven months of stability of what had
seemed his “paradise on earth,” he had to move the Oratory once more.
On May 25, 1845, a meeting was held in a practically abandoned
neighboring church, St. Peter in Chains,13 but the chaplain, urged on
by his irascible housekeeper, sent them packing the very same day.
Next, by recommendation of Archbishop Fransoni, the Turin authori­
ties allowed Don Bosco to hold his meetings near the church of St.
Martin, not far from the corn mills near the river Dora, but the neigh­
bors soon filed an official complaint. There were rumors that the
meetings were likely to cause trouble and might provoke “rebellious
disorder.” In November 1845, Don Bosco rented three rooms in Father
John M oretta’s private house, only a stone’s throw from the Refuge,
but, again, the neighbors had him move out within four months. Next,
in March 1846, he rented a field, where “three to four hundred boys”
went to have fun, sing, play, receive religious instruction, go to con­
fession, etc. until the Filippi brothers, who owned the field, tired of the
mess which, like Attila’s plague, killed “even the roots of the grass.”
There the situation became critical and nerves were on edge. “Some
thought him a revolutionary, others thought he was a madman or a
heretic,” and the parish priests of Turin accused him of “alienating the
youngsters from their parishes.” Don Bosco pointed out that most of
them came from “ Savoy, Switzerland, Val d’Aosta, Biella, Novara, and
Lombardy, and not from Turin at all.” When he was questioned by the
Marquis Benso di Cavour, chief of police and governor of the city, the
latter did not conceal his threat when he recommended that Bosco not
“wear himself out for nothing” on behalf of a band of ruffians. Don
Bosco managed to get around these difficulties by showing the arch­

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THE ORA TOR Y
21
bishop’s authorization. His best friends, including Father Borel, began
to question his sanity as they listened to his talk about the glorious
future of his work. Two “respectable persons” with the best intentions
tried to have him locked up in an asylum at their own expense and the
Marchioness Barolo begged him to reconsider. Don Bosco found himself
“alone with four hundred boys.”
April 5, 1846 was the very last day of his lease on the Filippi’s
field, and his courage was severely tested. “That evening, as night
began to fall, I looked at the crowd of playing boys, and I wondered
how many priestly vocations might be among them. Yet, there I was,
alone, without help, exhausted and sick, and at a loss where to bring
the boys together in the future. I was quite shaken, and perhaps for the
first time, my eyes filled with tears.” 14
A few minutes later he made the acquaintance of a certain Pan-
crazio Soave who took him to inspect a shed belonging to a Francis
Pinardi. He leased it immediately for “three hundred and twenty
francs.”
With the acquisition o f the Pinardi shed a new chapter in the life
of the Oratory began.
The Pinardi Shed, 1846
“The following Sunday, April 12, which was Easter Sunday, all the
religious materials, games, and equipment were moved to the new
place, and it became ours.” The shed had n o t been up long and was
used only as “a storage place” by some o f the washer-wornen in the
sparsely populated Valdocco area.15 The roof was only three feet
above ground level, and Pinardi agreed to excavate eighteen more
inches. After a few changes the shed could be used. The main part (fifty
feet by twenty) served as a chapel, while two small sections were made
into additional rooms. A strip of adjoining land became the playground.
There was nothing remarkable about it, but to have a permanent place
at last—this time a legally binding agreement had been drawn up—was
a much appreciated advantage for the Oratory.
Don Bosco lost no time in making use o f this new situation. “The
permanent place, the archbishop’s firm approval, the solemn services,

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DON BOSCO
the music, the talk of a playground drew boys from everywhere. Many
priests also came back.” 16 The Marquis still wanted to forbid the
meetings, but King Charles Albert had other ideas. For six months
Don Bosco had to accept the presence of “civic guards,” a measure
that had its advantages. “ Although they were there to keep an eye on
me, they helped me to keep an eye on the boys.” 17
Just then, in July of that year, Don Bosco became seriously ill.
This setback provided the boys with a chance of showing how much
they loved him. He recovered, and, after several weeks of convalescence
at Becchi, he returned to Turin, this time accompanied by his mother.
On November 3, 1846, they made their home together in the two
rooms o f the Pinardi house that Don Bosco had rented. They were very
poor, but eventually he was able to rent three more rooms.
Life a t the Oratory
Once it was established at Valdocco, the Oratory, which Don Bosco
had placed under the patronage of Saint Francis de Sales, model of
charity and apostolic spirit, began to take definite shape. The founder
poured his genius into its organization and establishment. After five
years o f successful experimentation he had perfected his method
and outlined a set of regulations.
The timetable for Sundays and feast days became traditional.18
Early in the morning Don Bosco welcomed the boys at the door of the
shed-chapel. Confessions began at once and continued until it was
time for Mass, usually at eight o’clock, but often postponed until
nine, or even later, because of the time needed for the confessions.
A few o f the older boys maintained discipline during Mass. Before
leaving the chapel, Don Bosco spoke a few words to them in the Pied­
montese dialect explaining the gospel or, more often, telling them a
story from the Bible or Church history but always “in a very simple
and folksy way.” After a few minutes of recreation the lessons in
elocution and singing began and went on until noon.
In the afternoon there were games from one o’clock until half
past two, followed by catechism class, the rosary, a short sermon,
and Benediction. The rest o f the time was spent playing with Don

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Bosco who was still quite athletic and always willing to show off his
old acrobatic skills. This went on until dusk. After evening prayers
he sometimes accompanied the boys part of the way home, and the
parting was always difficult for him.
Days like these, which began at four in the morning, left him “half
dead with fatigue” by ten at night. The boys loved him so much that he
had no difficulty maintaining the attention of the enormous group
he had gathered around him.
During the week Don Bosco was always busy on his boys’ behalf.
Father Rua tells us “he went searching for boys in the streets o f the
city, he went to visit factories where he found many young apprentices.
All were invited to come to his Oratory, especially the young new­
comers to the city, like the construction workers from Biella and
Lombardy. Whenever he found boys without work, he tried to get
them a job with a good employer so that they would not lose in their
time of idleness the benefits they had acquired on feast days.” 19
The Evening Classes
Once things were going well in the Pinardi shed, the next big prob­
lem to tackle was the severe lack of schooling.20
From the beginning he had seen the need o f lessons for his boys,
most of whom were unable to read or write. This was why he organized
reading classes every Sunday in the Refuge. He had done the same,
with greater regularity, in the Moretta house.
Yet it was not enough because they forgot everything between one
Sunday and the next. Therefore he started evening classes to teach
reading and writing and later arithmetic and drawing. Don Bosco
recruited and trained his own teachers who were usually very young.
“The evening classes had two good results: they encouraged youngsters
to become involved and to learn to read; they certainly needed it. At
the same time they provided a golden opportunity for religious instruc­
tion, which was our main concern.”
Thus Don Bosco showed his talents as a pathfinder, though the
Christian Brothers can claim to have preceded him in this form of
teaching.21 He even helped to popularize the metric system which

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DON BOSCO
had been introduced in the schools by royal edict on September 11,
1845. The local authorities, impressed by his methods and results,
gave him a small annual grant.
Because he needed suitable books for his pupils, he wrote a Church
History (1845), a Manual on the Metric System (1846?), and a Bible
History (1847), not to m ention various books o f devotion published
in the same period which could be used for reading practice.22
Consolidation
Don Bosco was anxious to consolidate his work by establishing
a set o f regulations for religious disciplines as well as administration.
In 1847 he began to outline regulations for the Oratory (stating in
detail “ the way in which things ought to be done”). This rule was
continually modified during the years that followed.
To give some spiritual uplift to the large numbers of boys, he created
a special association, the Sodality of St. Aloysius, aimed at getting
together all those who wanted to live a more genuinely Christian life.
This was duly approved by the Archbishop of Turin on April 12, 1847.
Thus the Oratory at Valdocco was gradually consolidated, and
opposition was lessening. There was even a kind o f consecration cere­
mony on June 29, 1847, where Archbishop Fransoni came for the first
time to visit and was very gratified to see the good work that had been
accomplished. “The Oratory which had grown up,” as Don Bosco said,
“ accompanied by a good beating,” 23 was now sufficiently established
to survive the great political crisis which was brewing.

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THE ORA TOR Y
25
NOTES ON CHAPTER 2
1. Memorie delVOratorio, p. 120. The entire chapter is mainly
based on this work.
2. In founding it, Father Guala was “helped and guided by his
spiritual father, Pius Brunone Lanteri (f 1803), one of the principal
promoters of church reform in the early nineteenth century.” (F.
Desramaut, Don Bosco e la vita spirituale, pp. 20-21). (English ed.,
p. 19). For the spirit of the Convitto, see ibid., pp. 25-27, and P.
Stella, Don Bosco nella storia, I, 85-102.
3. See Rua’s evidence in Summarium, p. 123.
4. G.B. Lemoyne, Memorie biografiche, I, SI-61. (English ed.,
pp. 44-49).
5. Ibid., II, 57-58. (English ed., p. 45).
6. Memorie delVOratorio, p. 123.
7. Ibid., pp. 124-27. The Salesians regard December 8, 1841 as
the beginning of their Congregation.
8. R. Veuillot, Saint Jean Bosco et les salesiens, Paris 1943, p.
22.
9. For the links between Don Bosco and Saint Philip Neri, see
F. Desramaut, Don Bosco e la vita spirituale, pp. 35-36, 222-226.
(English ed., pp. 30-32; 250-54).
10. G. Bosco, II pastorello delle Alpi, ovvero vita del giovane
Besucco Francesco dArgentera, Turin 1864, pp. 70-71, note.
11. E. Ceria, Annali della Societa Salesiana, Turin 1941, I, 5.
12. Memorie delVOratorio, p. 133.
13. For the location and sketches of these places see F. Giraudi,
L ’Oratorio di Don Bosco, 2nd ed. Turin 1935, pp. 32-53. The his­
tory of the successive moves is found in Memorie delVOratorio,
pp. 137-65. (Father Ceria corrects a few points in the notes).
14. Memorie delVOratorio, p. 165.
15. See the detailed descriptions of these places in F. Giraudi,
L ’Oratorio di Don Bosco, pp. 65-75.
16. Memorie delVOratorio, p. 174.

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DON BOSCO
17. Ibid., p. 181, note.
18. An account of a day at the Oratory is to be found in Me­
morie delVOratorio, pp. 174-78 and in G. Bonetti, Cinque lustri di
storia delVOratorio salesiano fondato dal sacerdote D. Giovanni
Bosco, Turin 1892, pp. 86-91.
19. Summarium, pp. 216-17.
20. See the chapter on Sunday school and evening classes in
Memorie delVOratorio, pp. 182-88.
21. See P. Stella, Don Bosco nella storia, introduction, p. 3.
22. See the list of publications during this period in F. Des­
ramaut, Don Bosco et la vita spirituale, pp. 281-82. (English ed.,
pp. 323 ff.).
23. See E. Ceria, San Giovanni Bosco nella vita e nelle opere,
2nd ed., Turin 1949, p. 173.

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THE ORATORY HOUSE BETWEEN 1847 AND 1862
THE ARTISANS
A New Political Climate
The most frenzied period in Piedmontese history dates from 1847.1
The winds of change blew violently across Charles Albert’s domain,
and the days o f the restoration were numbered. Pius IX, whom some
thought a liberal pope, had been elected the previous year, and his
administrative innovations gave Italy a sense o f expectancy. Revolution
was brewing in Paris, Vienna, and Berlin, all of which created a new
political climate.
In Piedmont the king himself, either willingly or by force, it is still
uncertain which, took the initiative. In October 1847 Charles Albert,
amid widespread rejoicing, promulgated his first series of reforms.
T. Chiuso says that “almost every day there were cheers, serenades,
and hymns in honor of Pius IX, the king, and resurgent Italy.” 2
In the following year the new constitution was received with wild
enthusiasm.
Growing liberalism strengthened the nationalist movement. There
was much talk o f the need to send the Austrians packing and unite
the country once and for all. Charles Albert’s idealism got the better
of him, and he threw himself into a war that was, to put it mildly,

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DON BOSCO
ill-timed. He entered Lombardy in 1848, only to be defeated by the
Austrians at Custoza and Novara. In March 1849, he abdicated in
favor o f his son, Victor Emmanuel II. As the reaction swept the entire
peninsula, it were the people of Piedmont and their king who princi­
pally represented the aspirations of liberal and patriotic Italy.
Happenings at the Oratory
Sure enough the repercussions of this situation were felt in the
Oratory. Father Lemoyne says “ 1848 and 1849 brought terrible days
for Don Bosco.” 3 The clergy were divided. The senior clergy, led by
the aristocratic Archbishop Fransoni, were not ready to accept the
changes for which they blamed the Protestants. On the other hand,
many priests favored a link between religion, liberty, and patriotism.
Don Bosco, wholly absorbed in his work for poor young people, wisely
refused to play politics, or to get involved with political factions, an
attitude which provoked violent reactions from his co-workers. Not
content to go off and leave him alone, they managed at least for a
time, to take his boys along with them. For several Sundays attendance
at the Oratory fell from five hundred to thirty or forty. To win back
the boys he had to go along with their fighting mood and equip them
with “wooden swords and rifles.” Even so, he felt uneasy and still
refused to let himself be carried away by popular enthusiasm. A revolt
against the clergy was not long in coming, and the relations between
Pius IX and the leaders of the great liberal movement in Italy became
more and more strained.
Yet, Don Bosco forged ahead and after the difficult years, 1847 to
1850, the Oratory began to spread. It was probably in 1847 when the
oratory o f St. Aloysius at Porta Nuova in the southern part of the city
was opened, and a third was begun in the eastern part of the city at
Vanchiglia in 1849.

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THE ARTISANS
29
A New Foundation, 1847
Meanwhile a drive sprang up for the “poor and abandoned young”
entirely in harmony with Don Bosco’s purpose. “Among boys attend­
ing the city oratories some were in such a state that all forms of spiri­
tual help were useless unless their basic material needs were m et.” 5
In practice, they would have to be given lodging, food, and clothing,
as well as professional training.
To meet this need Don Bosco opened a hostel for the poorest next
to the Oratory in 1847.6
That year, one rainy evening in May, a boy o f about fifteen years of
age knocked on his door. Soaking wet and hungry, he asked for shelter.
Margaret Bosco took him to the kitchen, made him sit by the fire and
gave him warm soup and bread. Meanwhile her son questioned the lad
about his circumstances. They were not promising; he was an orphan,
a newcomer to the city, without money, without a job, and without a
place to go that night. Don Bosco let the boy sleep in the kitchen on a
straw mattress. It was the best he could do at the time. As a precaution,
he locked the door. On an earlier occasion, his guests had run away
with his sheets and blankets. On the following day, Don Bosco went
round the city trying to find work for the boy.
The First Salesian House
That boy was the first boarder in the first Salesian house, called by
Don Bosco the “house attached to the Oratory o f St. Francis de Sales.”
A significant title, because it shows that from the founder’s point of
view, the Oratory kept its central importance, no m atter what. (The
term “Oratory” eventually came to stand for the entire Valdocco
project.)'
Other boys were given some kind of accommodations during 1847.
For some time the number was restricted to seven, because there was
no more room. Gradually, however, Don Bosco rented the other rooms
of the Pinardi house and eventually obtained complete possession by
February 1857. Thanks to various building schemes between 1852 and
1859, and the acquisition of the property next to that of the Filippi

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DON BOSCO
brothers, the “Oratory house” eventually became very large; and there
was a proportionate increase in the number of those living in it: fifteen
in 1848, thirty in 1849, thirty-six in 1852, seventy-six in 1853, one
hundred fifteen in 1854, one hundred fifty-three in 1855, one hundred
sixty-three in 1856, one hundred ninety-nine in 1857, four hundred
seventy in 1860 and six hundred in 1861.7 Beginning in 1851, Don
Bosco undertook the construction of a church to replace the shed
which could no longer be used. This church was solemnly inaugurated
on June 20, 1852 and dedicated to St. Francis de Sales.
The “Oratory house” was at first mainly for working boys. As of
1856 students became more numerous, because Don Bosco, appalled by
the prevailing conditions, was propelled into action by the urgency of
the social problem.
The Social Question in Turin in 1848
As Italy began to feel the repercussions of progressive industriali­
zation in Europe, the lot of her workers became intolerable.8 In Turin
this plight was due mainly to the triumph of the liberals and the indif­
ference of the political leaders.
Liberalism in the economic world at that time meant suppression of
trade unions, to use a modern term. This had been the case in France
with Le Chapelier’s law o f June 1791. In Piedmont the royal edicts of
1844 had a similar effect. They suppressed the ancient “university”
guilds and other social unions. These measures left the laborers isolated
and defenseless. In answer to a petition of the laborers of Turin, Charles
Albert reluctantly allowed them to form associations for mutual
assistance, which had little influence on society at large. Even these
were not spared by the liberals.
The indifference of the political leaders seems less surprising if one
remembers their preoccupation with the larger question of national
unity and independence. The few voices that were raised—as those
of Gustavo Cavour and Rosmini—made no impression on public opin­
ion. In a liberal climate it was easy to make their views seem re­
actionary.
Although Don Bosco “ did not like revolutions,” 9 he certainly

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THE ARTISANS
31
felt very keenly the wrongs society was suffering. His biographer
has left us this analysis of the situation as he saw it: “ He was one of
the few who understood right from the start, and he said so repeatedly,
that the revolutionary movement was not a passing phase, and that
some o f the promises made were honorable and quite in keeping
with the peoples’ desires and aspirations. They longed for equality
and the abolition o f class distinctions. They wanted justice, and
improvement of their conditions. He also saw how wealth was becom­
ing the monopoly o f ruthless capitalists who exploited the isolated
and defenseless laborers. The observance of religious feast days was
strictly forbidden. All this was bound to result in loss of faith among
the workers which, together with unhappiness at home, bred subver­
sion. He believed therefore that the clergy had to make contact with
the workers in order to guide and restrain them .” 10
Don Bosco’s Contribution
Don Bosco strove to remedy this unhappy situation with the means
then available. Throughout his life he was in favor o f Catholic Workers’
Associations, and in 1850 he established a Mutual Aid Society for his
boys. This was his way to fight the individualism of the age.
In more concrete and practical terms, he tried to provide food and
lodging for the young workers who attended his evening classes which
later became a trade-school. Furthermore, he never lost an opportunity
to learn about the conditions under which they had to work in the city.
His first concern was to try to ensure placement with an honest
employer. He would negotiate a contract for the allocation of work,
and demand that every clause be faithfully adhered to. A few inter­
esting examples dating from 1851 and 1852, have survived.11 The
young worker’s right to wages, free time on Sundays and feast days, a
proper apprenticeship in his trade, and care in case of sickness was
guaranteed. The apprentice agreed to do his best, and the director of
the Oratory pledged himself to be responsible for his good conduct. If
the employer failed to honor the agreement, exploited the youth, or
treated him harshly, Don Bosco did not hesitate to terminate the

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DON BOSCO
employment. During the week he visited his boys at their place of work
in various parts of the city.
The First Years o f the Oratory House
During the first years life at the Oratory house was quaint and
c o l o r f u l .12
Everything was lacking, especially space. The boys slept in small
groups in various rooms. As the Pinardi house gradually became Don
Bosco’s, every available corner was soon occupied by a bed. When
the weather was good, the boys took their meals outside in the court­
yard, otherwise they had to eat on the staircase or anywhere near the
kitchen. Margaret Bosco, whom everyone called “Mamma Margaret,”
prepared soup and polenta, while her son helped in the kitchen and
served the food. There was no shortage of fresh water from the pump
to satisfy their thirst. Before setting off for work, each lad was given
about 25 cents to buy bread in town.
Don Bosco and his m other had to settle all the bills and do all the
work. Usually they had to provide clothing as well, not to mention
the laundry and the patching and mending. Fortunately, the director
had not forgotten the skills he had learned in his youth!
In times of great need he did not hesitate to knock at a rich man’s
door. He tells us himself that he found it very hard to do this, but he
was ready for any sacrifice in order to keep his boys alive. In fact,
no lad was ever sent away because of a shortage of the bare essentials.
The Beginning o f the Workshops
For the first six years, life in the Oratory house went on without
notable changes. In 1853, however, when the new section was com­
pleted, Don Bosco decided the time had come to establish the first
workshops in his own house.13
When explaining the reasons behind this decision, Father Lemoyne
stresses first o f all the dangers awaiting the boys in the city like “im­
m orality and im piety,” and especially the presence of the Protestant

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THE ARTISANS
33
“heresy.” Turin was in turmoil. The Waldensians, emancipated on Feb­
ruary 17, 1848, were understandably trying to win supporters for their
cause. (Don Bosco blamed them for various attem pts on his life at that
time). Apart from that, however, it is very probable that the director
of the Oratory wanted workshops so that shoes, clothing, and lodging
could be more readily procured for his boarding students.
In the fall of 1853 the first rudimentary shoemaking and tailoring
shops were opened. They occupied a corridor in the Pinardi house
and made use o f the old kitchen. Don Bosco himself taught the boys
until someone else could be found for the job.
He considered the project worthwhile from both an economic
and a moral point of view and fortified it with rules to define roles and
obligations. The master was to teach his pupils a craft as well as good
behavior; he was also responsible for his moral conduct.
New workshops were opened to meet other needs as they arose.
Bookbinding was introduced in 1856 because Don Bosco published a
great deal and printing—a great help to him—followed in 1861. Finally,
in 1862, he opened a workshop for metal-workers, the forerunner
of the present school of mechanics.
Organization
Organizing the life of the young craftsmen presented a problem, and
the director of the Oratory experimented with various approaches to
solutions.14
At first he relied on paid assistants to run the workshops. They
took little interest in the progress of their pupils or in the efficiency of
the workshop. When he gave them full responsibility to organize the
work, as if they were the masters, they treated their pupils like appren­
tices, not subject to the director’s authority. Besides, they upset the
timetable of the house and tried to arrange everything for their own
personal advantage.
When Don Bosco himself took control o f the organization, the
masters had their own tools and the Oratory provided the pupils’,
but things still went badly and the pupils’ tools were used mainly by
the masters.

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DON BOSCO
Don Bosco’s next step was to assume complete moral and admin­
istrative responsibility for the workshops, leaving the masters respon­
sible only for the professional training of their pupils. One of the
drawbacks of this approach was particularly serious: the masters,
fearing to be replaced by their better pupils, tended to neglect them.
Don Bosco’s eventual success formula was to form groups of Salesian
Brothers who were wholly committed to him. They took charge of the
workshops.
The Artisans' Life at the Oratory
The Oratory house, opened in 1847, gradually gained solid ground
in every area. Don Bosco wanted above all to preserve its family atmo­
sphere, but he tried at the same time to make it function efficiently
as an educational center. A set of regulations appeared during the
scholastic year 1854-1855.
It is interesting to note that up to that point the establishment
had undergone no formal change. Regarding admission, the regulations
dealt only with the boys from twelve to eighteen years of age, provided
they were “orphans and utterly poor and neglected. If they had broth­
ers or uncles who could see to their schooling they were beyond our
reach.15 In practice, Don Bosco accepted mostly orphans, those in
danger o f becoming delinquents, and also those who were unhappy
at home. (The appendix to these regulations concerning students does
not contain the same “ term s.”)
In 1853 the artisans’ day began very early. After rising, the boys
would assist at Don Bosco’s Mass,16 and after breakfast they went
off to work, either to the Oratory or into the city; the students went
off to school. At noon all met again for lunch. After about an hour’s
recreation they returned to work until dinner. Evening classes were
available, prayers were said at nine, generally in the playground, and
were followed by a few words from Don Bosco. He considered this
“Good Night” talk which he held for his “family” at the end of the day
an excellent means of formation.

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THE ARTISANS
35
Religious Life
Don Bosco has been blamed for demanding too m uch religion
from his young workers who were generally less docile than the stu­
dents. In fact, he was less exacting with them, although the prac­
tices of piety at the Oratory were numerous and varied: Mass, rosary,
prayers, visits to the Blessed Sacrament, Good Nights, etc. In addition
to these daily practices, there was a monthly retreat, called the Exercise
for a Holy Death, as well as another retreat every year lasting several
days. Father Ceria says that Don Bosco was first in Italy to begin re­
treats for young workers.17
His first experiment took place in 1848 and was sufficiently en­
couraging to induce him to organize others periodically. Finally in
1859, the Sodality of St. Joseph, fashioned on the model of the Sodal­
ity of St. Aloysius, was created for the purpose o f establishing Christian
guilds for artisans.18
Recreation
During the education of the young workers, recreation was not
forgotten. On Sundays the boarders participated in the activities
and games of the Oratory. During the week, spare time could be used
for practicing singing and music, and performances were given outside.
Starting in 1848 these performances were much in demand by churches
in and around Turin.19 A band was added and plays began to be per­
formed.
Don Bosco thus adjusted to these very unsophisticated and some­
times rough lads, whom he accepted into his house, hoping to make
good Christians out of them .20

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DON BOSCO
NOTES FOR CHAPTER 3
1. See “ Annees folles et penitence,” in G. Bourgin, La fo r­
mation de Vunite italienne, pp. 93-102.
2. T. Chiuso, La Chiesa in Piemonte, III, 209. For the early
years of Pius IX, see R. Aubert, Le pontificat de Pie IX (1846-1878),
Paris 1952, pp. 11-26.
3. G.B. Lemoyne, Memorie biografiche, III, 410. (English ed.,
p. 290). For Don Bosco’s difficulties during this critical period, see
esp. the end of the chapter, and Memorie delVOratorio, pp. 211-22.
For the Oratory from 1845 to 1863 in general see P. Stella, Don
Bosco nella storia, I, 103-20.
4. See Father Ceria’s remarks in Memorie della’Oratorio, pp.
217-18 note.
5. See the first edition of the “ Regulations for the Hospice
attached to the Oratory of St. Francis de Sales,” part I, “Purpose of
this House,” in G.B. Lemoyne, Memorie biografiche, IV, p. 735.
(English ed., p. 542).
6. See Memorie delVOratorio, pp. 199-201.
7. E. Foglio, Indice analitico delle Memorie biografiche di S. Gio­
vanni Bosco, 19 vols., Turin 1948, p. 384, (S.V. “ Ricoverati” ).
See F. Giraudi, L ’Oratorio di Don Bosco, passim.
8. See G. Mattai, “ Don Bosco e la questione operaia,” in Sale-
sianum, X, (1948), 358-68.
9. F. Desramaut, Don Bosco e la vita spirituale, p. 44. (English
ed., p. 37).
10. G.B. Lemoyne, Memorie biografiche, IV, 80. (English ed.,
p. 55).
11. Ibid., IV., 295-98. (English ed., pp. 205-07).
12. For the early years of the Oratory see esp. G.B. Lemoyne,
Memorie biografiche, III, 348-63; IV, 5-15 and 334-41. (English
ed., Ill, 247-67; IV, 4-11; and IV, 231-39).
13. For these early workshops, see G.B. Lemoyne, Memorie
biografiche, IV, 657-65. (English ed., pp. 458-63).

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THE ARTISANS
37
14. These developments are traced by G.B. Lemoyne, Memorie
biografiche, V, 756-57. (English ed., pp. 497-98).
15. See the “ Regulations for the Hospice attached to the Oratory
of St. Francis de Sales, part I, chapter 1, “ Admission,” art. 2, in G.B.
Lemoyne, Memorie biografiche, IV, 736. (English ed., pp. 542-43).
16. Ibid., IV, 679-82, (English ed., pp. 474-77) and the testi­
mony of Berto in Summarium, pp. 142-43, also that of M. Rua,
pp. 221-22.
17. Memorie delVOratorio, p. 207, note.
18. Memoire biografiche, V, 596. (English ed., 395).
19. Memorie delVOratorio, pp. 208-10.
20. See E. Ceria, Annali, I, 659.

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4
THE ORATORY HOUSE BETWEEN 1847 AND 1862
THE STUDENTS
Don Bosco and the Students
While devoting himself to the more urgent needs by attending to
the spiritual and material welfare of the young workers, who could
easily have monopolized him, Don Bosco did not neglect the students. .
In fact, his concern for them began before 1847. At the start of the
Oratory he had recruited some of the more skilled boys to help him
teach the others and these “little teachers” eventually became the first
members o f the student group.1 Another sign of his interest in stu­
dents were his Thursdays, when groups of school boys from the town
invaded the Oratory to spend a free day in his company.2 These lads
came from well-to-do families and were delighted to converse with
him on a great variety o f subjects. He let them enjoy themselves with
games and gymnastics and they often stayed late in the evening.
In 1847, some months after accepting the first artisan into the
Pinardi house, he admitted the first boarding student,3 Alexander
Pescarmona, whose father, a man of means in Castelnuovo, undertook
to pay a m onthly fee. “It is not fair,” maintained Don Bosco “that
anyone who has even a little o f his own or in his family, and wants to

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THE STUDENTS
39
be admitted here, should take advantage of the alms collected for
the others.” Pescarmona lived with Don Bosco and the first artisans,
but went for Latin lessons into the city.
Problem o f Recruiting
In accepting students into his house, already packed with artisans,
Don Bosco persued a definite goal: the education of future priests.4
A great idea was forming in his mind, a plan inspired by his periodic
“dreams.” He wanted to prepare a great many assistants for the future;
priests and clerics who would help him with his project. The scarcity of
candidates for the priesthood, a new phenomenon in Piedmont due to
the political changes, also worried him very much. The clergy had been
favored during the restoration but could no longer hope for the same
privileges under a liberal government. Among measures taken during
this period, we must record the closing of the seminary in Turin in
1848 (Don Bosco housed the seminarians for almost 20 years), the
arrest o f the Archbishop of Turin, Msgr. Fransoni, and his exile to
Lyons in 1850. Father Desramaut observes: “ One must bear in mind
the existence of a mentality dangerous for the institutional Church. . .” 5
Notwithstanding opposing trends—his adversaries contemptuously
called the Oratory “a factory for priests and bigots” —Don Bosco
resolutely persisted with his difficult tasks.
First Tentative Vocation
1849 marks the first serious attem pt to create future priests. During
the retreat he organized at St. Ignatius in Lanzo, he chose four boys
who seemed to have the necessary qualities for the priesthood: Felix
Reviglio, a strong lad of seventeen, former leader of a group of boys in
Turin; Joseph Buzzetti who had frequented the Oratory with his brother
since it began; Charles Gastini, whom Don Bosco had m et a year before
in a barber’s shop, and James Bellia, who had already finished elemen­
tary school, while his companions as yet could hardly read and write
their names. According to Father Lemoyne, he put the following

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DON BOSCO
proposal to them: “ Would you like to be my assistants?—I shall start
giving you some elementary schooling, teach you the rudiments of
Latin and, if it is God’s will, who knows, you may in His own good
time, become His priests.” 6 They were happy to accept and wasted no
time getting down to study. On February 2, 1851, all four received the
clerical habit. Reviglio and Bellia eventually became priests. The other
two had to give up their studies. Don Bosco had reason to feel a bit
frustrated.
But in the meantime he was recruiting younger boys. In 1850 he
started giving Latin lessons to a boy of 13 who was later to become his
successor: Michael Rua. Up to then Michael Rua had attended the
school o f the Christian Brothers. Living not far from the Oratory,
he only became a boarder two years later. Together with Angelo
Savio and several others, he went to secondary school in the city.
Soon others joined them: Rocchietti, Cagliero, Francesia, Turchi. . . .
The student-group had begun and continued to grow steadily: twelve
boarders in 1850, thirty-five in 1854-1855, sixty-three in 1855-1856,
and one hundred twenty-one in 1857-1858. . . .
School in the City
At first the director o f the Oratory was their only schoolmaster.
Then, at the start of the school year 1851-1852, he had recourse to
two professors who gave private lessons in the city.7 Professor Charles
Bonzanino’s establishment was not far from the Piazza San Francesco
d ’Assisi in the house in which Silvio Pellico had written I mie prigioni.
He taught the first three years of Latin, while Father Matthew Picco,
near the church of St. Augustine not far from the Consolata Shrine,
completed their secondary education with classes in the humanities
and rhetoric. These private lessons were highly esteemed in Turin, and
were attended by many sons of distinguished families. Being great
friends o f Don Bosco, the two professors gave free tuition to the
Oratory lads for several years.
Every morning, the Oratory pupils would leave the house in two
groups for their classes, following a route which Don Bosco had mapped
out. They were recognizable at a distance, especially in bad weather,

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since they wore old military caps, a gift of the Minister of Defense.
Father Lemoyne jokingly remarks that these caps, though protecting
them from the elements, “made them look rather odd.” Michael Rua
was in charge on the road, and he had quite a few difficulties with wild
young Cagliero, a future cardinal of the Church. Before they entered
the classroom, the professor made them doff their caps—the only sign
of respect conceded to their fellow-students. Considerable astonishment
was aroused that “sons of good families” and “poor urchins” should
be seated next to each other on the same benches. The professors,
however, were gratified by the spirit of competition that ensued.
Oratory Secondary Schooling
This solution was not ideal. As with the artisans, Don Bosco was
not happy about the continuous coming and going to and from the
city. Furthermore, the pupils of the two professors became more and
more numerous and unsuitable. As soon as he had his own personnel,
Don Bosco decided to start classes at hom e.8 John Baptist Francesia,
a young seminarian of seventeen, had just brilliantly finished his Latin
course. Don Bosco at once put him in charge of the third grade (third
year of Latin) which began in November 1855 in one of the Pinardi
rooms. In the following year the first and second grades were estab­
lished and run together with Professor Bianchi, a layman with whom
Don Bosco had become friendly on a visit to Foglizzo. At the start
of the school year, 1859-1860, the secondary school was operating at
the Oratory with more than 200 pupils. In 1861, Don Bosco could
count on a teaching staff of seven, three of whom were qualified. Like
Francesia, these first teachers were young clerics like Provera, Anfossi,
Durando, and Cerruti.
The Pupils
The students generally had better backgrounds than the artisans.
One strange thing was the special treatm ent o f some boys of good
families whom he admitted to the clerics’ table “so that they would

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DON BOSCO
receive good example.”9
Sometimes an artisan would transfer to the student group. “Don
Bosco had a discerning eye. Some of the boys came from previously
well-off families and were not well-suited for manual work. Others
seemed specially gifted and so it seemed not practical to commit them
to rough trades and he selected them for further schooling.” 10
In admitting students, the need to find genuine vocations remained
uppermost in his mind. For example, in the regulations of the Oratory
house (in the appendix dealing with the students) he stated that a
student was accepted only on the following three conditions: “a spe­
cial aptitude for study,” “eminent piety,” and “a firm intention to
become a priest.” Latin was taught only to prepare students for the
priesthood, leaving them free, however, to follow their vocations in all
other subjects.” 11 Among other things, he wanted to prevent anyone
from just completing his studies at the expense of the Oratory. His
conduct towards his own nephews, Francis and Louis, is significant:
as soon as he realized they were not meant to be priests, he decided
to send them home.
In spite of several exceptions, it is safe to say that the majority of
the first grade pupils came from poor families. The military caps
episode shows that. Don Bosco himself declared that in his search for
priestly vocations, he deliberately turned towards “those who wield
the hoe and hammer.” 12
Daily Life
The students’ life at the Oratory revolved around the time allotted
to prayer, study, and recreation.13
Every morning after rising they assisted at Mass, during which it
was customary to recite prayers and then the rosary. At the end there
was meditation or reading for a quarter of an hour. The rest of the
morning was spent in class. After lunch, students and artisans enjoyed
recreation together for an hour before afternoon classes. At 4 o’clock
there was a snack (which the artisans generally took with them to
work), then recreation again, and at 5 o’clock the grammar-school
pupils went to study until supper time. Lest two and a half hours of

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mental activity should prove excessive, the last twenty minutes were
spent listening to a “good edifying story,” read by one of the pupils.
After supper there was singing for all. At 9 o’clock night prayers were
followed by the “Good Night.”
Family Spirit at the Oratory
The pupils’ life at the Oratory had another original characteristic,
already mentioned in regard to the artisans and considered very impor­
tant by the director. “Until 1858,” comments his biographer, “Don
Bosco governed and directed the Oratory as a father rules his own
family, and the boys knew no difference between the Oratory and their
own home. There were no special regulations, no severe supervisors,
no tyranny of petty rules. In order to know who had not gotten up in
the morning, each boy simply had to put a peg in the hole beside his
name on the board near the door.” The author concludes optimistically
that “following their conscience came first.”
It should be noted that Don Bosco tried to be among his “sons”
as much as possible. When we realize that, until the arrival of Father
Alasonatti in 1854, he was the only priest in the house, and that for
quite a while his chief assistants were young seminarians, it is easy to
see why he had to try to be everywhere at once. In any case, he wanted
to be always among his boys, “without whom he could not exist,”
in order to get to know and educate them better.
In this connection he considered the recreation and games periods of
major importance, and only very serious matters could keep him from
coming to converse or play with the lads. Also he often went to study-
hall with them “in order to write or meditate on his next book” as
Father Lemoyne affirms.
The affection and trust between Don Bosco and his charges brought
about each day “a very moving custom” which disappeared only
around 1870. At the end of meals, especially after supper, a crowd of
boys would rush into the room where Don Bosco was finishing his
meal. There was great competition to be close to him, to see him ask
questions, listen to him, and laugh at his jokes. They gathered around
him sitting, kneeling, standing, or wedged in between the benches and

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DON BOSCO
tables. It was evident that these spontaneous demonstrations pleased
Don Bosco greatly, “the best condiment for his frugal meal.” 14
Scholastic Work
One o f the most insistent recommendations to his pupils was “love
to study” and “beware of idleness.” He knew what he was talking
about. He himself was an indefatigable worker and his example served
to inspire others. It must be added that his frequent exhortations
to work ( “piety, work, cheerfulness” were the dominant themes),
were m otivated by his ambition for the House to gain a reputation
of excellence; therefore he must have been happy with this remark of a
university professor in 1863: “You know that at Don Bosco’s place
you have got to study, really study.” 15 But, on the other hand, the
Curia o f Turin complained of the lack of intellectual training of his
clerics, a charge he denied.
Biographers have given us a most impressive picture of the pupils’
spirit o f application. They also mention some complaints by those who
considered school “an awful nuisance,” 16 but generally stress the
atmosphere o f learning that reigned at Valdocco. As an example of
their “enthusiasm for study” Father Lemoyne cites the case of those
pupils who, in 1864, begged permission to get up earlier in the morn­
ing.17 This was granted on condition that they did not rise before
4 o ’clock. It has been said that the study hall was considered a sacred
place. If we can believe Father Lemoyne (who is inclined, it is true, to
idealize the past), a “ solemn, religious silence” always enveloped the
hall.18 N ot only the study hall bore witness to the passion for work:
every corner of the house was utilized for revising lessons or reading
prescribed authors, (refectory, playground, dormitory) provided one
was lucky enough to get near the light. Those in charge, it is said,
often had to intervene in order to prevent dangerous extremes. In spite
of the somewhat idyllic character of some of the descriptions, it must
be admitted that they did work very hard at the Oratory.
However, the motives for this intense activity seemed at times
rather inconsistent. As with all duties, he justified study with its puri­
fying and stimulating effects on the soul: “it prevents idleness and

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helps the will to develop.” 19 But we must also note Don Bosco’s
desire to create useful members of society and com petent fellows for
the congregations he was planning. Above all “work was good for the
soul.”
The Development o f Good Christians
At the Oratory the accent was put primarily on the spiritual and
moral development of the pupils. If this was true for the artisans then
it is logical that it was fundamental for those students who possibly
had vocations. Regarding practices of piety, Don Bosco had no lack of
variety. Generally, judging by the religious atmosphere that permeated
the house, the students performed them willingly.
The forms of piety required had three characteristics: they had to
be sacramental, Marian, and ecclesial.
He attached the greater importance to frequent reception of the
sacraments of Confession and Communion. Each day he heard con­
fession for two or three hours, and before holy days, his confessional
was besieged for much longer periods. In the biographies of his out­
standing pupils: Savio, Magone, and Besucco, he declares that a youth
of worth, under his direction, went to confession every week or at least
“once a fortnight.” 20 He used to recommend daily Communion to all,
even to the less fervent ones if they wanted “ to grow in the love of
God.”
In the spiritual climate of the Oratory, devotion to Mary was an­
other very important factor. The pupils of the Oratory honored the
Mother of God in her Immaculate Conception and since about 1863
under the title of Ausiliatrice (helpful one). Their devotion was ex­
pressed in a variety o f practices: Rosary, Little Office of Our Lady,
Month of Mary, Novenas in preparation for holy days, etc.
Finally, there was an attachment to the Church expressed by vener­
ation for the pope. Urged on by their director, the pupils of the Or­
atory prayed for the pope and even organized collections to help
Pius IX.
Always eager for the spiritual development of his students, Don
Bosco had begun to hold weekly “ conferences” for them every Wednes­

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DON BOSCO
day evening, so that they would not neglect other im portant matters
while making progress in their studies.21 He felt justified in demand­
ing more of them than of the artisans. To cultivate among them a taste
for the priestly life he availed himself of the youth associations or
“companies” (sodalities) which had been formed in his house.
Feast Days and Holidays
Another very im portant part of the lads’ lives—the holidays and
feast days—greatly concerned him .22 He had his own personal ideas on
this, which educators of the following century would dispute. This is
what his biographer says of the year 1855: “Don Bosco let them know
that he preferred them not to go on holidays or, if absent, to return
to the Oratory shortly . . . He had already done away with the Christ­
mas and Shrovetide holidays which he had been obliged to grant before,
because all other schools observed them. For some years he still toler­
ated the Easter holidays.” He also tried to shorten the summer vaca­
tion. From mid-August to mid-September he organized a summer
course which all were obliged to attend. Pupils, who were absent with­
out good reason, were not readmitted at the start of the following
school year.
Before they went home to their families, the director of Valdocco
gave them a lot of advice, emphasizing in particular the dangers that
threatened “virtue and vocation.” He also urged them to write to him
and always asked their parish priests and curates to watch over them.
Conclusion
Thanks to Don Bosco’s persistent efforts, the student-group that
had begun so tentatively in 1847 soon achieved gratifying results.
As to vocations—most precious of all—statistics prove his success.
In 1861 alone, the group had produced thirty-four students who
intended to become priests.23 They were destined to join the diocesan
clergy and the emerging Salesian Congregation. The Oratory, in fact,
had become the main source of supply for the Piedmontese seminaries.

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Those who chose a civilian career retained the high ideals acquired at
the Oratory and, in their different walks of life, m ost o f them proved
themselves committed members o f the Church.
NOTES ON CHAPTER 4
1. Memorie delVOratorio, p. 184.
2. See G.B. Lemoyne, Memorie biografiche, III, 175. (English
ed., p. 119).
3. Ibid, III, 252. (English ed., pp. 175-76).
4. P. Braido says of this that “ his interest in fostering ecclesias­
tical vocations is perhaps one of the most disregarded aspects of Don
Bosco’s personality, yet it is one of its most dominating traits, and
one of the chief tasks of his family of educators.” See P. Braido, II
sistema preventivo di Don Bosco, 2nd ed., Zurich 1964, pp. 345-49.
5. F. Desramaut, Don Bosco e la vita spirituale, p. 26. (English
ed., p.
23).
6. G.B. Lemoyne, Memorie biografiche, III, 549. (English ed.,
p. 385).
7. Ibid., IV, 666-78. (English ed., pp. 464-65).
8. Ibid., V, 360-61, 548-49. (English ed., pp. 232, 362).
9. Ibid., IV, 336. (English ed., p. 232).
10. E. Ceria, San Giovanni Bosco nella vita e nelle opere, p. 114.
11. “ Regulations for the Hospice attached to the Oratory of St.
Francis de Sales.” Appendix for students, in G.B. Lemoyne, Memorie
biografiche, IV, 745. (English ed., p. 550).
12. G. Bosco, Cenne istorico sulla congregazione di S. Francesco
di Sales a relativi schiarimenti, Rome, 1874, p. 4.
13. Notes on the daily life of the students to be found in G.B.
Lemoyne, Memorie biografiche, IV, 679-81; VI, 67-74. (English ed.,

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DON BOSCO
IV, 474-79; VI, 45-53).
14. A. Auffray, Un grand educateur Saint Jean Bosco, 6th ed.,
Lyons-Paris 1947, p. 446.
15. G.B. Lemoyne, Memorie biografiche, VII, 464. (English
ed., p. 275).
16. Ibid., VII, 599. (English ed., pp. 363-64).
17. Ibid., VII, 588. (English ed., p. 356).
18. Ibid., VII, 556. (English ed., p. 337).
19. F. Desramaut, Don Bosco e la vita spirituale, p. 130. (English
ed., p. 145).
20. Ibid., pp. 109-10. (English ed., p. 118).
21. G.B. Lemoyne, Memorie biografiche, VI, 209. (English ed.,
P. 112).
22. Ibid., V, 278-79. (English ed., pp. 177-78). This should
be understood in connection with what will be said in this regard in
chapter 7.
23. Ibid., VI, 992. (English ed., p. 596); see also the testimony
of Cagliero, Francesia, and Rua in the Summarium, pp. 175, 201,
224.

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THE STUDENT SOCIETIES
We have already mentioned the young groups that were established
among both externs and interns of the Oratory. An outline of the
educative work o f Saint John Bosco would be incomplete if we did not
point out that they were an “essential and indispensable part” 1 of the
whole enterprise.
The Merrymakers
One thing is certain: Don Bosco loved youth associations and the
spontaneous formation of friendly groups. Witness the part he played
in founding the Merrymakers Society at the boys’ school in Chieri.
He himself formulated the rules of this “society.” 2 “ It was each
member’s duty,” he wrote, “to seek such books and to introduce
such topics and amusements as would contribute to joy and cheer­
fulness and to avoid anything that might cause sadness, especially
trespasses against the law of God. The M emorie delVOratorio quotes
two basic rules:
1. Each member o f the society must avoid talk or action unbecoming
to a good Christian;
2. Exact fulfillment o f scholastic and religious duties.

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DON BOSCO
Their similarity to articles 1,3,5,6 of the Rules of St. Aloysius
Sodality is surprising. There is much evidence that the group founded
by Don Bosco as a student was a forerunner of the societies.
Birth o f the Societies
Although one can find many points of similarity in Don Bosco’s
youth or in kindred movements (such as the Jesuit “congregations”)
the societies have to be viewed in the context o f Don Bosco’s work
in the Oratory in Turin. “The birth of the religious societies,” writes
John Marocco, “is inextricably connected with the work of Saint
John Bosco.”3
They arose in a certain environment as a response to definite spirit­
ual needs, as the story of their foundation will show.
Saint Aloysius, 1847
As we have seen, the first society was that of Saint Aloysius. It
sprang up among the day pupils in 1847.
Don Bosco had just settled in the Pinardi house and, after the
difficult years o f the “wandering Oratory,” he felt a growing impa­
tience to do something solid and permanent, above all, in the area of
religious formation. The young apostle asked himself how he could
give spiritual strength to the hundreds of boys who flocked to Valdocco
on Sundays and holy days. He wanted “ to join together the more
virtuous ones, awaken a holy emulation among them, and strengthen
them by sheer force of numbers against unwholesome forms of peer
pressure.”
The Sodality of St. Aloysius was the answer to these concerns. His
choice o f this saint as patron showed not only the esteem in which
“his holy and restrained way of life” should be held, but also that
others could aspire toward it. It was to help each member to become,
in gospel terms, “salt o f the earth and shining light among his com­
panions.” The rules established by Don Bosco emphasized these two
aspects. They were submitted to the Archbishop of Turin, who ap­

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proved them on April 12, 1847.
Don Bosco’s requirements for membership were simple. He insisted
especially on the duty of setting a good example (article 1), on fre­
quenting the sacraments (article 2), avoiding bad companions (arti­
cle 3), charity (article 4), work and obedience (article 6). He had to
add eight “points” to these regulations, to define the organization of
the society. The fourth is interesting: “ A priest with the title of spiri­
tual director will be moderator. A layman will be their leader.”4
The new group was received with “great enthusiasm.” Faced with
a flood of applications for membership, Don Bosco imposed a m onth’s
“trial period.” The first enrollment took place on May 21, 1847, before
a crowd of oratorians who came to be present at the inception of this
new happening. The feast of Saint Aloysius, celebrated on the following
June 29, was made memorable by the visit of Archbishop Fransoni.
During the following years this society made rapid progress. The best
boys of Valdocco were the first members and, by 1851, all the boarders
were members. Don Bosco himself presided at the monthly meetings.
Once a year he invited a few chosen members to lunch. In the mean­
time it was also established in the other oratories in the city. Don
Bosco was able to enroll some very illustrious “honorary members.”
The list included Pius IX, Cardinal Antonelli, the Apostolic Nuncio at
Turin, and various im portant persons in the Piedmontese capital. Even
the great Cavour was seen taking part in one procession with a candle in
his hand, singing the hymn in honor of Saint Aloysius.
During the cholera epidemic which raged in Turin in 1854, the
boarding members of the society worked wonders.5 Spurred on by
Don Bosco, who promised them that their lives would be safe if they
avoided sin, they set out to nurse the sick and dying in the hospitals
and in their own homes. The courage o f these fifteen or sixteen-year-
old boys, all poor, aroused tremendous admiration among the people
and the Armonia newspaper praised them highly in an article on Sep­
tember 16. In fact, no death occurred at the Oratory, while 2,456
people died in the city of Turin, forty of them in houses close by.
Saint Aloysius was the first of the Salesian student-societies. It
served as the model for the others which were to follow.

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Mary Immaculate, 1855
The second society was founded several years later, at a time when
the Oratory was gradually changing into a boarding establishment for
students and artisans. The number of boarders had already risen to
about a hundred and fifty.
The birth of the Company of Mary Immaculate is connected with
the name and work of Dominic Savio. In spite o f contradictory state­
ments concerning the identity of the “founder,” it seems certain that
the future saint was the determining force in the launching and success
of this new association.6
In his biography o f his pupil Don Bosco tells us that the procla­
mation of the dogma of the Immaculate Conception in 1854 inspired
Dominic to “ do something in honor of Mary.” He chose some of his
worthiest companions and invited them to join him in forming a
company of the Immaculate Conception. Its main purpose was “to
secure the protection of the gracious Mother o f God in life and espe­
cially at the point o f death.” 7 There is evidence, and especially that of
Michael Rua (who was to become the president of the Company),
that a certain laxity had crept into the house at that time, and that
Savio was moved primarily by his “ desire to see all the rules of the
institute observed.” 8
According to Don Bosco’s account, Dominic, “ in agreement with his
friends,” drew up the regulations which he presented to his director,
who approved them. On June 8, 1856, before the altar o f Our Lady,
the group read the regulations and promised to observe them. The most
interesting articles concern the “absolute confidence” of the members
in their superiors (article 1), the word of God (article 12), “the exact
observance of the rules of the house” (articles 13-18), devotion to Mary
(article 21).
The new association was noteworthy for the quality of its members
and their behavior. While the Sodality of St. Aloysius could be con­
sidered the society for the crowd, that o f Mary Immaculate was,
according to Father Ceria, limited to an elite.9 In addition, it con­
cerned itself with a certain number of boys at the Oratory “who stood
in greater need of moral assistance.” Each member was made respon­
sible for one boy whom he was to help “to become more virtuous”

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by “all the means that Christian charity suggests.” 10
Finally, the meetings were held once a week; they were kept secret.
Other Societies
The development of the two groups of interns brought about the
birth of three new ones.
On the advice of Don Bosco, in 1857, the cleric Bongiovanni founded
the Blessed Sacrament Sodality. This society catered principally to the
more mature members o f the two higher grades. Don Bosco himself had
described the origin of this association: “After having helped Dominic
Savio, to whom he was bound in holy friendship, found the Company
of Mary Immaculate, Bongioanni, although still only a cleric, founded
with his superior’s permission, another society in honor o f the Blessed
Sacrament which sought to promote devotion.” 11
The same enterprising cleric also founded the Piccolo Clero, which
aimed at “training the more virtuous pupils to serve at the sacred
functions.” This second group remained a subsidiary of the Blessed
Sacrament Sodality. He wanted to foster in the students any inclination
for an ecclesiastical vocation “brought out by the majesty and decorum
of the sacred functions” which it sought to emphasize. Don Bosco
states that this enterprise of Bongiovanni produced “excellent results”
with regard to emerging vocations.
Soon, however, it became evident that the artisans were overlooked.
In fact, the existing societies were either reserved for the students or
not suited to the mentality and ability of the artisans. Don Bosco there­
fore decided that they should have their own association.
At this time (March 1859) it was the cleric Bonetti who adopted his
idea and founded the Sodality of St. Joseph which quickly gained many
followers. The regulations, drawn up by the first members and revised
by Don Bosco, were primarily concerned with “the smooth running
of the Oratory” (article 5). We could say that Saint Joseph (like the
Blessed Sacrament) merely adapted for its members the regulations
of Saint Aloysius.
Father Ceria includes a sixth group among the societies, i.e., the
Conference of St. Vincent de Paul, as a tiny cell of that family of

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DON BOSCO
“conferences” of the same name begun by Frederick Ozanam in Paris,
in 1833. Don Bosco was very much in favor of the Conference at
Turin, and in 1857 he himself founded one among his boys at Val-
docco. Its members had two goals: to teach catechism to the boys
of the Oratory and to help those who most needed material or moral
assistance.
The Societies Outside Valdocco
Don Bosco felt that the societies that had sprung up at the Valdocco
Oratory were not meant to be limited to that house. On several occa­
sions he had expressed the wish to transfer them to the other Salesian
houses he had founded.
In 1863 he asked Michael Rua, whom he had appointed rector of a
college at Mirabello, to see to it that “ the Piccolo Clero, the Sodality
of St. Aloysius, The Blessed Sacrament Sodality, and the Company
of Mary Immaculate were supported and encouraged.” 12
In a letter to the Salesians on January 12, 1876, he declared: “In
every house give the greatest care to promoting the little associations. . .
Let no one hesitate to talk about them, to recommend them, encourage
them, and to explain their origin and purpose.” In the “Confidential
Recommendations” addressed in 1886 to all rectors he once again
insisted on starting the societies, especially the ones mentioned above
in every new house o f the Congregation.13
Scope o f the Societies
These few examples will suffice to show how much importance Don
Bosco attached to the “little associations.” They fulfilled the purpose
he had in mind, by making a valuable contribution to the personal
and social development of the boys of the Oratory.
The role assigned by him to the societies can be summed up as
follows: The associations serve to develop an elite; they are a “ seedbed”
of apostles; and eventually, they will contribute to the transformation
of society.

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Formation o f an Elite
The associations serve, above all, to develop an elite; they are there­
fore not open to everybody. Even the St. Aloysius Sodality, which was
the least exclusive, set certain basic standards for membership. This
shows how carefully members were selected. A trial period o f one
m onth was imposed for observing the regulations, setting a good
example, receiving the sacraments frequently, and avoiding bad talk.
All the members, in fact, bound themselves to an exemplary life that
was directed primarily towards acquiring the “virtues.” Since even
the members of the Conference of St. Vincent de Paul were bound to
spiritual improvement, more so, therefore, were the others who were
members of more advanced groups.
The means of personal development (and of attaining sanctity!)
offered to the individual members are well known. They are those that
the apostle of Turin proposed to all his spiritual sons: fulfillment of
the duties of their profession, setting a good example, sociability,
obedience, care regarding purity, frequent and beneficial reception of
the sacraments, and other devotions. For the members of the Company
of Mary Immaculate, however, special exercises were prescribed such
as spiritual reading, direction of conscience, fraternal correction. Next
to following the example of Don Bosco, who saw in the saints
examples for Christians concerned about growing towards perfec­
tion,” 14 the members chose their model according “to their own
age and circumstances,” i.e., Louis Comollo, John Bosco’s fellow semi­
narian, for the Company of Mary Immaculate; for St. Joseph’s, and for
St. Vincent de Paul’s group, the two saints for which the associations
had been named; St. Aloysius was chosen for the other three.
As to individual development, another interesting aspect must be
pointed out, i.e., emphasis on responsibility and initiative,15 the impor­
tance of which was a major concern of Don Bosco for he wanted the
societies to be “the work of the boys themselves.” His advice to the
new rector of Mirabello was to make himself the “ promoter, not the
director,” of the societies. Naturally, they generally had a spiritual
director who was a priest, but the rest was to be the affair of the
members themselves. It was up to them to get involved in the various
activities of the group. The life of such an association involves numer­

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DON BOSCO
ous activities and obligations such as organizing meetings, elections,
choice of topics for discussion, the obligations of practicing them­
selves what they had recommended to others, the importance of
making decisions, abiding by them, and carrying them out, etc. By
accepting responsibility, these associations developed their own human
and Christian character.
Apostolic Formation
In practice Don Bosco never used the term “ apostolate” with his
boys, but it is clear from his spirit that personal development must lead
necessarily to the human and Christian ideal o f service to others.16
One little phrase found in the biography of Dominic Savio is very sig­
nificant in this regard: “ The first thing I advised him to do in order to
become a saint was to gain souls for God.” That was Don Bosco’s
usual way o f thinking.
In order to gain souls for God, members were asked to perform
good deeds for their fellow companions’ physical and spiritual well­
being. As to the first, various menial tasks such as making beds, polish­
ing shoes, brushing off clothes, as well as nursing the sick had already
been performed by Dominic and Michael Magone who had proved
themselves exemplary companions. As to the latter, members were
asked to lead their fellow companions towards the practice of virtue
and the reception of sacraments as well as to beware o f disorder,
especially moral laxity. To achieve these objectives each member had to
practice the real if somewhat restricted apostolate of setting a good
example. The true member o f the society was to be “ a model for his
companions,” and in order to be that he had to overcome the ever­
present peer pressure.
The higher the standard of his companions the more committed
he had to be himself. It was, said Father Rua, “A kind of scale to be
ascended little by little by his boys on the road to perfection.” Hence
Don Bosco sent them, after a trial period of several months, to join
the Sodality of St. Aloysius (students), or that of St. Joseph (artisans);
then came the Sodality of the Blessed Sacrament, followed by the
Piccolo Clero, and the Company of Mary Immaculate, where accord­

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57
ing to regulations, the best and most mature boys were received, so that
they may take care of the spiritual welfare of their less perfect com ­
panions, especially the new arrivals.” 17
Many apostles had come along this road: Savio, Magone, Rua,
Cagliero, Orione, etc. It is sufficient to recall that, with the exception
of Francesia, the first Salesians all came from the ranks of the Com­
pany of Mary Immaculate which had served them as a sort of appren­
ticeship for the religious and apostolic life. Very skillfully, Don Bosco
guided a boy from a less demanding society to one of higher rank,
and then higher still, until he came to the threshold of the Salesian
novitiate in such a state of mind that the proposal to go yet a step
further seemed the most natural thing in the world.
Transformation o f Environment
Finally, these associations were intended to promote a healthy
Christian atmosphere at the houses o f Don Bosco. Always concerned
about the spiritual atmosphere in his houses, these groups provided a
wonderful incentive for Don Bosco.
Passively, their members did their utm ost to prevent sin. Actively
they sought to create and preserve an atmosphere of charity, piety,
and purity in their own particular group or class by their own example,
advice, and personal ingenuity.
There are not many documents extant to help us judge the fruits of
their work at Valdocco. However, there is a passage in the Biographical
Memoirs dealing with the year 1865 that can give us a fair idea. Beneath
the military terminology of Father Lemoyne it is possible to glimpse
the task of student societies in a house that then counted several hun­
dred pupils: “ among them, as is often the case, there were a few who
could not bear to be corrected, who did not want to obey instructions,
and who sought secretly to make mischief and to sow discord . . .
Scattered among them like phalanxes, the members sought to keep as
many as possible on the right road, admonishing them and trying to
keep them out of mischief and danger . . . ” Thus Don Bosco succeeded
in maintaining order and morality in the O ratory.18 Nevertheless, it
sometimes happened that the director of the Oratory had to bring to

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DON BOSCO
bear the full force of his authority to defend one or another of the
associations, as for example when a group attacked the “bongioannisti”
in 1866.19
On the other hand, it is evident that these societies played an impor­
tant part in the system of education, as practiced by Don Bosco, a
system that was based on confidence between teachers and pupils
arrived at in an atmosphere o f openness and informality which pro­
m oted trust and mutual cooperation.
With the exception o f the St. Vincent de Paul Conference which
was for the older, nearly adult boys whose range of activities extended
to the surrounding district, the societies were limited in action to a
well-defined sphere. Moreover, their sole object was to support the
work o f Don Bosco for the young, and he had great faith in them:
“I believe that such associations can be called the keys to piety, the
keepers o f morality, the support o f ecclesiastical and religious voca­
tions.”20 The memory o f the example of Dominic Savio played an
im portant part in establishing this confidence.

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NOTES ON CHAPTER 5
1. This is the opinion of P. Braido. It will be useful to consult
his chapter: P. Braido, II sistema preventivo di Don Bosco, 2nd ed.,
Zurich 1964, pp. 377-87. See also the very practical work of G.
Bozzo, Organizziamo le Compagnie, Turin 1954, and the almost
entirely complete work of G. Marocco, Compagnie Gioventu Sale-
siana. Origini, sviluppi, realizzazioni, Turin 1964.
2. Memorie delVOratorio, p. 52, 54.
3. G. Marocco, Compagnie Gioventu Salesiana, p. 1.
4. G.B. Lemoyne, Memorie biografiche, III, 214-21; 225-35;
407; and IV, 299-300. (English ed., Ill, 149-53; 154-60; 288; and
IV, 208-09.)
5. E. Ceria, San Giovanni Bosco nella vita e nelle opere, ed.
cit. pp. 127-32. (The authors of these “ prodigies” were probably all
members of the company.)
6. Joseph Bongioanni, one of the assistants of Dominic, places
him only fourth among the founder-members. (Letter to Don Bosco
in Beatificationis et canonizationis Servi Dei Dominici Savio . . .
Summarium, Rome 1913, p. 241). We agree with A. Caviglia, Savio
Domenico e Don Bosco, Turin 1943, pp. 441-59. The date of 1855
for the foundation seems most likely. See G. Marocco, op. cit., pp.
26-31).
7. S. Giovanni Bosco, Vita di San Dom enico Savio, 5th ed.,
Turin 1963, p. 73. (English ed., p. 99).
8. M. Rua, in Beatificationis . . . Domenico Savio . . . Summar­
ium, pp. 27-28.
9. E. Ceria, Annali della Societa salesiana, I, 642.
10. G.B. Lemoyne, Memorie biografiche, V, 484. (English
ed., p. 316).
11. S. Giovanni Bosco, Vita di San Dom enico Savio, ed. cit.,
p. 79. (English ed., p. 99). For these “other companies” see refer­
ences in the Memorie biografiche, [the Biog. Memoirs], and in the
books of Bozzo and Marocco, both containing the text of the various
regulations.
12. E. Ceria, Annali, I, 52.

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DON BOSCO
13. G. Bozzo, Organizziamo, pp. 18, 19, 22.
14. F. Desramaut, Don Bosco e la vita spirituale, p. 87. (English
ed., p. 90).
15. This aspect is emphasized by P. Ricaldone in Don Bosco,
Educatore, Turin 1951, II, 218-19.
16. G. Marocco, op. cit., pp. 55-60. On the theme of “ active
charity and spiritual perfection” in Don Bosco, see F. Desramaut,
op. c it, pp. 199-203. (English ed,, pp. 220-22).
17. M. Rua, in Beatificationis, Joannis Bosco, Summarium, pp.
224-25.
18. G.B. Lemoyne, Memorie biografiche, VIII, 39. (English ed.,
P. 25).
19. Ibid., VIII, 348-51. (English ed., pp. 168-70).
20. E. Ceria, Memorie biografiche, XII, 26. (English ed., p. 25).

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DOMINIC SAVIO
1 8 4 2 - 1857
First Encounter, 1854
October 2, 1854 was an im portant date in the life of the apostle
of Turin.1 Every year at about that time Don Bosco was to be found
at his birthplace in Becchi. This time he had a group of boys with him
on a “camping holiday” who stayed in his brother Joseph’s hayloft.
That morning a boy was seen coming along the country road between
the hills with his father. They came from the neighboring village of
Mondonio to talk to Don Bosco. Between the boy of twelve and the
priest of thirty-nine sprung up at once a complete and mutual confi­
dence. Their conversation was most interesting.
“Well, what do you think? Will you take me to Turin to study?”
“Well, I think there is good stuff in you.”
“Good stuff for what?”
“To make a beautiful garment for Our Lord.”
“Then I am the cloth and you are the tailor: so take me with you
and make a beautiful garment for Our Lord.”
From Don Bosco’s pen the account o f that first meeting with Domi­
nic Savio is striking because of the warmth of its tone. This is evident
chiefly perhaps in his admiration: “ I recognized in that boy,” he wrote,

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DON BOSCO
“ a soul completely given to the Holy Spirit, and I was deeply moved
to see how much divine grace had already wrought in one so young.”
In this regard Father Caviglia dares to speak of “revelation.” 2 Unlike
many o f the other boys at the Oratory, especially in the first years,
Savio entered Valdocco comparatively well educated. In his case the
example of Don Bosco, which cannot be underestimated, had been
preceded by a profound family influence.
A Boy “Born Virtuous,” 1842—1854
Dominic was born on April 2, 1842, in Riva near Chieri, the son of
Charles Savio, a blacksmith, and Brigida Agagliate, a dressmaker. His
parents were not rich but they were good Christians. In 1844 they
moved to Morialdo.
He was always an obedient, affable, intelligent boy, pious beyond
his years. We know this from his parents who said that their son “never
gave them any trouble”3 and that “he always was very eager to please
them .” They were also amazed at the manifestations of his piety (one
day, for example, the boy protested at table when a visitor sat down
w ithout making the sign o f the cross before lunch).
We also know this from three successive schoolteachers, all priests,
whose evidence provided Don Bosco with the chief material for his
account o f his hero’s childhood.4
The first one, John Zucca, chaplain at Morialdo, admired his ex­
cellent upbringing, his “attention, docility, and diligence” at school,
and his “love for the sacred ceremonies.” Under his direction, Dominic
made his First Communion with great fervor on April 8, 1849, at
the unusual age of seven. On that occasion he made four resolutions,
of which the last two were characteristic: “My friends will be Jesus
and Mary” and “death rather than sin.”
From the beginning of June 1852, he went to the district school
o f Castelnuovo, where his new teacher, Alexander Allora, repeated
the praise. He was particularly impressed with the spirit of endurance
shown by this rather frail boy of ten who traveled ten miles each day
to go to school. He tells us also that Dominic fulfilled “the most
minute duties o f a Christian school boy” and that “he always was

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first in class.”
He was at school at Castelnuovo for only a few months, because
at the end of the same year (or perhaps at the beginning of 1853)
the family moved to Mondonio. There he attended the school of Father
Joseph Cugliero whose attention he attracted in a special way one day
when, to prevent his companions from being punished, he preferred
to be chastised himself without cause. Much aware of the “intelligence
and piety” of his pupil, Cugliero thought it would be best to recom­
mend him to Don Bosco. Dominic, for his part, wanted to go to the
Oratory for a very definite reason: “I want,” he said “to become a
priest so I can more easily save my soul and help others.” 5
The encounter on October 2, 1854, marked a turning point in his
life. It would lead the young country boy into a new environment,
into the presence o f a master in the art of teaching who would guide
him toward holiness.
Dominic at the Oratory, 1854—1857
In late October we find Dominic at Turin, “in the Oratory house.”
It was a rather special type of establishment crowded with artisans
and students (that year the number of boarders was up to 115). The
first workshops had begun to operate, but classes were still in the
city. Dominic attended the lessons of Professor Bonzanino and com­
pleted a two-year course in Latin within one year.
“ For some time his way o f life was quite ordinary,” says Don
Bosco. “ He was admired for his exact observance of the rules and
for the diligence with which he applied himself to his studies.”
Since early December 1854, however, Don Bosco thought it wise
to keep an eye on his “acts of virtue.” Dominic was even more enthu­
siastic than the others about the definition o f the dogma of the Im­
maculate Conception and had consecrated himself to Mary, renewing
the resolutions o f his First Communion. His life then became ever more
“edifying.” Three months or so later, perhaps in March 1855, on the
occasion of a sermon preached on the theme o f holiness, (it is the will
of God that we should all become saints, according to the first epistle
to the Thessalonians), Dominic decided to “become a saint.” It came

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DON BOSCO
“like a spark o f fire that set his heart aflame with the love of God.”
With Don Bosco’s help, however, he did not depart from the daily
routine, and participated in the life of the house, not only with regu­
larity and thoroughness at work but also with increasing interest in
his companions. During his first year at the Oratory he succeeded
in preventing a duel between two students who seemed ready to kill
each other.
Dominic spent the following year (1855-1856) in the class taught
by the young Francesia at the Oratory. His health began to give “cause
for concern,” which did not prevent him from working with a group
of friends (among whom were Rua and Bongioanni) to organize the
Company of Mary Immaculate. He himself drafted the outlines for
the regulations though not the actual details. “After a great deal of
w ork,” he was able to read them solemnly with his companions before
the altar of Our Lady on June 8, 1856. Michael Rua tells us that he had
“ a rather serious illness” during the summer of 18566 when his health
began to decline. In spite of Dominic’s desire to remain at the Oratory
during the holidays, Don Bosco sent him home to his family for a rest.
After his return, his health seemed much improved. At the beginning
of the new school year Dominic went into the city to attend the
private school of Professor Matteo Picco who admitted him to his class
in humanities w ithout tuition. The following winter was hard for him;
he suffered from a “persistent cough” and had huge chilblains on his
hands and feet. With more or less regularity, however, he continued to
attend school until the beginning o f spring. Perfectly aware of the
seriousness of his illness, he felt compelled to redouble his fervent
efforts and “good deeds,” especially towards those in the house who
were sick.
On March 1, 1857, on the advice o f the doctor, Don Bosco had to
send him home. He went to Mondonio, knowing that he would never
return. After a brief improvement he had to go back to bed again on
March 4. The doctor had diagnosed an “inflammation” (probably
pneumonia) and used bleeding to combat it, an accepted form of
treatm ent at the time, which merely hastened the end. Dominic died
on the 9th o f March with the calm serenity of a pure soul.” He was
not quite fifteen years old.

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The Soul o f Dominic Savio
Looking at such a brief and simple life, several witnesses affirmed
that he did not seem to be different in any way. As John Francesia
observed: “ I can only say that he appeared to be a dutiful and vir­
tuous lad. I do not know what his chief efforts were or in what way
he was heroic.” 7
Don Bosco, in his biography, drew a far more distinct picture of
his young hero. When mentioning Dominic Savio in the preface of
Michael Magone’s biography, Don Bosco says that he possessed innate
virtue cultivated to the point of heroism during the course of his
life.” 8 He undoubtedly knew what he was talking about. As his “ spir­
itual director” for about two and a half years, he was in a better posi­
tion than anyone to look upon the soul of this boy.
Some aspects of his “virtue” were “heroic.” His calm courage,
piety, and apostolic concern stand out, because they were the qualities
of Dominic’s special spiritual make-up.
Calm Courage
The steady energy of this saintly young lad was obvious. At a tender
age he willingly undertook difficult tasks like assisting at Mass early
in the mornings in the middle of the winter, long hikes to and from
school, or silent acceptance of undeserved reproach. At Valdocco his
strength of mind found many opportunites for expression. Without
faltering he endured “ the rather hard life at the Oratory, not only the
scarcity of food but also the hardships of a winter w ithout heat.” 9 In
spite of his own great courtesy and amiability, he sometimes had to put
up with “insolence and threats and even insults” from his compan­
ions.10 He would blush deeply yet remain calm and forgive quickly.
His courage in suffering, so evident during his last illness, made him,
according to Don Bosco, “ a model of sanctity.”
This strength of character was not just passive. It manifested itself
in the exact performance of all his duties and, when necessary, in ac­
tions which greatly impressed all who witnessed and recorded them. We
have already mentioned the brave intervention when he stopped a duel

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DON BOSCO
with stones between two students, at the risk of getting hurt himself,
or his remark to a soldier who refused to kneel when the Blessed
Sacrament was passing by, an act that could have been considered
very provocative, or when he reproached Don Bosco himself with
regard to a misdeed that ought to have been punished.
Dominic had enormous will power. Don Bosco says that he had
found in him “ a great human strength supported by grace.” This
strength o f will was directed toward a great ideal: “ to become a
saint,” 11 a strong expression which well illustrates his attitude.
Having learned from Don Bosco that penance was necessary for a
boy who wanted “to preserve his innocence,” he voluntarily practiced
all kinds of mortifications with regard to food, rest, conversation, and
strict control over his senses to the point o f “suffering bad headaches.”
Eventually his director had to intervene in order to moderate this
thirst for penance and to help him regain his usual cheerfulness that
he had been about to lose. Dominic valued his advice highly.
This devotee of the crucified Christ left behind him a memory
of a smiling lad, kind and serene, with an unalterable purpose behind
his smile.
Piety
Dominic had the soul of a contemplative. We read in his life: “Among
the gifts with which God had enriched him, his fervor in prayer was
outstanding.” Without apparent effort his soul seemed to find itself in
harmony with the realm of God, and his fervency in prayer greatly im­
pressed those who knew him. Don Bosco likened him to Saint Aloysius.
At school his behavior during the brief prayers recited before and after
lessons had already impressed Father Picco. Don Bosco turned this
natural devotion towards Our Lady and the Eucharist.
Mary was his “second encounter” in the year 1854.12 He looked
to her, above all, for purity as symbolized by the doctrine of the
Immaculate Conception and concentrated all his energies on this de­
votion in order to guard against impurity. He took good care of his
eyes because o f his desire “to look upon the face of our heavenly
Mother some day.” To honor Our Lady he added various extra prayers

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and practices to his routine especially during the m onth o f May.
His devotion to the Eucharist showed in a very special way at the
moment of Communion, when he sometimes seemed “transported,”
and also during his visits to the Blessed Sacrament. Kneeling before
the tabernacle he seemed “to see such wonderful things that hours
slipped by like m inutes.” He remained like this one day for almost
five hours in the church of St. Francis de Sales.
Apostolic Concern
Dominic was by nature rather reserved. He would probably never
have come out o f his shell had Don Bosco not urged him to “become
holy” by giving himself to others. There is no doubt that Don Bosco
taught him to combine holiness and apostolate. Father Caviglia con­
sidered the following quotation from his Life most significant: “ The
first thing he was advised to do in order to become holy was to do his
best to gain souls for God. In fact there is nothing more holy in the
world than to work for the benefit of souls, for whose salvation Jesus
Christ shed the very last drop of his precious blood.13 Once he came to
recognize “the importance of this effort,” his apostolic concern suf­
ficed to keep it in mind always. “If I could only win over all my com­
panions for God, how happy I would be!”
In everyday life, and especially at school, he tried to help others in
every way possible, especially those who were at some disadvantage;
i.e., the newcomers, the sick, or those who had problems with their
studies. He was also “ the life and soul of recreation” and knew how
to make himself liked; the shock and dismay which the news of his
death spread among his companions was eloquent proof of this.
In whatever form charity towards his neighbor was expressed, it
always had a spiritual purpose. “All his words, all his actions,” says
Don Bosco, “were aimed to benefit the souls of others.” To this end,
he used simple methods in keeping with his age and environment,
such as gently warning those who swore, persuading others to pray or
go to confession, teaching catechism, etc. The ingenuity and tact he
used on such occasions often proved his methods more effective than
a sermon. Cagliero, who knew him well, used to speak of “ sudden

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DON BOSCO
conversions” among his companions and even among adults whom he
m et by chance.14
His great achievement was the part he played in founding the Com­
pany o f Mary Immaculate. Even though its purpose was mainly devo­
tional (“to do something in honor of Mary”) we know that it became
an im portant apostolate at the Oratory, above all among its more
“recalcitrant pupils.” Dominic was one of the most active members
of the company. Even though very young, he certainly had influence
on his friends Massaglia, Gavio, Rua, and Angelo Savio.
According to Don Bosco, one last facet of his apostolic spirit con­
cerned the Church and the pope: “ He was always ready to talk about
the pope” and was very enthusiastic about the progress of Catholicism
in England. Praying for the missions, he always said that he would like
to become a missionary “in order to win over many souls for Our Lord.”
A Model for Youth
Don Bosco had known “ several paragons of virtue,” but it is certain
that he favored Dominic Savio “whose tenor of life was truly wonder­
ful.” 15 Henri Bosco described the affinity between the young saint
and the adult saint as follows: “ A perfect pupil at school, gifted with
a great memory and quick intelligence, kindness of heart, and ardent
faith, Dominic possessed something that reminds us of the boy John
Bosco except for the latter’s vivacity, natural impetuosity and
strength.” 16 Above all, Don Bosco saw in Dominic “the ideal of
sanctity which he himself had.” 17
Nothing was more dear to his heart than to propose Dominic as a
model for the young, especially his own boys, for whom he wrote
the story o f his life, published in 1859. The book went through five
editions during his lifetime. Considered a “masterpiece” by Father
Albert Caviglia, it made Dominic Savio known and admired among
Salesians everywhere.
The Church in turn found it helpful to hold up as a shining example
the figure of this boy, whom Pius XI had called “ a small but great
apostle.” 18 He was beatified by Pius XII on March 5, 1950; canoni­
zation followed on June 12, 1954.

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First Emulators o f Dominic
When Dominic left the Oratory there were many boys who were
determined to follow in his footsteps, the most outstanding of whom
were Michael Magone (1845-59) and Francis Besucco (1850-1864).
Although in no way resembling him, these two boys had the same
fervent desires.19
The former was a lively, hot-tempered boy, often expelled from
school, the leader o f a gang who had just casually come to know Don
Bosco one day, when he was waiting for the train at the station, at
Carmagnola. Entering the Oratory in the autumn of 1857, Magone
did not delay his “conversion” while retaining his brusque and direct
ways. He died six m onths after his thirteenth birthday on the 21st of
January 1857.
Francis Besucco, the “ shepherd boy of the Alps,” was more quiet.
After a virtuous childhood under the influence of family and parish
priest, his fine disposition developed at Valdocco where he had started
in August 1863. He remained there a mere five m onths before he died
on January 9, 1864, just three months short of his fourteenth birthday.
Thanks to the biographies Don Bosco wrote about them, both boys
became well known, though not as famous as Dominic Savio.

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NOTES ON CHAPTER 6
1. The fundamental work on Dominic Savio is obviously J.
Bosco, Vita del giovanetto Savio Domenico, 1st ed., Turin 1859,
through 6th ed., Turin 1880 [and in English, the translation of the
5th edition by Paul Aronica: Saint John Bosco, St. Dominic Savio,
New Rochelle, NY, 1979]. See also the critical works of Caviglia
(1943) and of Ceria (1950). F. Desramaut’s commentary in Saint
Jean Bosco, Sainte Dominique Savio, 3rd ed., Le Puy Lyons, 1965;
has been referred to here, also the documents for the process of
beatification and canonization, which constitute an important source:
Positio super introductione causae, (Rome 1913); Positio super
virtutibus, (Rome 1926). Nova positio super virtutibus, (Rome 1931);
Alia nova positio super virtutibus, (Rome 1933) etc.
2. A. Caviglia, Savio Domenico e Don Bosco, Turin 1943,
p. 54. This is a fundamental work.
3. To facilitate matters, specific references to the official Life
will be om itted when they can be easily found.
4. The three testimonies were summed up and adapted by Don
Bosco. The originals can be found in the Positio super introductione
causae, pp. 207-14.
5. Deposition of Angelo Savio in Positio super introductione
causae, p. 215.
6. Deposition of Michael Rua, ibid., p. 132.
7. Deposition of Francesia in Positio super virtutibus, p. 95. In
this regard see the various objections of the Promoter of the Faith,
e.g., pp. 6, 7, 11, 12 in the same volume.
8. G. Bosco, Cenno biografico sul giovanetto Magone Michele,
Turin p .5.
9. Deposition of Piano in Positio super virtutibus, p. 276.
10. Deposition of Rua in Positio super introductione causae,
pp. 106-07.
11. Saint Jean Bosco, Dominique Savio, ed. cit., p. 72. (English
ed., p. 63).
12. See J. Aubry, “ Un tout jeune saint, ” in La vie spirituelle,
1955, XCII, 391.

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1955, XCII, 391.
13. Saint Jean Bosco, Dominique Savio, ed. cit., p. 75. (English
ed., p. 67).
14. Positio super virtutibus, p. 222.
15. See Desramaut’s Preface to Saint Jean Bosco, Saint D om i­
nique Savio, ed. cit., pp. 22-23.
16. H. Bosco, Don Bosco, Paris 1964, p. 145. (English ed .:
Don Bosco [New York: Universe Books, 1965[, p. 149).
17. See F. Desramaut’s introduction in Saint Jean Bosco, Saint
Dominique Savio, p. 10.
18. A. Caviglia, Savio Domenico e Don Bosco, p. 129.
19. See the biographies of them by Don Bosco, Cenno biografico
sul giovanetto Michele Magone; 1st ed,, Turin 1861, 4th ed., 1893,
and II pastorello delle A lpi ovvero Vita del giovane Besucco Fran­
cesco dArgentera, 1st ed., Turin 1864, 2nd ed., 1878. See also the
studies of A. Caviglia, II “ Magone Michele—Una classica esperienza
educativa,” in Don Bosco, Opere e scritti editi e inediti, Turin 1864,
V, 131-200, and the life of Francis Besucco written by Don Bosco
and its spiritual insight in the same collection, VI, 111-262. [The
life of Magone by Don Bosco is the basis for a popular biography
by Peter Lappin: General Mickey (New Rochelle, NY: Don Bosco
Publications, 1977), editor].

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RECREATION
Don Bosco’s Positive A ttitude
As an educator, Don Bosco had to deal with the problem of how
young people spend their spare time, and he did so by keeping his own
boyhood in mind. Because he also recognized the merits of cheerfulness
in the learning process he naturally attached great importance to
recreation. Realizing the need for games and diversions in a boy’s life,
he did all he could to promote them, to the extent o f participating
himself.
Don Bosco had the knack o f showing his eminently positive attitude
in what then constituted the main diversions o f the Oratory, i.e., games,
music, drama, and excursions.
Don Bosco’s Experience in Games
Don Bosco did not just have experience, he also had a real passion
for games and physical exercise, and we must admit that nature had
splendidly endowed him for them. As Father Peter Ricaldone points
out, few educators have been as fortunate as he was in possessing
such exceptional physical attributes.1

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He developed these gifts of muscular strength and agility through
exercises which he continued to perform throughout most of his life.
As a young athlete he could do difficult somersaults and various other
stunts such as turning cartwheels and walking on his hands with his
feet up in the air. He jumped, ran, and danced on a tightrope like a
true acrobat. During the days of his Merrymakers Society, his talents
had enabled him to triumph over a professional acrobat. In 1868
Father Lemoyne was witness to an event that left everyone gasping:
Don Bosco lined up and challenged eight hundred to a race in the
Oratory playground, and although already fifty-three years old, he
won!2
In 1883 during a visit to Paris, he amused himself by cracking nuts
open with his fingers before his amazed table companions.3 In his
own words, he became “king of kids” at Valdocco, providing the incen­
tive and often organizing their games himself. One of his first concerns
was to provide the Oratory with “bowls, stilts, toy rifles, wooden
swords, and some simple gymnastic equipment.”4 The boys took part
in all sorts of games: races, jumping, organized teams. Don Bosco was
the moving spirit, teaching them tricks he had learned as a boy in
athletics, juggling, and the use of ropes and sticks. When he took part
in the game called barrarotta enthusiasm reached its peak: “ One side
wanted the glory of capturing Don Bosco, the other rejoiced in the
certainty of winning.”5
In the boarding section the playground was one of the favorite
places; Don Bosco did his utm ost to see that the recreation turned
out well. Father Lemoyne speaks with nostalgia about this: “ For
one who had not seen it, it would be difficult to imagine the noise,
the simple, carefree spirit, and the joy that recreation brought to the
boys’ lives. Every inch o f the playground was flattened by racing feet;
Don Bosco was the life and soul of all this activity, which he not only
encouraged but thoroughly enjoyed. The boys knew that he liked to
come and join them in their games and conversations whenever he
could and would keep on looking up at the good father’s room. Then,
as soon as he appeared on the balcony, there would be a shout of joy
from all sides.” 6

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DON BOSCO
Games as a Means o f Education
From his own experience, Don Bosco appreciated the educational
value of games. As an educator he recognized the importance of physi­
cal exercise.
Games are an indispensable means of relaxation in the life of a boy,
and particularly in that o f a student. He therefore preferred those with
plenty of movement that demand lots of energy to those which occupy
the mind only such as “cards, chess, and other table games.” 7 “The
mind also needs a rest,” he would say. At the Oratory there were no
benches in the playground. The recreations were supposed to be pleasant
and hence characterized by an atmosphere of joy and freedom.8 In
effect, Don Bosco was o f the opinion that it was necessary to give the
boys “ample freedom” in the choice and organization of their various
diversions, and, if necessary, it was up to the teachers to go along with
their pupils. The one restriction imposed concerned games that might
somehow offend God or harm the participants.”9
Games were also a means o f physical and moral development.10
In his opinion, mind and body derived benefit from them and, among
other advantages, he felt that games could cleanse the mind.” There­
fore it is not surprising that he often used to say that there is a direct
connection between skill at games and the moral virtues. Experience
had taught him that games prevented boredom which is never a good
state o f mind; on the other hand, if there is joy at play it will help to
maintain and develop honesty, confidence, and stability. One of his
favorite sayings was “keep smiling!” Often it was just an invitation
to go and play.
For Don Bosco, then, the spiritual or apostolic motive was never
absent. It was there when he used to repeat what Saint Philip Neri had
said to his boys: “ At the proper time—run, jump, amuse yourselves as
much as you like, but please do not commit sin.11 His thought, how­
ever, went beyond this, as we know from many instances which can
be summed up in what he said to the boys of the Sodality of St. Aloy­
sius on June 25, 1876: “I am glad to see you amuse yourselves, play
games, and be merry. This is a way to become holy like Saint Aloy­
sius.” It has been said that the apostle of Turin “ sanctified the joy of
living.”

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It is in this apostolic perspective that we must understand the ap­
peals he addressed to Salesian educators and to boys who wanted to
“ save souls.” He urged the boys to participate in games, and he urged
the teachers to join them. In an im portant letter, written in May 1884,
he explained his reasons to the effect that the demonstration of love
and affection was an im portant ingredient in the success of the boys’
upbringing and training. He felt a teacher could best show his affec­
tion by sharing the boys’ joys on the playing fields which, in turn,
would make the boys feel a teacher’s love and concern even though
the duties and tasks the teacher may have to demand sometimes were
not always pleasant ones.12 The best disciples like Savio and Magone
had learned from their master that recreation was “good for the soul.”
Don Bosco and Music
Music was another of Don Bosco’s great interests and at the same
time another means of education.
There is ample evidence of his deep love for music and song. In
many of his “ dreams” he speaks of “beautiful voices,” of “melodious
choirs,” of “heavenly harmony.” Like every good Italian he always
loved singing. Moreover, he himself possessed a fine tenor voice. As a
young student at Castelnuovo he had learned to play the violin, the
piano, and the organ, and his knowledge enabled him to compose
hymns for the first boys of his Oratory.
First Popular Courses in Singing
Don Bosco could be called a pioneer when, in about 1845, he
started popular courses in singing.13 Before that, the teaching of
music had usually been a private affair. With the help of two priests
who were musicians and organists, Louis Nasi and Michael Chiatellino,
he began to teach vocal music and plain chant. This aroused a lot of
curiosity and interest and “ famous masters” came every evening to
assist at his shows.
He managed to form a choir whose services were highly esteemed.14

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DON BOSCO
Boys’ voices were a novelty at that time, for the churches of Piedmont
only knew adult male voices and soloists. The Valdocco boys’ choir
was much in demand and performed with great success at Turin, Mon-
caliero, Chieri, and elsewhere.
As to religious music, he did not share the taste o f the time. Dis­
pleased with the profane character and theatrical effect of the church
music then in vogue, he sought to promote a more simple and decorous
kind of music which explains his efforts to get Gregorian Chant rein­
stated in the place of honor it had once held.
Instrumental Music
Soon instrumental music joined singing at the Oratory at Turin and
later in other Salesian houses.
When the boys of the Oratory used to play in the Filippi meadow,
the roll of a drum and the blast of a trum pet were a good way of
getting attention when he wanted to talk. During their outings around
Turin, a drum, a bugle, and a guitar made up the entire band, “although
there was total discordance o f sound, it made a great noise and some­
how it harmonized very well with the voices of the boys.” 15
In 1855 a musical band was first mentioned in the official rules.16
Don Bosco organized a band among the artisans and for some years
there were no more than a dozen instruments. By 1864 there were
thirty. Don Bosco demanded good conduct from this group and did not
hesitate to suspend it temporarily in 1859 because of disobedience.
The members looked forward very much to the performances given by
the band outside the Oratory. In 1876 the band was invited to take
part in the inauguration of the railway at Lanzo, a great event for a
little town, and an unexpected honor for a clerical institution in the
Italy of that time!
An interesting photograph taken in 1870 gives us some idea of the
Oratory band. It shows a smiling Don Bosco surrounded by proud
musicians holding their instruments and wearing their caps!17

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Music and Education
About 1859 the director of the Oratory had put up a notice on the
door of the music room with this phrase from the Scriptures: Ne
impedias musicam (Do not hinder music)! Far from placing obstacles
in the way of singing and music, he was an enthusiastic promoter of
both.
His motives, as generally presented, may certainly seem to have been
utilitarian or moralistic. Music, he said, was a “means of attracting
boys.” It enabled them to help their parish priests; it was “a powerful
means of assistance” for the boys, especially because it kept them
“always busy” ; it broke the inevitable m onotony of school.18
Father Ceria does not fail to point out the educational value of
music: “He liked the way it affected the hearts and minds of the boys,
how it refined, uplifted, and improved them .” 19 For Don Bosco, “ an
Oratory without music is a body without a soul,” as he himself said
one day at a religious meeting in Marseilles. He even saw in music
one of the secrets of success in education.
He was eager to create qualified teachers of singing and music
and he had the knack o f discovering, cultivating, and perfecting tal­
ent.20 The first was John Cagliero, “ Leader of the Salesian musical
tradition.” Teacher of music and singing at the Oratory, he was also
a composer of such ability as to merit the praises of Verdi. Upon
Cagliero’s departure for America in 1875, Don Bosco found a worthy
substitute in the person of Salesian Brother Joseph Dogliani who died
in 1934 after conducting the schola cantorum and the band of the
Oratory for more than fifty years. Dogliani himself was also a great
composer and achieved notable successes with his singers at Brescia,
Milan, Genoa, Rome, and Marseilles. He helped reform sacred music,
a subject Pius X was very interested in.
Little Theater
In the strictly artistic sphere, the theater (Don Bosco obstinately
insisted on calling it “little theater”)21 took its place with music as
an im portant factor in the diversions of the Oratory.

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DON BOSCO
Its origins can be traced back to June 29, 1847, when the “Orator-
ians” performed a little comedy entitled “Napoleon’s Corporal” in the
presence of Archbishop Fransoni who thoroughly enjoyed it.
However, another two years were to pass before the idea really
took shape. In order to keep the interns occupied on a Sunday morning
while he was hearing the confessions of the extems, Don Bosco en­
couraged young Carl Tomatis to entertain them with his talent for
comedy. Tomatis organized a little puppet show. As of 1851, farces or
short comedies were performed. These theatrical productions (together
with the poetical and musical “academies”) continued to develop until
they became an essential part of all celebrations at the Oratory.
Shows, often composed by Don Bosco himself or by Father Le-
moyne were performed at Valdocco in the Piedmontese dialect and in
Italian. At times, works in Latin prepared by Father Francesia were
also part of the program. These plays were much liked by the cultured
people of Turin.
From 1858 to 1866, the “little theater” was situated in the dining
room underneath the church of St. Francis de Sales. Later the study-
hall was used for this purpose. It remained for Don Bosco’s successor
to achieve his ambition. A real theater was inaugurated under Father
R uain 1895.22
Aims o f the Theater:
To Interpret, Instruct, and Educate
The program for the little theater, outlined by Don Bosco in 1871,
emphasized interpretation, instruction, and education.
Don Bosco had a preference for light comedy which “made his
boys laugh.” He did not like overly tragic, violent, or sentimental
plays or vulgarity. For him, the atmosphere of expectation and joy
before, during, and after a performance constituted an im portant
element of learning.
Furthermore, the theater should and must be instructive. We have
a famous example of this: In 1849 Don Bosco wrote and produced
a comedy in three acts, “The Metric Decimal System.” Aporti, a
teacher who saw the play, liked it very much and said: “Don Bosco

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couldn’t have thought o f a better way to make the metric system
more palatable; it’s a case of learning while laughing.” 23 Besides,
according to Don Bosco, the theater was “a means to improve enuncia­
tion and to learn declamation.” He wanted the intermissions between
the acts used for “recitations of rehearsed passages of good authors.”
This was one o f the “specialties” of his “little theater.” 24
The theater formed an integral part of his methods of teaching,
even if at times he barely seemed to tolerate it.25 He considered
it “a school for morality, good living, and even sanctity,” provided the
plays were “well chosen.” He was very careful lest dangerous themes be
introduced by the plays. Did he expect the playwrights to
moralize at all costs? Judging by what Don Bosco pointed out to
Father Lemoyne who moralized too much we may assume that he
preferred a more subtle approach by working “morality” into the
story, rather than treating it as “a separate entity.” 26 At all times,
Don Bosco condemned both poor acting and poor taste. Typical for
him, his was a vigilant but positive approach.
Hikes and Excursions
Rousseau extolled the benefits of walking in terms with which Don
Bosco would have agreed. Priest and educator, he had many reasons
to consider walking an important part of recreation.
For quite some time he kept up the walks and pilgrimages of the
Oratory’s earlier days. The walk to Superga, a place o f pilgrimage in the
hills outside Turin, remained a traditional feature till 1864. The Mem­
oirs o f the Oratory are rich with picturesque descriptions and hum or­
ous details: the little snack each boy took with him, the climb up to
the basilica with Don Bosco who rode a panting horse, the din of
various musical instruments, the joy of the boys “tired from laughing,
joking, singing, or shouting,” their “ravenous appetites” on arrival. . .27
Other walks took them to the “Monte dei Cappuccini,” to Sassi, Becchi,
the Benedictine abbey called the “ Sagra di San Michele” . . .
The walk organized by Don Bosco for the boys of the reformatory
in the spring of 1855 has rightly remained a famous one.28 He had
obtained permission from the minister, Rattazzi, to take the young

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DON BOSCO
prisoners for a day o f relaxation to Stupinigi. This was an extraordinary
privilege which left the officers of the law rather worried, especially
since the priest had declined the service of policemen even in plain
clothes, saying that he didn’t like to have the state police “on his
heels.” He assumed full responsibility, and fortunately for Don Bosco,
the boys loved him enough not to run away. When he was tired, they
made him climb onto a mule while they carried the provisions on their
shoulders. At roll call in the evening everyone was present without
exception.
These hikes stirred up a lot of enthusiasm among the youngsters,
and Don Bosco shared their joy. Indeed, he was a very entertaining
guide. It was almost impossible to catch him unprepared in matters
of history, geography, or the folklore of the places they passed. He was
always eager to impart knowledge and never wasted occasions like that.
The A utum n Excursions
It is im portant to take a closer look at these hikes. They took place
over a period of about three to four weeks from September to October
between 1847-1864. Like true holidays, they were festive occasions.
To begin with, participation had to be merited by good conduct.
Preparations began several weeks ahead of time for provisions, lodgings,
music, songs, and theater. The parish priests, contacted in advance by
Don Bosco, would provide accommodations. The spiritual aspect was
not forgotten because the excursion—usually a round trip through the
hills of Monferrato—was also to be an edifying experience for all those
encountered on the road.29
On the feast day of Our Lady of the Rosary, the group traditionally
stopped off at Becchi, where Joseph Bosco put his house and barn at
their disposal. During the last few years Don Bosco managed to obtain
permission from the railways to use two carriages. This enabled them
to travel free o f charge right down to Genoa and to the sea! These
carriages could be attached to whatever train they wished to choose
and in case o f necessity could also serve as “general quarters” for the
party.
The program harmoniously united piety and joy. Usually the whole

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party, led by the band, entered the village or town with a deafening
racket. They went straight to the local church, followed by the good
but slightly amazed inhabitants of the town. After a brief religious
ceremony and homily, the entire group went off to bed for the night.
The following day Mass was celebrated, followed by various enter­
tainments and concerts. In the evening, after Benediction with the
Blessed Sacrament, a play was performed in the main square or indoors.
These features were repeated again and again during the entire excur­
sion. They often attracted large crowds.
Don Bosco felt that these popular excursions would take the young­
sters away from the “perils of holiday time.” They also gave the boys
an opportunity for apostolic work. In the words of his biographer, he
wanted “to show them that serving God and having wholesome fun
went hand in hand.” 30

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DON BOSCO
NOTES ON CHAPTER 7
1. P. Ricaldone, Don Bosco educatore, Colle Don Bosco, 1953,
II, 3.
2. G.B. Lemoyne, Memorie biografiche, III, 127. (English ed.,
P. 85).
3. E. Ceria, Memorie biografiche, XVI, 636.
4. See Memorie dell’Oratorio, ed. cit. pp. 175-76.
5. G.B. Lemoyne, Memorie biografiche, III, 127. (English ed.,
P. 85).
6. Ibid., VI, 401. (English ed., p. 203). Re: the games, see
VI, 400-50. (English ed., pp. 223-68).
7. Ibid., p. 402.
8. P. Ricaldone, Don Bosco educatore, II, 38-39.
9. “ Regolamento dell’Oratorio di San Francesco di Sales per gli
esterni,” Part I, ch. 12, par. 3, in P. Ricaldone, Don Bosco educatore,
II, 597.
10. P. Ricaldone, Don Bosco educatore, II, 40-41.
11. See the pedagogical analysis, with references of P. Braido,
II sistema preventivo di Don Bosco, 2nd ed., Zurich 1964, pp.
197-200.
12. Extract from a letter written from Rome, May 10, 1884,
which constitutes one of the most im portant pedagogical documents
of Don Bosco. It can be found in the Epistolario di san Giovanni
Bosco, Turin 1959, IV, 261-69.
13. Memorie delVOratorio, pp. 201, and 209, and G.B. Le­
moyne, Memorie biografiche, II, 129-34. (English ed., pp. 101-06).
14. E. Ceria, Annali della Societa Salesiana, Turin 1941, I,
693-94, (ch. 64: “ La musica salesiana” ).
15. Memorie delVOratorio, p. 156.
16. G.B. Lemoyne, Memorie biografiche, V, 347. (English ed.,
p. 222). Other references in the Index of Father Foglio, s.v. “ Banda
musicale.”
17. This photograph can be seen in Don Bosco in the World,

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3rd ed., Turin 1964, p. 197.
18. P. Braido, II sistema preventive), ed. cit., p. 203.
19. E. Ceria, Annali, I, 691.
20. Ibid., pp. 695-701.
21. Probably because he considered the “great” theater too
worldly an expression.
22. Concerning the “little theater” see P. Ricaldone, Don Bosco
educatore, II, 72-91.
23. G.B. Lemoyne, Memorie biografiche, III, 601. (English ed.,
p. 422).
24. “ Le Regole pel teatrino,” art 19, in A. Amadei, Memorie
biografiche, X, 1061. (English ed., VI, 648).
25. See P. Braido, II sistema preventivo, pp. 201-02.
26. E. Ceria, Profili dei capitolari salesiani, Colle Don Bosco
1951, p. 396.
27. Memorie delVOratorio, pp. 155-56.
28. G.B. Lemoyne, Memorie biografiche, V, 224. (English ed.,
p. 144).
29. As an example of this, read the detailed account of what
took place in 1861, in G.B. Lemoyne, Memorie biografiche, VI,
1011-37. (English ed., pp. 608-14.)
30. G.B. Lemoyne, Memorie biografiche, II, 384. (English ed.,
p. 302).

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BIRTH OF THE SALESIAN SOCIETY
1850 - 1864
Advice o f Rattazzi
One day in 1857 Don Bosco was received in audience by Secretary
Rattazzi. The conversation touched upon “the work of the Oratories”
and their future. Rattazzi is said to have made the following remark:
“If you take my advice . . . you should choose some layfolk and clerics
whom you trust, unite them within an organized society, fill them with
your spirit, and train them in your system, so that they may become
not only your helpers but also the ones who will continue your work
after your departure.” 1
This was unexpected advice and made Don Bosco smile, for the
anticlerical Rattazzi had only two years ago, on May 29, 1855, put
to the vote an infamous law “ abolishing as moral bodies, recognized
by civil law, all those houses belonging to religious orders not engaged
in preaching, education, or nursing the sick.” 2
The same man, who was even then preparing hard blows against
existing religious communities, would now advise him to start a new
one. Don Bosco had good reason to be surprised. What is im portant is
that “the words of Rattazzi were a ray of light” to him. He realized
that it was possible to found a congregation that would be regarded

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by the state merely as an “association o f free citizens united and living
together for the sake of charity.” Reassured about the government’s
intentions, he took leave of his host after having thanked him warmly.
In fact, Rattazzi had merely strengthened the ideas and concerns
o f Don Bosco about “the work of the Oratories,” and we have to go
back several years to understand the beginnings of his efforts for
the impoverished young.
State o f Affairs in 1850
The situation in 1850 can be summed up quite simply: Don Bosco
was a diocesan priest like all the others.3 It is true that he was at the
head o f three enterprises of a rather special kind that were called
“Oratories” ; they were at Valdocco, Porta Nuova, and Vanchiglia. The
Oratory at Valdocco was a house which had been started to give shelter
to the homeless young. He ran these houses by authority of Archbishop
Fransoni.
He was helped in his work by priests and layfolk, the first consti­
tuting a kind of loosely connected association called “ diocesan society
of the Oratories.”
“The superior o f these oratories was always, in a way, the arch­
bishop, on whose opinion and advice everything depended. In every
other respect, the priests, who spent their entire ministry in the Ora­
tories, were accustomed to recognize their fellow priest Don Bosco
as their superior w ithout benefit of vows but with a simple promise
to do what he judged to be for the greater glory of God.”4
The director of Valdocco intended to remain the undisputed author­
ity of this association. An episode in 1848 clearly shows the “obsti­
nacy” for which he had always been reproved. In that year his friend,
Canon Lawrence Gastaldi, had suggested a kind of federation of Ora­
tories run by a “management committee,” but Don Bosco flatly refused
to join. He realized, says Father Ceria, that “his joining would have
resulted in reducing him indefinitely to the dependent position of
supervisor of only the Oratory at Valdocco.” 5 He was already looking
for independence so as “to have a free hand and people entirely under
his command.” The idea of federation was dropped.

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DON BOSCO
It is probable that Don Bosco was already convinced in 1850 that
the association envisaged by him would not consist of the adult assis­
tants he then had, for the defections among them were numerous.
Some, for political or personal motives, held grudges against him,
and most of them were not very easy to deal with.
What was he to do? For a while he looked about for an already
existing institute which he could join, asking only to be helped with
the means and assistants necessary for his work. He was wasting his
time.
There remained one hope which his occasional dreams “helped to
foster,” that the future “little pastors” would come from the flock
itself.6 He was giving serious thought to the m atter, for just at that
very time, he had taken the first students into the Oratory with this
idea very much in mind. But in 1850 everything was still hypothetical.
The Archbishop's Plan
The archbishop encouraged Don Bosco from his exile in Lyons. In
1852, wishing to do more and to ensure a solid foundation for “the
work of the Oratories” (and also to protect Don Bosco from his detrac­
tors), he nominated him Director of the three Oratories with an official
letter, dated March 31. In it he expressed his wish that the work
“should make progress and expand,” and he declared himself ready to
grant “the necessary authority.”7
On the other hand, Msgr. Fransoni insisted that Don Bosco share
his experience with others, that he infuse the spirit which had inspired
his work and prepare them to inherit it. Father Ceria is of the opinion
that the archbishop was really trying to persuade him to found a
congregation. Certainly he could have had in mind only a diocesan
congregation.
Formation o f Youth Leaders
It was an arduous task, but he had already laid the foundations in
1852, for he had begun to turn to the young pupils who inspired his

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confidence. Naturally, he had to be careful and prudent because congre­
gations and friars were not very popular just then. We are told that the
boys were inclined to laugh if someone mentioned monks. Hence he
adapted his tactics to this atmosphere. With varying success he would
say things like this to several of them: “ Do you like Don Bosco?
Would you like to be a cleric here in the Oratory? Would you like,
in due course, to help Don Bosco work for the young? You know,
if I had a hundred priests and a hundred clerics, I’d have work for
all of them .”
He was equally careful about the way o f life he lined out for his
first “volunteers.” “He would avoid the appearance of religious customs:
no regular meditations, no long prayers, no austere observances.” 8
All he asked o f them was to practice the duties o f “good Christians.”
Fortunately Don Bosco had many arrows in his bow; above all the
affection and esteem which he and his house enjoyed enabled him to
overcome the greatest obstacles. It was this affection that made Cag-
liero say at the decisive moment, “ Friar or not, I’m staying with Don
Bosco.”
Apart from affection, he inspired a certain veneration, a feeling
that he was a man o f God, capable of working miracles, of seeing into
the future through dreams, and of reading one’s innermost thoughts.
All this won him a trust that was often unlimited and it encouraged
boys to remain with him.
Private Religious Association, 1854—1859
On February 2, 1851, the first group of four (Reviglio, Gastini,
Buzzetti, and Bellia) put on the clerical cassock at the Oratory. We
know however that this experiment came to nothing, for they either
left the Oratory or did not attain priesthood. Fortunately Don Bosco
was able to look instead to younger boys who were to prove less
disappointing.
His tactics consisted of gathering together regularly “in conference”
those who seemed more suitable with the intention of preparing them
gradually for the religious society he had in mind. Michael Rua, whom
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of this group. He himself has left us a brief account o f the “ conference”
of June 5, 1852, during which Don Bosco asked for their prayers for a
special purpose, which he did not disclose, regarding a great project he
had very much at heart.9
About two years later the project began to take shape. On Jan­
uary 26, 1854, before the Feast of Saint Francis de Sales, Don Bosco
gathered four young men in his room: two seminarians in clerical
dress, one o f whom was Michael Rua, and two students, one of whom
was John Cagliero. Michael Rua has left us the following account of
that im portant meeting: “Don Bosco suggested that, with the help
of the Lord and Saint Francis de Sales, we first test ourselves by per­
forming good deeds for our neighbors, then bind ourselves by a promise
and later, if it should prove possible and desirable, make a formal vow
to God. As of that evening, those who agreed—or would later agree—
were called “Salesians.” 10
Don Bosco’s prudence explains the rather vague terminology. To
avoid the suspect word “novitiate” which was what he really had in
mind, he thought it more opportune to suggest a test in the practical
exercises of charity towards their neighbor. On the other hand, what
really thrilled them on that occasion was precisely the prospect of hav­
ing to work as well as to pray.
Why the name “ Salesians”? Actually this term aroused no surprise.
They all knew of Don Bosco’s devotion to the saintly Bishop of
Geneva, and he had long ago placed the Oratory under the protection
of Saint Francis de Sales. He had just built a church in his honor.
Besides, in a period when Protestantism (encouraged by the laws o f
emancipation) was making its influence felt in Piedmont, he wanted to
present the future Doctor of the Church with a model for the defence
of Catholic thought. But the fundamental reason for his choice is
illustrated by something he said much later when he explained that
“the foundation on which this Congregation rests, as regards both those
who rule and those who obey, ought to be the charity and gentleness
that were the characteristic virtues of this saint.” 11
At the end of a year o f novitiate—which no one dared to call by its
true name—Don Bosco thought the moment had come to start with the
next phase. During the conferences he began to speak about religious
vows but in a rather “academic” way. During March 1855 he openly

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invited Michael Rua to pronounce the three vows and he consented.
The ceremony was discreetly restrained. Kneeling before a crucifix
in Don Bosco’s room and without another witness, except for Don
Bosco, he made his profession for one year. It was a simple ceremony
on March 25 but, says Father Auffray (who loves imagery), “between
these four walls something great had been born, and a religious order
began to flap its wings.” 12 Actually, the young cleric of eighteen,
a student in the second year of philosophy, was quite unaware of this.
His only wish was to help Don Bosco with “the work of the Oratories.”
A few months later there was a similar ceremony performed with
the same simplicity, this time for a priest called Victor Alasonatti, an
old friend of Don Bosco, who had given up his post as a teacher at
Avigliana near Turin to come to the Oratory on August 14, 1854.
As economer of the house and responsible in this capacity for discipline
and administration, he was of tremendous help to Don Bosco. It is
probable that, when taking his vows at the age of forty-two, he had
received from his director more precise, if confidential, information
about his purpose.
In 1856 eighteen-year-old John Baptist Francesia took his vows.
He had already been associated with the Oratory for some time and,
after a course in literary studies, which he finished brilliantly, he was
appointed teacher of the first class at Valdocco in i 855.
Little by little other volunteers gathered around that first nucleus.
Whenever he found someone suitable, Don Bosco would invite him
to make profession for one year or else simply to promise to “work
with him .” During his frequent and informal conferences, he gradually
prepared them for a more thorough commitment as members of a con­
gregation. The intimate atmosphere that was characteristic of those
meetings brought about a sense of common purpose as the master
conveyed his spirit and his methods.
Open Religious Association, 1859
Up to 1859 there was no basis for looking upon Don Bosco as the
head of a religious congregation, nor in fact did his disciples regard
him as such. It was obvious that the director of Valdocco was sur­

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DON BOSCO
rounded by a good number o f devoted clerics who had received the
cassock from his hands, which was possible only because the diocesan
authority admitted the need for “the work of the Oratories.” On the
other hand, these clerics had to undergo a preliminary examination
by the curia and to attend classes at the seminaries, except for a few
who received dispensation on account o f their work at the Oratory.
Don Bosco did not let this upset his plans. Quietly, he prepared
the regulations for the congregation he proposed to found. In 1857 he
had received the “go ahead” signal from Rattazzi. Encouraged by Msgr.
Fransoni and several of his friends, he left for Rome. In March 1858
he presented to Pius IX a draft of the “ constitutions,” a term which
he had up to then carefully avoided.13 Even the Pope himself was
favorably disposed toward a congregation in which each member would
be “a religious in the eyes o f the Church and a free citizen in the eyes
of society.” However, many months were still to pass after that journey
before Don Bosco would reach his goal.
On December 9, 1859, he thought the time had come to speak of
a religious congregation. According to the evidence we have, he spoke
more or less as follows to the “Salesians” gathered in his room: “ For
a long time I have thought about founding a congregation. Now I think
the time has come. The Holy Father, Pius IX, encouraged me and
praised the idea. Actually, this congregation has existed under the
rules and regulations you have been observing, even though you were
under no obligation nor were you bound by conscience . . . We can say
therefore that you already belong in spirit to this congregation, some
of you have committed themselves even more firmly, by a promise
or temporary vow. Now we must go one step further: we must formally
set up the congregation, give it a name, and accept its rules. However,
I want you to know that only those will be admitted who, after due
reflection, wish to pronounce the vows o f poverty, chastity, and
obedience. You, who attended our conferences, were chosen by me
because I considered you worthy to become one day a member of a
devout society which will take, or rather keep, the name “ Salesian”
which means that it will be under the protection of Saint Francis de
Sales. Let me make it clear: he who does not wish to be adm itted will
no longer be required to take part in the conferences that I shall con­
tinue to hold. Absence will be regarded as indication that he does not

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wish to join. I shall give you a week to think about it.” 14
When the meeting broke up there was an unusual silence, but once
tongues were loosened again, it became evident how right Don Bosco
had been in proceeding slowly and carefully. Some complained that
he wanted to make friars out of them; Cagliero strode up and down the
courtyard, a prey to mixed emotions.
However, the desire to “remain with Don Bosco” won over the
majority. At the “ conference of approval” that took place on the
evening of December 13, a week later, only two were missing. At that
meeting a document was drawn up which was to become the first
official act of the Salesian Society.15 It lists the names of the first
eighteen members o f the Congregation, Don Bosco included. The ob­
jective which all intended to pursue “in one spirit” was expressed as
follows: “ to promote and preserve the spirit of true charity required
by the work of the Oratories for the homeless young and for those who
are in danger.” Then it continued: “ It is the desire of the same mem­
bers here assembled to create a society or congregation which, while
aiming for individual sanctification, proposes to promote the glory of
God, and the salvation of souls, especially those most in need of help
and learning.”
A “ council” or superior chapter was formed, and Don Bosco was
asked to accept the office of superior by unanimous vote. He reserved
the right to choose as “prefect” Victor Alasonatti, who already had
this title at the Oratory. Michael Rua, the subdeacon, was unanimously
elected “ spiritual director,” and the cleric Angelo Savio became econ-
omer. Three “consultors,” remained to be elected, and the choice fell
on John Cagliero, John Bonetti, and Charles Ghivarello.
Less than three months later the “Chapter of the Society of St.
Francis de Sales” had occasion to perform its first act of business when,
on February 2, 1860, it reconvened to examine the candidacy of
Joseph Rossi. Using the formula that became customary, it was decided
to admit him “to the practice o f the rules of the Society.” Rossi thus
became the first lay Salesian or “Coadjutor.”
On May 1, 1860, admission was similarly granted to Pietro Capra,
Paul Albera (later Superior General), John Garino and Gabriel Momo.
Two days later the chapter met again for the admission of three other
members: Dominic Ruffino, Francis Vaschetti, and Edward Donato.

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DON BOSCO
Most o f those first Salesians were very young, for Don Bosco did
not hesitate to admit to “ the practice of the rules of the society”
simple secondary school students. Almost all of them came from
families of modest means, some were very poor.
May 14, 1862 saw a further step towards consolidation.16 Gathered
together in the same room, which had witnessed all their im portant
acts, the “confreres of the Society of St. Francis de Sales,” “promised
God to observe the rules by taking the vow of poverty, chastity, and
obedience for three years.” There were twenty-two o f them, not count­
ing the founder. Father Rua, who had now been a priest for two years,
read the vows, which were repeated phrase by phrase by each member.
After the vows had been spoken, Don Bosco addressed the members
with words of encouragement and confidence for the future, which one
of those present summed up like this: “Who knows,” he had said to
them with emotion, “the Lord may wish to avail himself of our Society
for doing good deeds. In twenty-five or thirty years, if God continues
to help us as he has done up to now, our Society may have spread to
different parts of the world and may even have reached a thousand
members.”
That prediction, as we shall see, would come true and although
it may have seemed unrealistic at the time they certainly did want
to believe it.
Canonical Position o f the First Salesians
Looking back on the long way he had already come and on the
prejudices he had managed to overcome, Don Bosco had good reason
to be satisfied with the result so far and to hope for even more in the
future.
However, not everything was as yet running smoothly. If the situa­
tion seemed clear and full of promise internally, relations with the
outside world remained precarious. There were periodic conflicts
with the curia concerning the seminarians at the Oratory. The question
was how could all the various tasks given them by Don Bosco in the
Oratories be combined with serious study o f philosophy and theology.
Yet it was a fact that they sometimes obtained brilliant results at the

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examinations. There was another bone of contention: some of them
attended the university at Turin. To ensure the future of his schools,
Don Bosco had asked them to enroll with the state faculty for litera­
ture, philosophy, and mathematics in order to obtain official diplomas,
but this innovation had aroused considerable opposition.
From a strictly canonical angle there was nothing definite as yet.
Following the law then in force, all that was required, was the verbal
approbation o f the local ordinary. On June 11, 1860, a move in this
direction had been made through a request to the exiled archbishop.
Msgr. Fransoni was personally in favor of the new society but his
counselors were much less so. Official approbation was delayed and
had not arrived when the archbishop died on March 26, 1862. His
successors showed little enthusiasm for a project which seemed to be
a bid for liberty.
In 1864, according to Father Ceria, the Salesians around Don
Bosco simply founded “an entirely private association.” 17 The elec­
tions and appointments made by the chapter were enforced only by the
free decisions of their authors.
While waiting for the canonical situation to be definitely cleared
up (eventually it would be, but only with great difficulties), Don Bosco
saw at least one part o f his plan take shape: he had found “co-workers”
who would one day be able to become his successors.

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DON BOSCO
NOTES FOR CHAPTER 8
1. See the account of this conversation in G.B. Lemoyne,
Memorie biografiche, V, 696-99. (English ed., pp. 459-62). Re:
conditions at the birth of the Society, consult the fine chapter of
P. Stella, Don Bosco nella storia, I, 129-66.
2. T. Chiuso, La Chiesa in Piemonte, IV, (1892), 209. See also
on this theme R. Aubert, Le pontificat de Pie IX, 2nd ed., Paris
1963, 77-78.
3. The m atter for this chapter has been taken from E. Ceria,
Annali della Societa salesiana, I, esp. 1-17 and 27-40. Also the Me­
morie biografiche, with the help of Father Foglio’s Index, s.v., “ Con-
gregationze e Societe salesiana.”
4. Quoted in E. Ceria, La Societa salesiana, p. 14.
5. E. Ceria, Annali, I, 9-10.
6. See the “ dream” of 1844 in Memorie d ell’Oratorio, pp.
134-36: “ Many of the lambs were transformed into little shepherds
who grew and took care of the others. As their numbers increased
they split up and went elsewhere to gather other strange animals and
guide them towards other folds.”
7. G.B. Lemoyne, Memorie biografiche, IV, 378-79. (English
ed., p. 262).
8. E. Ceria, Annali, I, 13.
9. See the actual text of Rua in G.B. Lemoyne, Memorie bio­
grafiche, IV, 429. (English ed., pp. 297-98).
10. G.B. Lemoyne, Memorie biografiche, V, 9. (English ed., p. 8).
11. E. Ceria, Annali, I, 15.
12. A. Auffray, Un grand educateur. Saint Jean Bosco, 6th ed.,
Lyons-Paris 1947, p. 190.
13. See ch. X of this volume on the Salesian Constitutions.
14. E. Ceria, Annali, I, 30-31.
15. To be found in E. Ceria, Annali, I, 32-33.
16. For a summary of this “ memorable day,” see G.B. Lemoyne,
Memorie biografiche, VII, 160-64. (English ed., pp. 101-04).
17. E. Ceria, Annali, I, 38.

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THE SALESIAN COADJUTORS
Lay Assistants
In the great work undertaken by Don Bosco on behalf of the sons of
the people there was room for every kind of help.1 Some laymen had
offered to help him, and it was natural that he should seek to integrate
them into his society. The first text we have of the Salesian Constitu­
tions reads: “The aim of this Society is to unite its ecclesiastical,
clerical, and evan lay members, so that they may attain perfection by
emulating the virtues of our Divine Savior, especially by helping the
impoverished young.”2
On the other hand, Don Bosco believed in the apostolic action of
the laity, whether as Christians in the world, or true religious bound by
vows. He had acquired this interest in the laity during his course at
the Convitto and in particular from Joseph Cafasso. For a long time
he was faithful to the spiritual exercises organized for the laity of
St. Ignatius, near Lanzo. His own experience and contacts with every
category of Christians convinced him that everyone could attain “per­
fection.”
It is difficult, however, to ascertain whether the idea of the coadju­
tor was born together with the idea of a congregation or whether
it was the result of later experience. In Don Bosco’s explanation con­

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DON BOSCO
cerning the lay Salesian, we do indeed find some uncertainties and
even contradictions. In any case it seems correct to confirm the neces-
ity of qualified men o f professional status as an im portant factor in the
enterprise.
One need only think of the difficulties and uncertainties he had
to overcome when starting the first workshops for the boarders at the
Oratory.3 Whatever his experiments, difficulties always arose sooner
or later. The problems that now confronted him can be summed up
as follows: There were two alternatives, either he must give carte
blanche to civilian craftmasters whose only aim was to profit by their
independence, or else he had to limit their work to a well-defined task
which would ruin the workshop because o f lack o f interest and respon­
sibility. In both cases the results had been deplorable so far: proper
instruction in craftsmanship was lacking, discipline suffered, disorders
multiplied . . . Various experiments with the equipment had been
equally disappointing. Eventually the moment of truth had arrived.
While professional competence was indispensable in the craftmasters, it
was not sufficient. Don Bosco felt that he could do nothing for the
training of his craftsmen unless he could find members who would
combine competence in craftsmanship with the ability to impart
their knowledge effectively.
The Salesian Coadjutor provided the ideal solution to his problem.
He would certainly find the qualities of responsibility and training by
making them competent. It remained, then, to find laymen who would
accept his offer, but that was not easy. It was much harder, in fact,
than finding priests. On the other hand, we must emphasize (as will
be shown later) that not all Coadjutors were destined to become
craftsmasters.
The First Lay Salesians
As we have already seen, the first layman to be admitted “ to the
practice of the rules o f the Society” was Joseph Rossi, on February 2,
1860. Born in Matteo, in the province of Pavia, this young man o f
twenty-five had come to know about Don Bosco several m onths be­
fore through reading one of his books.4 The word “coadjutor” made

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its first appearance in Salesian vocabulary with Rossi. In a letter of
June 11, 1860, addressed by the new Society to the archbishop, his
name and that of another layman called Joseph Gaia are prefixed with
this title for the first time.
Rossi was not present on the occasion o f the first ceremony of the
taking o f vows on May 14, 1862, but in that group of twenty-two
there were also two laymen of very different backgrounds. Gaia had
been cook at the Oratory for several years; Frederick Oreglia di San­
to Stefano was a member o f the aristocracy of Turin. Father Eugene
Ceria says that he had already had “various romantic adventures” when
he decided in 1860 to go on a retreat at St. Ignatius. There Don Bosco
inspired him to change his life. He later became a Salesian. For nine
years he rendered great service to the Oratory and then left to end
his days in the Society of Jesus.
Don Bosco naturally used great prudence and discretion in his
search for coadjutor vocations, and for a long time he avoided using
or explaining this term to his pupils. If he spoke about them at all it
was always indirectly, as he had done earlier in the case of religious
priests.
Only in 1876 did he dare speak about them publicly.5 Profiting by
the enthusiasm for the missions that followed the departure of the first
apostles for South America, he explained to the boys that the laymen
working with Father John Cagliero in Argentina deserved the title of
missionary just as much as the priests. On March 19 of that year,
during a conference at which, among others, a rather large group of
artisans was present, he declared that, given the immensity of the
work, the priest needed to be coadiuvato, i.e., assisted, and that all,
whether students or artisans, could be “ true evangelical workers.” On
March 31 in a “Good Night” to the artisans he explained the particular
vocation o f the lay religious and how this vocation could be developed
in the Salesian Society. In simple terms he explained to his listeners
that the new congregation was created “not only for priests or for
students but also for artisans.” He described it as “a gathering of
priests, clerics and laymen, especially artisans, who desired to work
together seeking to help each other and also to perform good deeds
for others.” He did not fail to praise the work being done in America
by four of their former companions in the workshop, Gioia, Scavini,

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Belmonte, and Molinari, who had become Coadjutors and were very
important people down there. Were these explanations enough to
overcome the reluctance o f being friars? Statistics provide the answer.
Though they reflect a greater number o f clerics they do show a definite
steady rise: 2 Coadjutors in 1860, 23 in 1870, 182 in 1880, and 284
(of whom 100 were novices) at the time o f Don Bosco’s death.
Origin
Many o f these vocations came from among the artisans o f the
Oratory; these young men decided to enter the Congregation because
Don Bosco had suggested it, and because they saw the life of the Coad­
jutors with their own eyes.
However, right from the start vocations also came from outside,
as was the case with Frederick Oreglia. The fame o f Don Bosco, his
many schools, and his books attracted young men and adults. In
January 1880, at a time when new foundations were demanding per­
sonnel, he sent a circular to various parish priests in which he asked
them to send young men between twenty and thirty-five years of age
who wanted to “leave the world,” to the Oratory on condition that
they would be “ready to undertake any kind of w ork.”6
In some cases future Salesians wavered between the vocation of a
religious priest and that o f a lay religious. Several became Coajutors
after having first thought of the priesthood. This happened with Joseph
Buzzetti who had started to study Latin and put on the clerical cassock
in 1851. When he lost his left index finger in an accident, he decided
against the priesthood. He became a Coadjutor, officially, only in 1877.
Others followed the opposite course. Father Angelo Lago, who was
for many years personal secretary to Don Bosco, had first been a
Coadjutor. At the I General Chapter there was much discussion about
this kind of “prom otion” ; it was noted that other congregations were
opposed. Don Bosco was rather in favor as long as the applicant pos­
sessed “the morality and the disposition” required of a priest.7
Of course the different backgrounds and abilities created certain
difficulties in the ranks o f the Coadjutors. It was only natural that
those who knew something of the more learned professions should

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have found some difficulty with the others, and vice versa. In Septem­
ber 1884 Father Rua proposed that there should be two distinct
categories. In his opinion, it was not desirable that “a lawyer, a doctor,
a pharmacist, or a professor should find himself next to an uneducated
companion.” 8 Don Bosco was categorically opposed: “I cannot allow
two classes of Coadjutors,” adding, however, that individuals who were
uncouth or simpletons would not be able to join his society anyway.
Father Rua then suggested to establish a category similar to the Fran­
ciscan Tertiaries, but he could not change Don Bosco’s mind.
Duties
The duties of the first Coajdutors, Frederick Oreglia, Joseph Rossi,
and Joseph Buzzetti were as varied as their origins and capacities.9
They saw to the discipline and the upkeep of the workshops which
were directed by outside masters. Others who had been artisans took
over the direction o f the workshops, where they themselves had been
trained, but not everyone was necessarily assigned to a professional
section. Marcello Rossi, one of the most popular, had been doorkeeper
for forty-eight years. Others were sacristans like Dominick Palestrino
and Anthony Lanteri, or cooks like Joseph Falco, Francis Mascheroni,
and Joseph Ruffato. (Don Bosco said, that for the good management
of a Salesian house, it was necessary to have at least three persons of
the highest competence: the director, the doorkeeper, and the cook).
Some were factotums, like Louis Nasi who acted as inflrmarian and
helped in the workshops, the kitchen, and the barbershop, etc.; or
Peter Enria who was at various times music-master, in charge of the
theater, cook, painter, and organizer of the “autumn outings.” Don
Bosco used to say, jokingly, “You are a person of such importance
that you are not only useful but essential.”
Some Coadjutors became well known in their field, as the composer
Joseph Dogliani, the Salesian archivist Joseph Gambino, the printer
Andrew Pelazza, the master tailor Peter Cenci, and the administrator
Joseph Rossi who was much trusted by Don Bosco and took care of
numerous affairs for him in Italy and abroad.
Father Braido insists that the first Coadjutors were not limited to

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their professional occupations.10 Many assisted the priest in areas
that were directly apostolic and educative. For example, Marcello
Rossi, the porter, taught a catechism class on Sundays at the festive
Oratory, and Joseph Buzzetti did “assisting and catechism.” Belmonte,
at Buenos Aires, was sacristan, musician, and catechist at the same time.
Progressive Elaboration
When dealing with basic questions concerning the place of laymen
in the Salesian Congregation, one cannot help being rather surprised.
“The figure of the Coadjutor,” writes Father Braido, “as it appears to
us today after a hundred years of progressive doctrinal clarification,
did not come about by chance as a totally new and original ‘creation,’
but it emerged gradually amid fluctuations and uncertainties. . . ” n
It is not surprising then to find that the term “Coadjutor” was used
for a time to mean both Salesian religious and so-called “ familiars”
who live in Salesian houses. A manuscript of 1867 actually says: “The
Coadjutors are three in number: the cook, the laundryman, the porter.”
The confusion in terms is a reflection o f certain facts that made the
Coadjutors complain periodically that they were treated as “servants.”
No less significant, however, was Don Bosco’s reaction against any
possible downgrading of the lay element within his Congregation. These
measures grew more precise and detailed towards the end of his life. As
far as we know, the most im portant clarifications of the position of the
Coadjutor were given at a conference of the Coadjutor-novices in San
Benigno on October 19, 1883, and in an intervention during the general
chapter of 1886. It is there that one should look for the definitive
attitude of Don Bosco.
The Place o f the Layman in the Salesian Society
It is obvious therefore that the Coadjutor is neither a servant nor a
laybrother. “Notice also,” said Don Bosco in 1876, “ that there is no
distinction among the members o f the Congregation: all receive the
same treatm ent, whether they are artisans, clerics or priests; we are all

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brothers.” 12 In his classic discourse of 1883, he insisted strongly on
the “ dignity” of the Coadjutor without going into precise definitions or
juridical terms: “You are not to toil and labor; you are to direct, you
must be the masters of the workers, up to a point and within certain
limits. All of you have the task of directing; you are the masters in
workshop affairs. This is the basic idea behind the Salesian Coadjutor.
I need many who will help me in this way! I, therefore, expect that you
dress suitably and neatly, and I want you to have proper beds and cells,
because you must not be servants but masters, not laborers but fore­
m en.” 13
These statements show his reaction against the tem ptation to con­
sider Coadjutors second-class Salesians. And if this tem ptation was
great outside, we know that some Salesian priests were also guilty of
it. On the occasion o f the III General Chapter in 1883, the following
proposals were made: “ It is necessary to keep the Coadjutors down to
form a separate group, etc.” Visibly annoyed, Don Bosco protested:
“No, no, no! The Coadjutor confreres are like all the others!” 14 At
that stage he had already made up his mind. Consequently, the general
chapter of 1886 found rather positive expressions to define the specific
contributions of the laymen and therefore of the Coadjutor: “In our
times, more than ever, Catholic works and our own Congregation
depend on efficient help from laymen, so much so that sometimes
laymen can do more than priests.” 15
Later Salesians have often returned to these statements of Don
Bosco to comment upon them or, better, to define the quality o f all the
religious in the Congregation. “The Salesian Coadjutor,” affirms Father
Louis Rinaldi, “is neither secondary nor just help, nor even the right-
hand man of the priest who is his brother in religion, but he is his
equal, and, concerning perfection, he can often be better, as daily
experiences show.” 16 Notice the curious point: in stating that the
Coadjutor is not the priest’s helper, Father Philip Rinaldi contradicts
the literal sense that Don Bosco had given the word “ Coadjutor.”
On a more juridical level, Father Anthony Candela was able to declare:
“The Coadjutor is not a servant of the priests but their equal. For this
reason he eats at the same table, observes the same rules, takes part in
the same practices of piety, has a right to the same holidays, and after
his death benefits by the same suffrages. The only difference is that he

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does not celebrate Mass and cannot have the responsibility of spiritual
direction.” 17
An Apostle and Educator
On reading some of the founder’s remarks, one might be led to
believe that he asked from the Coadjutors merely a material “assis­
tance” in the management of the houses. In the above mentioned
letter to parish priests in 1880, for example, he does not speak of
apostolic or educational assignments for the Salesian candidates. All
he asked was for men to be ready “for that life of sacrifice fitting
a religious,” ready to help “in the fields, garden, kitchen, and bakery;
look after the refectory and help with the cleaning of the house;
and, if sufficiently instructed, perform secretarial work. When trained
in crafts or trades as practiced in our schools, they were to continue
in our various workshops.”
As Father Ceria used to say, Don Bosco can be explained only by
Don Bosco himself. In his mind, the Coadjutors can and should be
“true evangelical workers.” Their presence among the boys in a house
should never be a merely administrative one, and he felt this was so
obvious that he never bothered at all to put it in formal terms. How­
ever, the regulations for the oratories drawn up during the III (1883)
and IV (1886) General Chapters brought out incidentally the apo­
stolic task of the Coadjutors in this type of work: “All the Salesian
members, whether ecclesiastical or lay, should deem themselves for­
tunate and regard their work as an apostolate o f the highest im por­
tance.” 18 The examples of Coadjutor catechists confirm that this
apostolate was carried out by men already engaged in various practical
duties.
The intuition of the founder concerning the apostolic and educa­
tive mission of the Coadjutor has subsequently been further explained
and developed. Father Albera drew up some conclusions for those con­
cerned, saying: “ Our Coadjutors must train themselves to teach cate­
chism, to hold socio-religious conferences, to teach in primary and
secondary schools, to become craftmasters, to help the boys day and
night, to manage the goods of the community, in other words to

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fulfill, in the varied program of our apostolate, all those duties that do
not require priestly functions.” 19
A R eligious
The lay Salesian is a religious in the full sense of the word. Father
Rinaldi says that Don Bosco wanted to make him “ a complete religious,
because evangelical perfection was not the monopoly of priestly digni­
ty .” 20
This type of religious carries certain obligations. “ In every place
and situation,” said the IV General Chapter, “inside the house and
outside, in words and actions, let them show themselves always good
religious, because it is not the habit that makes a religious but the
practice of the religious virtues.” 21
In this connection it should be noted that it was Don Bosco’s
wish that their clothes should not distinguish them from ordinary
persons to facilitate contact with the world and enable them to set a
good example. Father Eugene Ceria, author o f Profili di trentatre
coadiutori salesiani (Profiles of Thirty-Three Salesian Coadjutors),
speaks with admiration of that “ great group of men who impress
others with their dignity and simplicity and edify by spontaneous
friendliness and enlightened, religious spirit.”
Since they are religious Don Bosco looked after them, encouraged
them in their vocation and helped them with their problems. Barthol­
omew Scavini, tired o f missionary life and ready to abandon the Con­
gregation, changed his mind upon receipt o f a short note from Don
Bosco. Another, Rizzaghi, had left the house where he was stationed,
but when, after some time outside, he decided to return, Don Bosco
welcomed him back in a fatherly way.
Without pretending to make Don Bosco the precursor of the idea
of the lay apostolate as it has appeared, for example, in recent secu­
lar institutes, it is n o t difficult to see that his views on the lay reli­
gious were balanced and well adapted to a society that was becoming
ever more democratic. “By calling us to live in community,” says
an article o f the Salesian Constitutions, “God gives us brothers to

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DON BOSCO
love. United by the bond of charity and the simple vows, we form
one heart and one soul in supporting one another and in loving and
serving God.”
NOTES ON CHAPTER 9
1. See the analysis of the reasons that may have influenced the
creation of the Coadjutors: P. Braido, Religiosi nuovi per il m ondo
del lavoro, Rome 1961, pp. 15-20. This volume contains a very prac­
tical collection of the main official texts from 1860 to 1960, pp. 43-
205. See also by the same author Vocazione del coadiutore salesiano
alVapostolate caritativo, pastorale e educativo, Rome 1964.
2. “ Scope of this society,” art. 1.
3. See ch. 3. of this volume; also J. Aubry and P. Schoene-
berger, Le Coadjuteur salesien, Nice 1952, pp. 1-2.
4. Individual details of the first Coadjutors are taken from
E. Ceria: Profili di 33 coadiutori salesiani, Colie Don Bosco 1952.
5. E. Ceria, Annali, I, 704-07.
6. E. Ceria, Memorie biografiche, XIV, 783-84.
7. E. Ceria, Annali, I, 708.
8. Ibid., 709.
9. See E. Ceria, Profili di 33 coadiutori salesiani, ed cit.
10. P. Braido, Vocazione del coadiutore, pp. 6-7.
11. Ibid., p. 7.
12. E. Ceria, Memorie biografiche, XII, 152. (English ed., pp.
1 21 - 2 2 ).
13. Ibid., XVI, 313.
14. Quoted by P. Braido, Religiosi nuovi, p. 27.
15. See E. Ceria, Memorie biografiche, XVIII, 699, “ Dei coadiu­
tori.”

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105
16. See an interesting letter of Father Rinaldi on the Coadjutors
in Acts of the Superior Council, July 24, 1927, no. 40, pp. 572-80.
17. A Candela, “ L’apostolato dei tempi nuovi. II coadiutore
salesiano secondo il pensiero di Don Bosco,” in II salesiano coadiu­
tore, VIII, 1955, 6-9.
18. P. Barido, Religiosi nuovi, p. 64. Re: the Coadjutor as an
“ apostle and educator” see also J. Aubry and P. Schoeneberger, Le
coadjuteru salesien, passim, and G. Favini, Salesiani coadiutori: Carat-
teristiche di una grande vocazione, Turin 1963, pp. 53-93.
19. Extract from a letter “ Sulle vocazioni” of Don Albera in
Acts of the Superior Council, May 15, 1921, no. 4, pp. 205-07.
20. Letter of Father Rinaldi on the Coadjutors, ibid.,
21. E. Ceria, Annali, I, 711.

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10
THE SALESIAN CONSTITUTIONS UP TO 1874
Don Bosco’s m ethod of recruiting the first Salesians can be fol­
lowed from the first edition of the constitutions, about 1855, to their
final approval in 1874.1 The road had been long and difficult, with
never ending work and worry for about twenty years.
Research and study, extremely exact editing of the text, continual
modifications based on experience and suggestions of the ecclesiastical
authorities, not to speak of the machinations of his opponents, would
have been enough to stop many a man from continuing with such a
task, or from hoping to bring it to a successful conclusion. Don Bosco
did just that, even though he admitted that, had he known from the
start how much it was going to cost him, he might not have had the
courage to go on with it.
Preparation
The starting date must be set in 1855, the year in which the first
“novitiate” ended and the first private vows were taken. It was then
that Don Bosco outlined a first draft o f rules (or constitutions) for
the new Congregation.2
The basic premises of these rules were derived largely from his

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107
own experience. Here we must recall that his experience as director
of the festive Oratory and the house at Valdocco had already been
codified in two sets of regulations: the rules for the externs’ Oratory
drawn up in 1847, and the rules for the Oratory house, developed
during 1852-1854; these were, however, published much later, in 1877.
In 1855 he was able to draw on his previous experience. Comparison
of these various texts shows that the first two served as the basis for
the constitutions, especially in terminology and spirituality.
Moreover, Don Bosco sought information and asked for advice.
In the history of the Church he studied the origin, form, and evolution
of the religious orders. Without neglecting the rules of the ancient
orders, he carefully studied the more recent congregations such as
Rosmini’s Institute of Charity and Lanteri’s Oblates of the Virgin
Mary. He sought the opinions o f people he considered competent
in these matters.
While preserving the immutable essence of religious life, Don Bosco
became convinced that it was necessary to adapt it to the changing
conditions of the Church of his time. The 1855 laws of suppression
of religious houses made him very much aware of this indispensable
necessity. He had obviously taken into account the changes that had
occurred in Piedmont, and he had to find some way of adapting the
new Congregation to his own times which were dominated by anti­
clerical liberalism. It is in this perspective that we shall see the founder
of the Salesians fiercely defending the civil status of his religious
before the ecclesiastical authorities. We shall also see him stress the
charitable aspect of his society in order to escape the laws of suppres­
sion. His conversation with Rattazzi in 1857 only served to confirm
his ideas.
After two years of preparation the text was ready; it is unfortunate
that this first edition of the constitutions was not preserved for us.
Thus began the formalities for obtaining the approval of the hierarchy.
The Constitutions o f 1858
Informed o f Don Bosco’s latest move, Msgr. Fransoni, in exile at
Lyons, greatly encouraged him. Nevertheless, for safety’s sake, he

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DON BOSCO
advised him to go and speak to Pius IX about his project. Don Bosco
left for Rome in February 1858, accompanied by Michael Rua, then a
student of theology. He took a manuscript of the constitutions with
him.
From the very first audience on March 9, Pius IX showed a kindli­
ness that was never to diminish, nor did the Pope conceal his admir­
ation for the exuberant priest from Turin. Above all, he approved of
the founder’s intention and purpose, and encouraged him to continue
his work, adding some recommendations o f great interest. This is how
they were summed up by the first Salesian historian:
“Set up your society in such a way that the government cannot
interfere with it. Don’t be content to bind its members only with
simple promises, for in that case the bond between members or be­
tween superiors and subjects would not be strong enough. You could
never be sure of them, nor could you count on them for any length of
time. Formulate your constitutions according to these principles, and
then we shall examine them. Your task is not an easy one: to be in the
world and go unnoticed. Nevertheless, if this is G od’s will, he will
enlighten you. Go and pray, therefore, and come back in a few days,
and I shall tell you what I think.”3
Well pleased with the papal audience, Don Bosco took the text
to correct and modify it according to the Pope’s advice. Father Rua
made a copy of this new text.
On March 21 there was a second audience with Pius IX during
which the Pope further defined and developed his idea.
“I have been thinking about your project, and I am convinced
that it will do a great deal of good for the young. Go ahead with it.
How else can your oratories survive and their spiritual needs be taken
care of? I think we now need a new type o f religious congregation
which is based on two premises: it must have vows, for w ithout them
unity of spirit and purpose cannot be maintained; the vows however
must be ‘simple’ lest ill will o f certain members cause trouble and
discord. Its rules must not attract attention. Perhaps it would be
better to call it a ‘society’ rather than a ‘congregation.’ In short, find
a way to make each member a religious in the eyes of the Church but
a free citizen in the eyes of the world.”4
Don Bosco then submitted the reworded text, saying: “ Holy Father,

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CONSTITUTIONS
109
here you will find the spirit and the norms that have guided those who
have devoted themselves to the work of the oratories for twenty years.”
The earliest text of the constitutions, probably dating back to
1858-1859, had a short introduction and nine chapters headed as
follows: Origin o f this Congregation (this would later be omitted),
Purpose of this Congregation, Form of this Congregation, The Vow
of Obedience, The Vow of Poverty, The Vow of Chastity, Rules and
Regulations of the Congregation, The other Superiors, Admission.5
These regulations had nothing openly “monastic” about them, nothing
complicated, as Pius IX had recommended. They envisaged a society
o f ecclesiastics and laymen, united by vows, wishing to consecrate
themselves to the welfare of poor boys (and also to uphold the Catho­
lic religion” among the people “in word and writ.”) They contained
nothing that could upset any government, even if it were hostile to the
traditional congregations; the Salesians were citizens like everyone else.
In fact, “even after taking his vows, each member shall retain his civil
rights and ownership of his property.” Naturally, “as long as the
members remain in the Congregation, the interest on his property shall
benefit the Congregation.” These were indeed strange concessions made
by religious to the worldly liberalism of the time.
Delays
While the small group of the first Salesians was growing m onth by
m onth and the Congregation was officially forming in December 1859,
Don Bosco redrafted and elaborated the text according to experience.
Within five years at least six “final” drafts were written.
The chief cause of the delay was a certain reticence shown by the
local religious authorities. In order to obtain the approval of Rome,
Don Bosco had to secure a certain number of diocesan recommenda­
tions, and especially the placet of the diocesan authority o f his own
city. While the bishops of Piedmont were ready enough to give their
approval, the Turin curia seemed perplexed by the relationship be­
tween the Congregation and the Bishop of Turin, for in spite of all his
goodwill toward Don Bosco, Msgr. Fransoni had not wanted to be
hasty. He died in 1862, and his successors limited themselves to a

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DON BOSCO
rather cold approval, to put it mildly.
Nevertheless, approval came in February 1864, when everything,
i.e., the final text of the constitutions and the letters o f recommenda­
tion from the bishops were sent on to Rome. Foreseeing some diffi­
culty, Don Bosco had included a page of remarks in which he sought
to justify certain special points.6
Remarks on the Text o f 1864
Although the Congregation of Bishops and Regulars in Rome was
well disposed toward the documents, they were very strictly examined.
On June 23, 1864, this Congregation issued a Decree of Praise (decre-
tum laudis), recognizing and approving the existence of the new Society,
but postponing a true and definitive approval o f its rules.
A quick reading of the modified text of 1864 shows new and impor­
tant developments since 1858-1859.7 A new chapter, entitled Reli­
gious Rules of the Society, had to be included in order to meet the
demands of the bishops. Another, entitled Individual Houses, shows
that the Congregation had begun to spread beyond Turin after 1858.
Three new titles appear at the end of the text: Dress, Externs, Pro­
fession and Wording of Vows. The next to last section contains a bold
article: “Any person, even though living in the world, in his own home
with his family, can belong to our Society.”
This text caused the Congregation of Bishops and Regulars concern.
They added thirteen remarks (animadversiones in constitutiones) to its
decretum laudis through the Pro-Secretary, Svegliati, which were very
important for the future development of the document.8 Don Bosco
had to redraft part of the document. He did not hesitate to accept
most of the suggestions contained in the remarks, but he could not
bring himself to modify or delete various articles on “ dimissorial
letters,” on outside members, and on the civil status of the Salesians.
He drew up a note explaining his hesitation.9 The Latin edition o f the
constitutions was drawn up by 1867.10 The titles were not changed,
but the chapter on extern members was put in an appendix.

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The Battle Over the Dimissorials”
During this time Don Bosco dedicated most o f his energies towards
obtaining for the major superior of his Congregation the right to grant
dimissorial letters (the right to send candidates to the bishop for ordi­
nation). This could have meant that he wanted to place the Society
outside episcopal jurisdiction.
Almost insurmountable difficulties arose because of this, since
at this very time there was a strong movement under way in Rome in
favor of the bishop’s jurisdiction over religious. At Turin, the new Arch­
bishop Msgr. Riccardi di Netro, nominated in 1867, was very surprised
to learn of the intentions o f his old friends. He reacted at once by
making it clear that henceforth he would confer orders only on the
seminarians o f the major seminary. This measure, says Father Eugene
Ceria, “ seemed to men of little faith the beginning of the end.” 11
Since the archbishop did not want “the work of the oratories” to stop,
he made a concession to the clerics who intended to join the Society of
St. Francis de Sales. This came just in time, for those who had been
professed were beginning to wonder about their future.
For his part, the founder continued to redouble his efforts towards
obtaining definitive approval o f his work. He collected a new dossier
of episcopal recommendations, but it became evident that neither the
Archbishop o f Turin nor the Congregation o f Bishops and Regulars
would be easily persuaded. Hence he decided to go to Rome himself
in order to attem pt the impossible.
He set out on January 8, 1869, even though many had advised
against a journey which, they felt, would be useless. Father Rua wrote
that Don Bosco, “confident in Mary Help of Christians, ignored their
advice and refused to give up what seemed to be the Lord’s will.”
On his arrival in Rome he found his adversaries beset by various prob­
lems: Cardinal Antonelli was ill, so was his censor, Msgr. Svegliati,
while Cardinal Berardi was extremely concerned about the he
of a nephew. Don Bosco prayed for them and all regained their he'
The im portant support of these influential men resulted in '
ted March 1, 1869, in which the Congregation o f Bishop
officially approved the Salesian Society. It also fov
\\e question o f dimissorials: the superior general oK

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DON BOSC
tion for ordination by the Society of all seminarians who had entered
Salesian houses before the age of fourteen. This was quite a concession
and Don Bosco received a triumphant welcome upon his return to the
Oratory.
Towards Approval o f the Constitutions
The approbation of the Salesian Society did not automatically mean
approval o f its rules. In fact, the decree had specifically stated that the
definitive approbation of the constitutions had been postponed.
The constitutions, in fact, continued to be the object of criticism
and argument, and Msgr. Svegliati’s thirteen remarks were sent back
once again to Don Bosco. In 1873 the saint brought out a new edition
of the rules which had been altered again to please the authorities.12
Anticipating further objections, he wrote an explanation in Latin
regarding the thirteen points.13 Don Bosco went to Rome again on
February 18, 1873, and found that a letter from the Archbishop of
Turin, Msgr. Gastaldi, had preceded him. Like his predecessor, the new
prelate was determined to keep the new Congregation within his
diocese and under his authority. Besides, he did not mince words in
criticizing the form ation of the Salesians, the lack o f a novitiate, and
of regular studies.
On this occasion, the rules were examined by a new consultor,
Father Bianchi, procurator general o f the Dominicans. A new list of
observations was issued on May 9, 1873, after the consultor had com­
pared the rules o f 1873, the remarks of Svegliati, the explanations of
Don Bosco, and the protests o f the Archbishop o f Turin. Father Bi­
anchi had thirty-eight remarks to make, which he reduced to twenty-
eight.14 Respectfully, but firmly, Don Bosco countered the remarks
made by the archbishop which contradicted the high praise of the other
bishops, and particularly th at o f Msgr. Manacorda, Bishop of Fossano.
He had, however, to defer to the demands o f the Congregation of
Bishops and Regulars.

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The Battle Over the “Dimissorials”
During this time Don Bosco dedicated most o f his energies towards
obtaining for the major superior of his Congregation the right to grant
dimissorial letters (the right to send candidates to the bishop for ordi­
nation). This could have meant that he wanted to place the Society
outside episcopal jurisdiction.
Almost insurmountable difficulties arose because of this, since
at this very time there was a strong movement under way in Rome in
favor of the bishop’s jurisdiction over religious. At Turin, the new Arch­
bishop Msgr. Riccardi di Netro, nominated in 1867, was very surprised
to learn of the intentions of his old friends. He reacted at once by
making it clear that henceforth he would confer orders only on the
seminarians o f the major seminary. This measure, says Father Eugene
Ceria, “ seemed to men of little faith the beginning of the end.” 11
Since the archbishop did not want “the work o f the oratories” to stop,
he made a concession to the clerics who intended to join the Society o f
St. Francis de Sales. This came just in time, for those who had been
professed were beginning to wonder about their future.
For his part, the founder continued to redouble his efforts towards
obtaining definitive approval of his work. He collected a new dossier
of episcopal recommendations, but it became evident that neither the
Archbishop of Turin nor the Congregation of Bishops and Regulars
would be easily persuaded. Hence he decided to go to Rome himself
in order to attem pt the impossible.
He set out on January 8, 1869, even though many had advised
against a journey which, they felt, would be useless. Father Rua wrote
that Don Bosco, “ confident in Mary Help o f Christians, ignored their
advice and refused to give up what seemed to be the Lord’s will.”
On his arrival in Rome he found his adversaries beset by various prob­
lems: Cardinal Antonelli was ill, so was his censor, Msgr. Svegliati,
while Cardinal Berardi was extremely concerned about the health
of a nephew. Don Bosco prayed for them and all regained their health.
The im portant support of these influential men resulted in a decree,
dated March 1, 1869, in which the Congregation of Bishops and Regu­
lars officially approved the Salesian Society. It also found a solution
to the question of dimissorials: the superior general obtained authoriza­

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DON BOSCO
tion for ordination by the Society of all seminarians who had entered
Salesian houses before the age of fourteen. This was quite a concession
and Don Bosco received a trium phant welcome upon his return to the
Oratory.
Towards Approval o f the Constitutions
The approbation of the Salesian Society did not automatically mean
approval o f its rules. In fact, the decree had specifically stated that the
definitive approbation of the constitutions had been postponed.
The constitutions, in fact, continued to be the object of criticism
and argument, and Msgr. Svegliati’s thirteen remarks were sent back
once again to Don Bosco. In 1873 the saint brought out a new edition
of the rules which had been altered again to please the authorities.12
Anticipating further objections, he wrote an explanation in Latin
regarding the thirteen points.13 Don Bosco went to Rome again on
February 18, 1873, and found that a letter from the Archbishop of
Turin, Msgr. Gastaldi, had preceded him. Like his predecessor, the new
prelate was determined to keep the new Congregation within his
diocese and under his authority. Besides, he did not mince words in
criticizing the formation o f the Salesians, the lack of a novitiate, and
of regular studies.
On this occasion, the rules were examined by a new consultor,
Father Bianchi, procurator general of the Dominicans. A new list of
observations was issued on May 9, 1873, after the consultor had com­
pared the rules of 1873, the remarks of Svegliati, the explanations of
Don Bosco, and the protests o f the Archbishop o f Turin. Father Bi­
anchi had thirty-eight remarks to make, which he reduced to twenty-
eight.14 Respectfully, but firmly, Don Bosco countered the remarks
made by the archbishop which contradicted the high praise of the other
bishops, and particularly that of Msgr. Manacorda, Bishop o f Fossano.
He had, however, to defer to the demands of the Congregation of
Bishops and Regulars.

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Approval o f the Constitutions, 1874
Hoping to obtain final approval, Don Bosco returned to Rome on
December 30, 1873. On arrival he first had to prepare the Positio,
i.e., to collect all necessary documents.15 He once again revised the
text of the constitutions, incorporating most of Father Bianchi’s
remarks. He then made the rounds of the cardinals and prelates in
order to rally support. In the meantime, a commission o f four cardinals
had been appointed by the Pope to decide the approbation. As the
crucial moment drew near, the Salesians in Turin began a three-day fast
and the boys joined in prayer for final success.
The four cardinals m et for the first time on March 24. The meeting
was favorable but not decisive. A second and final meeting was to be
held on March 31, which was naturally anticipated with concern.
The discussion took more than four hours. At first, the cardinals
were in favor of a provisional approbation for ten years, but in view
of the Pope’s explicit declaration, a vote for definitive approbation
was called: three cardinals were in favor, but the fourth had voted
for the provisional approbation for ten years. Three days later, when
Pius IX heard that only one vote was lacking in order to conclude the
debate he exclaimed: “ All right then, I’ll give my vote!” On April 13,
1874, the Decree of the Congregation of Bishops and Regulars was
published.
What had happened to the text of the constitutions in the mean­
time? During 1874 three successive new editions had appeared: the
first contained new chapters on schooling and the novitiate but omitted
the appendix on externs; the second edition did not differ greatly from
the previous one; the third was the text which had been finally ap­
proved and which has come down to us in two versions: the original
draft and another one that had been corrected for style.16
The Salesian Constitutions were printed in 1875 in Italian for the
use of the religious. We may note in passing that Don Bosco did not
remain a slave to the official Latin text and perm itted himself one or
two minor alterations of no significance.

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DON BOSCO
Evolution o f the Content o f the Constitutions
After what has been said about the vicissitudes on the road to defini­
tive approbation, it will be interesting to examine the successive ver­
sions. We can say at once that the content o f the rules o f the Society of
St. Francis de Sales underwent a notable evolution during the years
1858-1874; the points made by the Sacred Congregation of Bishops
and Regulars were decisive in this respect.
All changes made prior to 1864 were not very significant. Amend­
ments between 1858 and 1864 became necessary because of the devel­
opm ent o f a congregation that had to provide for the succession of a
superior general and the life of the individual houses. In addition Don
Bosco wanted to be able to enroll secular members not bound by the
common life. The structure o f the Congregation had not undergone
great changes.
As of 1864, however, more im portant modifications were made, due
to the influence of Svegliati; they become apparent when we compare
the texts of 1864 with those of 1874, which deal mainly with the
government o f the Society, its relations with the hierarchy, the religious
life of the Salesians and their training.
Principal Differences Between Texts o f
1864 and 1874
Despite considerable pressure the purpose of the Salesian Society
did not change. Among other matters, it continued to train future
priests, even though Don Bosco had been accused o f wishing to create
a rival clergy to replace the seminaries, an action that would definitely
have required authorization by the Holy See.
The form of government in 1864 was patriarchal. In 1874, the
powers of the rector major and the chapter o f the motherhouse were
lessened in favor of Rome, o f the local bishop, of the superior chapter
(hitherto non-existent) and the general chapter. The rector had to be
elected for twelve years only, no longer for life. The general chapter
would meet every three years. Rome reserved the right of dispensation
from vows, even temporary ones. The bishop appointed the confessors

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for the Salesians, whose “manifestations” (personal chats) no longer
included “ secrets of the heart.” As far as the running of the Con­
gregation was concerned one can say that the Holy See imposed a
certain measure of decentralization by reducing the authority of the
r e c t o r . 17
The way of life of the Salesians had not undergone great changes,
though it did tend to be rather traditional. The phrase, “ the Salesians
shall not lose their civil rights” had disappeared. The minimum number
of religious to a house was no longer two but six. The practices of piety
had not really increased in spite of one of Svegliati’s remarks. The
length of the yearly retreat was not fixed, it could be ten or at least six
days. Most important, however, was the suppression of outside mem­
bers: every Salesian was bound to the common life. Instead, the “ Co-
operators,” founded in 1876, were to take the place of those “Salesians
in the world,” whom Don Bosco had wished to associate with his
Congregation.
Finally, the training of the Salesians in 1874 closely approached
the traditional formation of religious. The “ ascetical” novitiate was
not to last two years, as some had requested, but was organized instead
independently. Students of theology were n o t to be engaged in out­
side activities, except (according to an insertion) in case of necessity.
From these few remarks on the evolution o f the Salesian Con­
stitutions, it seems evident that the intervention o f Rome had suc­
ceeded in ironing out some of the rather original points of the early
text. The Salesian Society, “with its three simple vows of poverty, chas­
tity, obedience (and the obligation of common life) was able to insert
itself into the ecclesiastical organization as an independent clerical
body,” following the path of “ the classical congregations of the Tri­
dentine epoch.” 18
In many respects Don Bosco had patiently waited for this evo­
lution, but once Rome had consented, he was convinced that his
work would endure.

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DON BOSCO
NOTES ON CHAPTER 10
1. The history of the Salesian Constitutions often resembles
that of the founding of the Congregation. See for example ch. 8. It
should be noted that we use the terms rules and constitutions
interchangeably. Originally the basic statutes of religious orders were
called rules and the constitutions were the later additions, but by
now the two terms have come to mean the same thing.
2. For this chapter on the constitutions the following are the
main works used: E. Ceria, A nnali della S ocieta salesiana, I, 18-26,
57-70, 94-137, 171-96, and his Cenni sto rici sulle R egole in Profili
d ei capitolari salesiani, Turin 1951, pp. 401-67. For the political
and religious context of the time, see P. Stella, D on B osco nella
storia della religiosita ca tto lica , Zurich 1968, I, 129-65.
3. G.B. Lemoyne, M em orie biografiche, V, 860. (English
ed., p. 561).
4. Ibid., V, 880-81. (English ed., pp. 575-76).
5. Unedited document. The edition of the document imme­
diately after this one is found in G.B. Lemoyne, M em orie b io ­
grafiche, V, 931-40. (English ed., pp. 635-45).
6. “ Cose da notarsi interno alle Costituzioni della Societa di
San Francesco di Sales” in G.B. Lemoyne, M em orie biografiche,
VII, 622-23, (om itted in the English ed.). On the other hand, it
seems certain that this document was sent to the Holy See in a
different form, but in any case the Regulations of 1864 contained
an article on the supreme pontiff.
7. The 1864 text can be found in G.B. Lemoyne, M em orie
biografiche, VII, 871-86, (omitted in the English ed.)—an imperfect
edition because the author copied an edition slightly different from
the one sent to Rome.
8. “Animadversiones in Constitutiones Sociorum sub titulo S.
Francisci Salesii in Diocesi Taurinensi” in G.B. Lemoyne, M em orie
biografiche, VII, 707-08, (omitted in the English ed.).
9. “ Supra Animadversiones in Constitutiones Sociorum sub
titulo S. Francisci Salesii in Diocesi Taurinesi” in G.B. Lemoyne,
M em oire biografiche, VII, 710-15. (omitted in the English ed.).

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117
10. Text of 1867 in G.B. Lemoyne, Memorie biografiche, VIII,
1058-75, (omitted in the English ed.). The same remark for the text
of 1864.
11. E. Ceria, Annali, I, 101.
12. Text of 1873 in A. Amadei, Memorie biografiche, X, 871-89.
(omitted in the English ed.).
13. “De Regulis Societatis Salesianae aliqua declaratio” in
A. Amadei, Memorie biografiche, X, 894-95, (omitted in the English
ed.).
14. “V oto del R. mo consultore” and “ Riassunto delle precen-
denti osservazione,” in A. Amadei, Memorie biografiche, X, 934-43.
(English ed., pp. 448-53).
15. “Positio” in A. Amadei, Memorie biografiche, X, 916-48,
(om itted in the English ed.).
16. Text of 1874 I in A. Amadei, Memorie biografiche, X,
896-15; Text of 1874, II, ibid., revised p. 915; text of 1874 III,
ibid., pp. 956-93, (all omitted in the English ed.).
17. P. Stella, in his Don Bosco nella storia della religiosita cat-
tolica, I, 158, writes about Don Bosco’s government: “His innate
tendency to dominate and make pliable what he had created, his
desire to make use of everyone in order to carry out his plans, his
tendency to feel himself a father enjoying the confidence and trust of
all his sons associated with his work, or as a superior who knew even
the most insignificant thoughts and emotions of his subjects—not
because of authoritarian motives, but in order to achieve maximum
results for the greatest common good—all this can be constantly
noted in the oldest editions of the rules which convey the im­
pression of extremely autocratic centralization.”
1 R P. Stella, Don Bosco nella storia della religiosita cattolica,
I, 159.

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THE APOSTOLATE IN ITALY FROM 1863 TO 1875
Conditions o f Church and State
At a time when he was doing all he could to secure the approbation
for the Salesian Society and its Constitutions, Don Bosco continued to
develop his work, especially in Piedmont and later in other regions
of Italy.
Decisive events were now taking place. The Piedmont of Victor
Emmanuel II and Cavour had embraced the cause of national unity and
was engaged in bringing it about. After the Franco-Sardinian victories
over Austria, which had given Lombardy to Piedmont (at Magenta
and Solferino in 1859), other regions of Italy had voted to become part
of Sardinia. In 1861, when the first Italian parliament proclaimed
Victor Emmanuel II King o f Italy, only the province of Venice was
missing from the federation, because it belonged to Austria and to
Rome which was protected by the troops o f Napleon III. Venice would
join Italy in 1866 when it was occupied by the Italian army in the
course o f the Franco-German War, after which it became the capital
of united Italy.
In view o f these happenings, it is easy to imagine the state of the
conscience o f Catholic Italians. They were torn between their loyalty
to a country that had by force of circumstance become anticlerical,

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and their fidelity to Church and pope. Although a convinced supporter
of the temporal power of the popes, Don Bosco advocated submission
to the new state and enjoyed the confidence of several liberal minis­
ters.1 This realistic and diplomatic attitude enabled him to go ahead in
spite of all obstacles. His activity just then found im portant outlets in
three areas: the construction of the church of Mary Help of Christians
at Turin, the first foundations outside the Piedmontese capital, and the
apostolate of the press.
The Church o f Mary Help o f Christians,
1863-1868
The construction of this church occupies a very special place in the
history of the Salesian Society.2 Don Bosco certainly wanted to
replace the church o f St. Francis de Sales which had become too
small but according to Eugene Ceria, he wanted to erect a monu­
ment which would be a center o f mystical union and, at the same
time, a common sanctuary for the Congregation.
According to the saint (if we correctly interpret his ‘autobiog­
raphy’), Mary herself had previously shown him the church he was to
build in her honor. In a dream in 1844, Our Lady, in the guise of
a shepherdess, had pointed out a “wonderful and lofty church,” inside
of which one could read in huge letters: Hie dom us mea, inde gloria
mea.3 In another dream, in 1845, he had even been shown the exact
site where, according to “the Lady,” the martyrs of Turin, Solutor,
Adventor, and Octavius had sacrificed their lives.
Don Bosco spoke confidentially to Father Albera of his plan one
evening in December 1862. “Our church of St. Francis de Sales is too
small, it can no longer hold all the boys. So let us build another one,
bigger and better, one that will be truly magnificent. We shall call it,
‘Church of Mary Help of Christians.’ ” 4
They decided, the next step was to figure out how to do it. There
was no money and the actual site no longer belonged to Don Bosco!
The “ field of the dreams” had indeed undergone some strange changes.
It had been acquired by him on the 20th o f June 1850, but he had sold
it again on April 10, 1854—for reasons that can easily be imagined!

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DON BOSCO
Fortunately, he got it back again on February 11, 1863.
One plan followed another because Don Bosco wanted something
great, something truly magnificent. Finally he had to settle for a
design by the architect, Spezia, even though he had dreamed o f some­
thing much grander. Even at that many people thought the project
somewhat rash because of Don Bosco’s lack o f means.
The Municipal Council o f Turin created an obstacle of a different
kind: although it approved of the construction of a church in the
Valdocco area, the proposed title was not at all acceptable, and they
made it clear that the name “Mary Help o f Christians was unpopular
and inopportune, suggesting bigotry to some and sounding rather pro­
vocative to others” !5 Don Bosco did not change his mind, he merely
limited himself to keeping quiet for some time about this “strange”
title. Eventually he succeeded in obtaining the necessary permissions.
The work began in February 1863, and continued for five years.
At the start it was found that the foundations would have to go down
surprisingly deep which added considerably to the expenses. In April
1864, at the ceremony of putting down the first foundation stone,
Don Bosco made a symbolic gesture; turning to the master builder
Buzzetti, he announced that he wanted to pay him an “installment”
for the work already completed; then, he took out his purse and poured
its contents into his hands, exactly forty centimes!
Now he really had to find the money and his imagination touched
on a wide range o f schemes for harnessing public charity. Turin and
Piedmont were flooded with letters and circulars; subscription lists
were started, help was solicited from the rich of Turin, Florence, and
Rome and an impressive lottery was organized. Though donations
came pouring in they were not always sufficient, and at one point
Don Bosco almost gave up the cupola which was to crown the building.
If, in the face of all this, “poor Don Bosco” succeeded in over­
coming all difficulties, he owed it, he said with absolute conviction,
to the Virgin Mary Help of Christians in whose honor he had built the
church. He used to say that it was she who had raised the funds most
successfully. Besides, many people believed in the powerful help
of the “Madonna of Don Bosco” ; they spoke of miracles and quoted
the case of the banker, Cotta, who had regained his health after prom­
ising the Virgin Mary to help pay Don Bosco’s debts! In such cases,

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to the saint’s supernatural faith was added a daring simplicity in asking
for financial help, and his sense of humor never failed him.
And so, by putting into practice the old proverb “Heaven helps
those who help themselves,” the apostle of Valdocco saw the project
through. The blessing of the foundation stone had taken place in April
1864, at an impressive ceremony in which Prince Amedeo, son of
Victor Emmanuel, had taken part. At the end o f the same year, the
building already had a roof. On the 23rd of September 1866, another
feast was organized for the completion of the cupola. The church of
Mary Help o f Chrisitans was finally consecrated by Archbishop Riccardi
on the 9th of June 1868, and the festivities continued for six more
days.
Don Bosco had said in 1862: “ I haven’t got a penny. I don’t know
where to get money but it doesn’t matter. If God wants it, it will
be done.” 6 His faith and work were well rewarded.
Foundations in Italy, 1863—1875
The period that witnessed the construction of the church of Mary
Help of Christians also saw the establishment of the first foundations
outside Turin. The motives for this expansion were twofold. On the
one hand, the fame of Don Bosco and the Oratory had been spreading
throughout Piedmont, and many requests for qualified teachers were
received at Valdocco. On the other hand, Don Bosco was also a man of
vision and felt he had a special mission, all of which combined to urge
him on toward expansion.7
The first experiment was tried at Giaveno in 1860 but deserves
only a passing reference because it did not last. The archbishop had
been concerned about the decline of the minor seminary, and Don
Bosco accepted responsibility for its direction. Since he did not have
suitable Salesians to place in charge, he turned to a priest-friend, who
knew the Oratory methods well, and assigned three clerics to help him.
In the beginning everything went well, and Don Bosco’s name was
enough to repopulate the seminary. Soon, however, the director began
to resent the prestige and authority o f the saint; he began to ignore
him, even in im portant matters, and to criticize his teaching methods.

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DON BOSCO
The Salesians withdrew within two years.
After this unsuccessful experiment at Giaveno, Don Bosco tried
again in 1863 at Mirabello, in the diocese of Casale Monferrato. The
parish priest was anxious to have a school in his parish, and Don Bosco
decided to open one in a house that he had been offered there. This
time at least he would be master in his own house, and he took every
precaution to ensure the success o f the project. Mirabello, in fact,
received the very cream o f Salesian personnel. Father Rua was in charge
as rector at the age of twenty-six. His staff consisted o f the clerics
Provera, Bonetti, Cerruti, Albera, Dalmazzo, and Cuffla. Don Bosco
gave Father Rua “advice” expressing his desire to see him “win many
souls for God,” a kind of code for the Salesian rector.8 The college
started off well with ninety pupils, for Don Bosco had included some of
the best boys of the Oratory at Turin “to act as leaven.” In spite of
various difficulties with the academic authorities, the Salesians obtained
excellent results, especially in promoting priestly vocations. The rector
was the main reason for this success which was greatly praised in a
chronicle: “ Father Rua at Mirabello acts like Don Bosco at Turin.”
In 1870, for reasons of space and hygiene, the college was transferred
to Borgo San Martino.
Among Salesian foundations, Lanzo, opened a year later than
Mirabello, occupies a privileged place. Like Mirabello, Lanzo was an
experiment and example for all the other Salesian houses, and Don
Bosco adapted the regulations of the Oratory accordingly. This school
was also to become a meeting place of Salesians for their retreats and
general chapters. The first rector was Father Rufflno who did not
live long; he was succeeded by Father Lemoyne. In 1873, after some
extensions had been made, the school was able to house three hundred
pupils. Among the vocations it produced, the saintly Father Andrew
Beltrami merits to be mentioned especially.
In 1865 Don Bosco acquired a small house in Trofarello, in the out­
skirts of Turin, which was used as a holiday retreat.
After Trofarello there was a pause o f four years before a new phase
of im portant expansion began. In 1869 a work consisting o f a parish,
day school, and boarding school with elementary and secondary classes
was begun at Cherasco in the diocese o f Alba with the young Father
John Francesia in charge. Because o f the poor climate this house

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lasted only three years.
The Salesians entered Liguria with their foundation at Alassio in
1870. They did extremely well under the guidance of Francis Cerruti,
a man o f great intellect. In 1871 the St. Vincent de Paul Conference
gave Don Bosco a house at Marassi for “ sons of the people” ; the Sale­
sians opened three workshops there. Since the place was too small
they transferred two years later to a former Theatine convent at Sam-
pierdarena. The young Father Paul Albera became rector and retained
the post for almost fifteen years. Also in 1871, a new foundation was
started at Varazze between Savona and Genoa. Don Bosco had agreed
with the municipal authorities to open a school in which “classical,
grammatical, technical, and elementary instruction” would be taught.
The personnel came from Cherasco which had just closed.
The college at Valsalice in Turin which opened in 1872 deserves to
be pointed out because it was unique. One day in 1864, during a
discussion about the eventual opening of a school for boys of noble
birth, Don Bosco exclaimed: “ Over my dead body! A place like that
would ruin us.” 9 We can therefore appreciate his hesitation when, in
1872, Msgr. Gastaldi asked him to take over a declining school for
young aristocrats at Valsalice. He accepted only because he did not
want to annoy the archbishop at a time when relations between them
were already very strained. Under the rectorship of Father John Dal-
mazzo, the college flourished once more, with one hundred pupils
attending.
General Trends
Looking at this first wave of foundations, we notice the Salesians’
tendency towards teaching. With the opening of Mirabello in 1863,
colleges offering elementary, secondary, and technical training multi­
plied.10 Moreover, there was an almost exclusive preference for board­
ing schools based on the model o f Valdocco. Oratories are not fre­
quently mentioned in connection with these foundations although
they had been the first works of Don Bosco. It was the parochial
activity of certain Salesians at Cherasco, Varazze and at Sampierdarena
that was growing more predominant.

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DON BOSCO
Concerning the pupils o f the schools, the case of Valsalice shows
that Don Bosco did not want to establish schools for the rich. While
most houses assumed the name of school or secondary boarding school,
Marassi and Sampierdarena were called “hospices,” which, with their
departments for artisans, would preserve the purpose of houses for the
“poor and abandoned” young.
Certainly this proliferation o f schools can be explained by the needs
for them at the time, the schooling offered by the Salesian personnel,
and the guarantee o f quality which the foundation inspired. Even
though leaning towards the education of the young in schools, Don
Bosco remained faithful to his idea of promoting the greatest possible
number of ecclesiastical vocations in all his houses w ithout exception.
That is why he wanted to have a section for aspirants to the priesthood
in addition to that for artisans at Marassi.
Glancing at the future, one can see that these first foundations
naturally were instrumental in establishing certain traditions in the
day-to-day life of the Salesian house. Concerning administration, the
Salesian authorities were eager to have a free hand in contracts, after
the failure of Giaveno.
In 1866 Father Rua named three principles o f unity that should
characterize the life o f the various religious communities: unity of
direction “concentrated” in the hands o f the rector on whom “every­
thing depends” ; unity of spirit with the practice of fraternal charity;
unity in the observance of the common life. To foster unity among
the confreres and between the houses, Don Bosco visited the various
communities regularly. These visits enabled him to make contact with
each Salesian as well as with the pupils and to reinforce the bonds
between the members of his growing “family.”
Apostolate o f the Press
No over-all view of Don Bosco’s apostolic activities would be com­
plete if we overlooked the very important apostolate of the press.11
One cannot help being amazed when confronted with the num ber and
content of the saint’s publications, especially when one considers that
this great output was achieved simultaneously with so many other

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projects. Knowing the value he attributed to this form of apostolate,
it is not surprising to hear how overworked he was because of it.
“The dissemination of good books is one of the main purposes of our
Congregation,” he declared in 1885, assuring his “sons” that it was one
of the essential tasks entrusted to him by Providence.12 His constant
efforts in this field confirm the truth of this statement.
At the age o f twenty-nine, he had published his first book, a biog­
raphy of his companion, Louis Comollo, printed in 1844. Thereafter,
for more than forty years, he wrote a great many books, including
those whose authorship is not perfectly established, but can be attrib­
uted to him with a great degree of probability. The works that issued
from his pen amount to more than one hundred and fifty.
As a writer Don Bosco remained faithful, above all, to his apostolic
and educational ideal. He composed books of prayer and devotion,
biographies and edifying stories, as well as works in defense of the
Catholic religion. His love for the Church and the Bible made him write
Storia Ecclesiastica (Church History) in 1845, Storia Sacra (Sacred
History) in 1847, and numerous Vite (biographies of popes). In the
field of education and teaching, we must recall his Sistema metrico
(Metric System) in 1846, and the Storia dTtalia (History of Italy) in
1855, which in spite of its secular character shows evidence of the
religious tensions of the time.
He had a very definite idea o f his readers, seeing them as ordinary
people, preferably young. The characteristics of his books are in fact
those of any popular author: simplicity, clarity, absence of pretence,
preference for the practical.13 His lack of documentation, theological
accentuation, and the uniformly moralizing character of many of his
works might not appeal to modern readers.
One must admit that he had the storyteller’s gift that made several
o f his books tremendously successful; suffice it to record that in 1888
his Storia Ecclesiastica (Church History) had already gone into ten
editions and his Storia dTtalia had reached eighteen. In another sphere,
his book o f prayers for boys, entitled II giovane provveduto (Com­
panion o f Youth, 1847) had spread in an extraordinary way. Msgr.
Salotti claimed that six million copies had been distributed in Don
Bosco’s lifetime, and Father Peter Stella does not hesitate to say that
this book was the greatest best-seller in Italy during the last thirty years

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DON BOSCO
of the nineteenth century.
Don Bosco’s activity was not limited to writing, and we m ust not
overlook his achievements in the editorial field. Five great collections
were issued by him: the L etture cattoliche (Catholic Readings), in
1853; the Biblioteca della gioventu italiana (Library of Italian Y outh)
which offered in 240 volumes the best texts in the Italian language
between 1869 and 1885; the Brani scelti degli autori latini (Extracts
from Chosen Latin Authors), published at the same period had reached
forty-one volumes at the time of his death, the A u tori latini cristiani
(Christian Latin Authors) and the Bolletino Salesiano (Salesian Bulle­
tin), the organ of information and liaison for the Salesian Cooperators,
which started in 1877-1888.
The first of these five collections, the Catholic Readings, was one
of Don Bosco’s chief concerns precisely because he saw in them a
means of combating Protestant propaganda. From 1853 to 1888, four
hundred and thirty-two pamphlets were published, seventy of them
issuing from the saint’s own pen. The Catholic Readings enjoyed
a lasting success with a monthly circulation o f over ten thousand
copies. Their popularity was so great in Piedmont and throughout
Italy that the Waldensians were very much disturbed by it. Don Bosco
attributed the frequent attempts made on his life to them.
The saint also succeeded in launching numerous writers, such as
Bonetti, Lemoyne, Francesia, Barberis, and others. Father John Bonetti
became editor o f the Salesian Bulletin and author of a history o f the
Oratory, which Father Eugene Ceria maintained was “a precious
monument to Don Bosco.” 14 Easily aroused, he often had to be
calmed by Don Bosco. Father John Baptist Lemoyne, who was more at
home with poetical and narrative compositions, became known, above
all, as the biographer of Don Bosco and author o f the first nine volumes
of the Memorie biografiche (Biographical Memoirs). The smiling, serene
Father John Francesia was a noted Latinist, friend, and emulator of the
famous Vallauri of Turin.
We may note finally that, as a practical man, Don Bosco sought
to print and distribute his own books and publications for which
purpose he had quickly set up the Salesian press at Valdocco. Others
were to follow at Sampierdarena and at San Benigno Canavese, then
at Nice, Marseilles, Lille, Barcelona, and Buenos Aires. It is easy

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to imagine their influence even if only from the point of view of expan­
sion. One day, speaking to the future Pius XI about the printing press
at the Oratory, the saint had exclaimed: “ In this respect Don Bosco
wants to be forever in the vanguard of progress.” 15
NOTES ON CHAPTER 11
1. F. Desramaut, Don Bosco e la vita spirituale, pp. 43-45.
(English ed., p. 37).
2. F. Giraudi, L ’Oratorio di Don Bosco, pp. 165-214 and the
same author’s II Santuario di Maria SS. Ausiliatrice, Turin 1948; also
E. Ceria, Annali, I, 87-93.
3. Memorie dell’Oratorio, pp. 134-36.
4. G.B. Lemoyne, Memorie biografiche, VII, 333-34. (English
ed., p. 196).
5. On the origin of devotion to Mary Help of Christians in Don
Bosco’s life, see F. Desramaut, Don Bosco e la vita spirituale, pp.
84-87. (English ed., pp. 88-89).
6. G.B. Lemoyne, Memorie biografiche, VII, p. 334. (English
ed., p. 196).
7. The story of the first foundations outside Turin can be read
in E. Ceria, Annali, I, esp. in ch. 5. (Giaveno and Mirabello) ch. 7
(Lanzo), ch. 14 (Alassio, Varazze, Sampierdarena), ch. 15 (Valsalice).
8. This can be read in E. Ceria, Annali, I, 49-53. Often touched
up and reproduced, this very important text had the title “Con­
fidential Recommendations.”
9. E. Ceria, Annali, I, 165.
10. P. Stella, Don Bosco nella storia della religiosita cattolica,
pp. 121-27.
11. Here we have used mostly E. Ceria, Annali, I, 683-90 and

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DON BOSCO
E. Valentini, Don Bosco e Vapostolate della stampa, (Coll. Biblioteca
del Salesianum, no. 47), Turin 1957.
12. Le L ettere circolari di Don Bosco e di Don Rua ed altri loro
scritti ai Salesiani, Turin 1896, 24-28.
13. F. Desramaut, “Notes sur les oeuvres ecrites de saint Jean
Bosco” in Cahiers du Groupe lyonnais de recherches salesiennes,
Oct. 1966, no. 3, pp. 11-14.
14. E. Ceria, Profili dei capitolari salesiani, Colle Don Bosco
1951, p. 151.
15. E. Ceria, Annali, I, 683.

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BEGINNINGS OF THE WORK IN EUROPE
1875 - 1888
In 1875 after the Congregation had received definitive approbation,
it now counted about three hundred members and enjoyed growing
prestige, the time had come to extend its field of activity throughout
Italy and several countries of Europe. In the thirteen years of life still
before him, Don Bosco would receive applications from everywhere and
it would be quite impossible for him to satisfy the needs o f his time.
The general esteem in which his Salesians were held bears witness to
his achievement.
Italian Foundations, 1875—1888
In unified Italy the expansion of his work continued. From 1875 to
1888, the number o f new foundations averaged two per year, although
some of them did n o t last very long.
The first development took place in Liguria.1 After Alassio, Var-
azze, and Sampierdarena, a new house was founded in 1876 at Valle-
crosia between Ventimiglia and Bordighera. The obvious purpose
of the bishop who had invited the Salesians was to make a stand against
the Waldensians who were extremely active in his region. His goal was

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DON BOSCO
achieved by the opening at La Spezia o f two oratories and one elemen­
tary school in 1877. There were innumerable difficulties at the begin­
ning because of considerable hostility toward clerics. One newspaper
wrote: “ The crows have arrived, but we hope they won’t find food.” 2
The Salesians nevertheless stood their ground attracting people to their
chapel and school.
In the meantime the Congregation was expanding down the penin­
sula and Don Bosco was anxious to have a house in Rome. Since he
could not find anything suitable, he accepted an offer from two neigh­
boring towns, Ariccia and Albano. Unfortunately, the Salesians soon
fell victim to gossip and sacristy slanders, to say nothing of the fact
that many people just could not forgive them for being Piedmontese!
They arrived in November 1876, but had to withdraw two years later.
During this period, they accepted responsibility for the seminary at
Magliano Sabino which is today in the province of Rieti. The work
there began with excellent prospects, but ran into problems with the
local clergy who had been replaced, and after several years it had to
be abandoned.
Back in Piedmont, during the same period, a Salesian community
under the rectorship o f Louis Guanella, who was canonized by Pope
Paul VI, was established in 1876 at Trinita, near Mondovi. The school
took in one hundred and twenty boys, “the poorest in the district,”
and a hundred pupils from sixteen to fifty years of age attended the
evening classes, while the Oratory was frequented by more than two
hundred boys. Three years later, relations with the landlord deter­
iorated, and the Salesians had to leave. The foundation at Mathi was a
rather curious one, for Don Bosco had acquired a papermill there to
supply his printing presses, and a Coadjutor by the name of Andrew
Pelazza was put in charge. In 1877 Don Bosco had spotted a church and
convent at Nizza Monferrato, where he hoped to move the Salesian
Sisters from Mornese.
In the years 1878 and 1879, five new groups ventured forth to
establish communities on the peninsula. Two of them, at Chieri and
San Benigno Canavese, were not far from the center. At Canavese,
Don Bosco started a “regular” novitiate, entrusting Father Julius
Barberis with its direction. The other groups went further afield to
Tuscany, with an oratory in Lucca; to the province of Venice, with

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a school at Este; and to Sicily, where the city o f Randazzo was the first
on the island to have a Salesian foundation with school and oratory.
The rate of expansion did not weaken the Congregation internally,
as proved by the steady progress of many existing houses as well as
the continuous development of new foundations. In 1880 an elemen­
tary school was opened at Penango, Monferrato. In the following year
the Salesians were called to Florence, above all, says the chronicler, “ to
stem the flood o f Protestant propaganda.” 3 They established an
oratory which soon accepted two hundred boys followed by a “junior
seminary.” Another oratory was opened at the same time at Faenza
in the former papal states; it aroused fierce animosity among “the
republicans” who were noted for their anticlericalism. Nevertheless,
the foundation survived. The establishment of a college at Mogliano
Veneto suffered less, only because the vicar capitular of Treviso,
Joseph Sarto, (the future Pius X), had been for many years very much
in favor of Don Bosco and his Salesians.
The founder’s intense activity continued in Italy until his death
in 1888. A large oratory was established in Catania in Sicily, followed
by schools in Trent and Parma, a novitiate at Foglizzo Canavese, (San
Benigno Canavese then became a training school for Coadjutors); and
the school at Valsalice was transformed into a seminary for philos­
ophy and theology.
Only two names are still missing from this list, but they are very
important ones. Between 1878 and 1882, Don Bosco built a second
church in Turin, which he dedicated to Saint John the Evangelist, in
honor of Pius IX whose statue was placed at the entrance. Then in
1880, although exhausted by work and other concerns, he started to
build the Basilica of the Sacred Heart in Rome, at the request of Leo
XIII. This proved a heavy burden until it was completed in 1877. Both
churches were flanked by youth hostels.
In France, 1875
While the Salesians were spreading to various regions o f Italy, the
Congregation starting with France4 ventured into other European
countries.

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DON BOSCO
At the invitation o f the St. Vincent de Paul Conference and the
bishop of the city, Msgr. Pierre Sola, Don Bosco went to Nice in De­
cember 1874, accompanied by Father Joseph Ronchail, an Italian who
spoke French like a native. The object of their visit was to examine
proposals for a new foundation, and an agreement was signed on
November 9, 1875, to the effect that a community o f four Salesians
was to be established for the first time in France. The house, consisting
of an oratory and boarding school for artisans, adopted the name
Patronage Saint Pierre in honor of the bishop. Between 1876 and 1877,
three workshops were opened for shoemaking, tailoring, and carpentry.
1878-1879 saw the opening o f a blacksmith shop, and, at the same
time, a secondary school was established for students; there were
sixty boarders and eighty extems. The new institute was generally
well liked by the people and authorities who appreciated its services.
Three years later on July 1, 1878, Marseilles received the Salesians.
The moving spirit behind this foundation was Canon Clemens Guiol,
parish priest of St. Joseph’s. Under the rectorship of Father Angelo
Bologna, who became Pere Bologne to the French, the community
occupied an institute that had belonged to the Brothers of the Chris­
tian Schools; it consisted of an elementary school and a small boarding
house for artisans. After a modest beginning, the Patronage St. Leon
progressed steadily under the personal guidance of Don Bosco.
The other foundations at Cannes and at Challonges in the diocese of
Annecy were of short duration. At Auteuil, in Paris, a big orphanage
was offered to the Salesians but the project was stillborn. The founda­
tion at Navarre (La Crau) in the district of Var enjoyed lasting success.
The community, under young Father Peter Perrot, took up residence
on July 5, 1878, in order to run an “ agricultural colony” in which
young orphans were prepared for that type of work. This school,
according to Don Bosco, was the realization o f a house he had seen in a
dream in August 1887.
Now Don Bosco sought to start a novitiate for future French Sale­
sians. He needed a suitable house—and prom ptly dreamt of one! The
description he gave resembled a large house that a certain Mme. Pas-
tre offered him at Sainte-Marguerite, near Marseilles. In the autum n
of 1883, the first French novitiate was begun, and by 1885 there
were sixteen novices. On January 19, 1884, a group o f Salesians took

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over the Saint-Gabriel orphanage at Lille, where the rector started
to establish workshops for tailoring, shoemaking, carpentry, book­
binding, printing, etc. A great benefactress and friend of Don Bosco,
Claire Louvet, who lived not far from Lille at Aire-sur-la-Lys, gener­
ously supported the new work.5
In 1883, during a rather famous journey through France, Don
Bosco, referring perhaps to the failure of the effort at Auteuil, asked
from the pulpit o f St. Augustine in Paris: “Is there no way of estab­
lishing here at Paris an institute like the one at Nice, Marseilles, or
Turin? I believe that an institution house o f that kind is very necessary
here and that it should be established.” 6 He received various proposals
and chose the one made by the Abbe Pisani, who wanted to turn over
to him the Patronage St. Pierre, which he had founded in Menilmontant.
An agreement was made, and the Salesians arrived in Paris in 1884,
under the leadership of Father Bellamy, a priest of Chartres who
had become a Salesian during the previous year.
In enumerating these foundations of Don Bosco in France, nothing
has been said about the political problems that threatened to ruin
them. There had been great difficulty after the decrees of March 19,
1880, against religious congregations. During this hurricane, Don Bosco
alone remained calm, convinced that the Salesians would not be harmed.
They were, in fact, able to resume their work.
In Spain 1881
After France came Spain.7 Don Bosco had had this country in mind
for quite some time until an opportunity came in 1879, through the
Archbishop o f Seville, who had known the Salesians at Lucca in Italy.
He had been consulted by an Andulsian nobleman, the Marquis Don
Diego di Casa Ulloa, who wished to endow his home town, Utrera, with
a school for poor children. On January 24, 1880, Father John Cagliero
and the Coadjutor Joseph Rossi arrived at Don Bosco’s behest, to see
the town and meet the people, and prepare for the first foundation
in Spain. A group of Salesians arrived in early February 1881 under
Father John Branda. Their apostolate was limited at first to a school
which later became the parish o f Carmel.

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DON BOSCO
MeanwMe the fame o f the apostle of Turin was spreading in the
country. In the Diocesan Review , the Archbishop of Seville published
articles full of praise about Don Bosco’s work, which were reproduced
by publications in Barcelona, Madrid, and other cities.
Donna Dorotea Chopitea de Serra, a wealthy and pious widow, who
lived in Barcelona, ardently longed to do something for the homeless.
One day she came across an issue of the Salesian Bulletin in which she
read about Don Bosco. She then sought information about the Sale­
sian work and contacted Don Bosco in September 1882. To speed
matters up, she also appealed to the pope. With the help o f Father
Cagliero and of the Rector of Utrera, work soon began. Donna Cho­
pitea acquired a villa in the Sarria quarter o f Barcelona which was
turned into a technical school. Father Branda was replaced at Utrera by
Father Ernest Oberti who opened the house on February 15, 1884.
Like the workshops at Valdocco, the Talleres of Barcelona started very
modestly but developed quickly.
Another project was considered in the capital of Spain. A com­
mission of people o f some importance wanted to turn over to the
Salesians The School for Juvenile Delinquents and the House of Re­
form. Since the title of the school and its methods did not at all appeal
to Don Bosco, who wanted to run the school like his others, the nego­
tiations were suspended for many years.
1886 saw an event of note when Don Bosco himself went to Spain.
In December 1885, Father Branda had written him as follows: “Here
we are always thinking and speaking of our father, Don Bosco and our
great desire to see him before long. Oh if only such a trip were pos­
sible!” 8 Despite much advice to the contrary, Don Bosco went to
Barcelona in April 1886, where he was received with great enthusi­
asm. The hill of Tibidabo which dominates the city was offered to him
as a gift if he were to build a basilica for the Sacred Heart there. It was
only natural that such an offer should have impressed him greatly,
for during the journey he had heard an inner voice repeating Tibi
dabo, Tibi dabo . . . (“ I will give you .. .”).

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In England, 1887
Another wish came true for Don Bosco towards the end of his life,
as he was able to send Salesians to England.9
A favorable opportunity presented itself in 1884, when the London
Conference o f St. Vincent de Paul decided to ask for his help on behalf
of the poor and homeless young in the Battersea area. The Countess
Stackpool played an im portant part in the negotiations which con­
tinued until 1887, when it was agreed that the Salesians would ad­
minister the parish and care for the young of the district. On Novem­
ber 14, 1887, a group of three Salesians left Turin for England; it
consisted o f an Irishman, Father McKiernan (parish priest and rector)
an Englishman, Father Charles Macey (curate and catechist), and a
Coadjutor by the name of Rossaro. Although these pioneers of the
Salesian work in England had to overcome hardships and problems,
they succeeded in building a solid foundation.
Other Countries
Though work was not actually started in the lifetime of Don Bosco,
other European countries were affected by the spread of the
Salesian work and the influence o f its founder.10 Here one must note
the role and influence of the press, especially the French biographies
of Don Bosco by Mendre, d’Espiney, and du Boys.
In Portugal, for example, Don Bosco was anything but unknown,
and repeated requests for Salesians came from that country. In Oporto
there was a priest, Pere Sebastien Leite de Vasconcellos, who was
particularly interested in rescuing poor boys from the incitements of
the Protestants; he kept insisting until, in 1881, Father John Cagliero
was sent to greet him and urge him to be patient. In the meantime
this priest opened the Oficina de San Jose, hoping the Salesians would
take charge as soon as possible. Lisbon also wanted a Salesian founda­
tion; their request was made through the patriarch and Baron Gomez.
Because of lack o f personnel, neither request could be satisfied in Don
Bosco’s lifetime.
In the great variety of nationalities that constituted the Austro-

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DON BOSCO
Hungarian Empire, it was natural that the Italian-speaking regions
would be most susceptible to Salesian influence. We have already men­
tioned the school opened at Trent which at that time formed part of
the Empire, but Don Bosco was also known in Bohemia, in present-
day Czechoslovakia, and his teaching methods were disseminated by
the review Vlast in Prague and other cities.
The establishment o f the Salesians in Belgium was decided while
Don Bosco was still alive but would only become effective three years
after his death. The chief initiator, Msgr. Doutreloux, Bishop of Liege,
was a great admirer of Don Bosco and of the Salesian work in Turin.
He wanted to see a similar work in his own city. The Salesians arrived
in Liege in 1891.
Significance o f These New Foundations
A reflection on the significance of these foundations will help to
show the characteristics o f the Salesian work at that time. It is impor­
tant to note that several Italian foundations, like the ones in Liguria and
in the Roman area, had the purpose of counteracting Protestant influ­
ence in Catholic schools. The Salesians had come to Vallecrosia at
the invitation of the local bishop who begged them to help him against
the intrigues of the “heretics” ; the same was true for La Spezia, where
it was necessary to stem the influence o f Protestantism. The “sons” of
Don Bosco were very eager to show that they had means to overcome
the derision o f one of the chief instruments of the Bible Society, which
never lacked funds for its campaigns. Indeed there was no lack of ardor
in the rivalries between Christian denominations during the nineteenth
century. It should be noted, however, that at Battersea in London, both
Protestant and Catholic boys were admitted.
The type o f work begun by the Salesians was well-known by then;
it often included schools (elementary, secondary, or technical) which
were generally boarding schools. One must not forget the “agricultural
colony” at Navarre in France. Parishes were run by Salesians and, above
all, as of 1875, there was a great drive in favor o f oratories. Although
prior to that date the only two oratories had been in Turin and Sam-
pierdarena, they multiplied without endangering the boarding schools.

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In France the establishments at Nice, Marseilles, and Paris developed
rapidly.
If we look at the Salesian foundations as a whole, but especially at
those in France, Spain, and England, it is obvious that the religious
were sent by Don Bosco to take care o f the neediest young (but not
necessarily delinquents). The technical schools (often called schools
of arts and trades) as the ones at Nice, Marseilles, and Barcelona seemed
particularly suited to the needs of the people. The religious and civilian
authorities judged the Salesian Congregation by the work at Turin, and
they asked Don Bosco to help them educate the children of the com­
mon people.
Finally, while in the process o f opening schools, Don Bosco never
could help thinking about priestly vocations, a concern that was on his
mind always. To the technical schools he built, he speedily attached
secondary departments whose purpose it was to ensure the recruitm ent
that was necessary for the expansion of the Congregation.

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NOTES ON CHAPTER 12
1. The history of the Italian foundations between 1875 and
1888 can be read in E. Ceria, Annali, I esp. ch. 25 (1875-1877), ch.
29 (1878-1879), ch. 36 (1880-1882), and ch. 55. More details can be
found in the Memorie biografiche: consult Index s.v. “ Foundations.”
2. E. Ceria, Annali, I, 271.
3. Ibid,„ 395.
4. Ibid., chs. 26, 30, 32, 48, 51: J.M. Beslay, Histoire des
fondations salesiennes de France, I, 1875-1888 cyclostyled edition,
1958.
5. A. Auffray: Un saint traversa la France, Lyons-Paris 1937.
6. E. Ceria, Annali, I, 521.
7. Ibid., chs. 41 and 51; also R. Alberdi, Una ciudad para un
santo, Barcelona 1966.
8. E. Ceria, Annali, I, 545-46.
9. Ibid., 618-21.
10.
Ibid., ch. 58, 611-17, (Portugal, the Austro-Hungari
Empire, Belgium).

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SALESIAN REGULATIONS UP TO 1888
Spontaneity and Method
Don Bosco was a man of spontaneity, faith, and liberty, n o t an
armed guard. There was nothing of the policeman in him. Paul Claudel
said: “Don Bosco! You only had to look at him, and you never tired
of looking at him even if only at his picture! He seems so understand­
ing. You know immediately that you can trust him, that everything
will be all right. Opposite a countenance such as his you were never
reluctant to confess. It became a veritable necessity. Looking at him
you were overcome by an urge to tell him everything, to confide in
him, to profit by this precious m om ent.” 1 As a teacher of the young,
had he not perhaps adopted the maxim attributed to the cheerful Saint
Philip Neri: “ Let them shout, run, and jump, as long as they do not
offend God”?
Yet it would be a great mistake to see him as a dreamer, with a lot
of ideas but without the ability to put them into practice. On the
contrary, he combined the patience and tenacity of the Piedmontese
peasant with discipline and “m ethod.” His concern for organization
led him to draw up several “regulations,” and perhaps there are few
saints who have drafted as many regulations as he did.
Let us trace the path followed by this enthusiastic initiator. With

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DON BOSCO
unfailing boldness he launched a new project, and right after the first
tentative steps had been made and the initial uncertainties overcome,
he made notes “based on experience” for future reference. As the work
progressed, he took the first “regulations” and corrected and clarified
them according to the requirements o f the project in question. We must
add, however, that he always also consulted the regulations of those
who were engaged in similar activities.
This way o f working is typical for a practical mind that mistrusts
abstract intelligence. It also shows respect for efficiency which, accord­
ing to him, must never be absent from the affairs o f the Kingdom.
Apart from the Salesian Constitutions, which are the official regula­
tions used by the Salesians, he wrote The Regulations of the Oratory,
The Regulations of the Oratory House (which became The Regulations
for Salesian Houses), and the “Decisions” of the general chapters.
To understand the system, at present in force among the Salesians,
it is indispensable to know something of its origin and development
in the light of the life and experience o f the founder.2
Regulations o f the Oratory
It seems that Don Bosco began writing some directives for his
infant Oratory as early as 1845.3 These rules concerned the general
organization o f the Sunday meetings with special emphasis on con­
fessions, which were of great importance to the saint. Upon settling
in the Pinardi house in 1846, he drafted proper regulations: “The first
order o f business was writing the regulations, (which I simply took
from the Oratory) and specifying how they were to be carried out.”4
The text of these regulations, usually dated 1852, had been pub­
lished by Father John Baptist Lemoyne in the third volume of the
Biographical M emoirs, but even there they are not given fully. The
Regulations were divided into two parts. The first part dealt with the
purpose o f the Oratory—“to keep the young busy on holidays with
pleasant and wholesome recreation after the sacred church cere­
monies”—and with the various offices (rector, prefect, catechist, assis­
tants, sacristans, “monitors,” teachers o f catechism, archivists, singers,
general supervisors, patrons, and protectors). The second part con­

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tained various rules for admission, conduct, religious practices, etc. A
third part was mainly concerned with the school connected with the
Oratory and was not printed until very much later.5
A new edition appeared in 1862, in the second part of which Don
Bosco added a chapter on “Particular Practices o f Christian Piety,”
and a third part on “Additional Courses.” 6
Finally, in 1877, The Regulations o f the Oratory of St. Francis
de Sales for Extems appeared, marking the end of their history under
Don Bosco (the last edition in 1887 was simply a re-print of the pre­
ceding one.)7 Except for the additions we have mentioned, the 1877
edition equals the one of 1852. As to actual content, a comparison
between the successive editions between 1852 and 1877 (up to 1887)
shows that they remained substantially the same. O f particular impor­
tance is the fact that, according to the title, the regulations concerned
only the Oratory at Valdocco.
Although we know from his biographies that Don Bosco was guided
by personal experience when drawing up the regulations for the
Oratory, he did not neglect to consult others. Father Lemoyne found
among Don Bosco’s personal papers a copy of the rules for the oratory
of St. Aloysius in Milan and another copy of rules for an oratory named
after the Holy Family. We must also mention his great interest in the
oratories o f St. Philip Neri in Rome and St. Charles Borromeo in
Milan.8
A comparison between these different regulations and Don Bos­
co’s is interesting because it shows notable differences. The other
oratories were also intended for teaching religion and entertaining
young people on festive days, but some of them only accepted boys
of good family and good conduct. At the Oratory of St. Francis de
Sales, on the other hand, “all are adm itted without exception of
rank or circumstance.” Moreover, the definite preference was for
“the poor, the most neglected, the most ignorant,” and finally for
“young rascals” (7 giovani discoli), provided they do not make trouble,
and try to improve.”9 The only limitations concerned boys who
were either too young (under eight years) or afflicted with contagious
diseases, or boys who incited others to sin. The Oratory therefore
became, due to its democratic policies—because it was not reserved
for the rich and privileged—“a field of true apostolate,” as Father

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Eugene Ceria rightly points out.
While other regulations limited activities just to a few hours in
the mornings, Don Bosco wanted his Oratory to be open all day, be­
cause he was convinced that the evenings were the time o f greater
danger for neglected boys and especially for young laborers.
However, what chiefly distinguished the Salesian regulations from
others was their underlying spirit: “ A spirit of charity and sacrifice,
o f fatherliness and brotherliness, in other words, a family spirit.” 10
Some oratories had a rather complicated set of rules with a register
of absentees, or strict surveillance even o f the frequentation o f the
sacraments. Apart from the fact that the trend o f the times was against
the old ways, Don Bosco wanted his boys “to do that which was
right voluntarily and out of love.” For this reason particularly he
abolished the tickets for confession. “We do not order anybody to
celebrate the sacraments! Everybody is free to go out of love, but
need never go out o f fear.” 11
Don Bosco’s “Salesian” approach appears to set the right tone from
the very first page of the regulations. “This Oratory is placed under
the protection of St. Francis de Sales, so that those who intend to
dedicate themselves to helping others may take this saint as their
model in charity and courtesy which are the sources of the results
we hope to achieve here.” The words that recur most frequently
thereafter are “charity” and “patience.” The regulations further state
that the rector’s relationship with his assistants must be like that of
a father to his sons.” They keep urging the assistants to treat the boys
“politely,” and never to “hit anyone, even for serious offences; they
should not even raise their voices or use harsh words” ; on the contrary,
they are advised to “use words that encourage, never words that hu­
miliate.”
All this however did not prevent Don Bosco from regulating the life
of the Oratory with a very precise sense of organization. One is sur­
prised by the number of assignments carried out in the Oratory for each
of which the founder had indicated the necessary qualifications indicat­
ing a course o f action for all possible circumstances. Don Bosco knew
what he was doing: by increasing responsibilities, he wished to involve a
great number of adults and the youths themselves in the general run­
ning of the place. In providing such incentives, he obtained more

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“participation” by the boys, and developed future assistants at the
same time. Furthermore, the regulations took care of small details, for
if the spiritual purpose o f the Oratory needed precise definition, no
less attention was needed to make sure that games or equipment did
not get lost.
First among the Salesian rules, The Regulations o f the Oratory
contained certain elements that were to enter into the organization of
the Salesian Society and therefore it is im portant to know them. For
example, the titles of the superiors of the Oratory correspond to those
he assigned to the superiors of the Congregation: the one with the
highest authority was already called rector (it became director when
Don Bosco himself was no longer able to assume this office). The right
hand man of the rector was the prefect, and the spiritual director was
called catechist. Besides, there are numerous indications that Don
Bosco thought the work o f the Oratory was destined to endure and that
it would outgrow the city of Turin. It was said, in fact, that the rector
“can appoint his successor” and a note on the prefect allows him to
also assume the duties of the catechist “in places where there might be
a shortage of priests.” Finally, the spirit that characterizes these first
regulations is identical with that which was to inform the entire Con­
gregation.
Regulations o f the Oratory House
The Regulations for the Oratory house, which were to serve as
examples for Salesian houses, were not the result of mere improvi­
sation.
We have seen that together with the Oratory for extems a board­
ing house for young workers and students soon developed which was
called the Oratory house. According to Father Lemoyne, “there were
initially no rules other than those which are naturally observed by the
members of a family.” 12 After a while, as the numbers steadily in­
creased, some rules became necessary to preserve order among the
boarders.
In 1852 Don Bosco established Rules for the Dormitory, a very
concise collection of eleven articles.13 The title could be misleading

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DON BOSCO
for they also concerned the boarders who were divided into groups
according to dormitories or rooms. They not only contained rules of
good behavior in the dormitories (obedience to the assistant, no traffic
from one dormitory to another, cleanliness, silence, decency) they also
contained more general recommendations concerning the sacraments
and the duty of cooperation and mutual assistance. These rules were
recited on the first Sunday of every month.
As the number of boarders increased, the first set of rules became
insufficient, and new regulations were required after Don Bosco had
established workshops and schools in his house. In drafting these
regulations he adapted the rules of the Oratory for externs and some
others; he also incorporated what personal experience had taught him.
This is how the regulations for the Oratory house o f St. Francis de Sales
were established.14 The text o f the draft is divided into two parts, the
first of which defines the purpose of the Oratory house and the con­
ditions of admission and then deals with the various offices such as
rector, prefect, catechist, assistants, monitors, heads of dormitories,
servants, craftmasters. It concludes with an “Appendix for Students.”
The second part, entitled “Discipline in the House” was written for the
pupils and dealt with piety, work, treatment of superiors and com­
panions, modesty, and conduct in and outside the house. At the end
there were a few recommendations for the “sons” of the house in the
fatherly tone that characterizes the second part.
After preliminary study these regulations became effective for the
first time during the scholastic year of 1854-1855. Don Bosco had them
read from the beginning to the end at the start of the new year, and
every Sunday a chapter was read aloud so the boys would remember.
Experience, however, proved that it was not enough. This is evident
because the author would not have the regulations printed as yet.
He kept correcting them, explaining them, and completing them.
Special rules for the development o f the house were added to be
integrated eventually; they dealt with the regulations for the work­
shops (first edition of 1853 was revised and modified several times),
directives for the “Little Theater” in 1858, rules for the parlor in 1860,
rules for the infirmary in 1876.

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Regulations fo r Salesian Houses, 1877
As o f 1863 (even as o f 1860 if one takes the failure at Giaveno
into account) the Oratory house had been established in other places
and regulations went with it. The educational programs and methods of
Don Bosco had now spread beyond Turin. Opened in 1863, the school
of Mirabello had received regulations based on Valdocco, except for
matters concerning the artisans.15 The other houses in turn copied the
rules from Mirabello.
Naturally, as time went by, a more complete set of regulations was
needed. Don Bosco had started to work on this task in the summer o f
1877, and after he had consulted his co-workers for comment, he had
the new rules printed in the fall of the same year under the title of
Regulations for the Houses of the Society of St. Francis de Sales.16
These rules were read publicly at Valdocco on the 5th and 6th of
November 1877; and then they were dispatched to the various Salesian
houses.
The work opened with a dissertation on the “Preventive System”
in bringing up the young. Don Bosco had prepared it as a pamphlet
commemorating the inauguration of the Patronage Saint-Pierre at Nice.
It was both new and interesting. There were ten “general articles”
which contained the great principle of Salesian schooling: “ Let every
one strive to be loved rather than feared.” It ends with some advice on
“how to write letters.” The main body is similar to The Regulations for
the Oratory House (the various offices in the first, discipline, in the
second part), but several new elements had been added, especially
with regard to the office of catechist for the artisans and prefect of
education. There is a section for the “Coadjutors” and regulations for
the “Little Theater” and the infirmary. One chapter deals with behavior
in the workshops and another one with proper conduct on excursions.
This text, perfected over twenty years, and destined to be used by
both Salesians and their pupils, is one o f the most im portant documents
Don Bosco left his “ sons.” It was read in solemn session at the start o f
each school year so that everyone could see the importance he attached
to it. The part of the text that dealt with the officers and the duties of
the superiors was, like the rest, read before everyone, so that the pupils
would also know those rules which applied to their teachers. Don Bosco

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DON BOSCO
felt that it would further prompt a positive response from the pupils
and bring about confidence between them and their teachers.
The “Deliberations”
The so-called “Deliberations” constitute a third form of regulations.
For the Salesians this term has taken on the meaning of official de­
cisions resulting from meetings of the superiors of the Society. Two
kinds o f meetings could make these decisions: the assemblies or con­
ferences of the rectors and, as of 1877, the general chapters.
It was the custom o f Don Bosco to hold a conference for the Sale­
sians each year on the occasion of the Feast of Saint Francis de Sales.
In 1865 this conference changed into an official assembly of the
chapter o f the motherhouse and the rectors of all other houses. Accord­
ing to the constitutions o f 1864 the purpose of this meeting was to
“consider the needs o f the Society and to make such arrangements
as were judged appropriate for the times, places and persons con­
cerned.” The rectors o f the two recent foundations of Mirabello and
Lanzo were invited to speak about the progress of their schools for the
first time in 1865. The following year, Father Rua presided at this con­
ference in the absence o f Don Bosco.17
Detailed Deliberations have not come down to us from the earlier
conferences, but we know that they established the rules for the
Little Theater in 1871. The conferences from 1873 to 1876 dealt with
decisions regarding a variety of items such as timetables, the pupils’
marks, servants, the material for clothing, accounts, ordinations, etc.
When it became necessary to put all this into some kind of order,
the novice master, Father Julius Barberis, was entrusted with this
task. Under the direction of Don Bosco, and above all o f Father Rua,
he drafted a collection entitled Deliberations Taken at the General Con­
ferences o f the Society of St. Francis de Sales or Explanatory Notes
on our Rules. This document, which Father Angelo Amadei describes
as among the society’s “most im portant,” dates from 1875. The De­
cisions appeared under the following five chapter headings: General
Administration, Economy, Morality, and Education. The subsequent
Deliberations kept the above form at for a long tim e.18

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THE REGULA TIONS
147
The last conference of rectors was held in 1877, on the “ occasion
of the feast of the Salesian Patron Saint.” 19 The constitutions ap­
proved in 1874 called for a general chapter only every three years. The
first of these chapters, (and one of the most im portant), was held at
Lanzo in the fall of 1877; the resulting Deliberations were published in
1878 in a document divided into the following parts: Education, Com­
mon Life, Morality, Economy, Regulations for the Provincial.20
A more complete and elaborate document did not appear until 1882,
two years after the general chapter o f 1880.21 It included all the pre­
vious decisions, those of the assembly o f rectors to the degree thought
appropriate to maintain them, and those of the first and second general
chapters. This document contains the following headings: Special Regu­
lations (general chapters, superior chapter, provincial, rector, general
director of the Sisters); Life in Common; Piety and Morality (with a
section about the Salesian Cooperators at the end); Studies (and the
press); and Economy.
Although the little volume of 1887, which contains the decisions
of the general chapters of 1883 and 1886, was n o t as heavy as the
previous one, it developed certain points which had hitherto been
somewhat obscure.22 Particularly interesting is a set o f very detailed
regulations for parishes which deals with the conditions for accepting a
parish, and with the Salesian parochial community and its relations
with outsiders. The same booklet also deals with ordinations, Coadju­
tors, the regulations for the oratories, the Salesian Bulletin, and military
service (or rather, how to avoid it).
All these decisions merely put into practice in the spirit of the
founder what the constitutions already prescribed. The introduction
to the volume of 1882 states that the progress of the society depends
on the exact observance of the constitutions and of the deliberations
which represent their practical application. A similar thought is found
in the introduction to The Deliberations of 1887 which mentions that
they are to help practice the rules.
We therefore have four little volumes in 1888 which regulate the
daily activities of the Salesians and their pupils: two Regulations,
one for the oratory and one for the Salesian houses, and two Deliber­
ations of the General Chapters, the second of which was to complete
the first.

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DON BOSCO
As one goes through the long lists of rules, which though minutely
detailed, reflect his warm concern, one can see the genius of Saint
John Bosco in action. It has been said of him that he was “the proto­
type o f the great founder: Idealist and realist, daring and prudent;
neither an agitator nor a speculator, but an architect of solid realities—
without vanity or desire to seek personal prestige.”23
NOTES ON CHAPTER 13
1. P. Claudel at Paris, May 26, 1952. Quoted in Don Bosco in
the World, 3rd ed., 1964, p. 14.
2. Here we have used mostly E. Ceria, Annali, I and F. Desra-
maut, Reglem ents de la Societe salesienne. Jalons de leur histoire
depuis les origines ju squ ’en 1953, Lyons 1953 (a cyclostyled booklet
that contains all the useful references.)
3. This is what Father Ricaldone says in his Fedelta a Don
Bosco santo (Fidelity to St. John Bosco), A cts o f the Superior
Chapter no. 74, p. 17.
4. Memorie delVOratorio, p. 195.
5. Note particularly p. 91 footnote 1 re: purpose: the thirteen
chapters of the first part, pp. 98-107, ch. 1 of 2nd part, p. 108; ch.
3, p. 125; ch. 4, p. I l l ; ch. 5, p. 167; ch. 7, pp. 162-64; the in­
structions to priests p. 467. The original manuscript complete with
erasures and corrections has been preserved in the Salesian Central
Archives in Turin and merits further study.
6. Fragments of the 1862 edition in G.B. Lemoyne, Memorie
biografiche, III, 107-08, (English ed., pp. 451-53), and VII, 46-47
and 853-56, (om itted in English ed.).
7. The 1877 edition is reproduced fully in P. Ricaldone, Don
Bosco educatore, II, 581-624.
8. G.B. Lemoyne, Memorie biografiche, III, 87-89. (English ed.,
pp. 64-66).

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149
9.
See Regulations quoted, “ Conditions of Admission,” 2nd
part, ch. 2, arts. 2 and 7.
10. E. Ceria, Annali, I, 10.
11. “ Confessione e communione,” 2nd part, ch. 7.
12. G.B. Lemoyne, Memorie biografiche, IV, p. 542. (English
ed., p. 377).
13. To be found in G.B. Lemoyne, Memorie biografiche, IV,
337-38. (English ed., pp. 233-34).
14. A manuscript text published in G.B. Lemoyne, Memorie bio­
grafiche?, IV, 735-55. (English ed., pp. 542-559).
15. For the story of these regulations see G.B. Lemoyne, Mem­
orie biografiche, VII, 519-22, (English ed., pp. 313-16), and the
partial text, pp. 863-67 (omitted in the English ed.), under the
title Regolamento pel collegio convitto di S. Carlo in Mirabello.
16. Turin, 1877. The text has been reproduced, with some slight
changes of titles, by P. Ricaldone in Don Bosco educatore, II,
499-580.
17. E. Ceria, Annali, I, 82.
18. A. Amadei, Memorie biografiche, X, 1074-75, and the text
pp. 1112-20. (omitted in the English ed.).
19. E. Ceria, Annali, I, 288-307, and re: the I General Chapter,
308-25.
20. Deliberazioni del Capitolo Generale della Pia Societa Sale-
siana tenuto a Lanzo Torinese nel settem bre del 1877, Turin, 1878.
21. Deliberazioni del secondo Capitolo Generale della Pia Societa
Salesiana tenuto a Lanzo Torinese nel settem bre 1880, Turin 1882.
22. Deliberazioni del terzo e quarto Capitolo Generale, San
Benigno, 1887.
23. Daniel-Rops, L ’Eglise des Revolutions, Paris 1960, p. 907.

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14
MARY MAZZARELLO
1837 - 1881
First Encounter, October 8, 1864
In 1864, on the occasion of Don Bosco’s annual outing with the
boys to Genoa in Liguria, they stopped on the way back at Mornese,
a little hamlet near Alto Monferrato. The parish priest of Mornese,
Father Dominic Pestarino, had for some time been urging the apostle of
Turin to pay him a visit. When at long last Don Bosco arrived with the
oratory band and ninety merry lads, the people o f the hamlet gave
them a warm and hearty welcome.1
On the following day, October 8, 1864, Father Pestarino presented
to his guest a group of girls who had dedicated themselves, under his
guidance to prayer and apostolate. The moving spirit of the group
was a twenty-seven year old woman of peasant stock,who—too modest
to come forward—remained at the back of the group. Her name was
Maria Mazzarello. Although the fame of Don Bosco had reached Mor­
nese, her joy and excitem ent to see and hear him in person knew no
bounds. Each evening she hurried through her many chores to be able
to hear Don Bosco’s “ Good Night,” eager not to miss a single word.
Now she listened with wrapt attention, and later she said: “Don Bosco
is a saint, I feel it!”2

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MAR Y MAZZARELLO
151
It is said of Saint Jane Frances de Chantal that she always used to
sit right beneath the pulpit of the Bishop of Geneva. “I couldn’t keep
my eyes o ff him,” she confessed, “and could find no joy comparable
to that of being near him.” And she had used almost the same words
about the sanctity o f Saint Francis de Sales: “ I called him a saint from
the bottom of my heart, and I have always considered him a saint.” 3
The parallel between these two vocations is not arbitrarily drawn.
Under the direction o f two saints, both became instrumental in accom­
plishing most important work for the Church. But who would have
predicted a similar destiny for the Baroness de Chantal and the peasant
girl of Mornese!
First Years
Maria Domenica Mazzarello was born on May 9, 1837, in a hamlet
of Mornese called I Mazzarelli, in the diocese of Acqui, west of Genoa.
She was the first-born o f seven children. Her father, Joseph, was a
strong and honest peasant. Deeply Christian and somewhat austere, he
had great influence over his daughter. Her m other, nee Magdalena
Calcagno, reminds us of Don Bosco’s mother.
Mary’s childhood was very simple; she grew up under the care of
her parents who followed the parish priest’s advice never to lose sight
of her. The “rather severe” education she received at home, especially
from her father, taught her to value the virtues o f obedience, piety,
and modesty. Although she was vivacious and spirited, and not w ithout
ambition,4 she knew how to control herself. She was a hard worker
and always helped her m other with the housework.
Nothing unusual happened during the early years o f her life and
only one local event was mentioned by the saint’s biographers. Close to
the Mazzarello home there had been, for some time, a chapel which had
been built in fulfillment of a vow made in 1836 during a cholera
epidemic. On May 24, 1843, when Mary was only six, this chapel was
publicly blessed and dedicated to Mary Help of Christians. (Father
Eugene Ceria notes that, at that time, devotion to Mary under that title
was not widely practiced, and that even Don Bosco was to have some
difficulty in acquiring it for his church in Turin tw enty years later.)5

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DON BOSCO
We may assume that the little Mazzarello girl was present amid all the
parishioners that day. One thing is certain: she loved to come and pray
before Our Lady’s picture there, even after the family had moved
elsewhere!
During that period, because of a division of family property, the
Mazzarellos moved to a farm called La Valponasca. It was surrounded
by fields and vineyards, and about three quarters of an hour’s walk
away. Mary lived there in quiet simplicity until she was twenty years
old.
As she grew up, she helped her mother by looking after her brothers
and sisters. In those days girls in her district simply did not go to
school and one wonders how Mary learned to read. Nevertheless, she
became quite expert at finger counting and helped her father several
times with his business. Later she could even outsmart certain well-
educated Sisters!
Religious Formation
Mary Domenica was naturally drawn towards religion and followed
her inclinations toward it. At an early age she received lessons in
catechism from her mother, learning to pray morning and evening with
a spirit o f concentration that greatly impressed her little sister Felicina.
Because of distance from the church, Mary had to content herself with
gazing at the steeple from her window, but before long her mother
took her along to attend Mass daily. When she could not go with her,
she would send her with Domenica, a cousin, who was six years older.
When time came for her first confession, she had to be encouraged by
her mother, because she was too shy to appear before the priest.
Mary’s father, a member of the St. Vincent de Paul Conference,
was one of the first men to have the courage to go to Holy Communion
every Sunday. His strong faith and righteousness left a deep impression
on Mary. “ Oh how much I owe to my father’s concern for me!” she
exclaimed later. “If there is virtue in me I owe it to him .” 6
She went along to catechism classes, listening quietly but with
great concentration, and she was always able to recite the lessons
perfectly. This made the priest hold her up as an example to the others.

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153
He would say: “You local children don’t even know your prayers! Just
look at this little girl from the country who knows them so well, she
can even sing them .7 Each week there was a competition in catechism
questions and answers: a boy and girl were competing against each
other to gain the coveted “point o f honor,” as it was called. Mary was
always able to beat her opponent and she would exclaim: “ I’m not
afraid of the boys, and I want to beat them all!” 7 This already indi­
cated the kind of woman that Mother Mazzarello would prove to be.
When she was about ten, she made her First Communion and then,
on September 30, 1849, she was confirmed in the church at Gavi by
Msgr. Pallavicini and, although lacking specific evidence, we can be
sure she prepared well for these im portant events.
Now her desire to lead an exemplary life deepened and she fol­
lowed the prevailing ideas of how to seek perfection: “ Shunning
worldly amusements,” she “ found ways and means to keep away from
others.” 9 She gave advice to her little brothers insisting on faithfulness
to duty and brotherly charity. At the same time, she felt the desire to
intensify her personal Christian life and made a special point of cor­
recting faults that were pointed out to her. She could not have found
a more attentive spiritual director than Father Pestarino.
Father Dominic Pestarino, born on January 5, 1817, came from a
comfortable family in Mornese. He had frequented the seminary
at Genoa, where his professor of moral theology had been Father
Joseph Frassinetti, a great promoter of frequent Communion in Italy.
In 1847 when he returned to his own district, he waged a real war
against Jansenism, and we are told that “ the time came when even on
winter mornings there were more than a hundred weekday Commun­
ions.” 10 Enterprising and zealous, he had founded a St. Vincent de
Paul Conference for the men and a Sodality of Christian Mothers
for the women. He found his authority accepted w ithout question
by the people.
Father Pestarino had become interested in Mary Mazzarello when
he saw how very courageous she was and how eager to make progress.
At first he gave her permission for weekly Communion, then allowed
her to go daily, as long as she came to him regularly for confession.
His spiritual direction was demanding but did not discourage her, and
was in fact just right for her vitality and desire for perfection. He

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DON BOSCO
especially recommended mortification, the struggle against self-love,
charity towards all, self-control, and flight from sin.11
In some respects Mary found she had to struggle hard for victory;
we are told that she had inherited from her mother a temper that was
easily aroused, and she could, at times, feel so impatient, that the
blood would rush to her head. Sometimes her friends would say: “ Look
how flushed you are” ! Though she found it difficult to control herself
she had her father’s sound judgment and common sense, but also strong
opinions and a streak of stubborness which was hard to overcome.
Her spiritual director never hesitated to correct her when he con­
sidered it necessary. One day, when she was working in the vine­
yard, she just cut o ff the shoots instead o f binding them correctly,
thinking it would do no harm, but her confessor told her he did not
agree. He was no less severe about small manifestations of feminine
vanity, especially as friends often praised her for her fine deportment.
All agreed that she greatly loved piety and her daily attendance at
Mass continued after she had grown up. She allowed nothing to inter­
fere with this practice, neither the hard work of the day, nor the fact
that she had to get up before dawn, nor bad weather. One day when
she left the house at two o ’clock in the morning by mistake, she waited
patiently at the church until the priest opened the door. In the church
she generally chose a rather dark corner for although devoted to the
Blessed Sacrament, she avoided the more obvious manifestations of
piety. At home she loved to pray or read religious books.
Another great quality was her enthusiasm for work. She not only
did housework, but was also much admired by her father’s workers in
the vineyard, one of whom used to say: “That girl has arms of iron;
we have a hard time keeping up with her.” 12 She was one of those
truly Christian girls o f the nineteenth century like Therese Martin of
Lisieux.
Daughters o f Mary Immaculate
It is understandable that the idea o f belonging to God alone arose
spontaneously in Mary Mazzarello. She affirmed that she had made a
vow of virginity as a child “n o t knowing permission was necessary.” 13

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She showed great esteem for the religious life but believed herself
“too poor” to become a religious herself. The occasion arose, however,
to make her wish come true, at least in part.
In Mornese there were a few girls like herself who aspired to a more
perfect life. Either because they could not enter a convent, or be­
cause they desired to sanctify themselves in the world, they decided
to form their own religious community while still living with their
families. This idea was first expressed by Angela Maccagno, the oldest
of the group, who had had more schooling than the others. She had
been thinking in terms of a pious union with the title Daughters o f
Holy Mary Immaculate and drafted an outline based on the Ursulines’
which she presented to Father Pestarino in 1852.14
The text stated that the members were to be “united in Jesus
Christ, in heart and spirit and purpose, with obedience toward their
spiritual father confessor,” and vows of chastity for a year at a time.
Although living a secular life, they would practice greater detach­
ment from the world than those who lived in convents, committing
themselves to practice religion and work for the glory of God by good
example, frequent reception of the sacraments, devotion to the Passion
of Our Lord Jesus Christ and to the Virgin.” Their society was to be a
secret one, and they would try to start similar groups in the countryside
and towns.
Father Pestarino considered the idea very interesting but before
approving it, he took the text to his old master and friend, Father
Frassinetti, in Genoa for examination and advice. He had to wait two
years for an answer but eventually, in the fall o f 1855, Father Frassi­
netti returned to him an outline of regulations for the Pious Union of
the Daughters o f Mary Immaculate, based on what he had received. It
was destined to spread far and wide throughout Italy.
Father Pestarino established the group in his parish in great secrecy
on Sunday, the 9th of December 1855. They were the first five Daugh­
ters o f Mary Immaculate, with Angela Maccagno and Mary Mazzarello
among them. The existence of the Pious Union with about 15 members
at the time became known in the parish only in May 1857, on the
occasion of a pastoral visit by the Bishop of Acqui, Msgr. Contratto.
Though Mary was the youngest o f the group she apparently was the
most fervent and devoted. Following the rules, she assiduously praq-

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DON BOSCO
ticed union with God, penance, and an apostolate among the girls of
the district, thus fulfilling the needs of her own ardent nature. At the
weekly reunion, she once accused herself before her companions of
“having spent a whole quarter of an hour without thinking of God”
which made “a great impression” on all. Her thirst for mortification
was so great that her director had to restrain her more than once.
Her personality developed through the Pious Union. Although
she made a point o f strict obedience to the so-called “superior,” the
gentle Angela Maccagno, she was gaining influence over her companions
because of her good judgment and energy. Every fortnight it was she
who was best able to preside at a gathering of Christian mothers, and a
witness declares that she could attract the girls “like a magnet.”
Beginnings o f Apostolate
When she was about twenty, various factors, not all of them pleas­
ant, turned Mary’s life into a new direction.
In 1858, while members of the family were busy in the vineyard,
the Mazzarellos’ house was robbed. Consequently, the father decided to
leave the isolation of La Valponasca and move to Mornese. This was an
advantage for Mary because it brought her closer to the church and to
the area of her apostolate.
In 1860 an epidemic of typhoid fever broke out and claimed many
victims. One o f Mary’s uncles was among those who caught it, and
Mary worked for one month day and night looking after him and
others. When her patients were out of danger, she fell ill herself, and for
some time her life was in danger. Although she gradually recovered, she
never regained her health completely. The girl “with arms of iron” was
no longer as strong as she used to be. Her illness however gave her time
to think.
She made up her mind to become a dressmaker so that she could
earn a living and as she was planning this, she had a better idea, perhaps
she thought, she could also be of use to other girls by teaching them
her craft.
Her parents, astonished at first, gave in later. Then one of her
best friends, Petronilla Mazzarello, who was also a Daughter o f Mary

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Immaculate, agreed to join her, and heaven itself seemed to favor the
plan. Later Mother Mazzarello would recount a strange occurrence in
that period o f her life. One day, while walking in the hills of Mor-
nese, she saw as in a dream a great house full o f nuns and pupils and
she heard a voice say to her: “ I entrust this to you!” 14
In the early fall of 1860, we find the two friends Mary and Petron-
illa established in a dressmaking shop in Valentino Campi. In order to
increase their skills, they took lessons from a certain Antonietta Barco
the following year, and then they set up their own shop. The biggest
problem was to find a suitable workshop; however, after a few moves
they eventually found a fairly large place near the church, and the pro­
ject really got under way with the arrival of the first pupils.
Then the day came when they were asked to take in two orphans
and when, to accommodate them, they rented a second room next to
their workshop. Petronilla stayed with the children at night until
eventually Mary’s parents allowed her to stay there also. Along came a
third and fourth boarder, then another three, and more rooms had to
be rented. Before long, a small hospice had begun to grow next to the
workshop.
Mary wanted “to help not only those who came to her to learn
sewing skills, but all people in the district.” 16 Thus, a kind of oratory
had started. On Sundays the two friends would gather girls together,
accompany them to church, and entertain them with games and excur­
sions.
Mary directed the little group o f boarders and externs to the best of
her ability without benefit of rules, guided only by her resource­
fulness and experience with people. She knew how to correct her
pupils when necessary without raising her voice. Nor did she hesitate
to give advice to mothers about the upbringing o f their children, but
what m attered most to her was the spiritual welfare of those entrusted
to her care. In her apostolate she made every effort to shun peer
pressure and to take great care not to offend God. Motivated by a spe­
cial love for children, Mary, without knowing it as yet, was already a
Salesian.

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DON BOSCO
Spiritual Daughter o f Don Bosco
Especially after Father Pestarino’s visit to the oratory in November
1862, the two friends had heard great things about the apostle of Turin.
When Don Bosco came to Mornese for the first time in 1864, Mary felt
instinctively that he was a man o f God, though her mind had never
dwelt on the possibility of her own work turning into a religious
Congregation, and we have reason to believe that not even Don Bosco
thought of it at the time.
That day a bond was formed between the oratories in Turin and
Mornese, especially after Father Pestarino had joined the Salesian Con­
gregation and initiated the establishment of a Salesian school for boys
in his district. In agreement with Don Bosco, Father Pestarino sug­
gested to the Daughters of the Pious Union that they live together in a
house he placed at their disposal. Though Mary accepted enthusias­
tically, she had to overcome the objections of her parents, who wanted
to marry her off as soon as possible. Then Petronilla and two other girls
moved in with her, and a few apprentice boarders completed the
initial community of the future House of Mary Immaculate. As the
family grew, a superior was needed and Mary was chosen.
Gradually Don Bosco began to exert more influence on the group
in Mornese, but it is difficult to say just when the idea of a con­
gregation was born. On an outing to Mornese in late 1867, he met
the Daughters of Mary Immaculate in conference, but we know little
o f the following four years except that Don Bosco sent them a schedule
and a set of regulations for running the house.
The year 1871 was decisive, for Don Bosco had made up his mind to
start a congregation o f religious for the Christian education o f young girls,
and he told Father Pestarino to look in Mornese for the first vocations.
Don Bosco’s decision came as a great surprise to all especially as Mary
Mazzarello had long ago abandoned the idea. Now, together with her
companions, she declared herself ready “for obedience and sacrifice.” 17
On August 5, 1872, she received the religious habit of the Daughters
of Mary Help of Christians and pronounced her vows in the presence
of Don Bosco, who naturally entrusted her with the direction of the
new Congregation. And from now on, her story merges with the story
of her Congregation.

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159
Spiritual Portrait o f Mary Mazzarello
Forthright in temperament but reserved in manner, Mary Mazzarello
possessed ardent faith, fortitude, and great good judgment in spite of
her very limited education; she was a woman of the fields with a natural
dignity that commanded respect. Although according to Pius IX, she
knew how to rule,18 it was easy to obey her, because, as one Sister
said, she exercised the office of superior like a true m other with gen­
uine concern and without pretense. Firm as well as persuasive all
obeyed her without resentment.” 19
Since early childhood her love of God had developed into a pro­
found spirituality which found expression in working for Him. “Let
every stitch be an act for the love of God,” the young seamstress
had told her friend at the start of their workshop.20 With the passing
of time her piety became more and more Eucharistic and Marian.
Later, on becoming superior, she remained free o f vanity and pride
to the point of requesting that someone “more educated and capable”
take her place. She never forgot her humble origin and willingly shared
the menial tasks, losing herself in her search for God.
Mother Mazzarello’s charity came from the heart, as she strove to be
of service of all. “ Concerned about everybody, she cared for each one
of us as if there was no one else in the Institute!” 21 Her fine tact was
well known; it came from her sensitivity and great respect for others
which, in turn, sprang from her own purity.
The aura o f sanctity which surrounded her was neither artificial
nor mechanical and it remained always within the limits of Salesian
dignity and moderation. The Magnificat exalts this virtue of the hum ­
ble.
Mary Domenica Mazzarello died on the 14th of May 1881, at the
age o f 44. She was beatified by Pius XI on November 20, 1938, and
canonized by Pius XII on June 24, 1951. In the meantime, that small
group of Daughters of Mary Help of Christians has developed into the
second largest congregation of women religious in the Church.

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NOTES FOR CHAPTER 14
1. See the account of E. Ceria in La beata Maria Mazzarello,
confondatrice delVIstituto delle Figlie de Maria Ausiliatrice, Turin
1938, pp. 35-41. Apart from this work of Ceria, the principal sources
for this chapter are: Sacra Ritum Congregatione, Aquen. Beatifi-
cationis et Canonizationis Servae Dei Mariae Dominicae Mazzarello
prim ae A ntistitae In stituti Filiarum Maria Auxiliatricis Summarium,
Rome, 1934; Ferdinand Maccono, Suor Maria Mazzarello, prima
superiora generale delle Figlie di Maria Ausiliatrice, 2nd ed., Turin
1934, cited here in its English translation: Saint Mary D. Mazzarello,
2 vols. (Haldeon, NJ: Salesian Sisters, 1980); see also the shorter
biographies of Favini (Turin 1951), Faure, (Lyons 1951), Auffray
(Lyons 1951), Halna (Paris 1952).
2. F. Maccono, Suor Maria, p. 122. (English ed., p. 119).
3. M. Henri Couannier, Saint Francois de Sales e t ses amities,
Paris 1922, pp. 198-99.
4. Testimony of Sister Eulalia Bosco in Aquen. Beatificationis.
Summarium super dubio, Rome 1934, p. 64.
5. E. Ceria, La beata, p, 3.
6. F. Maccono, Suor Maria, p. 19. (English ed., I, 17).
7. Ibid., p. 14. (English ed., I, 12).
8. Ibid., p. 15. (English ed., I, 12).
9. Testimony of Angela Mazzarello in Summarium, super dubio,
p. 27.
10. F. Maccono, Suor Maria, p. 23. (English ed., I, 21).
11. Ibid., pp. 21-26. (English ed., I, 19-24).
12. Ibid., p. 28. (English ed., I, 26).
13. Testimony of Sister Petronilla Mazzarello in Summarium,
p. 327.
14. F. Maccono, Suor Maria, pp. 44-50, (English ed., I, 42-43);
and E. Ceria, La beata, pp. 13-16.
15. Ibid., p. 69. (English ed., I, 67).
16. Ibid., p. 101. (English ed., I, 98).

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17. E. Ceria, La beata, p. 52.
18. F. Maccono, Lo spirito e le virtu della beata Maria Maz-
zarello, Turin 1947, pp. 11-12.
19. F. Maccono, Suor Maria, p. 543. (English ed., II, 203).
20. Ibid., p. 71. (English ed., I, 69).
21. F. Maccono, Lo spirito e le virtu, p. 122.

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15
THE DAUGHTERS OF MARY HELP OF CHRISTIANS
UNTIL THE DEATH OF DON BOSCO
Knowledge of Saint Mary Mazzarello will help us understand the
congregation she helped to give to the Church.
It must be remembered that she was just a simple girl from the
back country without education, who formed an association that was
to serve God by helping the girls of the small village in Monferatto.
That was all. Then Don Bosco came along and with his help the associa­
tion expanded. The small group became better organized, the number
of members increased, schools were built, and missionaries were sent to
South America. Thus the original Daughters of Mary Immaculate
grew into the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians, a congregation of
great importance with steadily increasing membership and prestige.
Foundation Stages
In 1857 when the Bishop of Acqui officially recognized the Union
o f the Daughters of Mary Immaculate at Mornese, the association num­
bered only a few girls who had no inclination for marriage or the
monastic life.1 All they wanted was to be fervent and active Christians
dedicated to the service of the young in their parish. They lived with

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their families but met often under the direction o f Father Pestarino
and the so-called “superior,” Angela Maccagno. Although not bound
by vows, they nevertheless practiced the evangelical counsels (poverty
and chastity as well as obedience to the spiritual director and “su­
perior”), outwardly however there was no difference between them
and the others.
As of 1860, some members of the association wanted to start some­
thing new while still maintaining contact with the others. Mary Maz-
zarello, who had recovered from a serious illness, was no longer strong
enough for work in the fields and vineyards. The sewing workshop she
started together with her friend Petronilla developed into a small
boarding facility with an oratory or club. In time, other Daughters of
Mary Immaculate joined them while the rest of the group, including
Angela Maccagno, continued to stay with their families.
In the meantime Father Pestarino had met Don Bosco on a train
journey and told him about this group of young women. Don Bosco
had listened with interest and invited him to visit the Oratory in Turin.
When Father Pestarino went there in November 1862, he was so carried
away by what he saw that he wanted to join the Salesians.2 In a spirit
of fellowship a liaison was then established between Turin and Mornese,
and Father Pestarino often returned to Valdocco. As for Don Bosco,
he followed the activities of Mary and her companions from a distance
with great interest. One day he sent them a note which was indicative
of his attitude: “Pray, by all means, but help the young as much as
you can.”3
Don Bosco’s Ideas
It is impossible to determine when and how the idea o f making use
of the experiment at Mornese occurred to Don Bosco, but we do know
that for some time he had been thinking of doing something for girls.4
Yet he hesitated. Was he really called to get involved in a project for
which he did not have much inclination?
Finally, the insistent requests from certain bishops and other author­
ities prompted him to act. “The Salesians have been so successful with
boys, can Don Bosco be content and neglect the girls?” This, in short,

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DON BOSCO
was the question.
Moreover, as often happened when he had im portant decisions to
make, he had certain dreams which made him wonder.5 These dreams
help us to understand his state of mind at the time. The night of the
5th o f July 1862, he dreamed that he was talking to the Marchio­
ness Barolo. At the end of their conversation he said: “All right then;
I m ust see to it that our Savior’s blood was not shed in vain for both
boys and girls.”
Father Francesia relates another dream in the course of which Don
Bosco saw a “great crowd” of girls playing in a public square in Turin.
They had been “left entirely to themselves” ; as soon as they saw him
they ran to him and begged him to take care of them. “ I tried to get
away from then,” he recounted later. “I told them that I couldn’t
help, that others would come to take care of them, that it was not
my mission . . . Then I saw a noble Lady, resplendently beautiful,
who encouraged me with gracious words to respond to their pleas.
She then seemed to disappear among them but kept repeating “Take
care of them. They are my children!”
According to Father Francesia, Don Bosco had said again in 1870
that it was time “to form a congregation to do for girls what the Sale­
sians had done for boys.”
Up to that time things had seemed to be going very slowly, but
once the decision had been made, it was certain that they would move
fast. “ Dear Don Bosco,” Francesia had said, “will you never stop
taking on new projects”?
Birth o f the Institute
Don Bosco’s decision was carried out within two years, between
1871 and 1872. In April 1871, he asked the superior chapter for the
first time for their opinion about founding a community of women.
“Many people have repeatedly urged me to do for girls what little good
the grace of God has allowed me to do for boys. If I were to follow
my own inclination, I would not get involved in this kind of apostolate,
but since the invitation is so frequently repeated by good and worthy
people, I feel we should seriously consider this m atter lest we oppose a

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design of Providence I therefore propose to go ahead and invite you to
reflect on it before God.”6
It is said that this statement made a deep impression on his audi­
ence. A m onth later they m et again, and the idea was unanimously
approved. In an audience given to Don Bosco a short time later, Pius IX
told him: “Let them depend upon you and your successors the way the
Sisters of Charity o f St. Vincent de Paul depend on the Vincentians.
Draft their constitutions accordingly, start the work, and the rest
will follow.” 7
Towards the end of 1871, Don Bosco gave Father Pestarino a plan
of the constitutions for the future novices of the “Daughters of Mary
Help of Christians.” Then the saint fell ill and was confined to bed for
fifty days at Varazze, which caused some delay. However, he ordered
the election of a superior and chapter which was done in January 1872,
on the day of the feast o f Saint Francis de Sales. Of twenty-seven
votes, twenty-one had been cast for Mary Mazzarello, but she was too
modest to accept any other title but “ first assistant” or “vicar.” Her
friend, Petronilla, became “ second assistant” and her sister, Felicina,
mistress of novices.
The mothehouse was a problem that remained to be solved. What
was needed was a separate house, sufficiently large to accommodate
the nuns and their charges. The story of this foundation was full of
unforeseen circumstances and disappointments. In 1864, when Don
Bosco first visited Momese, the people had agreed to build a school for
boys there and had enthusiastically helped to construct it. However,
just when it was nearly finished, the diocesan curia opposed the open­
ing of another school which might rival the diocesan minor semi­
nary. Taking advantage of this situation, Don Bosco decided to give
it to the nuns, and he put Father Pestarino in charge of the necessary
arrangements. Things did not go well however and the inhabitants of
Momese expressed reproaches to the effect that they had been be­
trayed. When the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians moved there in
1872, their first days of religious life were experienced in an atmos­
phere of misunderstanding and hostility. They also had to endure the
privations of poverty.
August 5, 1872 was a great day for the new Congregation. In the
presence of Don Bosco, the bishop of the diocese, Msgr. Sciandra,

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DON BOSCO
presided at the ceremony of the first reception of the habit and the
first religious profession. Fifteen women received the habit of the
Daughters of Mary Help of Christians, eleven of whom pronounced
their first triennial vows. Don Bosco spoke at the end of the ceremony:
“I have seen with my own eyes the hardships you have had to endure
because of harassment and mockery; even your own relatives have
turned their backs on you, but don’t be discouraged.8 Continue
to strive for holines and in time you will be able to bestow great bene­
fits on m any—but you must remain humble.” 9
The religious then officially assumed the title of Daughters of Mary
Help of Christians. Don Bosco had chosen this title, “because I want to
have a constant and immortal monument of our gratitude to the
Gracious Mother, and this monum ent must be the Daughters of Mary
Help of Christians.” 10
Consolidations
After these events the group went to work with renewed ardor. The
one big problem that remained was the lack of education of most of the
Sisters. Don Bosco dispatched teachers from Turin, and it was only
then that Mary Mazzarello learned how to write. At the same time their
director asked them to speak Italian instead of the local dialect, which
brought all sorts of comments from the townsfolk . . . In February
1873, at Don Bosco’s request, two Sisters of the Congregation of St.
Anne came from Turin to advise them on matters of religious com­
munities.
Meanwhile, postulants sent by Don Bosco arrived at Mornese.
On August 5, 1873, nine new recruits took the veil, and three novices
made triennial vows. There is a story to the effect that Msgr. Scotton,
one o f the retreat preachers, had not been impressed with the per­
formance of the group from Mornese and did not conceal from the
founder their shortcomings such as ignorance, disorder, lack of qualifi­
cations, etc. “Well, well,” Don Bosco is said to have exclaimed, “we
shall see,” and he added that though his houses sometimes began in
disorder, they always achieved an orderly pattern sooner or later.11
Upon his return to preach three years later, the prelate admitted that

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he had had to change his opinion completely.
As to the postulants, the task of the young “superior” was not an
easy one. If Don Bosco and Father Pestarino—who had become a
Salesian—sent new recruits, it was her responsibility to judge their
vocation. Unfortunately, among the newcomers there were always some
who lacked common sense and the discipline of restraint or modera­
tion . . . A young widow from Turin, sent by Don Bosco, ruined almost
everything with her compulsion to dictate to everyone and with her
fixation on instituting reforms according to the ideal of a convent
she had fashioned in her mind. Some rebellious spirits sowed discon­
tent in the community which caused four Sisters and one novice to
leave. A seemingly saintly postulant came to a sad end after having
given suspicious signs which, according to some, were even diaboli­
c a l . . . Too unassuming to act boldly, Mother Mazzarello had the gift of
insight which, in such cases, was of great help to her.
Although there was sometimes restlessness among its members,
the institute continued to progress steadily toward internal consoli­
dation. The year 1874 was important in this connection. While the
constitutions of the Salesians were in the process o f being approved,
Don Bosco succeeded in “joining the Daughters of Mary Help of Chris­
tians to the Salesian Society.” 12 At this time he began to speak of
“our Sisters,” and the superior o f the Salesians became legally the
superior of the Daughters of Mary Help o f Christians, all of which
harmonized with the concept expressed by Pius IX three years earlier.
Another im portant event was the appointm ent of Father John Cagliero
to “director general” with the obligation of governing the Institute
as representative of the rector major, while it was understood that
Mornese would keep its “special director.” This shows how impor­
tant the female branch had become to Turin and how seriously their
future was considered there. Finally, on June 5, 1874, Mother Mazza­
rello was formally elected to the office of superior general by unani­
mous vote o f the Sisters. This time she had to give up the title of
“vicar” which up to that time might have given her the illusion of not
being the real superior.
Other changes were taking place at that time. Father Pestarino died
on May 15, 1874, and with his death, the Sisters felt, the entire Insti­
tute would fall.13 Father Joseph Cagliero, a cousin of Father Pes-

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DON BOSCO
tarino, took his place as director general. A few months later however
he also died. It was then that Momese saw the arrival of a director
whose strong personality left an incisive mark on the house within a
few years. His name was James Costamagna. This great Salesian, a man
o f iron will, with a talent for music—who later became bishop in Amer­
ica-em bodied the dynamic quality of the Salesian spirit for three
years. “It seemed as if an electric current had entered the house
and kept it in continuous motion from top to bottom ,” says Father
Ceria.14 There were some difficult moments for Mother Mazzarello,
because the director was one o f those men of whom it is said that they
understand the meaning of discipline only when dealing with their
subjects! At any rate, he spurred on Mother Mazzarello to develop the
oratory. He himself taught singing and music and turned several Sisters
into teachers.
On August 28, in the presence of Don Bosco, Mother Mazzarello
and twelve Sisters made their perpetual professions, while fifteen pos­
tulants took the veil.
Although the rules of the Daughters o f Mary Help of Christians were
approved by the Bishop of Acqui on January 23, 1876, the founder
decided to put them to the test of experience before printing them.
Only in 1878, a small booklet was printed and given to the Sisters. We
must note here that Don Bosco never tried to have the Institute ap­
proved by the Roman au thorities. This is a kind o f anomaly in the life
of the founder, all the more baffling because his efforts to withdraw the
Salesian Society from diocesan authority are well know n.15 His con­
cern that Rome may object to such strict and immediate dependence
o f the Sisters upon the Salesian Society may have been responsible
for this omission.
The Constitutions o f the Salesian Sisters were very similar to the
Salesians’. Since the object o f the Daughters o f Mary Help of Christians
has been the striving for Christian perfection while performing works of
charity, their providing the girls of the working classes with a Christian
education was o f primary importance. It has been their special mission
“to run schools, orphanages, kindergartens, festive oratories, and
workshops for the benefit of the poorest children in towns and vill­
ages,16 as well as to open “ schools for unmarried girls of modest
circumstances.” Among the qualities required of the Sisters were

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charity, simplicity, modesty, detachment and cheerfulness which are
the main characteristics of the Salesian spirit.
Mother Mazzarello had great respect for the Rule, which she per­
ceived as “ coming from God through Don Bosco,” and she always
insisted on strictest observance. Her exactitude in this respect was
accentuated by the highly spiritual character which she was able to
impart to the faithful observance o f the rules.
Expansion o f the Institute
While the developing Institute was getting organized at Mornese,
branches were already being considered.17 The prestige of the foun­
der and the help of their brothers-in-religion contributed greatly to
the rather amazing expansion of the Daughters o f Mary Help of Chris­
tians.
The first departure from Mornese took place on October 8, 1874.
At the request of Don Bosco, a small group under the guidance of
Sister Felicina Mazzarello left to start a foundation next to the Salesian
school at Borgo San Martino (which had formerly been at Mirabello).
It has been recorded that the Sisters’ first reaction to this announce­
ment was not joy but dismay, for they had expected to remain at
Mornese all their lives.
The year 1876 was particularly rich in unforeseen developments
as thirty-six Sisters departed from Mornese in seven different directions.
In February, the first group set off for Vallecrosia in Liguria, where
they soon opened an oratory and a school for girls next to the Sale­
sians’. On March 29, a second group arrived at Turin “next to Don
Bosco” and started a similar project in the Valdocco district. On Sep­
tember 7, a group went to Biella where the Bishop put them in charge
of the material care o f his seminary. On October 12, another group
began the same kind of work at Alassio in the Salesian school. On
November 8, some went to Lu in the diocese o f Casale, where they
opened a kindergarten and an oratory. In December, two Sisters went
to work for the Salesian school at Lanzo. Finally, we must mention one
more mission—temporary but unusual—in summer 1876, seven Daugh­
ters of Mary Help of Christians nursed a group o f sick children con­

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DON BOSCO
valescing at the seaside at Sestri Levante.
All the above happened in one year! At the conference for rectors
in February 1877, Father Rua could say of Mornese that this house
had made “marvelous progress” and Don Bosco did not hide his sat­
isfaction. Mother Mazzarello herself was very interested in these new
foundations. Don Bosco had asked her to choose the candidates for
each new venture, and she always kept in contact with the Sisters
and visited them whenever possible. Her most frequent recommenda­
tion was to keep “the spirit of Mornese,” which could be summed up
briefly with austerity, piety, and work.
In 1877, foundations went farther afield, and enthusiasm for the
foreign missions was rising. The Salesians had already been estab­
lished in South America since 1875, and we can see why they felt
they needed the nuns’ help. The matter was decided at their general
chapter in the fall of 1877, and Mother Mazzarello accompanied
the first group of missionaries to Rome, where they were received by
Pius IX on November 9; she then went along as far as Genoa. Under the
guidance of Father Costamagna they embarked for Montevideo on
December 17 where they established themselves at Villa Colon, not
far from the capital of Uruguay, where there was a Salesian school.
From Villa Colon they eventually went into other areas of the conti­
nent. Thanks to a second missionary expedition in 1878, they were able
to go to Buenos Aires in Argentina. In 1880 they went into the true
mission territory of Patagones in Patagonia, a step which made them
the very first women religious to set foot in the southern territories.
In 1877, the Daughters o f Mary Help of Christians had also entered
France, and on September 1 of that year they founded the Patronage
Sainte-Anastasie in Nice. Other foundations were to follow at Navarre
in 1878 and at Saint-Cyr in 1880.
In Italy the Salesian Sisters went to Chieri and to Quargnento in
1878, to Cascinette in 1879, to Borgomasino, to Melazzo di Alesandria,
to Penango, and to Este in 1880. They also went to Catania and Bronte
in Sicily during the same year.
Wherever they went, the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians
practiced a many-faceted apostolate: nursery and elementary schools,
workshops, catechism classes, oratories, as well as kitchen and laundry
work for the Salesians. The Congregation was thriving, with pupils,

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houses, and vocations multiplying, while “la Madre” ever humble and
active watched over all.
Last Years o f M other Mazzarello
In 1877 Don Bosco had acquired a convent and a former church at
Nizza Monferrato, which he wanted to become the motherhouse of the
Sisters. Mornese had actually become too small; communications were
difficult and some hostility still remained. The move took place on
February 4, 1879, but for Mother Mazzarello it was a sad parting.
The II General Chapter o f the Sisters was held at Nizza in 1880, and
new elections were due. Despite her efforts to have someone else
elected as Superior General, Mother Mazzarello was unanimously
re-elected.
Her health, however, was already failing. While accompanying
a third group of missionaries to Marseilles in February 1881, she fell
seriously ill and was taken to the house at Saint-Cyr. When Don Bosco
visited her there he told her the fable about Death, who had come to
knock at the convent door and on finding no-one else available, had to
approach the superior. “La Madre,” who had already offered her life
for the Institute took the hint. She returned to Nizza where she died
before the end of the year. She left behind a rich heritage of one
hundred thirty-nine Sisters, fifty novices, and twenty-six houses.
Mother Daghero
The general chapter, held after the death of the “co-foundress”
confirmed the organization of the Institute and put twenty-five year-
old Sister Catherine Daghero in charge.18
Born at Cumiana near Turin on March 17, 1856, Catherine entered
the young Congregation at the age of eighteen. Her first years at Mor­
nese were difficult, for she had dreamed of a life o f silence and solitude,
which she did not find in the convent. She was very attached to her
family, especially to her father, (her mother had died), and she was very
homesick. Mother Mazzarello helped her overcome these difficulties.

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Soon after her first profession on August 28, 1875, Sister Catherine
received various responsibilities. In the following year, when the house
at Turin was opened, she was sent as “vicar” to Sister Elisa Roncallo,
and early in 1879 she became superior there. Encouraged by the
proxim ity of Don Bosco, she showed much enterprise in the oratory
and school without neglecting her own education. In March 1880 we
find her at the head o f the orphanage at Saint-Cyr where she success­
fully solved the delicate problem of turning the project into a different
direction.
Sister Daghero was held in great esteem, and soon after became
vicar of the mother general. The high regard in which she was held
derived from her virtues of stability, common sense, and kindness
and eventually led to her election as superior general on August 12,
1881. On account o f her youth, special permission had to be obtained
from Don Bosco.
On the initiative of Mother Daghero, the Congregation continued
to expand. New houses were founded in Italy, France, and South
America. Following the example of her predecessor, she travelled a
great deal to maintain personal contact with her Daughters. Her first
im portant trip was to France, in February 1882.
At the death of Don Bosco, the Daughters o f Mary Help of Chris­
tians could claim to have made great strides in only a few years. They
already possessed fifty houses, a hundred novices, and three hundred
and ninety Sisters. Under the dynamic and wise direction of Mother
Daghero, who was then just about at the beginning o f her career, pro­
gress continued uninterrupted through the years.

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NOTES ON CHAPTER 15
1. Apart from the sources for the previous chapter, the birth
of the Congregation can be traced in A. Amadei, Memorie biogra­
fiche, X, 575-660. (English ed., 246-97). A summary of the history
of the Salesian Sisters can be found in F. Desramaut, “ Filles de
Marie-Auxiliatrice” in Dictionnaire d ’Histoire e t de Geographie
ecclesiastique, fasc. 96. (Paris 1968); P. Stella, Don Bosco nella
storia, I, 187-208.
2. Father Pestarino probably became a Salesian in 1864. Don
Bosco considered him a Salesian rector and therefore invited him to
the annual conference held on the feast of Saint Francis de Sales.
E. Ceria, La beata Maria Mazzarello, pp. 25-26 and 35-36.
3. A. Amadei, Memorie biografiche, X, 586. (English ed.,
p. 255).
4. Father Stella puts us on our guard against certain hasty sim­
plifications concerning the origin of the Congregation. According to
him, it is not impossible that Don Bosco had other schemes in mind
beyond Mornese. See what he says regarding Don Bosco and Sister
Clarac in P. Stella, Don Bosco nella storia della religiosita cattolica,
I, 187-92.
5. An account of these dreams and his talk with Francesia can
be found in F. Maccono, Suor Maria Mazzarello, pp. 83-85. (English
ed., I, 82-83).
6. A. Amadei, Memorie biografiche, X, 594. (English ed.,
p. 261).
7. Ibid., X, 600. (English ed., p. 265).
8. Regarding the habit and its various subsequent changes, see
F. Maccono, Suor Maria, pp. 162-64. (English ed., I, 156-57).
9. A. Amadei, Memorie biografiche, X, 617. (English ed.,
p. 276).
10. F. Maccono, Suor Maria, p. 167. (English ed., I, 160).
11. Ibid., pp. 186-87. (English ed., I, 180).
12. E. Ceria, La beata, p. 78.
13. Ibid., p. 83.

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14. Ibid., p. 89.
15. P. Stella, Don Bosco nella storia, I, 203-207.
16. E. Ceria, La beata, p. 143.
17. The 1878 text does not mention “ the direction of hospitals”
but “help of the poor when they are ill,” which seems to imply that
the Sisters could go along to families to nurse the sick. One can see
in this and other modifications an evolution towards more ‘cloistered’
forms of the religious life, as P. Stella also points out in his Don
Bosco nella storia, I, 196, footnote. For a more complete history
of the text of these constitutions, and above all their dependence on
the rules of the Sisters of St. Anne, see A. Amadei, Memorie bio-
grafiche, X 600-08. (English ed., pp. 265-68).
18. E. Ceria for details, La beata, esp. chs. 11, 12, 14, 15, 23.
19. G. Mainetti, Madre Caterina Daghero, prima successore della
beata Maria Mazzarello nel governo generate d e lllstitu to “Figlie di
Maria Ausiliatrice, ” Turin 1940.

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16
THE SALESIAN COOPERATORS
Don Bosco had wanted to have “The Salesian in the world” but had
to be content with “the Salesian Cooperator.” Perhaps this is the best
summary of the failure Don Bosco suffered in a project that had been
very dear to him. He had wanted to create a branch of Salesians with
full rights in the Congregation though not bound by vows and not living
the common life; he succeeded only in getting half of what he had
wanted. Even his Italian facility for maneuvering and his Piedmontese
tenacity had to yield to the firm decision of those who considered his
plan unacceptable, and perhaps, at that time, it was indeed not feasible.
The Union o f Salesian Cooperators was officially established in
1876, soon after the definitive approval of the Salesian Society and
at a time, when the Institute of the Daughters of Mary Help of Chris­
tians was already making progress. It was the culmination of a long
struggle going back to the beginning of the oratory.1
First Non-Religious Helpers
Between 1841 and 1859, before the Congregation took shape, Don
Bosco needed help with looking after hundreds of boys—a task he could
not have managed alone. He always found kind assistants who were

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DON BOSCO
willing to give up part o f their time to help Don Bosco with his home­
less young.
The first helpers naturally were priests, and their task consisted
mainly o f preaching, hearing confessions, and teaching catechism. Some
were very keen indeed on this kind of apostolate, as Joseph Cafasso,
Peter Merla, Francis Marengo, Louis Nasi, Lawrence Gastaldi (future
archbishop of Turin), Ignatius and Joseph Vola, Giacinto Carpano,
Michael Chiatellino, John Baptist Borel. Father Borel deserves special
notice. He had been Don Bosco’s friend and counsellor for a long time,
and was also one of his most faithful co-workers. In 1846, when struck
down by a serious illness, Don Bosco entrusted the care of the oratory
to him. He was much esteemed by the saint, who declared that he ob­
tained from their conversations “lessons of priestly zeal, unfailing
good counsel, and inspiration to be of service.” 2 Father Borel also had
the knack of holding his young audience spellbound with his typical
Piedmontese vivacity.
Soon there were lay helpers as well as priests, and they came from
widely different social backgrounds. Some belonged to well-to-do
families, even to the aristocracy, like Count Cays of Giletta (who be­
came a Salesian and a priest when well on in years), Marquis Fassati,
Count Callori o f Vignale, and Count Scarampi of Pruney. Among his
helpers o f more humble origin, Don Bosco loved to recall the junk dea­
ler, Jospeh Gagliardi, who gave his free time and savings to the boys of
the oratory. Don Bosco had long lists of helpers, some of whom were
well known while others were not.3 He faithfully remembered them
all.
These laymen devoted themselves to whatever occupations they
were capable of, but it must be stressed that Don Bosco gratefully
availed himself o f their services as “teachers of catechism” on Sundays,
and on weekdays during Lent. Some also helped with the evening
classes. In addition, they helped the director “with the boys during
church services and recreation; they organized games and excursions;
they attended to material needs and sometimes paid for refreshments.
Some took it upon themselves to make sure the boys found suitable
jobs and visited them at work to keep in touch with the oratory.
The helpers however were not only men. Next to Don Bosco’s own
mother, Mama Margaret, other women busied themselves with the

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THE SALESIAN CO OPERA TORS
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laundry and the boys’ clothes; some of these were influential members
of high society. Don Bosco found this very helpful, especially “since
among those poor boys there were always some who did not have a
change of shirt or else whose clothes were in such bad shape that no
employer would accept them.”4 Among the “cooperators” who helped
with these humble and at times unsavory tasks we must first m ention
the Marchioness Fassati, mother of the future Archbishop Gastaldi,
for she had undertaken the job of washing and distributing the clothes
every Saturday; on Sundays she would inspect the beds of the boarders
and then, “like an army sergeant” she would assemble her troops and
carefully check them for cleanliness.
Many of these kind helpers, ecclesiastic as well as lay, would dip
into their own pockets to help. One priest, for example, gave all the
money he received from his well-to-do parents to Don Bosco for
his boys; a banker gave a regular donation; a certain artisan’s savings
were put at the service of those who were poorer than he. Father
Borel, who acted as treasurer of the oratory, greatly appreciated this
generosity.
Plans fo r Association
Don Bosco soon realized that uniting these assistants into a group
would substantially increase their influence and effectiveness. Was this
perhaps the germ o f the idea of a “ congregation” for the education and
defense of the faith among the people?
Although that was the idea, many helpers failed to fulfill his expec­
tations.
Some acted too independently; conflicts and political questions
caused many defections; one must also note that the disturbances of
1848 had dramatic consequences for the director of the oratory, at
least temporarily. He then turned more and more to his boys for the
survival of his work. They were naturally more obedient. After all,
his dreams had foretold precisely that the shepherds were to come from
the flock! Hence in the summer of 1849, he invited four of the boys to
become his “helpers in running the oratory,” hoping to have at his

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DON BOSCO
disposal people of the quality of Fathers Rua, Cagliero, and Francesia.
This did not stop him from accepting the kindness and help of others.
Despite difficulties and problems he always found someone who
asked only to be allowed to dedicate his or her services to the boys in
one o f the three oratories in Turin. It is curious to note that he began
to use the term “ Congregation of St. Francis de Sales” around 1850
when referring to his assistants. At this time he made a direct appeal to
Pius IX: “The priest o f Turin, John Bosco, humbly informs your
Holiness of the lawful establishment of a Congregation of which he is
the director and whose purpose it is to instruct the homeless young in
religion and piety.” 5 Father Lemoyne explains that this “congre­
gation” was composed o f priests and layfolk.
In the same year Don Bosco tried another little known experiment,
mentioned by the author o f the Biographical Memoirs. In the evening
of November 17, he called a meeting of seven trusted men, “good lay
Catholics,” told them about “the abuses o f the press in religious m at­
ters,” the “sacrilegious war declared by many bad Christians against
the Church and its ministers,” and the “danger of seeing the true
religion replaced by Protestantism in Piedmont,” and proposed to set
up a Provisional Pious Union under the protection of Saint Francis
de Sales.6 This provisional Union would be “the beginning of a great
association” of laymen which would not exclude ecclesiastics; it would
prom ote “all those works o f charity” aimed at preventing and if possi­
ble uprooting the progress of impiety.”
This project was not successful because, according to Father Ceria,
“laity set up like an army next to the clergy bred resentment and con­
cern at that tim e.” 7 It is proof, however, that Don Bosco was then
trying to organize, in his own way, the outline of what would eventu­
ally become the Union of Cooperators.
Integration Foreseen But Refused
As the years passed Don Bosco continued his apostolate, helped by
devoted clergy and lay assistants, and the idea of an association was
forming in his mind.
In 1859 he had succeeded in establishing the foundation of a reli-

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THE SALESIAN COOPERA TORS
179
gious Congregation whose members—religious and lay—would lead a
common life bound by vows. But what about those other helpers?
He felt he could reward them for their work by allowing them to be
part of the Congregation regardless of secularity. To this end he drafted
a constitution which he sent to Rome in 1864. It contained articles
that dealt with the secular members8 as follows:
“ 1. Even though living outside, in their own homes, with their
families, they may belong to our Society.”
“2. They will not be bound by vows, but they will try to put into
practice that part of the regulations that is compatible with their age,
profession, and position, such as teaching school or catechism, en­
couraging the study o f good books, using their influence to promote
triduums, novenas, spiritual retreats, or perform other works of charity
meant for the spiritual nourishment of the underprivileged young.”
Article 5 is noteworthy for a provision to the effect that “any mem­
ber of the Society, who leaves for good reason will be considered an
extern member.”
What did Rome think about that? In his report of April 6, 1864,
the Secretary of the Congregation of Bishops and Regulars wrote:
“I think it would be wise to cancel all the articles o f chapter 16, con­
cerning the affiliation of externs with the Congregation which is dan­
gerous, especially in our time.” 9 The remarks of the press secretary,
Svegliati, confirmed this: “ It is inadmissible that externs be admitted to
the religious Congregation through affiliation (Approbandum non est u t
extraneae pio Instituto adscribantur per ita dictam affiliationem.)”
Don Bosco did not give up; he tried to save “his” paragraph but
finally had to agree to put it into an appendix. He made some changes
(including the deletion of article 5) and sent the entire draft once more
to the Roman authorities. He was able to get definitive approval of the
constitutions in 1874, but only by deleting the disputed paragraphs.10
One hundred years ago the time was not yet ripe for the acceptance of
what seemed an imprudent mixing of the religious and the secular.
Today, on the other hand, the Church actually encourages “secular
institutes” along the very lines envisaged by Don Bosco in his own
day.11

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DON BOSCO
A Kind o f Third Order
A man like Don Bosco could not be discouraged, and even though
his proposition had been deleted from the constitutions, he was deter­
mined to realize it in some other way. He then considered creating a
separate association, connected in some way with the Salesians, i.e.,
a kind of Salesian third order. Before finding a definite formulation
in 1876, he had tried several different ones.12
On his return from Rome, after the approval o f the religious con­
stitutions in 1874, Don Bosco drafted the outlines of a Union of St.
Francis de Sales. We are told that the members of the superior chapter
and the various rectors questioned in this regard were not very enthu­
siastic; they assumed it would be just another one of the many devout
fraternities or associations. To put their mind at ease, Don Bosco
showed them the program he had drawn up under the title Associates
of the Congregation of St. Francis de Sales. The aim of this “Salesian
Association” would reassure them for it was “to unite good Catholics
in one single purpose, which was to work for their salvation and that of
others according to the rules o f the Society of St. Francis de Sales.”
Some Salesians thought the scheme too complicated. Don Bosco
revised and simplified it under the more general title of Christian
Union. It proposed “ a way o f life for secular members which would
somehow resemble the life of a religious congregation.” It was to
be a kind of third order as of old except for emphasis on the active
life devoted in particular to helping the homeless young rather than
the exercise of piety that used to be the main distinction of Chris­
tian perfection.
This set of rules was changed again and entitled Association of
Good Works.
Only in 1876 did Don Bosco find a definitive formulation: Salesian
Cooperators, or a practical way of promoting morals in civilian society.
He had the new regulations printed w ithout delay and sought official
recognition for them. On May 9, 1876, he obtained a brief of Pius
IX equivalent to the Church’s approval of the “Union of Salesian
Cooperators.” It is to be noted that during the audience the pope
suggested that women should be included without creating another
third order and that they be linked with the Daughters of Mary Help

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THE SALESIAN COOPERA TORS
181
of Christians, as Don Bosco had once thought of doing. With the
pontifical approval of 1876, an old plan of Don Bosco had materialized
but in a form different from what he would have wished.
Regulations o f 1876
Before looking at the progress which Don Bosco was soon able to
achieve with the new association, it would be useful to look at the
basis of the Regulations,13 which were the foundation of its success.
There were eight short chapters with the following titles: 1) Chris­
tian Union for good works, 2) The Salesian Congregation as a bond
for union. 3) Aim o f the Salesian Cooperators. 4) Mode of coopera­
tion. 5) Constitution and government of the association. 6) Special
obligations. 7) Advantages. 8) Religious practices.
The Association of Cooperators depended on the Salesian Society
for unity. Its aim, which Don Bosco expressed in terms of struggle, was
to fight evil by helping the Salesians with their projects. He quoted the
example of the early Christians who, by virtue of fraternal unity,
succeeded in overcoming “the innumerable difficulties in their path” ;
they had to “remove” the evils which threatened the young and en­
dangered the future of society itself. Particular notice was taken of the
missions with urgent needs. This apostolic and social orientation did
not detract from the fundamental aim of the Cooperators; “to benefit
from living a life that resembled as far as possible the common life.” At
the end of the third chapter one finds an echo of the first article of the
Salesian constitutions regarding “Christian perfection” and “the exer­
cise of charity towards our neighbor and especially towards the neg­
lected young.”
Living in the environment in which Providence had placed them
the Cooperators expected spiritual guidance from the Salesians. While
leading “a normal family life” they could also live “as though they
were in a congregation.” The general chapter o f 1877 was to state that
the Cooperators “spread in the world the spirit of the Congregation of
St. Francis de Sales. In order to guide and enrich their spiritual life,
Don Bosco gave them some directives on the value of simplicity and
righteousness, on the obligations to their position in society, on the

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DON BOSCO
benefits of annual and monthly retreats, on the “exercises for a happy
death” and on frequenting the sacraments.
The activities of the Cooperators were similar to those of the Sale­
sian religious: catechism, lessons, retreats, searching for and encour­
aging priestly vocations, dissemination of “good literature,” activities,
on behalf of the young, prayer, and alms; the latter term was used by
Don Bosco in a broad context. The Cooperator’s activity, then, is
Salesian, and it is rightly called cooperation because both religious
and non-religious work and reap their harvest in the “ same field,”
with the same methods, and under the same superior. There were some
who tried to reduce the cooperation to mere financial aid. Though
material help was needed Don Bosco rejected this narrow interpre­
tation. “One must understand the aim of the Pious Union,” he declared
at Toulon in 1882. “The Salesian Cooperators should not only collect
alms for our institutions, but should above all work for the salvation of
their brothers and the young in particular, with all means at their
disposal, spiritual and otherwise.” 14
Finally this union is an organization whose superior is the head of
the Salesians. “As to religion” however, it will be “ absolutely” de­
pendent on the hierarchy. We must explain this last point for it had not
appeared in the first drafts of the association.15 On the local level
the Salesian rector was to be responsible for the Cooperators, and if
there were no local Salesian houses, a Cooperator would be put in
charge of a group. Their program called for two annual meetings.
A fine passage in the sixth chapter is perhaps reminiscent of the
original idea of a congregation comprising both religious and secular
members: “ The members o f the Salesian Congregation consider all their
Cooperators their true brothers in Christ and will call on them when­
ever their help can be used for the greater glory of God and the good
o f souls. The Cooperators in turn can similarly call on the members
of the Salesian Congregation.” Although not allowed to use the word
confreres, the professed religious and their secular Cooperators were
nevertheless united in brotherhood.

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Success o f the Enterprise
Immediately after the approbation, Don Bosco started talking,
travelling, and recruiting. He had given himself about two years to
establish the association and he acted accordingly.16
His methods varied but the results were gratifying. When he anti­
cipated no objection he would often merely send the regulations
and certificate of membership to the future Cooperator; for people
of some importance he would include a personal letter. He tried to get
distinguished names to add luster to his roster, which was headed by
Pius IX, who was very enthusiastic about his ideas and remarked that he
wanted to be not merely a Cooperator but the first of the Cooperators.
Later Don Bosco simply made the same suggestion to the austere
Leo XIII, who replied that he wanted to be not only a Cooperator but
also an “operator.”
In the course of his various journeys through Italy, France, and
Spain, Don Bosco notably increased the number o f his associates. In
Rome he won many great families and numerous prelates to his cause;
Genoa and Liguria provided large contingents. In France, Nice became
an important center, particularly on account of the cosmopolitan na­
ture of the city; at Marseilles Don Bosco found the Cooperators so fer­
vent that he felt immediately at home with them.
Among the great number of Cooperators some personalities stand
out: in Spain there was Dorotea de Chopitea, th at great lady of Bar­
celona who may one day be canonized. She was the true “m other of
the Salesian work in her country.” In France Claire Louvet d’Aire-sur-
la-Lys and Count Louis-Fleury Colle of Toulon deserve to be men­
tioned. An intense correspondence was carried on between Don Bosco
and the French lady who combined the devotion of a spiritual daughter
with the generosity o f a benefactress. Count Colle’s name often occurs
in Don Bosco’s life story, for he and his wife were extremely generous,
especially after the death of their son, Louis. Other names that should
be mentioned are those o f the historian Cesare Cantu, the German
Mehler, the Hungarian Lonkay, the Jewish Lattes o f Nice (one o f the
most enthusiastic Cooperators, according to Don Bosco),17 and Count
de Chambord.
Don Bosco wanted to give to these Cooperators from all walks of

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DON BOSCO
life something that would serve to unite them and at the same time
constitute a bond between the center of the Congregation and its out­
posts (w ithout forgetting its purpose of prom otion and fund raising.)
In August 1877 the first number of Bibliofilo salesiano (changed
to Salesian Bulletin the following year) appeared as a monthly periodi­
cal sent free to all who gave him their assistance, large or small.18 The
circulation o f this magazine increased year by year, reaching 40,000
copies in 1887. A French edition appeared in 1879, and one in Spanish
followed in 1886.
The periodic conference was another means for promoting unity
of spirit and increasing the number of Cooperators. Don Bosco him­
self held over eighty such meetings, twenty-eight o f them in France. He
took advantage of these “family reunions” to spread the news of
Salesian activities and to urge his listeners to “ cooperate” in every way
in the immense work of charity and evangelization to which he had
consecrated his life.
One gets the impression that with growing success Don Bosco’s
ideas about the Cooperators expanded. Conceived essentially at first,
as a “ support of the congregation,” he had begun to see the associa­
tion more and more as an ecclesial organism which demanded personal
commitment from its members. “The Cooperators,” declared the
general chapter of 1883, “who truly understand their purpose, will not
merely help us but will also carry out the special projects of the Sale­
sians.” 19 In the following year, when discussing his ideas with Father
Lemoyne, Don Bosco explained that “their true and immediate goal
was to help the Church, the bishops and the priests, under the guidance
of the Salesians.” 20
At the death of Don Bosco in 1888 one thing was evident: the
apostolic strength of the humble Salesian Congregation had increased
tenfold through the “fraternal” help of his Cooperators. Many of them
deserve indeed to be considered in every way, except canonically, true
Salesians in the world.

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NOTES ON CHAPTER 16
1. E. Ceria, I Cooperatori Salesiani, un p o ’ di storia, Turin
1952; G. Favini, Don Bosco e Vapostolato dei laid, Turin 1952; P.
Ricaldone, II Cooperatore Salesiano, Turin 1916; A. Auffray, Con
Don Bosco e coi tempi. I Cooperatori Salesiani, Turin 1955; J. Halna,
Un Salesien dans le monde: le Cooperateur, Marseilles 1957; G.
Favini, II cammino di una grande idea. I cooperatori salesiani, Turin
1962.
2. Memorie deirOratorio, p. 133.
3. A list of these can be found in E. Ceria, I Cooperatori, p. 7.
4. Extract from a conference of Don Bosco with the Cooper­
ators of Turin, May 16, 1878, to be found in E. Ceria, Memorie
biografiche, XIII, 625.
5. G.B. Lemoyne, Memorie biografiche, IV, 93-94. (English
ed., p. 521). The Pope’s reply was dated September 28, 1850.
6. The full story and the statutes of this Pious Union can be
found in G.B. Lemoyne, Memorie biografiche, IV, 171-75. (English
ed., pp. 120-22).
7. E. Ceria, I Cooperatori, p. 11.
8. Ch. 16, “ Regole della Pia Societa salesians,” in G.B. Le­
moyne, Memorie biografiche, VII, 885, (omitted in the English ed.).
See also Father Auffray’s reflections on the “unfortunate XVI Gen.
Chapter” in A. Auffray, Con Don Bosco e coi tempi, pp. 36-38.
9. G.B. Lemoyne, Memorie biografiche, VII, 626. (omitted
in the English ed.). As can be seen, Father Savini officially justified
his unfavorable opinion by mentioning the dangers to the interns.
10. “Animadversiones in Constitutiones,” no. 9, in G.B. Le­
moyne, Memorie biografiche, VII, 708, (omitted in the English ed,).
11. J. Halna, Un Salesien dans le monde, p. 10.
12. For these see A. Amadei, Memorie biografiche, X, 1307-18.
(English ed., pp. 558-568), and E. Ceria, M emorie biografiche, XI,
71-88. (English ed., pp. 60-77). It must be noted that these enter­
prises of Don Bosco caused new difficulties with Archbishop Gastaldi.

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DON BOSCO
13. “ Cooperatori Salesiani ossia un modo pratico per giovare
al buon costume ed alia civile societa.” In E. Ceria, Memorie bio­
grafiche, XI, 540-45, (om itted in the English ed.).
14. Conference on February 23, 1882 in the Cathedral of
Toulon; E. Ceria, M emorie biografiche, XV, 500.
15. The insertion of the Cooperators into the ecclesial body
presented Don Bosco with many problems, because he was more
broad-minded. Being of practical rather than a speculative turn of
mind, he had some difficulty, it seems, in formulating in legal terms
his own idea of a Cooperator who would work at the same time with
Salesians, bishops, and priests. On this subject see P. Stella, Don
Bosco nella storia, I, 216-17.
16. Regarding the expansion and organization of the Union,
see E. Ceria, I Cooperatori, pp. 52-66 and Memorie biografiche, XIII,
602-30.
17. P. Stella, Don Bosco nella storia, I, 222. This author brings
out interesting points o f ecumenical spirit in Don Bosco.
18. The 1877 numbers have the double title Bibliofilo cattolico
o Bolletino salesiano as though the continuation of a periodical that
appeared in 1875, was aimed at making the Salesian and other useful
publications known.
19. E. Ceria, Memorie biografiche, XVI, 413.
20. Ibid,, XVII, 25.

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17
THE SALESIANS IN AMERICA
THE FIRST MISSIONS
1875 - 1888
Missionary Ideal o f Don Bosco
The story of the departure of the first Salesians for America in 1875
is based on the missionary ideal of Don Bosco. All his life he wanted to
be a missionary, and his biographer mentions that he was already think­
ing about it when he was a young student at Chieri.1 After his ordina­
tion, he would have become a missionary had not his director, Joseph
Cafasso, opposed the idea.2 He eagerly read the Italian edition of
the Annals o f the Propagation o f the Faith and used this magazine
to illustrate his Cattolico provveduto (1853) and his M onth o f May
booklets (1858).
When he founded the Salesian Society, the thought o f the missions
still obsessed him, and he would gladly have sent his religious had he
not then completely lacked the means. Father Lemoyne states that
Don Bosco had to be satisfied for a long time to just ardently study
the map of the world or to speak to the Oratory boys about the labors
of missionaries, or the martyrdom suffered by some of them or about
the pagans they converted to the Gospel.3
About 1871-72 one if his “dreams” encouraged him .4 He found

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DON BOSCO
himself transported to a vast plain, inhabited by primitive peoples,
who spent their time hunting or fighting among themselves or against
soldiers in European uniforms. Along came a band of missionaries, but
alas! they were all horribly massacred. A second group appeared with
an air of joy about them ; they were preceded by a group of children.
Don Bosco at once recognized them as Salesians. Astonished he wit­
nessed an unexpected change when the fierce savages laid down their
arms, listened to the missionaries, and sang a hymn to Mary.
This dream would seem to indicate that the Salesians would succeed
where others had failed. It must have made a great impression on Don
Bosco, because he tried hard to identify the men and the country of the
dream.
It is said that he searched for three years among documents, trying
to get information about different countries. For a moment he thought
it might be Abyssinia, then Hong Kong, then Australia, then India.
One day, however, a request came from the republic of Argentina,
which turned him towards the Indians of Patagonia. To his surprise a
study of the people there convinced him that the country and its
inhabitants were the ones he had seen in his dream. He regarded it as a
sign of Providence and set about the realization of a project long dear
to him.
Adopting a special way of evangelization that would not expose
his missionaries suddenly to wild, uncivilized tribes, he proposed to
set up bases in safe locations from where their missionary efforts
were to be launched.
The above request from Argentina came about as follows: Towards
the end of 1874, he received letters from that country requesting that
he accept an Italian parish in Buenos Aires and a school for boys at San
Nicolas de los Arroyos.5 Gazzolo, the Argentinian Consul at Savona,
had sent the request, for he had taken a great interest in the Salesian
w ork in Liguria and hoped to obtain the Salesians’ help for the benefit
of his country. Negotiations started after Archbishop Aneiros of
Buenos Aires had indicated that he would be glad to receive the
Salesians, They were successful mainly because of the good offices of
the priest of San Nicolas, Pedro Ceccarelli, a friend of Gazzolo, who
was in touch with and had the confidence of Don Bosco. In an unfor­
gettable ceremony on the 29th of January 1875, Don Bosco was able

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AMERICA 1 875-1888
189
to convey the great news to the Oratory in the presence of Gazzolo.
On February 5, he announced the fact in a circular letter to all Salesians
asking volunteers to apply in writing. He proposed that the first mis­
sionary departure start in October.
This news aroused great enthusiasm everywhere, and practically all
the Salesians volunteered for the missions. Certainly a new era had now
begun for the Oratory and the young Society.
Successive Departures fo r America
During his lifetime Don Bosco sent off eleven missionary expeditions
to South America.
The first was naturally the most famous and was prepared for in
great detail. Don Bosco arranged everything very carefully through
contact with people on the spot so that his sons would be received as
“friends among friends.” He turned to his Cooperators who helped
supply whatever was needed in money and material, and their generos­
ity overwhelmed him.
Don Bosco wanted the very best men of the Congregation to be his
missionaries, and he chose six priests and four Coadjutors, from the
long list of volunteers, with John Cagliero in charge. Father Cagliero
was then thirty-six years old, robust, jovial, intelligent, and exuber­
antly alive, the right man for this enterprise who had had occasion to
learn much from Don Bosco. Another candidate was Father Fagnano,
a priest of great worth with the soul of a pioneer and one o f Garibaldi’s
former soldiers.
Solemn ceremonies marked the occasion of the departure. First, Don
Bosco sent his missionaries to Rome for the pope’s blessing. Then,
on November 11, a very moving ceremony took place in Turin, in the
church of Mary Help of Christians, during which Don Bosco outlined
the program of the missionary work. First they were to attend to the
needs of their compatriots in Argentina, and then they were to start
the evangelization of Patagonia. “We are at the beginning of a mighty
enterprise, not because we have pretensions, nor because we believe we
can convert the whole world in a few days. But who knows? This
departure for the missions, this humble beginning may be the seed that

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will grow into a mighty tree. It may be the tiny grain of mustard that
will grow to accomplish great things.” 6 On the same day Don Bosco
left with them for Genoa, from where they sailed on the 14th of
November. A m onth later they disembarked at Buenos Aires.
Other groups followed these pioneers at regular intervals: November
1876 (with Father Bodrato and Father Lasagna); November 1877 (with
Father Costamagna, Father Vespignani, Father Milanesio and the first
Daughters of Mary Help o f Christians; December 1878; January 1881;
December 1881; November 1883; February 1885; April 1886* Decem­
ber 1886; December 1887.7 By 1888 there were almost 150 Salesians
and nearly 50 Salesian Sisters working in South America.
Missionary Dreams
Regardless of whatever degree of credibility one wants to assign the
dreams o f Don Bosco, the fact remains that these nocturnal visions
played a great part in the missionary expansion of his work. We have
already m entioned the one that seemed to predict the evangelization
of Patagonia and influenced the initial preparations and choice of
country. There are four other similar dreams on the mission theme.
A dream he had the night of August 19, 1883, carried him in spirit
across South America.8 It seemed that the guide on this journey
was young Louis Colie, son of Count Colie of Toulon, who had died
two years earlier. They seemed to be travelling across Latin America in
a railway carriage and Louis gave him an enthusiastic description of the
future progress o f that continent both in the field of industry and
evangelization.
During a third dream, the night of January 31, 1885, he seemed to
be flying over the same regions on board a mysterious vehicle.9 From
above he could view at his leisure the Salesians at work, those of his
time as well as those of the future, and he was marvelling at the rich
harvest awaiting his Salesians. “ I saw our Salesians sowing the seed but
those who came later will reap the harvest. Many more men and women
will join them as missionaries.”
The last two dreams, one of unknown date in 1885, and the other
during the night of the 9th of May 1886, foretold the Salesian work in

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the world in general, not merely in South America.10 In his dream Don
Bosco visited Asia, Africa, and Australia; the vision predicted a splendid
future for the Salesians “for the next hundred and fifty or two hundred
years,” provided the Salesians did not succumb to “love o f com fort.”
The Salesians themselves placed great store by these dreams. They
were much discussed and attempts at interpretation were made. Father
Ceria speaks for them and quotes various geographical data whose
exactness could be duly verified. It is of interest to us merely to note
that their messages encouraged and inspired the Salesians in their
endeavors and strengthened the faith of the missionary pioneers in the
fulfillment of their difficult task.
Argentina and Uruguay
When the first group of Salesians landed at Buenos Aires on Decem­
ber 14, 1875, they could see with their own eyes how carefully Don
Bosco had prepared for their arrival. They were received “as friends,”
and after a few days in temporary quarters they split into two groups.11
As had been arranged in advance, Cagliero and two others took
charge o f the Italian parish called Mater Misericordiae, which consisted
of about three thousand compatriots who had been completely neg­
lected and had remained ignorant o f religion. Without delay they
started to work. The sermons, ceremonies, and the oratory made a great
impression on the people. Only a m onth after their arrival the arch­
bishop was able to congratulate them on the “tremendous benefits”
they were bestowing on the people in the capital.
The rest o f the expedition, Father Fagnano and six others, went to
San Nicolas de los Arroyos, where the energetic director succeeded in
transforming a little house into a school with an oratory. He organized
missions for the estancias which spread all over the countryside. In a
letter to Don Bosco, dated June 10, 1876, their protector, Ceccarelli,
wrote that they were “highly esteemed in the city” and, waxing en­
thusiastically, he added that “their name was already resounding
throughout South America.”
One thing was certain: the requests for foundations multiplied.
Cagliero had plans but lacked personnel. He opened a “school o f arts

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and trades” with several o f the twenty-three Salesians who had come
over with the second expedition. The school was close by his own
church in Buenos Aires, and it was entrusted to the care of Father
Bodrato. Based on the oratory model, it taught tailoring, shoemaking,
carpentry, and bookbinding. The house, however, was uncomfortable
and the school was transferred in 1878 to a more suitable building at
Almagro in the suburbs of the capital. Two priests were put in charge of
the parish of St. John the Evangelist in the difficult quarter o f La Boca,
known for freemasonry; another little group went to reinforce San
Nicolas.
The remainder o f the expedition was destined to establish the
first foundation in Uruguay, with the outstanding Louis Lasagna in
charge.12 Under the aegis of the Apostolic Delegate, Msgr. Vera, who
was the only bishop in that country, the Salesians began their aposto-
late at Villa Colon, not far from Montevideo, where they took over
the parish of St. Rose of Lima. They founded a school dedicated to
Pius IX which accepted one hundred pupils in the first month. As
practically everywhere on that continent, freemasons and Protestants
tried to hinder the newcomers in every way.
The intrepid and able Father Lasagna met the attacks of his adver­
saries with equal energy and resourcefulness. Immediately upon arrival
he set out planting vineyards and encouraging others to do so, despite
existing prejudice. Under his guidance, Pius IX School started a rare
collection of beetles and fossils. With the help of a learned Italian
Barnabite, he achieved his greatest success: the establishment of a
meteorological observatory organized to gather information through­
out the entire continent of South America. Cyclones and hurricanes
could now be predicted which also helped navigation a great deal.
Later, in 1885, when a law was passed prohibiting religious congrega­
tions in Uruguay, it was the fame of the observatory of Villa Colon
th at made the government refrain from interfering with the Salesians.
By the time of Don Bosco’s death many parishes and other works
had sprung up in addition to the original foundations in both Argentina
and Uruguay. In 1885 a new school was founded in central Buenos
Aires; in 1887 another one was started at La Plata, where the Ital­
ians were numerous but were, at least for a time, opposed to the
mission. In Uruguay the Salesians established a foundation at Las Pie-

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dras, not far from the capital; in 1880 and 81, missions were founded at
Paysandu in the West. Both began with a parish and schools were added
later. Nor must we forget that the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians
had also made great progress at Almagro, La Boca, Las Piedras, Moron,
etc.
Patagonia
The Salesian apostolate was not to be limited only to those o f
European descent, even though they were badly in need o f religious
assistance. The long-range objective, Patagonia, was never forgotten.
The very name suggested vast, mysterious, unexplored areas, an un­
favorable climate, and tribes of savage Indians who—according to
rumors in Buenos Aires—did not hesitate to eat prisoners of war with
preference for white flesh!
It was not easy to gain a foothold in that vast and dangerous terri­
to ry .13 Father Costamagna, Father Fagnano, and Father Lasagna set
out on horseback from their missions but did not see even a trace o f
Indians! Then at the suggestion of Don Bosco himself, the Vicar Gen­
eral Msgr. Espinosa, Father Costamagna, and Father Rabagliati set out
for Patagonia in spring o f 1878. Their aim was to reach Bahia Blanca
by sea and then go on to Patagonia. Unfortunately their ship was
nearly wrecked by the pampero, a violent storm.
A year later, a better opportunity to reach Patagonia arose, this time
by land. The Argentinian Minister o f War, General Roca, tired o f the
Indian invasions which continually menaced the western and southern
borders, decided on a military expedition aimed at the “conquest
of the desert.” Msgr. Espinosa and the Salesians, Father Costamagna
and Father Botta, were able to accompany the army as chaplains. In
the course of this campaign, the missionaries had the pleasure of
eventually meeting the Indians. Taking advantage of a stop at Carhue,
in the heart o f the Pampas, they immediately started work among
the peaceful tribes of Tripailao and Manuel Grande. Accompanied
by Costamagna, a detachment pushed on to the banks of the Rio
Negro, on the borders of Patagonia, where they arrived on May 24,
1878. They had been in the saddle for weeks and the journey had

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DON BOSCO
been cruelly exhausting, to say nothing of the cold. The missionaries
were horrified by the brutality with which the soldiers treated the
Indians. In reply to Father Costamagna’s enthusiastic message Don
Bosco rejoiced: “The gates o f Patagonia have opened for the Salesians!”
The military expedition ended in 1881, after having achieved all
its objectives, and only then could the Salesian mission to Patagonia
get under way. It was decided to establish two centers: one in Pata-
gones on the left bank of the Rio Negro, the other one on the opposite
bank in Viedma. Three sturdy missionaries had already been established
there since 1880; Father Fagnano, parish priest of Patagones and all
the colonies and tribes between the Rio Negro and the Rio Colorado,
Father Milanesio, parish priest of Viedma, was soon replaced by Father
Beauvoir to free him for apostolic journeys on horseback in which
he excelled. Father Milanesio was the typical missionary of his time,
with flowing beard and without fatigue, he was ready to cover great
distances in order to reach areas and souls to be won over for Christ.
He became a friend and defender of the Indians, whose language he was
able to learn.
The Indians remained a big problem. Fearing to lose their indepen­
dence, they gathered around one of their great leaders, Chief Namun-
cura. The soldiers were anxious to finish the whole affair in their own
way. In 1883 a revolt broke out, and atrocities were committed on
both sides. How could one preach the Gospel in such circumstances?
In a letter to Don Bosco, Father Fagnano does not hesitate to accuse
the corrupt army and the bad officers. Peace returned only when Nam-
uncura fell ill and wanted to end his peoples’ suffering by negotiating
with the armed forces. Father Milanesio was chosen as arbiter and
guarantor of their agreement. Namuncura was appointed a colonel in
the national army, and one of his sons, Zeffirino, became a pupil of the
Salesians.14 Msgr. Cagliero accepted him at the Pius IX School at
Buenos Aires, then at Viedma. Later he took him to Italy, where he
was received by Pius X. Noted for his piety and love of study, he
wished to become a priest to evangelize his people, but he died pre­
m aturely in Rome on May 11, 1905, at the age of eighteen. His cause
for beatification has been submitted.
The missions developed and by 1883 five thousand pagans had
been baptized, a church constructed, two chapels and two schools,

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one run by the Salesian Sisters, opened.
Don Bosco felt that the organization should be completed by the
establisment of a vicariate independent o f Buenos Aires. It was a
delicate and sensitive matter, but Don Bosco knew how to accom­
plish it. Father Cagliero was ordained bishop on December 7, 1884.
This was an im portant step in the evangelization of this great mission­
ary territory.
Tierra Del Fuego
At the same time, the Holy See had established a prefecture apo­
stolic with Father Fagnano as Prefect. His territory included southern
Patagonia and Tierra del Fuego (Land o f Fire) and it was especially
in the latter that he exercised his apostolate.15
Though elected in 1883, Msgr. Fagnano was able to make contact
with his district only in 1886 by joining an expedition to Isola Grande.
Leaving Buenos Aires on October 31, the expedition went by boat
along the two coasts, stopping at Patagones, Santa Cruz, where he
found Fathers Savio and Beauvoir, Rio Gallegos and San Sebastian,
where he finally landed on November 21. A few days later a misunder­
standing arose between the troops and the Indians and the natives were
massacred. Msgr. Fagnano tried heroically to intervene, at the risk of
his life. The expedition allowed him to explore Isola Grande and to
get acquainted with the region and its inhabitants. He became con­
vinced that the future Catholic mission should be based at Punta
Arenas, for it was the center of communications between Tierra del
Fuego, Chile, and the Falkland Islands.
In July 1877, Msgr. Fagnano settled at Punta Arenas with three
Salesians and started immediately with the hard work of constructing
buildings, giving religious instruction to immigrants, making first ten­
tative contacts with the Indians, and exploring Dawson Island. In
contrast with so many others who had acted very differently, Msgr.
Fagnano became “the good captain” to the Indians.

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Brazil, Chile, Ecuador
Still in Don Bosco’s lifetime Salesian work started in three other
American countries: Brazil, Chile, and Ecuador.
In 1877 Msgr. Lacerda, Bishop of Rio de Janeiro, personally went to
Turin to persuade the saint to send him missionaries.16 The religious
situation in the diocese and the country justified the request, for there
was a scarcity of local clergy, the young were neglected, especially the
children of former slaves after their emancipation, and there was
urgent need for a mission among the equatorial forest tribes.
Father Lasagna, although already very busy in Uruguay, was chosen
by Don Bosco to go to Brazil. He left for Rio de Janeiro at the begin­
ning of 1882, “with his heart,” he says, “in his boots for fear, but at
the same time buoyed by even greater hopes.” He promised to open a
house on the hills of Niteroi which dominated the capital. During
an audience at Petropolis the Emperor Pedro II personally encouraged
the development of the Salesian work in his country.
As Father Lasagna journeyed through various regions, he received
many appeals for help from the bishops. He promised to establish
a parish and a school in Sao Paulo, where Italians were numerous. He
was already thinking of the Indians of Mato Grosso, “the most central
and least known land of South America.” The mission at Niteroi was
opened at 1883 under the direction of Father Borghino, that of Sao
Paulo in 1885 under Father Giordano.
Father Milanesio was the first Salesian to set foot in Chile17 during
one o f his rather extraordinary trips in 1866—a journey which brought
him across the Cordillera of the Andes in the direction of Concepcion,
where the Vicar General, Msgr. Cruz, was doing his best to obtain
Salesian personnel. An agreement was drawn up and on March 6, 1887,
Father Rabagliati and five other Salesians entered the city followed
by a great crowd of people. Construction began immediately; an
oratory was built, and schools and workshops followed. At the same
time negotiations were already under way at Talca and Santiago.
President Coramano of Ecuador took a personal interest in the
arrival o f the Salesians in Quito, because he and Archbishop Ordonez
had appealed to Don Bosco in 1885. After some hesitation due to lack
o f personnel, a group was formed under Father Calcagno. The farewell

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ceremony at Turin on December 6, 1887 was attended by Don Bosco
who was ill and had to be supported by two secretaries—it was his last
missionary departure ceremony. The new missionaries arrived in Quito
on January 28, 1888, and immediately dispatched a cable to Turin.
It was read to Don Bosco on the morning o f the 30th, and he indicated
that he had understood. He died the following morning.
Conclusion
It can be said that a considerable amount o f work had been accom­
plished within thirteen years. The Salesians had established themselves
in five states of Latin America. They had been assigned two vast mis­
sion territories one o f which was headed by Bishop Cagliero, who had
also been Don Bosco’s vicar in America since 1885.
Without forgetting the evangelization of the Indians, the first Sale­
sians who had landed in America, with perhaps rather romantic ideas
about their mission among the “ savages,” had nevertheless responded
to the urgent need for action on behalf of the Europeans. Encouraged
by Don Bosco they concentrated on works with which they were
familiar: schools, oratories, parishes.18 To guarantee the establishment
of their work they looked for support not only to the religious author­
ities but also to the government and the ruling classes, although this
was not without risk. Their hard work was already bearing fruit and
there was hope for more to come.

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NOTES ON CHAPTER 17
1. G.B. Lemoyne, Memorie biografiche, I, 328. (English ed.,
p. 246). P. Stella, in his Don Bosco nella storia, I, 167-86, has
written a fine chapter on Don Bosco and the Salesian missions in
America.
2. G.B. Lemoyne, Memorie biografiche, II, 203-04. (English
ed., p. 161).
3. Ibid., VI, 430-795. (English ed., pp. 241, 465).
4. A. Amadei, Memorie biografiche, X, 54-55. English ed.,
pp. 46-48). The date of the dream is rather uncertain. Don Bosco
recounted it for the first time to Pius IX only in March 1876.
5. E. Ceria, Annali, I, 245.
6. E. Ceria, Memorie biografiche, XI, 383. (English ed., pp.
359-60).
7. E. Foglio, Indice, s.v., “ Spedizione and Missionario.”
8. The text was recorded by Father Lemoyne and revised by
Don Bosco. See E. Ceria, Annali, I, 423.
9. E. Ceria, Annali, I, 505-10. P. Stella, on p. 184 of his
much quoted work says in a footnote: “This was at a moment of en­
thusiasm because of the episcopal consecration of Msgr. Cagliero. This
dream of January 1, (February 1?) 1885 was recorded by Father
Lemoyne as told by Don Bosco, which is probably why it is literally
one o f the most emphatic and detailed accounts.
10. E. Ceria, Annali, I, 551-59.
11. For the history of the Salesian beginnings in Argentina and
Uruguay see E. Ceria, Annali, I, ch. 24, 39, 54; and also the well-
documented biography of Cardinal Cagliero by R. Entraigas, El
apostol de La Patagonia, Rosario 1955; also Peter Lappin, Con­
quistador. (New Rochelle, NY: Don Bosco Publications, 1970).
12. For this great figure see P. Albera, Msgr. Luigi Lasagna,
M emorie biografiche, San Benigno Canavese, 1900. Father Albera
had been his teacher when he was a boy.
13. For the beginning in Patagonia, see E. Ceria, Annali, I, ch.
34, 38, 47, 50, 54; also R. Entraigas, El apostol de la Patagonia, and

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by the same author Monsenor Fagnano. El hom bre, el misionero, el
pioneer, Buenos Aires, 1945; A. Fasulo, Le Missioni Salesiane della
Patagonia, Turin, 1925; P. Lappin, Conquistador, op. cit.
14. Zeffirino Namuncura (1886-1905). Msgr. Cagliero accepted
him into the Pius IX College at Buenos Aires, then at Viedma, taking
him later to Italy, where he was received by Pius X. Noted for his
piety and love of study, he wished to become a priest so as to
evangelize his own people, but died prematurely at Rome on May 11,
1905, at the age of eighteeen. His cause for beatification has been
introduced. [See the biography by Peter Lappin: Bury Me Deep.
(New Rochelle, NY, 1974)—E ditor].
15. For the story of its beginnings see E. Ceria, Annali, I, ch.
56; R. Entraigas, Mons. Fagnano, B. Calvi, La civilta nelle regioni
magellaniche e i missionari salesiani, Turin 1925.
16. For Brazil, see E. Ceria, Annali, I, 456-63; also P. Albera,
Mons. Luigi Lasagna, op. cit.
17. For Chile and Ecuador see E. Ceria, Annali, I, 605-10.
18. See the observations of P. Stella, Don Bosco nella storia, I,
p. 181.

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CONSOLIDATION OF THE CONGREGATION
1 8 7 4 - 1888
After considerable trial and labor, the final approval of the consti­
tutions was granted in 1874. As a consequence a new period of organi­
zation and consolidation set in for the Salesian Congregation, although
certain difficulties remained. Relations with the diocesan curia of Turin
had always been strained. They now reached a point at which the
archbishop actually contested the definitive nature of the Roman appro­
bation. There was antireligious opposition in several places which some­
times resembled petty persecution. This was particularly so in France
when the decree o f March 19, 1880, sounded an advance warning.
And in addition there was always a shortage of money.
Nevertheless the little congregation gained stability; vocations
flourished; foundations multiplied. Don Bosco’s personal prestige
had spread throughout Italy and beyond, and various foreign pilgrims
made a point of stopping off at the Oratory at Turin on their way to
Rome.
Taking advantage of the favorable state of affairs, the founder
could—during his last years—push through the remaining matters of his
organization, consolidate his work, and ensure its future.

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The Novitiate
Nothing is more im portant for a congregation than the formation
of its members for religious life. Knowing this, Don Bosco now tried
to satisfy the authorities accordingly. In fact it was the very question
of the novitiate that was, for years, the focal point of Archbishop
Gastaldi’s most virulent attacks. In a letter dated November 9, 1872,
the prelate had deplored the absence of a true novitiate and serious
ascetic formation. He felt that the young clerics o f the oratory lacked
humility, which made him very pessimistic about the future. He con­
cluded his letter by inviting the founder to “pray and humble himself
coram Deo et hominibus. ” *
In a memorandum sent to Rome in March 1874, Don Bosco had
tried once again to counter certain accusations that were constantly
made against him. When pressed to institute a two-year novitiate during
which the candidates would dedicate themselves solely to “ascetical
practices,” he declared frankly: “This could be done in the old times
but not in our day and age in our country; it would destroy the Sale­
sian Society, for as soon as the civil authorities learned o f a novitiate,
they would immediately suppress it and disperse the novices. In any
case such a novitiate would not fit the Salesian Constitutions, which are
based on the active life . . .”2
In order to obtain approbation, Don Bosco had to yield eventually
on the matter of the novitiate and on others. In fact, the final text
which was approved contained the absolutely traditional form of the
novitiate except for the time of duration which was limited to one year.
What course of action did he adopt after this disappointment?
First o f all, he chose a novice master. Up to then Father Rua had
fulfilled the main functions, but now it became necessary to turn them
over to someone who could attend to them exclusively. He chose
Father Julius Barberis for this delicate task, because he seemed to
embody the Salesian Spirit. “Father Barberis understands Don Bosco,”
he used to say.3 However, availing himself of a verbal permission of
Pius IX, he did not hesitate to let the novices do all kinds of work such
as catechism, teaching, and assisting which soon brought renewed
recriminations from the archbishop. The total separation of the group
of novices from the rest o f the oratory was a gradual process.

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A step forward toward following the regulations was made when
the novices were settled in a former Benedictine monastery at San
Benigno Canavese. Since Don Bosco did not wish to give this house too
much o f an ecclesiastical air, he also opened some workshops and
an oratory there. Finally, in 1886, the novitiate was transferred to a
new property at Foglizzo. At this stage the gradual evolution of the
novitiate into the ascetic form required by the regulations was com­
pleted. Don Bosco had yielded more out of necessity than conviction.
Adult Vocations
Since 1875, another enterprise which involved something very close
to his heart, i.e., vocations occupied his attention. Looking through
the pupils’ registers one day at the oratory, he felt certain that the
probability of finding vocations was much higher among the older
boys.
This realization prompted him to start doing something for the so-
called late vocations.4
When in Rome, in February 1875, he discussed his observations with
Pius IX, who responded enthusiastically, so too did many bishops. He
then printed a little booklet, entitled Work o f Mary Help o f Christians
fo r Vocations to the Ecclesiastical State. He had in mind a practical
activity that would be morally and materially supported by Catholics;
he foresaw that many candidates would not be able to pay for their
studies, and he did not want poverty to be an insurmountable obstacle.
By fall 1875, the plan was already in operation. A section for
“late vocations” —called the Sons of Mary—was established in the
house at Sampierdarena under Father Albera, while another group
did their studies at the Turin Oratory. By the end of the first scholastic
year, the experiment was already justifying Don Bosco’s “extraordinary
hopes,” but of thirty-five who had completed their studies, eight chose
the religious life, twenty-one entered the diocesan seminary, and six
went to the missions. The future of the enterprise at Sampierdarena
seemed assured, for there were numerous applications for admittance.

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I General Chapter (September 1877)
The work of organizing the Society became more pressing during
this period and general chapters were of primary importance. Accord­
ing to the constitutions they were supposed to be held every three years
in order “to deal with all questions of major importance and to take the
steps necessary to meet the various needs of the society.” 5
The First Salesian General Chapter opened on September 5, 1877,
at Lanzo.6 There were twenty-three participants, including the seven
members of the superior chapter and fourteen rectors of houses.
In his opening address Don Bosco tried to impress upon all the im por­
tance of their deliberations for the present and future of the Congre­
gation. His biographers note that up to that time many contemporaries,
especially at Turin and Rome, considered the Salesians “a motley
crowd of ignorant fellows, good only for making a lot o f noise and
nothing else.” It was therefore necessary for this assembly to prove its
maturity in spite of the comparative youth of most members.
Eight commissions started to work, each charged with the study
of an im portant aspect of the life of the Congregation, i.e., the for­
mation of the Salesian, problems o f common life, material affairs,
dealings with the Institute of the Daughters o f Mary Help of Christians,
the setting up of provinces, etc. Besides, there were twenty-six “general
conferences,” all presided over by Don Bosco. According to his wishes
things went ahead smoothly but without undue haste.
Let us select some points from the discussions. It was decided for
example to avoid the terms “province” and “provincial” because they
would upset the prejudiced and to use instead “inspectorship” and
“inspector” Regarding the latter, during the 17th conference, Don
Bosco had said that he should be “a father who has the obligation to
help his sons perform their duties well, hence to advise and help them,
and to teach them to be diplomatic in difficult situations.” In speaking
of the powers of the rector major, Don Bosco insisted on the central
position and authority of the superior general of the Congregation.
Leaving aside his own particular position, he added: “I must also think
of those who will come after me.” During the 24th conference various
declarations that will never be forgotten were made regarding the
situation of the Salesians in the difficult political context in which

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they lived: “We shall strive to obey the law in every way. If taxes are
imposed we shall pay them; if we are not allowed collective property,
we shall have it individually; if interrogations are necessary, we shall
submit to them ; if licences or diplomas are required, we shall get them!
This is how we shall go ahead.” 7 At his request, one of the last deci­
sions o f the Chapter was to leave to the rector major the responsibility
of revising and coordinating all the material contained in the “deliber­
ations,” (i.e. the enactments resulting from the assembly discussions).
The I General Chapter ended on October 5, exactly a m onth after
its opening. The greater part of the “ deliberations” was published
only a year later in a little volume of one hundred pages, which we have
mentioned above.
First Provinces
At the time o f the I General Chapter only covert provincials (inspec­
tors) existed.8 Up to 1876, there was no link between the individual
houses which were directly responsible to the “superior chapter.”
Only in 1877, a Roman and American province appear in the Annuario
Pontificio, but only the latter had its own “inspector” in the person of
Father Cagliero. In the following year one could read of two new
“inspectorships,” Piedmont and Liguria.
By 1879, however, a real provincial regime was set up. On Feb­
ruary 7, the superior chapter nominated four provincials: Father
Francesia (remaining rector at Varazze) became provincial of Pied­
m ont, with the motherhouse as headquarters; Father Cerruti was put
in charge of the houses of Liguria (and one in Nice), with Alassio as
headquarters; Father Monateri, rector at Albano, got the lesser title
of vice-provincial of the Roman province; and finally, Father Bodrato
became provincial of the South American province, with headquarters
at Buenos Aires.

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CONSOL1DA TION
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Canonical Relations with the Holy See, 1879
According to the rule for religious congregations, the Salesian
constitutions demanded that a report on the moral and material
state of the Congregation should be sent to the Holy See every three
years. The report of March 1879 merits a brief analysis.9
Don Bosco had prepared it carefully. After briefly tracing the
history of the Congregation from 1841, he mentioned the individual
houses and all the activities of the Salesians in Italy, France, and Amer­
ica. In the last part, dedicated to the moral state o f the Congregation,
he praised the Salesians’ care in observing the constitutions, stating that
their generosity at work was so great, that some had been overcome by
it.
The Congregation of Bishops and Regulars examined the document
with minute care, Cardinal Ferried, prefect o f this congregation, was
not particularly well disposed towards Don Bosco, for malicious insin­
uations had led him to believe he was dealing with a man who was
insincere and incapable o f founding a congregation. As a result, seven
observations were returned to Don Bosco regarding the absence o f a
financial report, silence concerning the novitiate, the creation of
“inspectorships” without authorization from the Holy See, the canon­
ical position o f the Daughters o f Mary Help of Christians, etc. One last
item reproved Don Bosco for submitting a report that was printed
instead of written by hand.
Don Bosco tried to justify himself as best he could, begging the
irascible Cardinal to look with favor on his “poor” society, with the
result that a new series of nine observations arrived in October.
Regarding financial questions he was accused, between the lines, of
trying to conform to the civil laws only to escape the ecclesiastical
ones. Therefore, at the beginning o f 1880, he adopted new rules; after
some time the difficulties seemed to have been overcome and he was
left in peace.
Because of the above difficulties, Don Bosco felt obliged to put his
work on a more concrete foundation from the legal point of view. Later
on this would help to make things easier. Moreover, in March 1879, a
cardinal protector was appointed to the Congregation in the person of
the Secretary o f State, Cardinal Lawrence Nina.

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DON BOSCO
A Procurator General in Rome, 1880
On the occasion of the first canonical report to the Holy See,
Don Bosco accomplished another im portant step by appointing a
procurator general in Rome, who would officially represent the reli­
gious superior and act as official liaison between the Church and
the Congregation.
According to the Annuario Pontificio Father Rua fulfilled this
function since 1877. However, being a man of action and having so
many other duties, he could not live in Rome. Hence Father Dalmazzo
effectively took over this responsibility in 1880.
As to his residence, Don Bosco had been looking for a place for
the Salesians in the Eternal City for at least thirteen years.10 After
many disappointments he finally succeeded in obtaining rooms in an
Oblate convent at Tor de’ Specchi. Father Dalmazzo went to live there
together with a cleric and Coadjutor novice. The little community was
considered a Salesian house and was attached to the Roman province.
II General Chapter (September 1880)
The General Chapter was due again in 1880, and Don Bosco con­
vened it at Lanzo in early September.11
The first task o f the assembly was to elect the members of the
superior chapter who, with the exception of the rector major, had
finished their term of office. The key members were re-elected, Father
Rua remained prefect general and Father Cagliero remained “spiritual
director,” even though he was with the missions in South America.
Not m uch is known o f the discussions, for they were less im portant
than those o f 1877 and merely revised and completed the previous
decisions. This was confirmed by Don Bosco in the 1882 printed
edition of the Deliberations. “During this chapter, the decisions of
1877 were examined once more and modifications based on experience
were introduced together with several new points.” The more impor­
tant additions regarded the intellectual formation o f the Salesians; they
were contained in two chapters entitled Ecclesiastical Studies and
Philosophical and Literary Studies. There were also new paragraphs

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CONSOLIDATION
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concerning the election of the members of the superior chapter and
their duties.
Another incident, worthy of note in 1880, was the creation of two
new provinces in addition to the four which already existed. The South
American province was divided into the Argentinian province under
Father Costamagna and another one, consisting of the houses in Uru­
guay and Brazil, under Father Lasagna. The houses in France, hitherto
part of the Ligurian province, now became autonomous under Father
Albera, then rector at Sampierdarena, who moved to Marseilles. Re­
garding the so-called Roman Province, it is to be noted that it included
not only the houses at Tor de’ Specchi, Magliano, and Faenza, but also
those of Randazzo in Sicily and Utrera in Spain.
I l l General Chapter (September 1883)
The thirty- five members of the III General Chapter met at Val-
salice. It was o f short duration, opening on September 1, 1883 and
closing seven days later.12
We do not have much information about it, except that it dealt,
among other things, with the Salesian Bulletin, the novitiate, retreats,
and morality. Regarding the novitiate, the French provincial pointed
out that it was very inconvenient to send novices to Italy, and Don
Bosco replied that he intended to find a novitiate house near Marseilles.
It was also decided to separate the Coadjutor novices from the others
which was done immediately at San Benigno.
Don Bosco concluded the last session of this chapter with various
recommendations to the effect of asking them to get to know well the
trends of the times and adjust accordingly, to avoid humiliating punish­
ments o f the boys and to guard against emotional attachments; and
for the rector, the necessity to exercise charity towards all.
The decisions of this chapter were not published separately but
merely added to those of the 1886 chapter.
We must add that, towards the end o f 1883, Don Bosco thought o f
appointing a permanent secretary to the superior chapter at Turin, as
well as to the future general chapters. He chose Father John Baptist
Lemoyne, then chaplain o f the Sisters at Nizza Monferrato, who later

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DON BOSCO
became Don Bosco’s confidant and biographer. The confidence Don
Bosco had in his secretary was so great that he said to him when he
took up his position: “ I shall have no secrets from you, neither in the
affairs o f the Congregation, nor in matters of the heart.” 13
Communication o f Privileges, 1884
To place his Society on a par with other religious families, Don
Bosco had tried for several years to obtain the so-called “privileges.”
The term is used to indicate all kinds of spiritual favors of pontifical
right traditionally conceded to a congregation as well as certain canon­
ical “faculties” of real importance for the life of a congregation des­
tined for great development. In requesting these privileges, Don Bosco
wanted to avoid the necessity of frequent appeals to Rome for per­
mission, and at the same time solve problems that arise because of the
diversity o f diocesan regimes. Generally, Rome “conceded” to a new
congregation the privileges of the Redemptorists, but Don Bosco
had a long way to go before his wishes were realized.
Regarding the above, he went to Rome in 1875. He asked at first
for the concession o f privileges and, in particular, for that o f the right
to issue dimissorial letters, so that his clerics could be ordained by any
bishop. The Pope appointed a commission to examine the request,
but the decision was negative, out of consideration for the Archbishop
of Turin. Regarding the general privileges, Don Bosco now felt that his
application should have been worded differently.
Returning to the project later, he was careful not to present every­
thing in one package. He requested instead only certain well-defined
favors including dimissorials. Again the response was negative. He then
appealed to Leo XIII (who had been elected Pope in 1878) but he still
did not obtain anything o f importance . . . Cardinal Ferrieri’s opposi­
tion never changed, and he remained throughout his life convinced
that the Salesian Congregation was a mistake and that it would not
last long.
In 1882, Don Bosco went to Rome again with a new plan of action.
He was received in audience by Leo XIII, who secretly nominated
a new commission of cardinals. Again the reply was evasive. “You have

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CONSOLIDATION
209
enemies and you must be very careful because in Rome everyone makes
mountains out of molehills!” 14
In 1884, two years later, treating him with exceptional courtesy,
the same pope was ready to grant Don Bosco “all he wanted.” Re­
ferring to the death of Archbishop Gastaldi on March 25 he added:
“Now you no longer have that adversary.” In effect, thanks to the
personal intervention of Leo XIII, the Salesian Congregation obtained
a decree o f concession of all the privileges o f the Redemptorist during
that year.
Although it had taken nine years, Don Bosco was content because
“it left nothing to be desired.” The last three and a half years of his
life, even though plagued by physical complaints, were a time of
serenity. Moreover the Pope had done him a great favor by nominating
his friend, Cardinal Cajetan Alimonda, to the See o f Turin.
Father Rua, Vicar General
Since the founder’s health was failing, the problem of the Con­
gregation’s future became more acute, and Leo XIII was very much
concerned. He asked Don Bosco in October 1884 to nominate a
successor or a vicar with the right to succeed.15 This may have seemed
a strange request at first since the constitutions already provided for the
election of a rector major, and Don Bosco was very moved by the
Pope’s personal interest in his Congregation.
On the 24th of October he referred the matter to the superior
chapter which waived preliminary voting and asked him to nominate a
man of his choice. This was a most dramatic m oment since they had
never even considered that Don Bosco would have to leave them one
day.
He nominated Father Rua and sent his reply to the pope, who ex­
pressed satisfaction and issued a decree of confirmation. Though Don
Bosco did not want the decision to become public as yet, he began to
prepare his successor for his future mission by gradually transferring
the responsibilities to him.
The superior chapter was informed only on September 24, 1885
to the effect th at “my vicar general o f the Congregation will be Father

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DON BOSCO
Michael Rua.” He went on to say that he had chosen Father Rua
“because he was one o f the very first members of the Congregation,
because he has been working in this capacity for several years, and
because this choice will please all the confreres.” He declared that
his vicar had the full powers of rector major, and that he was turning
over Father Rua’s present office of prefect to Father Celestino Du-
rando.
The Salesians received this important news in a circular dated
December 8, 1885. Judging by the many letters of congratulation
that arrived at the oratory, the reaction to this choice was most favor­
able.
I V General Chapter (September 1886)
Assembled at Valsalice in September 1886, this was to be the last
chapter presided over by Don Bosco.16 On this occasion it was quite
an imposing affair, with the members of the superior chapter, the
provincials, the procurator general, the rectors, and the delegates in
attendance.
It began at once with the election of the members to the superior
chapter. These o f course did not include Don Bosco or Father Rua,
his vicar, or Bishop Cagliero and Msgr. Fagnano, who had special
offices. On this occasion the ruling body underwent notable changes:
Father Dominic Belmonte took Father Rua’s place as prefect, Bishop
Cagliero relinquished his honorary post of catechist general to Father
John Bonetti; Father A nthony Sala remained economer general, while
Father Francis Cerruti became consultor for education.
During the subsequent deliberations a decision was made to send
several Salesians to study at Roman universities. The m atter o f military
service for young confreres came up—and various means and ways by
which it could be avoided were discussed. The assembly discussed the
problem of parishes after having heard Father Lasagna give a talk on
them, based on his wide knowledge and experience obtained in Amer­
ica. Once again the novices (Don Bosco advised they be called “a scritti”
i.e., enrolled ones) and their admission to vows were discussed. By
decree o f the Holy See, a commission was appointed to examine each

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CONSOLIDA TION
211
application for profession. Among other points, technical schools, the
Salesian Bulletin, the “visitation” o f the houses by the superiors and
the creation o f minor seminaries for students in the various provinces
were considered.
As on previous occasions, Don Bosco was given full power to revise,
co-ordinate, and complete the decisions taken. The Deliberations
of the Fouth General Chapter were published in 1887, together with
those of the preceding one.
Death o f Don Bosco, 1888
Don Bosco’s health began to decline noticeably under the burdens
of care and hard work as early as 1884. Nevertheless, he continued to
look after everything and spend himself in travelling about from one
city to another. He even went to France and Spain, preaching more by
example than by word, trying to collect money for the support of the
far flung activities o f his two Congregations and, above all, for building
the church of the Sacred Heart in Rome.
He died in the early hours of the morning at the age of seventy-
two years and five months on the 31st of January 1888.
Father Rua, unaware of the terms of the decree of 1884, started
making arrangements for succession,17 and appealed to Rome. A new
decree Ex audientia Sanctissimi, nominated him rector major for
twelve years, beginning February 11, 1888.
A week before his death Don Bosco had declared: “The Congre­
gation has nothing to fear: it has mature men,” 18 and the future soon
proved him right.

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DON BOSCO
NOTES ON CHAPTER 18
1. See L. Gastaldi to G. Bosco, November 9, 1872, published
in A. Amadei, Memorie biografiche, X, 684-85. (English ed., pp.
305-06); also F. Desramaut, “Noviciat ascetique ou noviciat apo-
stolique?” in Cahiers du Groupe lyonnais de recherches salesiennes,
1967, no. 9.
2. A. Amadei, Memorie biografiche, X, 793. (English ed.,
p. 365): “ Promemoria sopra una lettera dell’Arcivescovo di Torino
intorno alia congregazione salesiana.”
3. E. Ceria, Annali, I, 196.
4. E. Ceria, Annali, I, 207-15; E. Valentini, Don Bosco e le
vocazioni tardive, Turin 1960.
5. Constitutiones Societatis S. Francisci Salesii, ch. VI, art. 3 in
A. Amadei, op. cit., 946-65.
6. E. Ceria, Memorie biografiche, XIII, 243-94; Annali, I,
308-23.
7. E. Ceria, Memorie biografiche, XIII, 288.
8. E. Ceria, Annali, I, 308-09.
9. Ibid., 351-61. The second part of this canonical report
includes an almost com plete list of Salesian activities and can be
found in E. Ceria, Memorie biografiche, XIV, 756-63.
10. E. Ceria, Annali, I, 370-77.
11. Ibid., 464-68; Memorie biografiche, XIV, 518-21.
12. E. Ceria, Memoire biografiche, XVI, 411-21; Annali, I,
468-73.
13. E. Ceria, Annali, I, 472.
14. Ibid., 474-84; Memorie, XVII, 124-43.
15. E. Ceria, Annali, I, 525-33.
16. Ibid., 560-66; Memorie biografiche, XVIII, 178-91.
17. E. Ceria, Annali, I, 747-53.
18. Ibid., 142.

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PART II
CONSOLIDATION AND WORLD
EXPANSION OF THE SALESIAN WORK
AFTER 1888

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19
MICHAEL RUA - FIRST SUCCESSOR OF DON BOSCO
1837 - 1910
Father Michael Rua had been Don Bosco’s principal associate for
more than thirty years, and the mark left by this first successor on Don
Bosco’s many-faceted work continued into the first half of the twen­
tieth century. His administrative abilities combined with his extraordi­
nary activity, and particular kind of sanctity made him the man of
Providence who was not only able to save the Salesian Society and its
two branches from collapse but also ensure their progress in spite o f
inevitable setbacks. For a better understanding of these matters we
must go back to the training of Father Rua before speaking of his
stewardship from 1888 until 1910.
Youth
While still very young Michael Rua had been somewhat amazed by
a rather strange priest who aroused either admiration or scorn as he
passed through the streets of Turin surrounded by his band of young
vagabonds. Some men he respected, like the priest whose Mass he
served, told him that Don Bosco was “ suffering from a well-nigh
incurable illness.” 1 It is said that remarks like that made Michael cry;
he was then only eight or nine years old.

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DON BOSCO
As he grew older a little mystery had come up between him and Don
Bosco which aroused his curiosity. On one occasion, as he was on his
way to school, he m et the priest. Don Bosco gave all the boys a holy
picture, but he did not give one to him. Instead, he held one hand open
and pretended to cut it in two with the other, saying: “Take it, Michael,
take it!” 2 Only years later did Don Bosco explain that it had meant
that he, Don Bosco, and Michael would share everything.
Michael was born on June 9, 1837, in the Vaidocco district of Turin,
not far from where the future oratory was to arise. The Rua family
was not wealthy even though the father was an inspector in a muni­
tions factory. John Baptist Rua had five children by a previous marri­
age and then another four after he remarried. Michael was the last
child. The entire family was not sturdy, so much so that when Michael
was born there were only four other children living. Although he him­
self was not strong he outlived all the others. He was a refined and
quiet lad, always neatly dressed.
At the age of eight he lost his father but, as one of his biographers
asserts, he soon found John Bosco who would be a father to him
throughout his life. He himself declared at the process o f Don Bosco’s
beatification: “I came to know this Servant of God . . . in September
1845 when I was eight years old. At the invitation o f a friend, I began
to visit the Oratory by the Refuge.”3 From then on, if it had been
possible, he would not have missed any of the activities at the Oratory,
but his m other had doubts. Perhaps she was afraid o f allowing her
youngest child to associate with such dubious boys? Father Ceria
suggests that much.4 In any case, he took a great interest in whatever
happened at Vaidocco. When his eldest brother Louis told him all about
the illness that threatened Don Bosco’s life in 1846, he was deeply
moved. Later he would recall the triumphal arches erected in Vaidocco
in 1847 to welcome Archbishop Fransoni. That year he was admitted
to the Sodality of St. Aloysius and hence could observe Don Bosco at
close quarters every month.
In 1848 he became a pupil of the De La Salle Brothers and remained
with them for two years. His mother wanted him to learn his father’s
trade. This did not separate him from Don Bosco who was one of the
school chaplains. He often met him in the streets and soon he was
able to attend the Oratory more frequently.

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MICHAEL RUA
217
In 1850, at the end of the school year, Michael thought of getting a
job in a factory to earn a living and help his mother, but Don Bosco had
kept an eye on him and asked him if he would like “to study Latin.”
The boy at once understood what he meant and said he was ready to
study to become a priest.
Secondary Schooling
In August 1850 he began to study Latin without much zest—a failing
which seems to have embarrassed his biographers.5 However, as soon as
he realized he was disappointing his “friend” he hastened to make
amends and to persevere.
He became in turn a pupil of Professors Merla, Bonzanino, and Picco
from whom he received the highest praise for his spirit o f application
and excellent results. Due to the high esteem in which he was held
Michael Rua was put in charge o f the group of students on their way to
and from classes in the city. In performing this task he ran into some
difficulty concerning young Cagliero, who was a good but very mis­
chievous fellow.
In the meantime Michael continued to live at home, but he went to
see Don Bosco as often as possible, and sometimes he would eat the
evening meal with him. As time passed, he began to realize the extra­
ordinary and growing significance of this priest. Just watching Don
Bosco’s every activity, however trivial, impressed the boy more than
reading, or meditating on any book of piety.6
As he observed him go about his daily routine, in and out of school,
with that mixture o f seriousness and kindness that was so much part
of his nature, he came to realize that love was the source of all things
in this life. Don Bosco became his model in everything he did, so much
so that he advised Francesia, who had just arrived, to make Don Bosco
the father of his soul.
In the fall of 1852, Michael Rua became a border at the Oratory and
on the 3rd October in that year, at the age of fifteen, he took the
cassock in the chapel at Becchi. After finishing high school in 1853 he
entered the seminary of Turin to study philosophy.

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DON BOSCO
Salesian
Meanwhile Don Bosco had been developing his plan for a congre­
gation. On the occasion o f the so-called “ conferences” he would gather
his most trusted boys and gradually prepare them for this idea.
On January 26, 1853, just before the feast of St. Francis de Sales,
Rua, Cagliero, and two other Oratory boys were invited to “a test in
the exercise of practical charity towards their neighbors” and were
henceforth called Salesians.
Michael Rua remained Don Bosco’s main associate at the Oratory.
It was to him alone that Don Bosco entrusted the boys; he assisted with
the weekly catechism classes; he took charge of the library, and, when
necessary, even o f Don Bosco’s own office. Apparently, no one seemed
surprised, for Rua’s piety was well-known, (he was the only one who
m editated daily), so were his sense of duty and his attachment to Don
Bosco, all o f which well qualified him for this task. He was a friend of
Dominic Savio and became the first president of the Company of Mary
Immaculate. On the 25th of March 1855, he pronounced his religious
vows.
Between 1855 and 1860 he completed his theological studies and—
like Don Bosco before him —showed a marked preference for moral
(as compared to speculative) theology and for the sacred writings, while
back at the Oratory, and not only at Vaidocco, he continued to help
his master with increasing efficiency. In 1856 he was put in charge of
the oratory at Porta Nuova and in the following year of that at Van-
chiglia. He also assisted Don Bosco with his writings and when the His­
tory o f Italy was reprinted it was Rua who revised the text and brought
it up to date.
In 1858 he accompanied Don Bosco on a visit to Rome after which
the idea o f the congregation began to take shape. When, in December,
1856, Don Bosco invited a number of boys to enroll in the Society of
St. Francis de Sales, Rua was obviously among them.
He was unanimously elected to the post of Spiritual Director of
the Salesian Congregation on December 18 of that year, while the
title of prefect was given by Don Bosco to Father Alasonatti. Michael
Rua was only a subdeacon at the time.

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219
Priest
During Michael Rua’s spiritual retreat in preparation for priestly
ordination, Don Bosco, in a talk to remember, ended with these words:
“Trust in God, and if I can ever do anything for you, I shall always
be at your service.” 7 His ordination took place on the 29th of July
in 1860, at Caselle, and there was a special celebration on the following
Sunday.
A priest now, Rua found himself overwhelmed like his master,
by a multitude of tasks. Already spiritual director, he was now also
put in charge of education, and it is said that he managed to discharge
both functions well. In addition, he was director o f the oratory at
Vanchiglia.
In 1863 Don Bosco found a way of training him for even greater
responsibilities by making him rector of the Salesian school at Mira-
bello. Rua was then only twenty-six years old. He did well as rector,
so much so that he entertained a feeling of pride, which he was at
pains to admit. In the Oratory chronicle Father Ruffino recorded
this high praise: “ Father Rua in Mirabello acts just like Don Bosco in
Turin. He is always surrounded by the boys, who are attracted by his
kindliness and by the interesting things he keeps telling them. At the
beginning of the schoolyear he advised the teachers not to be too
strict—as y e t . . .” 8
It seemed, however, that Turin could not do without him. He was
recalled in 1865 to take the place of the ailing Father Alasonatti. The
new responsibility was a heavy one, involving general discipline, mater­
ial care of the house plus seven hundred boys. Additional responsi­
bilities were the construction of the church of Mary Help o f Christians,
business management of the Catholic Readings, and helping Don Bosco
with his enormous correspondence. No wonder then that in 1868 his
delicate health gave way under the load of work. Although the doctor
gave up hope, Don Bosco sent back the holy oils for the anointing.
“ Look,” he said, “you wouldn’t be able to die now even if you threw
yourself out of the window.” 9 And, truly, he recovered and carried
on.
Rua was always at Don Bosco’s side, a man of integrity, ready for
any task. In Don Bosco’s absence, the affairs o f the Oratory were en­

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DON BOSCO
trusted to him, sometimes for months on end. It is obvious that Don
Bosco was gradually preparing him to be his successor one day. In
1869, for example, he put him in charge of the formation of Salesian
candidates, though w ithout the title of novice master, which he pre­
ferred n o t to use just then. In his capacity as prefect general of the
Society, it was Rua who, in 1872, assigned the personnel to the various
houses. A little later, the founder sent him out regularly to visit the
houses, entrusted him with the task of studying the requests for new
foundations, and transferred to him the direction of the Daughters
o f Mary Help o f Christians, after John Cagliero had left for South
America. We find Rua opening a house in Paris in 1878, in Marseilles in
1880, where he also presided at the annual Salesian retreat; in Sicily
as canonical visitor in 1885, etc. He was in Rome with Don Bosco in
1881, in Paris in 1883, and in the same year in Frohsdorf in Austria,
at the bedside of Count de Chambord, and in Barcelona in 1886.
When, at the Pope’s suggestion, Don Bosco began to select a vicar
with the right to succeed him, whom else could he choose but his
alter ego, the man who had been at his side through all these years?
This decision was announced at the meeting of the superior chapter
on September 24, 1885. Father Rua then resigned his office of prefect
which he had held for tw enty years, and nobody doubted that he was
the one to take their father’s place when the time came. Don Bosco
gradually withdrew to such an extent that he sometimes deferred to the
opinion o f his vicar general.
After having lived with Don Bosco for almost thirty-six years, the
founder’s death shook him to the very core.
Rector Major, 1888—1910
After Don Bosco’s death, several well-meaning persons including
even Leo XIII, harbored doubts about the future of his Congregation,
to the point o f expecting it to disperse in the near future. Disturbing
rumors circulated in Rome; there was talk o f merging it with a similar
society which was older and more established, a project which was
in fact abandoned only because of the kind intervention of a great
friend o f the Salesians, Bishop Manacorda o f Fossano.10 Father Rua

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221
was then nominated rector major for a period o f twelve years.
He did not waste time. In his first official letter to the Salesians,
dated March 19, 1888, he based his program on the person and the
great work of the founder: “We should consider ourselves truly for­
tunate to be the sons of such a father. Hence we must try our very best
to preserve and further the work he began, and faithfully follow the
methods he taught and practiced. In our manner of speaking and
working we must try to live up to his example which the Lord in His
goodness has provided” 11 He announced that this would be his own
program and that every Salesian should study it and make it his goal. In
the twenty-one years he was to remain at the head of the Salesian
Society he certainly tried to fulfill it.
Moreover, he felt that by the nature of his mission he should be like
Don Bosco, even in his manner. Besides, just before dying, the founder
had whispered to him: “ Make yourself loved.” 12 Certainly Father Rua
differed very much from his model in physique and temperament.
As Father Auffray notes, the contrast between them was striking: While
the smile, face, and manner of one expressed fatherly kindliness, there
was a gentle seriousness about the other, an air o f spirituality and a
touch of austerity. Among the boys on the playgrounds the former was
merry, expansive, cordial, the latter, while equally cordial, was more
reserved and less demonstrative.13 However all witnesses agree that
Father Rua softened considerably and, as rector major, “he became
more like a father than a superior.” Some who remembered him as the
former arbiter of discipline were amazed at the change.
Activities
When he became rector major, Father Rua’s activities increased
considerably. As soon as installed in his new office, he had to pay debts
at Turin, in France, and in Rome. Although he did not have Don
Bosco’s genius for raising money, he soon learned how to extract
himself from such predicaments.
He wrote a great deal, and on principle never left a letter unan­
swered. His “ circular letters” and “ edifying letters” addressed to all the
Salesians amounted to a thick volume when published by his successor.

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DON BOSCO
He spoke with precision and warmth about everything concerning the
life o f the Society he directed.
Though we may now imagine Father Rua as a reserved man, who
preferred to sit behind his desk, he became in fact a great traveller,
and the account o f his long journeys as superior provided the main
material for Father Ceria’s writings. One o f his biographers estimates
that Father Rua must have covered at least sixty thousand miles—a
great deal when one considers the means o f transportation available in
his tim e.14
Obviously, he did not move about just for the sake of travelling.
He had two distinct objectives: to keep the spirit o f Don Bosco alive
everywhere by personal contact with his religious and with the Cooper­
ators, and to deal with the affairs of the Congregation.
Usually he would set o ff in spring on a journey that took several
m onths—mainly because o f the relatively long time he stayed at each
of the Salesian houses. We shall leave aside his frequent visits through­
out Italy and mention only his first journey abroad which took place
between February and May 1890.15
Arriving in France, he stayed nine days at Nice, where he asked
the Salesians not to forget the oratory; then on to Navarre, also visiting
the Salesian Cooperators at Toulon and Cannes, and the Salesians
and Sisters at Saint-Cyr. When he arrived in Marseilles on February 28,
he was besieged by visitors. After spending some time with the novices
at Sainte-Marguerite, he also stopped to visit benefactors at Aubagne
and Roquefort. From France he went on to Spain where he was nearly
mobbed at Barcelona. Passing through Madrid, he arrived at Utrera
where, we are told, the pupils even took objects from him to keep as
souvenirs. He returned to Italy for Holy Week, and soon after left for
Lyons and Paris. From there he went on to visit the Salesians in Lon­
don’s Battersea district. He then returned to France by way of Lille,
where he took part in the boys’ retreat and visited the Sisters at Guines.
Then he crossed over to Belgium to prepare the new foundation at
liege and to visit the main cities. Returning to France, he stopped at
Menilmontant in Paris, made a brief trip to Paray-le-Monial and to
Cluny, from where he returned to the Oratory in Turin at the end of
May.
Father Rua gave an account of this trip in a circular letter to the

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223
Salesians.16 His major consolation, he said, was the veneration for Don
Bosco he had seen wherever he went and the satisfactory condition of
the houses he had visited. This, however, did not keep him from point­
ing out some faults, such as the neglect of Gregorian Chant, laxity in
theological studies, unnecessary train journeys for pupils, etc.
In time he was to undertake many more extensive journeys. In
1894 we find him in Switzerland, then at Strasbourg surrounded by a
great many friends, then at Liege, after passing through Metz and going
as far as Rotterdam. The following year saw the realization o f a more
ambitious project: embarking at Marseilles, he went to Alexandria in
Egypt, then entered Palestine by way of Haifa. After visiting the
Salesian foundations there, he went to pray at the Holy Places. In 1899
he was again in southern France and then in Spain, accompanied by the
Provincial, Father Rinaldi. After a tour of Portugal, he embarked at
Almeria for North Africa to visit the house in Oran. A year later,
we find him in Tunisia, and in 1904 he visited Austria and Poland.
Finally, in fulfillment of a vow, made at a difficult moment, he went
once again to the Holy Land, two years before his death.
Father Rua’s numerous journeys certainly contributed to preserving
the unity of the Salesian Congregation after Don Bosco’s death. On the
other hand, judging from the manifestations of sympathy and esteem
that were showered on the saint’s successor, who was proclaimed
a “new Don Bosco,” it is evident that the tree of the Salesian Congre­
gation was still very sturdy.
In effect the unprecedented development of the Congregation be­
tween 1888 and 1910 can be attributed to Father Rua’s efforts during
his term of office. He worked with almost feverish activity to increase
the number of foundations, which brought him a certain amount of
criticism. His reply was that all the confreres must get involved in
finding new vocations, and he did not hesitate, when he thought it
opportune, to reprimand those provinces “that did not produce even
one single novice.” 17 At any rate, he had grounds for satisfaction, and
when writing a year before his death, he had this to say: “Far from
disappearing, as some had prophesied, the Salesian Society continues its
productive apostolate all over the world, ever extending its Providential
work, and gaining greater favor and esteem every day.” 18

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Trials
On the other hand, Father Rua was tortured by cases of conscience
and other trials.
The question of hearing confessions worried him between 1899 and
1901.19 Up to then, the Salesian superiors and rectors had remained
faithful to Don Bosco’s custom of giving their religious and pupils
full liberty regarding confession. Father Rua continued hearing confess­
ions at the Oratory and elsewhere, because he was convinced that this
tradition was a fundamental part of the Salesian method. It was there­
fore a sad blow when a decree of July 5, 1899, forbade the rectors of
the houses in Rome to hear the pupils’ confessions. According to the
Holy Office, this article was to safeguard the liberty of the penitents
and to prevent possible suspicions concerning the directorship of the
superiors. Fearing, with some justification, that this was the thin end o f
the wedge, Father Rua sought to temporize. Then, a second decree of
April 24, 1901, explicitly forbade all Salesian superiors to hear con­
fessions of anyone within their community. Torn between two loyal­
ties, Father Rua appealed, only to be called to Rome where he had to
submit to a personal reprimand by the Holy Office, followed by the
command to leave Rome immediately. He submitted without hesitation
but suffered great anguish.
Another Roman decision during 1906 obliged him to give up one
more part o f Don Bosco’s heritage. This time it involved the total
separation o f the two congregations founded by the saint, but we shall
come to this later.20
Above all, Father Rua was most upset by what had happened at
Varazze.21 The Salesian school in that city had been running smoothly
when it was suddenly hit by a storm o f troubles in 1907. It was the
beginning o f the holidays and the last pupils were about to leave for
their homes when on the morning of July 29, policemen rudely entered
the house, accusing the Salesians o f all kinds of misdeeds, even in­
cluding the celebration of satanic masses. The house was searched, there
were interrogations, medical examinations, the lot! According to the
police, the overwhelming accusations were sufficiently substantiated by
the general gossip and the personal diary of a pupil. Two Salesians were
sent to prison at Savona, while a certain section o f the press vilified

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the Salesians and the clergy, and violence erupted in Savona, La Spezia
and Sampierdarena. It took considerable time to prove that the pupil
in question was quite unbalanced and that his diary contained nothing
but lies. It was said that the whole affair had been staged to bring about
the abolition of schools run by religious organizations in Italy. Cer­
tainly it was a time of trial for the rector major, and some witnesses
say that he had been depressed and changed beyond recognition during
that period.
Among the unhappy events of his stewardship, we must include
the closing of the houses in Ecuador in 1896 and the ones in France
in 1902, and the earthquake in Messina which took the lives of nine
Salesians and thirty nine pupils.
Finally, and especially from early 1909, Father Rua suffered painful
physical disorders such as phlebitis and conjunctivitis. Nevertheless, he
retained his amazing energy until his death on the 6th o f April, 1910.
Spirituality o f Father Rua
Father Rua found his own spiritual path in the contemplation of
Don Bosco and his work which inspired him with a love for the Rule,
asceticism, and devotion to Christ and His Holy Mother.
He retained a special respect for the Rule which he considered
part of Don Bosco’s great heritage and which he endeavored to observe
with extraordinary faithfulness. His adherence to all regulations was
proverbial. Don Bosco himself had once joked about Father Rua’s
exactitude, saying that he would be afraid to go to confession to him.
Not for nothing was Father Rua called “ the living Rule.”
As rector major, he continued to advocate fidelity to customs,
traditions, arid the constitutions left by the founder. However, it is
well to point out that this did not prevent his introducing some impor­
tant innovations such as the three-year tirocinium recommended by
the general chapter in 1901, and the reform of the general chapter
itself in 1904. His respect for the Rule, which he tried to inculcate in
others, derived its strength from his faith that it came directly from
God. “Is not the Rule,” he asked one day, “the book of life, the
essence of the Gospel, the hope o f our salvation, the measure o f our

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DON BOSCO
perfection, the key to heaven?” 22
Father Rua was an ascetic. His physiognomy, his manner, his lean
appearance reminded one of the Cure of Ars. Following the example of
his master, he mortified himself habitually with work and incessant
activity. It was said o f him that he had vowed never to waste a minute
of his time. A little joke circulated to the effect that Father Rua, upon
arrival in heaven, would first rush to greet Don Bosco and then ask him
for some work!
Finally, his devotion to Christ and His Mother was great indeed.
He consecrated the Salesian Congregation to the Sacred Heart of
Jesus on December 28, 1900. On that occasion he sent an “instruc­
tion on Devotion to the Sacred Heart o f Jesus” to all houses.23 Like
Don Bosco, he did not separate Christ from His Mother. He assisted
with great joy at the crowning of the Madonna at Vaidocco in 1903.
Two years later he accepted the commission from Pius X to build the
church o f Santa Maria Liberatrice in the Testaccio quarter of Rome.
The cause for the beatification and canonization of Father Rua has
been introduced in Rome. Pronounced Venerable in 1953, he was
declared Blessed by His Holiness Pope Paul VI in 1972.

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NOTES ON CHAPTER 19
1. A. Amadei, Servo di Dio Michele Rua, Turin 1931, p. 10,
and E. Ceria, Vita del Servo di Dio Don Michele Rua, Turin 1949,
2. A. Amadei, op. cit., p. 19.
3. Beatificationis et Canonizationis Servi Dei Sacerdotis Joannis
Bosco, Summarium, Rome 1907, p. 18.
4. E. Ceria, Vita, p. 12.
5. A. Amadei, op. cit., pp. 24-25.
6. Ibid., p. 30.
7. Ibid., p. 136.
8. Ibid., pp. 170-71.
9. E. Ceria, Vita, p. 71.
10. E. Ceria, Annali, I, pp. 747-49.
11. M. Rua, Lettere circolari ai Salesiani, Turin 1910.
12. E. Ceria, Vita, p. 147.
13. A. Auffray, Un Saint form e par un autre Saint. Le Pre­
mier successeur de Don Bosco, Don Rua (1837-1910), Lyons 1932,
p. 341.
14. Ibid., pp. 240-48.
15. E. Ceria, Vita, pp. 179-97.
16. M. Rua, Lettere circolari, pp. 49-54.
17. Ibid., p. 394.
18. Ibid., p. 397.
19. E. Ceria, Vita, pp. 383-48.
20. Ibid., ch. 27.
21. Ibid., pp. 495-75.
22. M. Rua, L ettere circolari, p. 123.
23. Ibid., pp. 268-301.

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20
THE SALESIANS IN EUROPE UNDER FATHER RUA
General View
After having portrayed the figure of Don Bosco’s successor and some
o f the vicissitudes of his active life, we shall sum up in two chapters
the progress of the Society in the various parts of the world where it
had taken root.
It m ust be admitted that at the outset of Father Rua’s decisive
rectorship, the young Congregation travelled on the crest of the waves.
Don Bosco’s charismatic personality had attracted people of all walks
of life. At his death the international press had underlined once more
his great social achievements and as a result applications continued to
come in from all over the world. Even his adversaries proved in their
own way the vigor o f the sons o f Don Bosco: “The Salesians,” accord­
ing to a report of a commission of the French Senate, “although of
recent origin, are a worldwide organization today.” 1
In the first months of his stewardship, Father Rua had to restrain
his impatience. Don Boso had advised him shortly before his death
to suspend new foundations and new buildings and to consolidate those
already in operation. Leo XIII had also insisted on this consolidation
during an audience on February 21, 1888. When eventually he thought
it possible to respond to the numerous requests for schools and ora-

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229
tones so numerous, according to Father Ceria, that only one in a
hundred could be satisfied—Father Rua proved to be propelled by the
same faith as Don Bosco before him.
Statistics confirm that there was considerable expansion during his
twenty years of leadership. There were fifty-six houses in 1888, which
had increased to three hundred forty-five by 1910, when Salesians
were already working in new countries in Western and Central Europe.
New Countries in Europe
Preliminary preparations had begun in 1877 for the start o f Salesian
work in Switzerland2 which led to the acceptance in 1889 of a school
at Mendrisio in the Canton of Ticino. Don Bosco himself had taken an
interest in this foundation to overcome the superior chapter’s opposi­
tion to lay personnel and the civilian clothes that would have to be
worn there. When the government changed in 1893, the Salesians were
expelled and settled elsewhere, first at Balerna and then at Maroggia;
they also opened an oratory in the nearby town o f Lugano. In the
German-speaking part of Switzerland they were given a technical and
agricultural school at Muri, and Father Mederlet (future Archbishop of
Madras) was its first rector.
Two years after Switzerland, a group of Salesians arrived at Liege in
Belgium.3 Bishop Doutreloux was responsible for a foundation in that
city. He had admired Don Bosco, who had approved the foundation
before his death. In 1895 a second work was opened at Tournai. Later
a novitiate was opened in the village of Hechtel. Beginning in 1902 the
houses of Belgium became part of an autonomous province with
Father Scaloni in charge. This was one of the first provinces to have its
own theological faculty which opened at Grand-Bigard in 1904.
After an exploratory tour of Portugal, the provincial in Spain,
Father Rinaldi, declared in 1894: “Without even looking, I have found
six houses in Portugal that want to be Salesian.4 That year several
Salesians went to Braga, where they had been offered an orphanage;
from there they spread to many other places in that country, first
to Lisbon, then Viana do Castelo, then to Oporto. Soon their work
stretched even beyond the seas, and in 1902, Father Cogliolo became

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DON BOSCO
Portugal’s first provincial.
The beginnings in Poland were very eventful.5 After many vicissi­
tudes Father Markiewicz had become a Salesian and was, with Father
Rua’s consent, nominated priest of a parish in the diocese of Przemysl.
On arriving there in 1892, he immediately opened a school and broke
with Turin. He then set about recruiting Salesians “ of strict observ­
ance” in his own country. According to him the Congregation had
softened; members were allowed better food and pupils had to pay
fees instead o f receiving free tuition, as had been the case with him,
years ago.
Furtherm ore he accused the superiors o f the Salesian Society and
Don Bosco himself, of having wangled a lot of money out of Polish
people w ithout doing anything for them in return. On the other side,
we find accusations that Father Markiewicz was trying to present him­
self as the Don Bosco of Poland.
After these long drawn-out and disappointing affairs the fundamen­
tal Salesian work began in Poland in 1898 at Auschwitz, a town then
situated in “ Austrian” Poland. Father Manassero had settled there
when an Austrian province had been established in 1905, which in­
cluded all the houses in the former empire. The Salesians established a
school for late vocations at Daszawa, and Przemysl became the sphere
of activity o f a Salesian who was to become famous as the future
Primate of Poland, Cardinal Hlond.
We must also mention the Salesian foundation in Ljubliana in
Yugoslavia and the one in Vienna, then the capital of the empire. In
South-West Asia, the Salesians established foundations in Istanbul and
Smyrna, where there were thriving Italian colonies.
To these countries m ust be added several African nations which
were connected in a special way with European countries at the time.
In N orth Africa, Cardinal Lavigerie, encouraged by a promise of Don
Bosco, could hardly restrain his impatience, and when he heard in 1891
that Salesians had gone to Oran, the Archbishop of Carthage gave
Father Rua a friendly rebuke. In Tunis the Salesians took over an
orphanage in 1894 at La Marsa, and two years later a “patronage” was
opened at Rosario. They also founded a technical school in Alexandria
in Egypt and another at the southernmost point of the African con­
tinent at Cape Town.6

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Expansion in Italy
During Father Rua’s term, foundations multiplied in European
countries where the Congregation had already established a foothold.
Italy, in particular, was covered with a netw ork o f Salesian houses,7
especially in the larger cities. It would require too much space to trace
the story of the foundations in Italy between 1888 and 1910, and we
shall limit ourselves therefore to mentioning the main ones in order
to give a general idea o f the growth of the Society in its native country.
There were no less than eleven new foundations in Italy between
1890 and 1892. Five were in Piedmont: at Trino (school and oratory),
Fossano, Piova (a holiday house for the students o f philosophy), Ivrea
(International Center for Recruiting and Form ation), and Chieri. We
may mention further Treviglio and Verona, the latter became the
headquarters of a future province.
Farther down the peninsula we find a foundation at Lugo (Ro­
magna) where the work of priests was rather difficult. The only way
the Salesians could stay there and prosper as well was by keeping in
mind Don Bosco’s m otto: “It is necessary to keep out of politics;
our program is for the benefit of poor boys.” 8 The foundation at
Macerata made rapid progress, whereas the school at Loreto was less
fortunate and had to be closed in 1910.
Going on to Sicily, we find that the Salesians added a school to the
flourishing oratory at Catania which would also become provincial
headquarters. Messina too had a school which suffered badly during
the earthquake in 1908. There were houses also at Ali Marina, Bronte,
Marsala, and the novitiate at San Gregorio.
Between 1893-1895 more new centers of Salesian life sprang up.
Liguria got its sixth establishment when a house was opened at Savona.
In Piedmont there were seven new foundations, including one at
Novara; a school for Polish boys who aspired to the priesthood at
Lombriasco and the school for late vocations at Avigliana. When the
Salesians arrived in Milan, it was considered an im portant event, for
the archbishop and a very active committee o f Cooperators had long ago
prepared for it. Houses were opened at Trent and Gorizia in the Austro-
Hungarian Empire. Further south we find new foundations at Orvieto,
Trevi, and Gualdo Tadino in Umbria; further still at Castellammare di

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Stabia and Catanzaro. In the seminary at Catanzaro a tragic incident
occurred when the Salesian Rector, Father Dalmazzo, was shot and
killed by a madman.
During the following years Salesian foundations continued to
spring up. In 1900 and 1906, however, Father Rua had to pause in
order to consolidate. In this entire period up to 1910, we mention
only the following new foundations among others: the agricultural
school at Canelli, the novitiate at Genzano, then Ferrara, Modena,
Bologna, Pavia, Pisa, Caserta, Castelnuovo, Lanusei (Sardinia), Naples,
Ancona, Palermo, Bari, Casale, Ravenna, San Giovanni della Pigna,
and Santa Maria Liberatrice in Rome. In 1910 there were four flour­
ishing provinces in Italy, bearing witness to the remarkable develop­
ment of the Salesians.
Progress in Spain
Although not as widespread as in Italy, Salesian activity in Spain
went ahead of its usual rate.9 Whereas in 1888 there had been only
two houses, at Utrera and Barcelona, there were thirty more by 1910.
One o f the great architects of this expansion was Father Rinaldi.
Nominated rector of Sarria in 1890, he became provincial of the
Iberian province the following year and, with much thought and
diligence, set himself to the task of maintaining and increasing the
Spanish foundations; conditions were favorable and the Salesian work
was appreciated even by the government. In fact, on October 25, 1893,
a commendation was issued in praise of the Salesians’ special contribu­
tion in matters o f the urgent social problems. In the following year a
similar tribute was paid at the International Catholic Congress at
Tarragona.
In 1891 an agricultural school was opened at Gerona, and in 1892
an oratory at Santander rapidly took on considerable dimensions. At
the other end of the peninsula, an oratory for neglected boys was
opened at Seville; the rapidly increasing number of vocations de­
manded the opening of a novitiate at San Vincens dels Horts, near
Barcelona. Other places we may mention are Rialp, Vigo, Befar, Ecija,
Cormona, Baracaldo, Salamanca, Valencia, Ciudadela, Montilla, Madrid.

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Cordoba, Ronda, Huesca, San Jose del Valle, etc. In 1901 it became
necessary to divide the Iberian Peninsula into three provinces, with
Father Aime as provincial at Barcelona, Father Oberti at Madrid, and
Father Ricaldone at Seville. Father Rinaldi was recalled to Turin for
promotion to higher responsibilities.
Ups and Downs in France
During Father Rua’s years in charge the Salesian work in France
went through two contrasting periods.10
In the early period the future had seemed most promising. The
foundations from Don Bosco’s own time (above all those at Nice, Mar­
seilles, Navarre, Paris, Lille, Sainte-Marguerite) made steady progress,
and new foundations were added: an agricultural school at Gevig-
ney near Besancon which was later transferred to Rossignol. In 1893
the Salesians were welcomed at Toulon by Bishop Cabrieres of M ont­
pellier. Another oratory was opened at Romans with the help o f a
group of active Cooperators in 1896. The work in France seemed
sufficiently developed by then to make it feasible to establish a second
province including the houses in the northern part of France, with
headquarters in Paris under Father Joseph Ronchail. The latter opened
a novitiate at Rueil and a school for adult vocations at Mordreux.
On the occasion o f the World Fair in Paris in 1900, the Salesians were
awarded two medals for their social work.
A year later however a storm broke loose against religious congrega­
tions. Organized by Waldeck-Rousseau and fiercely carried out by
Combes, a special law left members o f religious organizations with the
risky alternative to either seek recognition by the state or to return to
secular life. The northern Salesian province chose the first and was
completely dissolved except for one house in Paris under Father Dhuit.
Choosing the other alternative, the southern province led a precarious,
clandestine existence, and many Salesians left the country. Some went
to the island of Guernsey, some to the missions, but the work in France
was revived after World War I.

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DON BOSCO
England11
Battersea, a district of London, could claim Don Bosco as its foun­
der. [Strangely enough, the second English Foundation of 1896 was
six thousand miles away at Cape Town, the Cape of Good Hope for
Don Bosco]. Thanks to the friendship of the future Archbishop of
Westminster, Msgr. Bourne, the Salesians became established at Bur-
wash in Sussex, where they accepted a parish church and organized
a school under Father Tozzi in 1897; a novitiate and philosophical
faculty followed later. In 1901 an orphanage was opened at Farn-
borough, and one year later the Salesians were able to take over the
parish of Chertsey.
The houses in England, South Africa and Malta formed at first
part of the Belgian Province; in 1902 however they were organized
into a separate, autonomous province under Father Macey.
A Privileged Institution: the Oratory
The foundations developed under Father Rua all followed the regu­
lar patterns of Salesian enterprises, i.e. elementary and secondary
schools, special courses for late vocations of which there were many,
technical schools (considered by Combes, the French Minister, incom­
patible with the priestly mission); agricultural schools, orphanages,
more parishes, in spite of general hesitation, oratories, etc. It was un­
doubtedly the oratory that came first, if not in actual practice, but
certainly in the esteem and care of the Salesians and their superiors.
The work of the rector major in this respect will never be forgotten,
for Father Rua continually extolled this type of apostolate, especially
in his circular letters to the Salesians, in which he reminded them of the
starting point of all the Salesian works and of the Pious Society itself.12
In 1899, he invited the provincials to let him know what they were
doing about the oratories; in his opinion every house ought to have its
oratory. He was not afraid of large oratories and was delighted to find,
during his journeys, some with three hundred or five hundred or a
thousand boys. It was most important to him that the Salesians should
never lose sight of their primary aim, Christian education.

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The beginnings of one particular oratory at this time have remained
famous. At Seville in Spain, the religious authorities had asked the
Salesians to take up the cause of “the innumerable sons of the people
who were growing up completely neglected.” 13 The civil authorities
supported this request because of the disturbances caused by “crowds
of boys who invaded the city and threatened public order.” Therefore,
when the Salesians came to Seville in 1892, they found plenty of work.
Rival bands of youths engaged in stone fights would nevertheless
gang up when it came to opposing the police, and the city’s street lights
were their favorite target. The young cleric, Ricaldone, gradually
managed to win their confidence; he intervened in their quarrels, and
found himself before long at the head of five hundred vagabonds. One
day he suggested that they lay down their clubs and slingshots at the
feet of our Lady’s statue and they obeyed. These dangerous weapons
(several thousands of them) were then solemnly burned. Understand­
ably, the good people of Seville were not likely to forget for a long time
that rather unusual bonfire!
Some Unusual Foundations
The Salesians did not hesitate to take on new forms of apostolates
among the young and the laborers.
At Naples, for example, in 1909 they accepted charge of a school for
deaf mutes.14 Certainly Father Rua felt that Don Bosco would have
favored such an enterprise, although it might have been different had
they been blind. The Salesians immediately made the necessary reforms
i.e., stopping the boys from begging, organizing regular classes, and
constructing better buildings. One important innovation was the
establishment of a system for speech therapy.
At Sliema, on the island of Malta, the Congregation accepted a
school for young delinquents in 1903.15 Although this was a novelty,
it was, in a sense, really only a return to the original efforts of Don
Bosco who, at the outset of his career would pay apostolic visits to the
prisoners. Here the Salesians had the opportunity of applying their
own special methods to this type of institution.
Finally, a project on behalf of Italian laborers working on the

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DON BOSCO
Simplon tunnel was highly praised, not only by Catholics, but even by
the Socialists of the time. A parish and insurance company were estab­
lished for their benefit at Brigue, in Switzerland. The “Italian Workers
Association” was praised by a rather anticlerical Italian Deputy who had
gone there on an inspection trip. He had to agree that “the priests
were always the first to act, and to help alleviate the sufferings of
others.” 16
Recruitment
One can explain the proliferation of foundations between 1888 and
1910 only by the great number of vocations furthered by the Salesian
Society. In this period, the number of novices soared, and then fell
off a little. In 1900 there were eight hundred and three, but the later
years were less extraordinary, for the statistics for 1910 show only
three hundred seventy-one. The over-all statistics however reveal a
significant increase among the professed religious, from seven hundred
seventy-four at the death of Don Bosco to 4,001 at the death of Father
Rua. (These figures are for the whole Salesian world but apply mainly
to Europe.)
In this respect as well, the rector major’s initiative was a deter­
mining factor. Indefatigably—perhaps in the end, with unrelieved
monotony—Father Rua kept returning to the need for vocations, if
necessary reproving those provinces that did not seem productive
enough. In his letter of January 31, 1897, he explains: “Steering as I do
the ship of our dear Congregation, I should be failing in my duty if I
did not have its development and progress very much at heart. This has
been the motive behind my efforts and I wish to reveal to you my
special concern with furthering vocations because the Pious Society of
St. Francis de Sales would fall short of its purpose if it ever neglected
them.” 17 When speaking about vocations Father Rua sometimes waxed
almost poetically. “The Salesian,” he explained, “is like a diligent
gardener cultivating with particular care those tender little plants which
are healthier and more flourishing than the rest, and which are destined
to produce the grains that will be the seed for the new harvest. . .” 18
Hence his concern for the novitiates. He insisted that every province

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should have its own, and he congratulated those that had developed
one, mentioning in his circular letters the planting of new “seed-beds of
Salesians” so that all could rejoice. Remembering his own experience,
he outlined a very detailed program for the novices.
For some time it was thought an advantage to have separate novi­
tiates for the Coadjutors. In 1900 he was able to announce seven
novitiates for Coadjutors, and the general chapter of 1901 was in
complete agreement with this arrangement. In practice however, there
must have been some disappointment, for the 1904 chapter opted anew
for a common novitiate. By 1910 almost every province had its own
novitiate.
The Provinces
The organization of the provinces kept abreast of the novitiates.
Here again there was amazing progress. From 1888 to 1910 the number
increased from six to thirty-two excluding the two French provinces,
which could not be mentioned at that time. In Europe there were four
Italian provinces (Piedmont, Liguria, Rome and Sicily) and three in
Spain (Barcelona, Madrid, Seville.)
Father Rua’s vigilance never decreased, for he was convinced that
the founding of provinces and the choice of provincials were most
important matters, especially after the canonical approbation from
Rome on January 20, 1902. According to him, the provincials were the
representatives of the rector major, even of God Himself, hence their
responsibilities were most serious. He insistently pointed this out in his
letters to them and to the rectors.
Like his predecessor, Father Rua had a strictly unitary view of the
Salesian Congregation. During the X General Chapter in 1904 he
explained that according to Don Bosco the “inspectorates” were
not like the provinces of other religious organizations because the
Salesian Congregation was meant to form one single family not scat­
tered fragments of a family. Father Ceria says that Father Rua feared
that the Salesians might give in to the temptation and become “pro­
vincialized.” 19

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D O N BOS CO
Father R u a ’s Role in Salesian Expansion
The progress of the Salesian Society at the turn of the century can
be explained in many ways. One main factor was that many bishops,
civil authorities, and vast sectors of Catholic opinion were convinced
that the work of Don Bosco’s sons was just the right answer to the
needs of the times.
Though the religious and social demands of the times were favor­
able indeed they do not explain everything. The personalities of Don
Bosco and Father Rua themselves were of greater, perhaps even primary
importance.
“The moral ascendancy of Father Rua, already great in the lifetime
of Don Bosco, reached its climax during his rectorship.” The reasons
for his rise were attributed to his “profound spirituality”20 More­
over, he always acted in a spirit of total fidelity to Don Bosco, and
deserved to be called Don Bosco’s greatest miracle. He was likened to
Elisha wearing the mantle of Elijah, hence he was able to exercise
quite naturally an undisputed authority.
Moreover, his talents as an administrator and organizer had already
been noted by those acquainted with Salesian life even during the
founder’s time. Therefore he was able to direct the successful devel­
opment of the houses and provinces which multiplied during his rector­
ship.
Role o f Cooperators
The Cooperators played a very important part in the expansion.
This was particularly evident when new foundations were established,
because they supported them with material and personal contributions,
spreading the news of the Salesian work. On the occasions of his various
trips, Father Rua emphasized the great importance of their cooper­
ation.
In April 1895 a congress of Salesian Cooperators was held in Bolog­
na, which was to have extraordinary repercussions.21 At the request of
the local Archbishop, Cardinal Svampa, who was a great admirer of Don
Bosco, this gathering was organized by Father Trione, Secretary Gen­

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239
eral of the association, and it had an international character. There were
about two thousand participants, including some thirty prelates,
bishops, and cardinals, with Father Rua as president. His slender ascet-
ical figure, his modesty and courtesy, greatly impressed the crowd.
There were solemn religious ceremonies, concerts of religious music,
and speeches. For three days the work of Don Bosco in the field of
education, social action, the missions, and the press, was eulogized.
The news of this great congress spread to many countries because of
the presence of fifty-eight Italian and foreign journalists. In an enthu­
siastic letter, written five days after the congress, Father Rua reminded
the Salesians of Don Bosco’s prophecy concerning the future of the
Congregation, when he had told them: “About 1895 there will be a
great triumph!”22

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DON BOSCO
NOTES ON CHAPTER 20
1. Quoted by E. Ceria, Annali, III, 135. Amid the many calum­
niates it contains this interesting document including testimonies con­
cerning the “success” of the Salesians.
2. Ibid., 355-63.
3. Ibid., II, 93-95, 300-01, 654-57, III, 274-79.
4. Ibid., II, 345-54; III, 569-73.
5. Ibid., II, 670-85. Regarding Father Markiewicz, See M.
Winowska, Aux portes du Royaume. Bronislas Markiewicz, cure
de paroisse et fondateur des Michaelites, 1842-1911, Paris, 1960,
esp. pp. 137-50.
6. E. Ceria, Annali, II, 306-25.
7. E. Ceria, Annali, II and III, passim, esp. II, chs. 4, 16, 17,
2 8 ,4 3 ,4 4 , 45; III, chs. 3, 13, 36.
8. E. Ceria, Annali, II, 200.
9. Ibid., II, 326-44, 665-69; III, 88-91, 281-84.
10. Ibid., II, 28-30, 301-05, 657-60; III, 124-43.
11. Ibid., II, 653-54, III, 279-81.
12. M. Rua, L ettere circolari, pp. 426-27.
13. E. Ceria, Annali, II, 331-36.
14. Ibid., Ill, 766-70.
15. Ibid., Ill, 421-33.
16. Ibid., Ill, 76.
17. M. Rua, L ettere circolari, p. 157.
18. Ibid., p. 117.
19. Ibid., Ill, 557.
20. Ibid., II, 743. It is to be noted that Father Ceria knew
Father Rua well. See also his Vita del Servo di Dio Don Michele
Rua, Turin 1949, Introduction.
21. Ibid., 0 ,4 09-44.
22. M. Rua, L ettere circolari, p. 134.

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PROGRESS IN AMERICA AND
FIRST STEPS IN ASIA AND AFRICA
In 1888 the Salesian Congregation had two provinces in South
America: Argentina-Chile and Uruguay-Brazil, the latter included
the house in Quito, in Ecuador. Missionary activity went on in two
ecclesiastical territories recently established by the Holy See, a vicar­
iate apostolic consisting of the northern and central areas of Patagonia,
and a prefecture apostolic for the southern part of Patagonia and
Tierra del Fuego.
In the period that followed, America kept pace with Europe in
regard to Salesian expansion. Not satisfied with merely extending
already existing foundations, the sons of Don Bosco went on to estab­
lish themselves in all the principal countries of the two Americas
(Canada excepted) and new mission territories were entrusted to them.
In Asia and Africa as well, the first steps were taken.
Let us now look at these new territories as we did in the case of
Europe.1
New Countries in America
During Father Rua’s years as rector major, the Salesians went to
seven new countries in South America: Colombia (1890), Peru (1891),

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DON BOSCO
Mexico (1892), Venezuela (1894), Bolivia and Paraguay (1896), and
San Salvador (1897). In 1897 they also came to the United States.
Colombia heads the list because of the repeated requests sent to
Turin and to Rome by the governor and by the Archbishop of Bogota.2
The powerful intervention of Leo XIII made Father Rua decide to take
up once more the chain of foundations that had been theoretically
broken by Don Bosco’s death. A group of Salesians began working
in Bogota, the capital of Colombia, in 1890, under the direction of
Father Rabagliati who founded a technical school called “Leo XIII
College.” At Barranquilla, an important port of the Antilles, Father
Briata took charge of a parish in 1892, and an autonomous province
was created during the same year. The provincial, Father Rabagliati,
hastened to open a novitiate at Mosquera. Special mention will be made
later of the work done by Salesians for lepers in this country.
Peru came next.3 In 1890 Father Savio was sent there to gather
information and he wrote to Father Rua from Lima: “There is much
enthusiasm for the Salesian work and several people I talked to are
almost jealous that we have opened houses in Chile, Ecuador, and
Colombia before thinking of Peru. Again at the request of Leo XIII,
Father Rua sent several Salesians to Lima. They arrived towards the
end of 1891, established an oratory and later a technical school for
poor boys. A revolution in Ecuador left several Salesians without
work. Therefore two new houses were opened in Peru, one at Arequipa
in 1897, the other at Callao in 1898. The Salesians also went to the
Indian cities of Cuzco and Piura in 1905 and 1906.
“I will not be able to send Salesians to Mexico,” Don Bosco had
told the pupils of the Latin American College at Rome in 1887, “but
my successor will finish what I cannot do.”4 This prediction came true
in 1892, when Father Rua yielded to a committee from Mexico City
that had sent requests for years. The first Salesian work began in the
capital, a technical school under the direction of Father Angelo Pic-
cono. Later came Puebla, Morelia, Guadalajara, and in 1902, a Salesian
province of Mexico was formed under Father Grandis.
Venezuela had also been waiting for many years on the lists of Don
Bosco and Father Rua.5 In 1886, in fact, a priest in Caracas had been
commissioned to form a committee of Cooperators, whose number
eventually went up to six hundred. It was they who helped the Sale-

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sians so much when they came to their country in 1894. Caracas and
Valencia became the first centers where technical schools and oratories
were opened. During a serious epidemic in Valencia in 1898, the
Salesians worked to the point of heroism on behalf of the people.
Another foundation was opened at San Rafael de Maracaibo.
Father Costamagna had been the first Salesian to set foot in Boliv­
ia.6 The President of the Republic, Aniceto Arce, took a personal
interest in a foundation for the youth of his country. That was in 1890,
but the first seven Salesians were able to come only in 1896. They
arrived in La Paz on February 17, after a rather remarkable journey
over the Andes and the Bolivian plateau. They received an enthusiastic
welcome from the authorities and the people. Two schools were opened
simultaneously, one in La Paz and one in the other capital, Sucre. In
this country the Indians were in the majority, and the Salesians set
aside special sections of the houses for them.
Only one country in South America remained, Paraguay.7 In 1894
an agreement was drawn up between the government and Bishop
Lasagna. First Father Allavena and then Father Savio stayed there for
a time, but it was only in 1896 that the first permanent group was
able to settle at Asuncion. Following a frequent pattern, a technical
school or, as it was called, “a school of crafts and trades” came first.
Four years later Concepcion (in Chile) had an oratory, then a school
for elementary and secondary grades. Right from the start the Sale­
sians had been thinking of the Indians of the Chaco region but they had
to wait a long time before a mission could be organized.
In central America, the Salesians began in the small republic of
El Salvador in late 1897.8 They accepted an agricultural school offered
them by the government and organized a technical training school and
an oratory. From there an orphanage was later opened at Curacao, in
the Dutch Antilles.
Salesian work in the United States began among the Italian immi­
grants who had settled there in great numbers towards the turn of the
century.9 The obvious starting places were parishes at both the east
and the west coasts. In 1897, at the request of the archbishop, the
Salesians took over the parish of Sts. Peter and Paul in San Francisco,
and in the following year another parish was turned over to them in
that city. In New York there were then about 400,000 Italians hence

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the Salesians were welcomed when they established themselves at the
parishes of St. Brigid in 1898 and The Transfiguration in 1901. There
they industriously set about organizing evening classes for teaching
English, and launching the weekly L ’ltaliano in America. They also
established a “People’s Secretariate” which acted as an agency for new
immigrants; it helped orphans and settled court cases, etc. Father
Coppo was extremely successful in these various fields. In 1902 Father
Borghino was made provincial of the United States.
Other American Countries
In those countries where Salesians were already established, pro­
gress continued steadily and even accelerated, with Argentina naturally
in the lead.10
The Pius IX College at Almagro in Buenos Aires had become a
kind of motherhouse or Vaidocco for the Salesians of South America.
Reinforcements from Europe were channelled through this house to
new foundations. The first one of note during this period was Rosario,
in the province of Santa Fe, where many Italian immigrants had settled.
With the coming of the Salesians there was a tremendous reawakening
of faith and religious practice, so much so that Bishop Cagliero could
boast of confirming six thousand people in a week. The sons of Don
Bosco opened a new house in an area of extreme poverty at Mendoza,
at the foot of the Cordillera in 1892. There they established an oratory
that was much frequented together with a school and a church. A
fourth oratory was opened at that time in Buenos Aires itself, and we
are told that the Salesians were building six churches in Argentina by
1893. In 1894 they were offered a large site at Uribelarrea for an
agricultural school. In the following year the novitiate was transferred
from Almagro to a quieter spot at Bernal, and in that same year,
1895, the provincial, Father Costamagna, was named bishop and was
succeeded by Father Vespignani. In 1900 a parish was accepted at
Ensenada, near La Plata, where the work proved to be not merely
hard but also dangerous. At the same time another agricultural school
was opened at Rodeo del Medio.
1900 saw the silver anniversary of the arrival of the first Salesians

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at Buenos Aires. For a worthy celebration of the event the Pius IX
College at Almagro was the site of a great international congress like
that of Bologna. Father Rua’s presence was greatly desired, but he sent
a worthy representative, Father Albera. After solemn ceremonies, Father
Albera made a tour of all the two hundred and fifty houses, where the
Salesians and Daughters of Mary Help of Christians were working, a
journey that lasted three years. Among the last foundations of this
period, the work for settlers at Vignaud should be mentioned or that of
Cordoba, begun in 1905 through the initiative of a group of Coopera­
tors.
Uruguay had been the second South American country entered by
the Salesians.11 There was a school at Villa Colon which had been
founded by Father Lasagna whose residence as provincial enjoyed
great esteem heightened by the observatory which was known through­
out America. Three new foundations sprang up quite soon: a school
and oratory at Paysandu; another school at Mercedes dedicated to St.
Michael in honor of Father Rua, and a professional school entitled
Talleres Don Bosco at Montevideo, the capital. On March 12, 1893,
Father Lasagna was ordained bishop in Rome, but he continued to
direct the province of Uruguay-Brazil until 1895, when he was killed
in a railway accident. The province was then taken over by Father
Gamba, rector at Montevideo, who started a novitiate house at Manga,
ten miles from the capital.
In 1889 a revolution in Brazil overthrew Don Pedro II after a reign
of fifty years, and a republic was proclaimed.12 The Salesians at Niter-
oi enjoyed the general esteem of the population. In 1890 the intrepid
Father Lasagna had started a new foundation at Lorena, and four
years later a Salesian school was opened in the former residence of the
Portuguese governors at Recife, capital of the state of Pernambuco.
Bishop Lasagna’s last journey was intended to take him to Cachoeira
do Campo, where, a year after his death, the Salesians founded a
school that became famous because it would one day produce an
archbishop and a bishop. Campinas, the second city of the State of
Sao Paulo, saw the arrival of the sons of Don Bosco in 1897. Other
houses sprang up at Salvator, Jaboatao, Rio Grande do Sul, Bage,
etc. In 1902 the houses in Brazil were divided into two provinces, the
south under Father Peretto and the north under Father Giordano. The

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DON BOSCO
province of Mato Grosso is not included, it has its own particular story.
Although begun rather late, the work in Brazil soon flourished.
In Chile the Salesians at Concepcion and Talca experienced tragic
days during the civil war of 1891 when they opened their houses to
refugees.13 Of the numerous foundations in the capital of Chile itself,
Carmen was the first in 1892. It was begun very modestly but soon
developed into a school with workshops and an oratory. Its rector,
Father Tomatis, despite his heavy workload, still found time for addi­
tional missionary activities, and was able to advance to the Indians of
Araucania. In 1896 the province of Chile was turned over to Msgr.
Costamagna. The Salesian centers were organized at Valparaiso, Macul
(novitiate), Melipilla, Iquique, Linares, and Valdivia, while at Santiago
other new houses were added.
Reasons and Characteristics o f this Expansion
This rapid progress can be explained in various ways. The urgent
requests of local hierarchies concerned about the religious neglect of
the people, and above all the young, the requests of governments want­
ing to promote the religious upbringing of the new generations, which
had been deprived of close ties to family and church by the rapid
industrial and agricultural development in their countries. These press­
ing demands forced them to increase their projects as much as possible,
especially in the great urban areas. But the urge came also from within
the religious family. These years were marked by a strong apostolic
trend reflected in the various missionary departures (i.e., forty-five
in 1891; sixty in 1892; eighty in 1895; and one hundred ten including
many Salesian Sisters in 1898. The Cooperators also played an impor­
tant part in preparing the ground, and not infrequently they actually
started the work itself, as in Mexico City in 1890. The activity of the
Cooperators was particularly noteworthy also in Peru, Venezuela,
Brazil (e.g. Bahia,) Argentina (Cordoba, Vignaud), etc.
Strictly missionary foundations aside, the Salesian works in America
did not differ in structure from those in Europe, although the special
needs of the continent led to certain preferences. Because of the short­
age of priests, for example, many Salesians were placed into parishes by

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the bishops. Italian immigrants (i.e. to the United States) sometimes
gave their works this special parochial orientation and either by choice
or necessity, the Salesians became great builders of churches.
Among their priorities were also technical and agricultural schools,
which were greatly needed. Urgent requests frequently came for
“schools of arts and trades.” With help of public and private aid, the
Salesians cultivated vast areas for agriculture, at Uribelarrea in Argen­
tina and at Cachoeira in Brazil, etc. At Manga in Uruguay, they greatly
improved the methods of wheat growing and considerably extended it.
Father Badariotti of Lorena in Brazil became famous for his know­
ledge of the country’s insects, geology and mineralogy. As we already
know, the Salesian contribution towards meteorological observation
was also greatly appreciated.
In the political sphere the instability of the government in certain
American countries was bound to affect Salesian projects. Although
the fact that the schools were owned by the state helped matters
considerably, it left them at the mercy of every new regime. In Ecua­
dor, on one occasion at least, the Salesians had to live through a ver­
itable disaster.14
As we know, the Salesians entered Ecuador in 1888, just before Don
Bosco’s death, and their foundations prospered, especially under
Father Calcagno. The house in Quito worked miracles with its fourteen
efficient workshops and enjoyed the particular esteem of two of the
republic’s presidents. Other houses were opened at Cuenca and Riobam-
ba, and a novitiate followed at Sangolqui. In 1893 the Holy See, in
agreement with the government, established the vicariate apostolic
of Mendez and Qualaquiza, entrusting it, to everybody’s satisfaction,
to Father Costamagna who became bishop two years later. In 1894
Father Rua had decided to establish a Province of Ecuador and to turn
it over to Father Calcagno, but two years later problems appeared with
the rise to power of General Alfaro. A catastrophe followed in 1896,
when accusations of an anti-government plot were made. The Salesians
were arrested and their houses were confiscated. The provincial and
eight other Salesians were forced to make their own way on a terrible
journey to the border of Peru which took forty days and left them
more dead than alive. The set-back was only temporary, however, and
the Salesian work was to flourish again.

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It remains now to record the famous work done by the Salesians
for the lepers, which was begun in 1891 near Bogota, in Colombia.15
The village, Agua de Dios, consisted of several hundred lepers who lived
in almost total material and moral isolation. Father Michael Unia, who
was attached to the house at Bogota, was aware of this and it distressed
him greatly. One day, after reading the gospel account of the ten lepers
cured by Christ, he felt he must go and help these unfortunate people.
Although some of his confreres thought him quite mad, he obtained
the rector’s consent. Encouraged by Father Rua, who wrote personally,
to his “dear lepers,” Father Unia worked miracles by attending to
spiritual needs. He also raised the funds to construct a big hospital
by means of a nationwide public campaign. Furthermore, he rebuilt the
church, constructed an aqueduct to carry drinking water from a nearby
hill, organized religious festivals and encouraged music, etc. Four years
of feverish work took their toll. He returned to Italy for treatment but
died on December 9, 1895. His memory was held in tremendous esteem
almost as much as that of Don Bosco himself. Father Rabagliati was his
most illustrious successor. Though having to face the consequences, he
came to grips, above all, with the social aspect of the problem of
leprosy. Backed by the local authorities, he conducted a vigorous
campaign on behalf of the lepers, and in 1904, he was elected “presi­
dent of a governmental commission for the establishment of leper-
colonies.
Progress in Patagonia
In Father Rua’s time the real missionary work in South America
made great progress. The vicariate apostolic that included the heart of
Patagonia became even better organized under Bishop Cagliero. General
Roca, who became President of Argentina, called him “the civilizer of
Patagonia” 16 high praise indeed!
Bishop Cagliero resided at first in Patagones and then in Viedma,
two towns situated on opposite banks of the Rio Negro. They were
inhabited by whites most of whom at least in the beginning showed
no appreciation whatever for the missionaries. The Indians at that time
were widely scattered; in order to catechize them, it was necessary

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to go to their primitive huts in the ranchos or toldos.
Yet, the ambition of Bishop Cagliero and his assistants reached
farther; it included the entire territory which was three times the size
of Italy. From the center they made lengthy expeditions in various
directions on horseback in spite of wind, cold, and fatigue which
made these journeys so difficult. Father Milanesio achieved a record of
over eleven hundred miles. Generally, the missionaries followed the
course of the rivers, along the banks of which the colonists and the
Indians lived. Although the population was widely scattered, the
missionaries tilled the ground, catechizing, baptizing, preaching, or
joining the natives in matrimony.
These missionary journeys however did not satisfy them. They felt
it was necessary to have permanent missions all over the area. In 1888,
when Father Milanesio found himself—by order of the governor—
at Chosmalal, at the foot of the Cordillera, he decided to build a
chapel and a little house as a start for a missionary station, favorably
situated at the confluence of the rivers Neuquen and Curileo. A year
later, the Salesians established themselves at Pringles, on the left bank
of the Rio Negro. Finding the site suitable, Bishop Cagliero had two
schools built there which were to continue the process of evangeliza­
tion. Another residence was built at Roca, not far from the confluence
of the rivers Limay and Neuquen, where Father Stefenelli founded
a fine “agricultural colony.” During this period a hospital was built at
Viedma, an excellent idea of Bishop Cagliero’s, which helped a great
deal to overcome the prejudice against the priests, who were often
accused of exploiting the people.
Between 1890 and 1895 the vicariate apostolic widened its field of
activity both northwards and southwards, with an ever increasing
number of Christian centers. To the north, beyond the Rio Colorado,
the Pampas came within reach, starting with the city of Bahia Blanca.
According to Bishop Cagliero the city did not yet deserve that name,
for it meant “innocence.” When the Archbishop of Buenos Aires had
gone there in 1885 on a pastoral visit, he had been unable to leave
the train. But now, thanks to their work with the young, the Salesians
and their Sisters had succeeded in establishing themselves there. The
Central Pampas, which cover the heart of Argentina, stretched north­
ward. At that time they counted hardly 25,000 inhabitants, including

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Indians, led, until recently, by their chieftain Namuncura, as well as
gauchos, descendants of the original Spaniards and recent immigrants
from Spain, Germany, Russia, and Piedmont. Missionary centers were
founded for all these people at General Acha, Santa Rosa de Toay, and
at Victorica; from these missions the Salesians dispersed rapidly in
every direction.
In the south the vicariate included the vast but sparsely inhabited
region of Chubut. In 1892 a residence was established at Rawson,
the capital, which had only a thousand inhabitants. Father Milanesio
evangelized the Indians of that region who belonged to the Tehuelches
tribe. In defiance of Protestant missionaries, who had been first in the
area, the missionaries built a church, schools, an oratory, and a hospital.
The significant contributions of the Daughters of Mary Help of Chris­
tians were greatly appreciated not only by the Salesians but also by the
people.
Each year the field of activity in that immense region seemed to
increase. By 1900 there were thirteen churches, twenty-three chapels,
fourteen schools for boys and ten for girls. When Bishop Cagliero left
Patagonia in 1904 to take up his new office of Apostolic Delegate to
Costa Rica, his missionary organization was well-established. His place
was taken by two future vicars, one of whom was Father Pagliere, the
first Salesian priest bom in Argentina, who carried on his pioneering
work.
Progress in the Extreme South
The prefecture apostolic of Msgr. Fagnano embraced not only
Tierra del Fuego but also the southern part of Patagonia and the
Falkland Islands. This courageous prelate had established himself
at Punta Arenas in 1887, where he set up a good foundation for the
mission. Father Beauvoir did good work at Santa Cruz and at Rio
Gallegos in southern Patagonia. An Irish Salesian, Father Patrick
Diamond, set up residence at Port Stanley in the Falklands, happy
to take part in the conversion of Protestants.
Msgr. Fagnano’s pastoral care extended to Tierra del Fuego, where
he continued his exploratory journeys on a little schooner he had

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acquired. The risks were great if one considers the hatred of the Indians
towards white men. The prelate however succeeded in making contact
with them by bringing them food and gifts. He thought he could
evangelize them better if they could be brought together to live in
villages. He succeeded doing this for the Alakalufs at San Rafael on
Dawson Island, where he helped with all the necessary transportation,
even that of the animals. It was an extraordinary event when Msgr.
Fagnano obtained the grant of this island from the Chilean government
for a period of twenty years. In 1893 he set up the mission of Can-
delara in the eastern part of the Isola Grande, which became the meet­
ing center for the Onas Indians. At these centers he tried to get the
Indians to settle down by building a chapel, a school, and a dispensary
and by teaching the men how to look after the cattle, and the women
how to cook and sew. In 1899 the Salesians took charge of the parish
of Porvenir in the Chilean part of the Isola Grande. In 1904 they
were given the parish of Ushuaia, not very far from Cape Horn. In
addition to their evangelization efforts, the Salesians played an equally
important part in civilizing the Indians.
The Mission o f Mato Grosso in Brazil
The progress made by the Salesians in these various missions prompt­
ed the Holy See to entrust them with others. When Father Costamagna
was consecrated bishop in 1893, he was given jurisdiction over all the
Indians of Brazil.17
Choosing the right center for the mission always came first. Having
frequently traversed the country, Msgr. Costamagna concluded that
the Salesians should start with the state of Mato Grosso, in the heart of
Brazil, more precisely at Cuiaba, a town inhabited by white colonists,
from where they could reach the Indian tribes. The mission was particu­
larly difficult because of the enormous distances involved, the un­
healthy climate in a region almost totally covered by jungle forests,
and last but not least because of the savage customs of the Indians
themselves.
About six hours’ journey on horseback from Cuiaba there lived some
Indians belonging to the coroados group of the Bororos tribe. (They

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DON BOSCO
got their name from their hair style, which resembles a crown). They
dwelt in a military colony called Thereza Christina. Since the military
authorities had not made much headway, the government decided to
turn them over to the missionaries. Msgr. Lasagna sent a small group
ahead before going off to Montevideo to look for more recruits; it was
on his return journey that he lost his life. On November 6, 1895 there
was a terrible railway accident near Juiz de Fora which killed him and
his secretary as well as four Salesian Sisters. The Salesian Congregation
and the American mission had indeed sustained a great loss.
Fortunately, other great missionaries took his place: Father Malan,
rector of the house at Cuiaba, and Father Balzola, in charge of the
missionary residence, were men of experience. Before becoming bishop,
the former had been in charge of the Salesian Province of Mato Grosso
for many years; the latter was a courageous missionary who understood
the Indians well, a man who worked with his own hands, untiring
and resilient even if results were poor.18
When the Salesians were compelled to leave the Theresa Christina
colony for petty reasons in 1901, they moved to Barreiro de Cima,
where, with hope and fear, they made contact with the Bororos of that
region. Other missionary foundations sprang up meanwhile along the
Rio das Garcas and the Sangradouro and at Palmeiras. Progress was
always slow and precarious but at least it gave the missionaries time to
gain experience in this special kind of apostolate.
Am ong the Kivaro in Ecuador
In 1893 an agreement between the government of Ecuador and
the Holy See led to the establishment of a vicariate apostolic in the
territory of the Kivaro Indians.19 It was turned over to the Salesians
under Father Costamagna who, after consecration in 1895, became the
third Salesian bishop after Cagliero and Lasagna.
He established the first center at Gualaquiza, which was the last
frontier of the civilized world. The problems of this new mission
became immediately apparent, for the Kivaro, noted for strength
and intelligence as well as ferocity, promptly set fire to the mission
buildings. Another handicap came when Bishop Costamagna was

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refused access to his vicariate on account of the revolution in Ecuador.
But the head of the residence, Father Mattana and his assistants did
not remain idle. They succeeded in building a chapel and in gently
calming the warlike attitude of some of the Indians. One can imagine
the joy of the missionaries in 1902, when they were able to welcome
Father Paul Albera who had had a frightful journey. In July of the
same year Bishop Costamagna himself arrived. He had permission
to stay for only three months; the authorization was renewed in 1903,
and thereafter he had to wait for ten years.
In spite of enormous sacrifices, the results seemed very poor for a
long time. The Kivaro were fiercely jealous of their independence, they
practiced polygamy and indulged in savage vendettas. The missionaries,
who had to battle all these enormous obstacles could only set their
hopes, as always, on the younger generations.
The Salesians in Palestine
However important and heroic the Salesian missionary adventures
on the American continent, faithfully described in the Salesian Bull­
etin, we must not overlook the Congregation’s first steps in other parts
of the globe.
The coming of the Salesians to Palestine followed the normal pro­
cedure.20 A settlement, dedicated to the young, and founded by a
Father Belloni already existed in the Holy Land. While still a young
teacher of the scriptures and spiritual director at the seminary of
Betgiala, near Jerusalem, he was profoundly distressed about the
wretched state of the children he met in the streets. He decided to
shelter and educate them by opening an orphanage in Bethlehem in
1874, which could accommodate forty-five children. In the same
year he founded a diocesan congregation called the Brothers of the
Holy Family. As the years went by, various assistants helped him start
an agricultural school at Beitgemal with one hundred and fifty pupils
in 1878. A third house was opened at Cremisan in 1886.
Father Belloni, concerned about the continuity of his work, turned
to Don Bosco in 1875 and again in 1887. On the second occasion the
saint merely replied rather shortly: “Now no, later yes.” In 1890 he

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DON BOSCO
applied again, this time to Father Rua, and requested that he incor­
porate his work into the Salesian Congregation. An agreement was
drawn up and two Salesians arrived in Bethlehem a year later. There
were difficulties, and some Brothers of the Holy Family left. Others
however became Salesians, as did Father Belloni who remained in
charge of the house at Bethlehem. Father Rua’s visit to the Holy Land
in 1895 helped remove the remaining obstacles. In 1896 a new house
was begun at Nazareth through the good offices of Father Prun, a past
pupil of Father Belloni. In 1902 these houses were joined to form the
Salesian province of the Middle East, which also included the Italian
schools at Alexandria in Egypt, Constantinople, Smyrna, and finally
the house of Jerusalem (opened in 1904) and the one at Jaffa (1906).
First Communities in China, India, and Africa
The era of Father Rua also witnessed the departure of Salesians
to the Far East and Africa.21
In 1906 Father Versiglia and his companions took over the direction
of an orphanage in the Portuguese city of Macao, in China. It was their
intention to have an oratory solely for the Chinese, but right from
the start they came up against the indifference of the European popula­
tion.
In India several Salesians settled at Tanjore on the south-eastern
coast where they started a technical school which received recognition
from the English government. Fathers Tomatis and Mederlet were
among them. In 1909 they accepted a project for boys at Mylapore,
not far from Madras.
In 1896 a small group of Salesians arrived at Cape Town in south
Africa. Another group set out from Lisbon in 1907 for Mozambique
to take over a school and later to start a mission at Lunga.
These were rather tentative beginnings, but later there were en­
couraging developments.

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NOTES ON CHAPTER 21
1. E. Ceria, Annali, II and III also Bolletino salesiano, 1888-
1910, letters, etc.
2. E. Ceria, Annali, II, 124-33; III, 368-72; also R. Fierro
Torres, El Padre Evasio Rabagliati, Turin 1940.
3. E. Ceria, Annali, II, 133-37, 697-701, III, 476-78.
4. Ibid., II, 137-40; III, 195-98, 222, 365-66, 591-94.
5. Ibid., II, 513-24; III, 368.
6. Ibid., II, 525-34.
7. Except Guiana. For Paraguay see E. Ceria, Annali, II, 535-48.
8. Ibid., II, 578-87; III, 366-68.
9. Ibid., II, 587-89; III, 284-88; 838-39.
10. Ibid., II, 110-15; 461-66; III, 104-23; concerning the Silver
Jubilee, 215-20, 378-84; also Argentina salesiana. Setenta y cincos
anos de accion de les hijos de Don Bosco en la tierra de los suenos
pa ternos, Buenos Aires 1951.
11. E. Ceria, Annali, II, 117-19; 466-67.
12. Ibid., II, 119-20, 477-83; III, 202-15, 815-16.
13. Ibid., II, 115-17, 467-76; III, 594, 676-78.
14. Ibid., II, 549-77, 590-602.
15. Ibid., II, 141-54; III, 386-417; also R. Fierro Torres, El
Padre Evasio, Rabagliati, op. cit.
16. E. Ceria, Annali, II, 61-73, 250-66; III, 485-96; R. Entraigas,
El apostol de la Patagonia, Rosario 1955, and by the same author,
Mons. Fagnano, Buenos Aires 1945. A well-documented history of
the mission of Tierra del Fuego can be found in M. Borgatello, Nella
Terra del Fuoco, Memorie di un missionario salesiano, Turin 1924.
17. E. Ceria, Annali, II, 267-82, 483-92; III, 227-50. Consult
also P. Albera, Mons. Luigi Lasagna, San Benigno Canavese 1900. Re:
the Bororos Indians, see A. Colbacchini, I Bororos orientali, Turin
1925.

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DON BOSCO
18. A. Cojazzi, Don Balzola fra gli Indi del Brasile Mato Grosso,
San Benigno Canavese, 1932.
19. E. Ceria, Annali, II, 283-96; III, 293-09; also Missioni Sale-
siane, Vicariato apostolico di M endez e Gualaquiza tra i Jivaros delV
Ecuador, Turin 1925.
20. E. Ceria, Annali, II, 174-87; G. Shalub, Abuliatama, il
“Padre degli orfani” nel paese di Gesu, Canon A. Belloni, Turin 1955.
21. E. Ceria, Annali, III, 596-624.

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22
THE SECOND AND THIRD SUCCESSORS OF DON BOSCO
PAUL ALBERA AND PHILIP RINALDI
Between 1910 and 1931 two rector majors governed the Congre­
gation. Both were considered direct heirs of the founder, whom they
had known personally and worked with for years. The first was rector
major from 1910 until 1921. During his rectorship the growth of the
Congregation was affected by World War I, and many cruel sacrifices
had to be made. Then, under Father Rinaldi, new foundations began
again, and particularly the missions developed rapidly. Both men
left behind a record of holiness which, in Father Rinaldi’s case, took
on a special meaning after his death.
1. Paul Albera, 1845-1 9 2 1
An Affable and Studious Child
Paul Albera was bom at None, between Turin and Pinerolo, on
June 6, 1845, the son of comparatively well-off peasants.1 He was the
youngest of seven children. His biographers tell us he was a good
child, rather delicate, fond of school and the church ceremonies, and
they emphasize his “exquisite gentleness” which, they maintain,
remained characteristic of Father Albera throughout his life.
His first encounter with Don Bosco took place in October 1858.

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DON BOSCO
The saint happened to be a guest of the parish priest of None, who
availed himself of the opportunity to recommend this young boy of
thirteen. Father Rua tested him for admission and young Paul was
accepted right away.
He himself recorded that he entered the oratory on October 18,
and it would appear that there was nothing extraordinary to distinguish
him from the other boys. He proved to be calm, cheerful, and studious,
and the atmosphere of the place suited him to perfection. Dominic
Savio had died only the previous year, and his memory was a stimulus
to the best of the boys whom Paul liked. He struck up a friendship
with Michael Magone, his roommate, but it was of short duration for
Michael died on January 21, 1859, after a very brief illness. Don Bosco
had foretold his death, a prophecy which made a great impression.
Julius Barberis was a friend of Paul Albera during these early years
at the Oratory, and he left the following record of him: “He was ex­
tremely fond of games and always on the move; on the other hand, he
was rather quiet, preferring to walk about or to remain in Father Alaso-
natti’s office to help him with little jobs. He loved to study and was
first in class. He had talent and great will power. Above all, however,
his great piety endeared him to Don Bosco.2
This special affection of Don Bosco towards his pupil must have
been well known at the Oratory, for we find that, apparently without
malice, Albera was called “Don Bosco’s Benjamin.” Sixty years later
Father Albera was moved by the recollection: “Even now I can remem­
ber the great gentleness of his affection. I was a prisoner of a loving care
which filled my thoughts, words, and actions.”3 It is true, as he
himself says, that his companions had a similiar feeling for Don Bosco,
but it was Albera whom Don Bosco chose one day in 1861 to pose at
a prie-dieu next to him as a penitent, when he was photographed hear­
ing confessions.
The Salesian
On May 1, 1860, Albera (then a student) was admitted “to the
practice of the Rules of the Society.” He was only fifteen at the time
and looked even younger. On October 27, 1861, he put on the clerical

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cassock and on May 14, 1862, he was one of the first twenty-two
Salesians to pronounce their vows publicly. From then on his faith
in Don Bosco and his purpose never wavered.
Fall 1863 witnessed the first change in the life of the young Salesian.
He left the Oratory to go to Mirabello, where he worked as a teacher
and assistant in the newly opened school. During the school year of
1855-1856, one of his liveliest pupils was red-haired Louis Lasagna, a
fact he would remember later in 1910, when writing the biography of
the Salesian Bishop of Brazil. In addition to his other duties, Albera still
found time to obtain a teaching diploma and to attend theology lec­
tures in preparation for his priesthood.
He was ordained at Casale on August 2, 1868. On the eve of that
event, he went to Don Bosco, as he had often done, for some advice or
keepsake. The saint said: “When you have the joy of saying your first
Mass, ask God for the grace of never getting discouraged!”4 Father
Albera admitted that he only realized the importance of these words a
good while later—no doubt when his time of trial had come.
Responsibilities in Italy and France
Shortly after his ordination he was recalled to Turin, where the
superior made him prefect for the externs and put him in charge of
admission. He was happy to be with Don Bosco once more, either at
the Oratory or on journeys, and in his own words he was convinced
that “the one thing necessary to become a worthy son was to be like
him in everything.”5 He made every effort therefore to think and
speak and act like Don Bosco whom, with affection and respect, he
called his father.
As of 1871, when he was only twenty-six years old, important
offices were entrusted to him. First he was chosen to be rector at Maras-
si; later in 1872, when this house was transferred, he became rector at
Sampierdarena, near Genoa. Under his direction the house made an
excellent start, at first as a technical school, later enlarged to include
secondary school classes and, in 1875 a section for “late vocations.” In
1877 there were 300 pupils. Father Albera’s gifts made him well liked
by the pupils, their families, and in the Archdiocese of Genoa.

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DON BOSCO
In 1881 he received news that upset him: he was to be transferred to
France as provincial. After gentle chiding by Don Bosco, he arrived at
Marseilles in October. For eleven years, (i.e. from 1881 until 1892),
he devoted himself to the development of the young French province.
It was a productive period, and the number of houses went up from
three to thirteen. Father Albera travelled the country far and wide
in the course of duty, visiting especially Paris, Lille, and Dinan, where
new foundations were established. The progress of the Salesian work
went on despite serious difficulties due to the hostility of the French
government and the lack of means, which sometimes became an enor­
mous problem.
Father Cartier of Nice describes Father Albera as a “man of action,
but above all of inner action.”6 His first concern was the spiritual
progress of the persons he met, in particular the boys, religious, and
Cooperators under his care, which was one of the reasons why the
people of Marseilles called him, in a well-meaning way, the “little
Don Bosco.” When he was recalled to Turin in 1892, it was very painful
for him to have to leave Marseilles. He became catechist general of the
Congregation, a position left vacant by the death of Father Bonetti.
Getting used to the new office was not easy. His private notes, which he
began to write in 1893, reflect how the lack of direct ministry de­
pressed him. Though his health began to cause concern, he was able to
officiate on numerous retreats and to make frequent visits to Italy,
France, and Belgium.
The most important event of this period was the journey already
mentioned, when he went as Father Rua’s special representative to
America in 1900. The trip took three years, in the course of which he
covered thousands of miles under conditions that would ordinarily
have killed a stronger man. Everywhere he was received with great
enthusiasm. On his return he fell victim to several illnesses and he
thought that death was near.
Rector Major, 1910—1921
He was elected by the members of the XI General Chapter to suc­
ceed Father Rua on August 16, 1910.7 In the election he received

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only a very slight majority of votes over Father Rinaldi who was then
prefect of the Congregation. Thinking of his precarious health, the
newly-elected rector major murmured: “I’m afraid that you will soon
have to have another election!”8
Father Ceria believes “although he never expressly said so, that
Father Albera must have considered it his principal mandate to make
the Salesians men of piety and prayer.”9 Many who had come to
know Father Albera’s meditative spirit will agree and an examination
of his writings confirms Father Ceria’s opinion.
“The spirit of piety” was the dominant theme of his circular letters,
one of the very first of which dealt exclusively with it. He was afraid
that the Salesians’ stress on activity, their “apparently indefatigable
zeal,” the drive “that has so far sustained their success” would one day
fail, because they were not “renewed, purified, and sanctified by true
and profound piety.” 10 With great discernment, absorbed from his
favorite authors, Father Albera wrote year after year a series of essays
on piety, religious discipline, the priesthood, the life of faith, obe­
dience, chastity, kindness—all incitements to Salesian virtues. He was
also the author of the Rector's Manual in which he presented the tradi­
tional guidelines concerning the office of superior.
Although Father Albera did not travel as much as his predecessor,
he recognized the need of direct contact with the members of the
Salesian family. In his line of duty, he covered Italy and was received
with great cordiality by Popes Pius X and Benedict XV in Rome. (In
1915 the latter had honored the Congregation by making Msgr. Cagliero
the first Salesian Cardinal.) In 1913 he made a five month trip to Spain
which the Salesian Bulletin described as “a great and solemn tri­
umph.” 11 He also visited Austria, Poland, Yugoslavia, England, and
Belgium. On his last journey to Marseilles in 1921, there were wonder­
ful demonstrations of the esteem in which he was held. We are told
that everywhere people liked to hear him speak of Don Bosco, whose
smile and simplicity he so clearly reflected.
World War I (1914-1918) put the Congregation and its superior
general to severe tests. Aljnost two thousand Salesians were under arms
in Europe and there were known instances of confreres having to
fight each other. Many Salesian schools had been converted into bar­
racks or hospitals. Another effect of the war was that a general chapter

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could not be held during Father Albera’s rectorship.
Father Albera did all he could to keep pace with the situation,
as for example by urging those responsible to give every moral and
material help to their brothers in arms, by insisting on the mainte­
nance of the houses, and by intervening personally on behalf of refu­
gees and war orphans. From 1916 to the end of 1918, he wrote a
monthly letter to the soldier confreres, which, it is said, was read
avidly in the barracks and in the trenches. Yet, in spite of the losses
and the general slowing down caused by the war (with repercussions
even in America) the Congregation continued with renewed vitality
as soon as hostilities ceased.
Although nothing of great importance happened while Father
Albera was head of the Congregation, the rector major certainly did
contribute to the development of the Salesian work. For example,
at the request of the Holy See, he accepted new and difficult mission
territories: Katanga (Central Africa) in 1911, Rio Negro (Brazil) in
1904, Shiu-Chow (China) in 1917, Gran Chaco (Paraguay) in 1920,
and Assam (India) in 1921. Taking on these works was all the more
laudable in view of the scarcity of men and means during those diffi­
cult years. Under him the Salesians entered new countries: Hungary
(Szentkereszt in 1913, and Budapest in 1920), Germany (Wurzburg in
1916, a novitiate in Ensdorf in 1920, Essen in 1922), and Central
America and Cuba in 1921. It should be noted finally that in 1917
the official relationship between the male and female congregations
founded by Don Bosco was resumed, and that the International Feder­
ation of Past Pupils was founded in 1920.
Although Father Albera’s health had been poor for a long time,
he reached the age of seventy-six and died in 1921 on the 29th of
October. He was remembered as a true man of God.
2. Philip Rinaldi, 1856—1931
An Adult Vocation
To those who knew him during his lifetime, and more so to those who,
after his death, were able to evaluate his impact on history, Father Ri­
naldi was a somewhat baffling character. As a young man he hesitated a

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long time before answering God’s call, and he went on to the priest­
hood only because of Don Bosco’s encouragement. He became a
Salesian and eventually rector major. According to Father Ceria, he
concealed great qualities and extraordinary virtues under extreme
simplicity.12
He was born on May 28, 1856, at Lu, a village in Monferrato,
Piedmont, where his parents owned a farm. Young Philip saw Don
Bosco for the first time at the age of five. It was in October 1861,
when the apostle of Turin and his band of boys made such a spectacu­
lar entrance in Lu one day that little Philip exclaimed: “ That priest
is more important than a bishop!” 13
The Salesian school that opened at Mirabello in 1863 was not far
from Lu. Philip’s parents were of the old-fashioned kind, and when
they thought to detect signs of a vocation in their son, they sent him
to Mirabello in 1866. Philip however was not at all enthusiastic; he
did not get along with one of the assistants, and his studies gave him
headaches. Even before the end of the year, he returned home to stay,
though he kept in contact with Don Bosco who had spoken to him
twice when visiting the school. The saint apparently thought highly
of him and endeavored to persuade him to try again, but for nine
years Philip was not persuaded because he felt that he was not meant
for the priesthood, still less for the religious life—nor for the Salesians!
And there was a time when he thought of marriage.
On June 22, 1876, Don Bosco arrived unexpectedly at the Rinaldi
household. Philip was then twenty years old, and during the subse­
quent conversation he suddenly felt his entire attitude profoundly
changed: “I found he had answered all my objections and slowly but
surely had won me over,” Father Rinaldi was to write later in his
memoirs.14 Of course, not all the uncertainties had disappeared but
since then he had felt bound to Don Bosco.
The following year found him at the school for “late vocations” at
Sampierdarena. He still had moments of doubt and even crisis, but he
was grateful to his rector, Father Albera, for helping him overcome
them. At the same time, however, Father Rinaldi was beginning to assert
himself. Of strong build, a friend to all, he took things seriously and
succeeded somewhat surprisingly to rise to the top of his class.
The superiors thought highly of him, and when he moved to San

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Benigno in 1879, the master of novices chose him as assistant. He
pronounced his vows on August 13, 1880, and retained this office
during his studies in philosophy and technology.
He became a priest under circumstances that were rather surprising.
“I had no intention to become a priest,” he said later; “a religious—
yes, but not a priest. I went through all my ecclesiastical studies, took
the examinations in theology and received Holy Orders and final
ordination only through obedience. Don Bosco would say to me: On
this day, you take that examination; on that day you take this test, and
receive that Order. I obeyed every time.” Father Ceria comments that
he knows of no other similar instance concerning Don Bosco, for it
seemed totally out of character.15 His priestly ordination took place
on December 23, 1882.
Immediate advantage was taken of Father Rinaldi’s personal exper­
ience. In 1883 he was put in charge of the so-called “late vocations,”
first at Mathi and then at Turin near the church dedicated to St. John
the Evangelist. Despite his original doubts about himself, he succeeded
very well in this office, because of his rare and innate goodness which
won the confidence of the candidates for the priesthood. Don Bosco
was not far away, and every week he went to tell him about the pro­
gress of the house and to make his confession, and Don Bosco some­
times invited him to the meetings of the superior chapter which was a
rather exceptional honor.
Important Offices in Spain and Turin
In 1889 Father Rua asked him to make a big sacrifice and go to
Spain, where the house at Sarria was going through a difficult period.
The new rector found himself beset by problems, not the least of which
was ignorance of the language. He succeeded however in reestablishing
discipline, filling the house, and winning the Cooperators for his cause.
He also attracted vocations, among them the future Salesian provincial,
Jose Calasanz.
His success led to his advancement to the leadership of the Sale­
sians in Spain, and the requests for new foundations came pouring in.
While still only a rector, he opened houses at Gerona and at Santander,

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and, when in 1892, the rector major decided to establish a Spanish
province, it was obvious who would be the provincial.
From 1892 until 1901 Father Rinaldi exercised his new office with
great skill; statistics show that he founded no less than sixteen Salesian
houses in nine years. In order to meet the demand for personnel, he
became a most zealous seeker of vocations. To him, more than anyone
else, must go the credit for the deep and lasting foundations of Don
Bosco’s work in Spain. Father Rinaldi was particularly anxious to
create good Salesians who would also be good Spaniards. Convinced of
the importance of the press, he launched the Lecturas catolicas in 1895
which were as successful as their Italian counterparts. He also con­
tributed towards the expansion of the work of the Daughters of Mary
Help of Christians in Spain.
In 1901 the prefect general of the Society, Father Belmonte, died.
Father Rua had seen first-hand evidence of the capabilities of the
Provincial of Spain, and he now chose Father Rinaldi for the vacant
office. Obediently, he left for Turin where he took up his new office
on April 1, 1901.
In his twenty years as prefect general he was the right-hand man of
two successive rectors major. From his own experience in this position
during Don Bosco’s lifetime, Father Rua helped Father Rinaldi get
a good start. With Father Albera, however, despite goodwill on both
sides, things did not go quite so well in view of the fact that Father
Rinaldi was an eminently practical and active man, while Father Albera
was rather speculative and hesitant. Nevertheless, Father Rinaldi
considered it his obligation to agree with the views of the rector major.
Content to live in the shadow of Don Bosco’s successors as prefect
general, a conscientious and efficient assistant, he was greatly esteemed
for his ability to deal with thorny problems. Father Barberis says that
the happy combination of a practical spirit with a certain bonhomie
ensured a gradual and peaceful solution of every problem.16 He was
however not lacking in initiative, and when the unfortunate affair in
Varazze occurred, it was he who launched the counterattack. He took
a great interest in the Cooperators by promoting congresses and organ­
izing reunions. It was also his idea to create a large organization of Past
Pupils, and the International Congress of 1911 was held on his initi­
ative.

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DON BOSCO
At this congress the decision was made to erect a monument in
honor of Don Bosco in the square in front of the church of Mary Help
of Christians in Turin. It was again Father Rinaldi who saw it through.
The inauguration took place in 1920, at a reunion of Cooperators
and male and female Past Pupils. It is said that on that grand occasion
Father Rinaldi who had been behind the whole idea, simply disap­
peared among the crowd where he watched the events as an ordinary
spectator.
Without neglecting the basic duties of his office, he was able to
attend to several other activities. He was greatly sought after as con­
fessor and spiritual director; he never refused to preach even though
he found it difficult to memorize his sermons. For quite a while he
gave regular conferences at the seminary of theology at Foglizzo. Nor
must we forget his great apostolate among the Salesian Sisters and girls.
In the Sister’s Oratory at Valdocco his goodness and his awareness of
social and family problems were much appreciated. With several assis­
tants, he founded an association of lay women in 1917 who did Sale­
sian work out in the world, under the patronage of Mary Help of
Christians. This association, known today as the Don Bosco Volunteers
was recognized as a Secular Institute of Pontifical Rite in 1978.
Rector Major, 1922-1931
Almost elected rector major in 1910, Father Rinaldi, was elected
without difficulty on May 24, 1922, after Father Albera’s death.
Though it is said that certain Salesians were miffed when they learned
that someone apparently so remote as well as somewhat lacking in
education had been elected.17
During the nine years of his rectorship Father Rinaldi faced the
consequences of the war, and devoted himself completely to the service
of the Congregation. The disastrous war was now over, and he had the
joy of seeing the Society start to grow again. The number of Salesians
rose from 6,000 to 10,000 and more than two hundred and fifty new
houses were opened.
In order to give encouragement to the huge family for which he
was now responsible he too began to travel. In Rome he found Pius

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267
XI extremely well disposed towards the Salesians and towards him­
self; he went on to Bologna, Trieste, and Sicily. On a journey through
central Europe in 1925, he found twelve flourishing communities under
Father Hlond in Poland with numerous and well-organized Cooperators.
After stopping in Vienna, he entered Hungary where the Salesians
already had six houses, and at Szentkereszt he officiated at the clothing
of sixteen novices before going on to Budapest. Returning to Vienna,
he continued on to Germany, clothing another group of sixty-three
young men at Ensdorf. In 1926 he made a trip to France, where he
visited especially Marseilles and the Sisters’ Novitiate at Sainte-Mar-
guerite.18 He then continued on to Spain—now fully developed with
forty-two houses—where he received the traditional and very en­
thusiastic welcome; at Madrid he was received by King Alfonso XIII.
Like his predecessors, Father Rinaldi inherited the missionary spirit
of Don Bosco. It is said the saint had told him one day that though
he would not go to the missions himself, he would send others there.19
Valiantly supported by Prefect General, Father Ricaldone, whom he
had nominated delegate for the missions, he gave great support to the
congregation’s missionary activity. The pontificate of Pius XI saw
an accentuation of missionary activity, and the Salesian contribution
was very significant. In 1922 Father Rinaldi opened the Cardinal
Cagliero Institute for the training of future missionaries at Ivrea,
and there were already one hundred sixty candidates in its second year.
Other institutes of this type were established with equal success at
Penango in 1925, at Foglizzo in 1926, at Gaeta, Bagnolo, Cumiana
(for Coadjutors) and at Turin (Rebaudengo)—two of them in Italy. In
Spain there was Astudillo in 1928; Shrigley followed in England in
1929; Coat-an-Doc’h was founded in France in 1936 (after Father
Rinaldi’s time). There was in fact a flourishing of missionary vocations,
very much helped by the periodical Gioventu missionaria launched
in 1923 by missionary associations of Salesian youth, and by such
missionary exhibitions as those held at the Vatican in 1925, and in
Turin the following year. It is therefore no wonder that the Salesian
missions enjoyed another period of great development. Personnel was
increased and new territories were accepted in Porto Velho, Brazil
in 1926; in Madras and Krishnagar, India in 1928; Miyasaki, Japan in
1928; Ratburi, Siam in 1930.

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DON BOSCO
On becoming rector major, Father Rinaldi continued to encourage
the members, urging them to exercise an apostolate founded on faith.
Father Ceria was able to dedicate a whole chapter of his biography to
the work done by Father Rinaldi among the Daughters of Mary Help
of Christians whose delegate apostolic the rector major had become by
a decree of Benedict XV. Father Rinaldi took an active part in the
Golden Jubilee celebration of their foundation and in their general
chapter in 1922, and also encouraged the missionary expansions of the
Salesian Sisters.
Being an eminently practical man, gifted with great common sense
and a calm temperament, Father Rinaldi never ignored any original
ideas that he came across. He encouraged, for example, the Don Bosco
Union, a form of Catholic Action among teachers with the purpose of
“moral and religious formation of its associates through the knowledge
and especially the practice of the Preventive System.”20 This associa­
tion spread to several Italian cities. Father Rinaldi was the first to
suggest that the Basilica of Mary Help of Christians at Turin should
be enlarged—an idea which was at first considered somewhat rash and
was opposed by the aged Cardinal Cagliero.
The peak of Father Rinaldi’s rectorship, or at least its most moving
moment, as far as he was concerned, was undoubtedly the beatifica­
tion of Don Bosco. After some delay, the event took place on June 2,
1929, when the enthusiasm and fervor of the crowds in Rome surpassed
all his expectations. Many people were aware that the new saint had
desired a “conciliation” between the Church and the Italian state,
which had materialized only the previous February in the form of the
Lateran Treaty.
During his lifetime Father Rinaldi did not seem to acquire great
popularity. Through inclination and by choice he kept as much in the
background as possible, but his goodness and simplicity gave joy to
those who knew him. The expression of his face was so fatherly that
he reminded many of Don Bosco. His devotion to the Sacred Heart and
to Mary Help of Christians was well known. After his death the fame of
his virtues had grown so much that his name was submitted for possible
canonization in 1947, an honor fully deserved by this humble and
unpretentious priest who was at the same time so very effective.

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NOTES ON CHAPTER 22
1. See his official biography by D. Garneri, Don Paolo Albera,
secondo successore di Don Bosco, Turin 1939; also E. Ceria, Annali,
IV, Turin 1951.
2. D. Garneri, Don Paolo Albera, p. 18.
3. Extract from a letter of Father Albera entitled “Don Bosco,
our m odel,” dated October 18, 1920, in P. Albera, Lettere circolari ai
salesiani, Turin 1922, p. 341.
4. D. Garneri, Don Paolo Albera, p. 34.
5. P. Albera, Lettere circolari, p. 331.
6. Quoted in D. Garneri, Don Paolo Albera, p. 128, from an
article of Father Cartier in Adoption, Nice, December 1921. From
Father Albera’s activity in France. See J.M. Beslay, Le Pere Albera,
second successeur de Saint Jean Bosco, esquisse biographique, Aute-
uil, 1956.
7. For the story of this election, see E. Ceria, Annali, IV, 1-3.
The author records there a remark of Don Bosco on November 22,
1877 about Father Albera “He is my second . . . ” This broken-off
phrase remained in the mind of Father Rinaldi who was present, and
he interpreted it to mean “second successor.”
8. D. Garneri, Don Paolo Albera, p. 244.
9. E. Ceria, Annali, IV, 462.
10. P. Albera, Lettere circolari, p. 26.
11. For this trip, see D. Garneri, Don Paolo Albera, pp. 281-87.
12. For his official biography see E. Ceria, Vita del Servo di Dio
Sac. Filippo Rinaldi, terzo successore di San Giovanni Bosco, Turin
1951. [For a concise biography of Father Philip Rinaldi in English,
see Peter Rinaldi’s By Love Compelled (New Rochelle, NY: Don
Bosco Publications, n.d.]
13. E. Ceria, Vita, p. 12.
14. Father Ceria alludes to such a personal exercise book written
by Father Rinaldi at the time of his ordination and found among his
papers after his death. See Vita, p. 13 and 20.

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DON BOSCO
15. E. Ceria, Vita, p. 38. Father Rinaldi told this in confidence
to a young doctor o f medicine who was preparing to enter the
novitiate, and the latter left a written account of it.
16. Ibid., p. 129.
17. Father Francesia used to say: “Father Rinaldi lacked only
the voice o f Don Bosco; he had all the rest.” Vita, p. 5. Reference is
also made there to a prophecy of Don Bosco told to Father Bonetti
one day, to the effect that his first three successors would be Father
Rua, Father Albera and Father Rinaldi. See Vita, p. 275.
18. He gave a conference to the novices at Sainte-Marguerite.
The following extract will show the broadness of mind and spirit of
Father Rinaldi: “ Don Bosco adapted himself to all times and to all
places . . . If France were to become Bolshevist, let us too become
Bolshevist. We are already communists for we live in community . . .
There will come about a change in the habit, but the habit doesn’t
count for much . . . There is nothing better for beating a revolution
than to accept everything in it that is not bad” —See E. Ceria, Vita,
pp. 366-67.
19. Ibid., p. 46.
20. Ibid., p. 338.

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23
THE FOURTH AND FIFTH SUCCESSORS
OF SAINT JOHN BOSCO
PETER RICALDONE AND RENATO ZIGGIOTTI
Peter Ricaldone and Renato Ziggiotti
The further away we get from the originator of the Salesian work,
the smaller the group of those who actually knew him. Cardinal Cag­
liero died in 1926. The last remaining survivor of the first generation
was that delightful man, Father Francesia, who succeeded to keep
the memory of Don Bosco alive by word of mouth as well as in prose
and verse until 1930, when he died at the age of ninety-one. Then there
appeared on the scene men who could not boast of having been taught
by the master. This was the case with the successor of Father Rinaldi.
It is true that Father Ricaldone saw Don Bosco when he was alive,
but Father Ziggiotti, elected in 1952, stands for a new generation.
Nevertheless Salesian vitality continued to astonish all observers
under the fourth and fifth successors of Don Bosco. Bishop Fulton
Sheen remarked: “The Salesians remind me of the multiplication of
the loaves and fish.” 1 The impulse, as so often happens, came from
the rectors major themselves, and even though we present only a brief
history of them, it will show the importance of their role at the head
of the Congregation between 1932 and 1965.

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DON BOSCO
1. Peter Ricaldone, 1870—1951
Years o f Preparation
Peter Ricaldone was born on July 27, 1870 at Mirabello where,
seven years earlier, Father Rua had taken over the direction of a Sale­
sian school.2 His father was a man of character and common sense, a
well-to-do farmer, who became mayor of his town. Young Peter’s
liveliness sometimes caused his mother concern, and there was not an
elm tree about the house that he had not climbed to the very top!3
He was sent at first to the Salesian College at Alassio and then to
Borgo San Martino, and it was there one day that Peter managed to
speak to Don Bosco in private before he saw him again a second time
in Turin. He seems to have hesitated, for we find him at the diocesan
seminary at Casale until he began to study theology. At that stage, he
returned to the Salesians and entered the novitiate at Valsalice in 1889,
where he took perpetual vows on August 23, 1890.
We find him a month later in Spain as a teacher at Utrera and stu­
dent of theology at Seville. In 1892, Don Pedro as he was called, started
to work in the oratory there. He was ordained a priest on May 27,
1893, and only a year later he became rector of the house, which he
hastened to develop by the addition of a technical school.
In 1901, at the age of thirty-one, he was made provincial of Seville,
and in this capacity he developed “that fervor and spirit of organization
which were typical for his zeal.”4 The number of Salesians in his
province increased from eighty-six to one hundred and eighty-four
which enabled him to open many new houses. In 1903 he turned his
attention to the press, a field he would never abandon. In that year
he also launched a collection of books, destined to disseminate new
agricultural techniques; it was called Biblioteca agraria solariana and
met with great success, winning the first prize at the Turin Exhibition
in 1928. By then the edition had run into one hundred and forty
volumes with a total number of nearly a million copies. He was also
interested in music and was one of the first to put into effect the
liturgical music reforms of Pius X.
In 1898 Father Rua sent him as his personal delegate to visit the
houses in South America—a journey that took more than a year and
ended in Tierra del Fuego.

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Soon after his return Father Albera called him to Turin to take
charge of the technical schools as a consultor on the superior chapter,
an office which he carried out with great initiative from 1911 to 1927.
He adapted the programs of the technical schools to the new demands
and, either alone or with the help of specialists, wrote manuals of
theory and practice. He attended to the training of the Salesian person­
nel, making sure that the Coadjutors were well taught. In order to
promote the development of the schools and to make their aims better
known, he organized “instructive professional” exhibitions every year.
Stimulated by this dynamic consultor, the Salesians took part with
increasing success at first in regional exhibitions and later in inter­
national ones. At the International Book Fair in Leipzig in 1914
for example, exhibits concerning book-binding and lithography were
placed in almost forty-two book stalls. The results was the award of
an Honorary Diploma.
Journeys helped to complete Father Ricaldone’s knowledge of the
Salesian world. Sent by Father Albera, he visited North and Central
America between 1911-1912. In 1919 we find him in the eastern
Mediterranean, in Egypt and Palestine. Other personal missions sent
him to several places in Europe.
Elected prefect general at the chapter in 1922, he became Father
Rinaldi’s right-hand man, and remained with him throughout his rector­
ship. Regarding this period, Father Ceria points out that “his natural
spirit of initiative was not satisfied merely with carrying out orders
but sought new ways.”5 In agreement with the rector major it was in
the missionary projects that Father Ricaldone found the best outlet for
his talents. Father Rinaldi was the initiator, Father Ricaldone the one
who did the job. He was responsible, for instance, for the missionary
exhibition in Vaidocco in 1926. Chosen as Visitor Extraordinary to the
Far East during 1926-1927, he met the Salesians in India, Japan,
Thailand, Burma, and China. This journey was memorable for the
courage it took to face the dangers that came his way. Upon his return
the prefect general launched a “missionary crusade” of vast propor­
tions, aimed mainly at securing funds for the training of future mission­
aries in specialized centers.
In 1932 he was unanimously chosen to succeed Father Rinaldi.
Now the Congregation was headed by a practical man of affairs with an

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adequate knowledge of the principal regions of the world which he had
visited.
His Work as Superior General, 1932—1951
The new rectorship stretched over a period of nineteen years lasting
almost as long as Father Rua’s. As in Father Albera’s time there was a
frightful war (1939-1945) which put the international solidarity of the
Congregation to a test. Nevertheless the numerous enterprises and
successes of Father Ricaldone’s period of office command attention.
During his early years there was the canonization of Don Bosco.6
Pius XI, a great admirer of the apostle of Turin, wished to give the event
a special note by making it coincide with the feast of Easter on the
1st of April 1934, which ended the Jubilee Year of the Redemption.
A crowd of about one hundred thousand people from all over the world
gathered in Rome to acclaim the new saint—and the young, of course,
were the most enthusiastic among them. During the following days,
unusual honors were paid Saint John Bosco by the Pope, the Italian
government, and the Roman people. Turin acclaimed him on the 18th
of April in a procession during which about one hundred and twenty
prelates accompanied his relics through the streets of the city.
Celebrations were held in very many places. In London no church
was found big enough to accommodate the devotees of St. John Bosco;
in Jerusalem the church of the Patriarch had to be used; a triduum in
Don Bosco’s honor was celebrated in forty parishes of Vienna, and in
sixty-four of Milan. During this period numerous biographies of the
saint were written, and the statistics show a great increase of vocations.
It is easy to deduce that Father Ricaldone played no small part in the
preparation and organization of this great event.
The rector major had other Salesian beatification and canonization
processes to see to: the slow and difficult cause of Dominic Savio
was at length brought to a successful conclusion. His beatification took
place on the 5th of March 1950. During the last months of his time at
the helm, Maria Mazzarello was proclaimed a saint on the 24th of June
1951. The benevolence of Popes Pius XI and Pius XII greatly helped
Father Ricaldone to accomplish these delicate tasks.

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Unlike his predecessors, he who had travelled so much as extra­
ordinary visitor made few journeys as rector major. He left this task
to his Prefect General, Father Berruti. Trigeminus neuralgia and heart
trouble made long journeys difficult, and during the war they were
impossible anyway. Although he remained in Turin, his directives
travelled everywhere, especially in Italy. Two points of great impor­
tance must be emphasized: the Christian education of the young and
the religious and professional training of the Salesians.
Religious Teaching and Salesian Formation
Enthusiastic about spreading catechism and religious instruction,
Father Ricaldone was anxious to provide a remedy for the religious
ignorance often found in Catholic environments, but he also wanted
to fulfill a clearly Salesian commitment.
In tune with the catechetical reawakening following the Decree
Provido Sane of 1935, Father Ricaldone initiated a “catechetical
campaign.” 7 During the war in 1941, he began to commemorate
the centenary of Don Bosco’s catechism lesson to young Garelli, though
other matters had already led to it. Between 1938 and 1940 the impos­
ing building called the Salesian Institute of Graphic Arts had been built
at Colle Don Bosco, close to the saint’s birthplace; it became the head­
quarters of a Christian Doctrine Bookshop. Father Ricaldone founded
a Salesian Catechetical Center to be at the service of the Congregation
and of the diocese. He put himself at the head of two groups of special­
ists, twenty-four priests altogether, charged with organizing the publica­
tion of books, pictures, leaflets, and other means of publicity. Thus
he succeeded in publishing eighty volumes of the collection called Lux
with a world-wide circulation of eight million copies, while five million
leaflets were distributed in houses and on streets. Various other reviews
were produced such as Catechesi, Teatro dei giovani, Voci bianche.
Within ten years the Center organized one hundred catechetical con­
gresses and thirty exhibitions. Just before his death Father Ricaldone
was able to admire the first colored film strips made by the Salesians
at Colle Don Bosco.
In the field of religious and professional training of the Salesians,

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he was persistent and sometimes imperious, but there was a reason for
this. The spirit that animated him and which he wanted to impart
was contained in the title of his well-known and lengthy circular letter
of 1936: “Fidelity to Saint John Bosco.” It said: “I tell you if I were
to change one point of what Don Bosco did or said, I would ruin
everything . . . Let us jealously guard the spirit and tradition of Don
Bosco.” 8
The problems of method and organization assumed great impor­
tance, especially in the training of young Salesians. Lengthy circulars
went out from Turin, filled with directives and norms for all the various
stages of this formation: junior seminaries, novitiates, seminary courses
in philosophy and theology, the tirocinium, more advanced courses
for Coadjutors. These directives shaped the general chapter of 1938.
Thanks to Father Ricaldone, the schools at Cumiana, Rebaudengo,
and Colie Don Bosco became advanced training centers for Coad­
jutors. In 1940 he was also instrumental in gaining the recognition
of the faculty of theology at the Crocetta in Turin as the Pontifical
Salesian Athenaeum, with the review Salesianum as its special organ. His
interest in ecclesiastical culture made him launch an edition of the
Fathers of the Church called Corona Patrum salesiana.
A further point was the regular functioning of the houses and
provinces. His letter of 1939, dealing with the canonical visits, is a
perfect illustration of Father Ricaldone’s concern, containing as it does
a series of norms with special emphasis on liturgical matters and with
an extraordinary amount of detail. Everything, including library and
archives, was discussed in his precise and technical letters.
The abundance of Father Ricaldone’s written works is extraordi­
nary for a rector major. His successor observed that it really chained
him to his desk.9 The collection called Formazione salesiana written
by Father Ricaldone comprised fourteen volumes and dealt with
spirituality and Salesian methods of education. Just before his death
he wrote the final lines of one of his best works, Don Bosco educatore.
Father Ricaldone also had his share of tribulations. On June 1, 1940,
he expressed his personal sorrow and consternation at the destruction
caused by the war: “With heavy hearts and great distress we look upon
the ruin of hundreds of houses, the destruction of many works that had
been achieved at the cost of immense sacrifice, the dispersion, and even
the death of so very many confreres who were caught up in this ap­

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palling disaster.10 On November 20, 1942, when the ravages of war
were increasing and even the Oratory in Turin was damaged, Father
Ricaldone vowed to build a “temple” in honor of Don Bosco on the
Becchi Hill as soon as possible.11 Apart from the war, the Salesians
were affected by religious persecution, first in Spain, then in Eastern
Europe, and finally in China. In his last letter in 1951, he stated that
one thousand nine hundred Salesians were either deported, in exile, or
in prison.
Yet there were also causes for joy. Despite these trials, the Salesian
Congregation continued to progress. The 1947 general chapter con­
firmed a general renewal. In 1950 the Salesians were already close to
the 15,000 mark and more than 1,000 houses were in operation. When
Father Ricaldone died in 1951, after nineteen years of stewardship,
there were many who thought that the Congregation had lost a great
superior to whom it owed a large debt of gratitude.
The first four successors of Don Bosco have been characterized as
follows: Father Rua, the Rule; Father Albera, the pious; Father Rinaldi,
the father, Father Ricaldone, the worker. Father Ricaldone possessed
extraordinary energy, intelligence, and that sense of organization that
characterizes men of action. Someone had said of him: “ He governed
with a firm hand and calm mind.” 12 Inclined to be intransigent, it is
said that in private he was cordial and knew how to listen. He was a
priest who was conscious of his responsibilities, a fervent Salesian
who knew how to show the kind of magnanimity which his successor,
Father Ziggiotti, liked to stress.
2. Renato Ziggiotti
Father Ricaldone’s successor was the man he had chosen a year
before his death as his prefect general. Father Ziggiotti thus became
the fifth successor of Don Bosco and led the Congregation for thirteen
years.13 He was not from Piedmont, a fact which points to the expan­
sion of the modest society that had begun there.
Renato Ziggiotti was born in Campodoro, in the province of Padua,
on the 9th of October, 1892. At the age of seven his father entrusted

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him to the care of the Salesians at Este, so that Renato could later
exclaim: “I can say I have been a Salesian since the age of reason!” 14
In spite of his parish priest’s pressure to enter the seminary at
Vicenza, Renato felt he could not leave the Salesians whose religious
life and scholastic work appealed to him; and with whom he could
also satisfy his taste for music and theater and practice gymnastics as
well with considerable success.
In 1908 he decided to enter the novitiate at Foglizzo, and on Sep­
tember 15, 1909, he made his religious profession in the presence of
Father Rua.
The following years took him first to Valsalice, where he continued
his studies and dedicated the Sundays to the boys at the Oratory
at Valdocco. In 1912 he was sent to Verona for his practical training or
tirocinium. At the outbreak of World War I, Ziggiotti was called up in
June 1915. He eventually became a lieutenant in the artillery, was
wounded in the arm in 1917, and spent the long hours in hospital
studying theology. He returned in due course to the trenches and was
demobilized only in April 1919 with the rank of Captain. He took up
his studies once more, obtained a degree in literature and philosophy at
the university of Padua and was ordained a priest on December 8, 1920.
Father Ziggiotti’s advancement was rapid: At age thirty-two he
became the first Salesian rector of the house of Pordenone. As head
of this school he supervised the construction of many extra buildings
that speeded development of this establishment.
We take note here that the life of this young priest was just then on
the point of taking a different direction. He very much wanted to be
a missionary and had submitted his first application in 1917. During
the war he renewed the request every year until the end of hostilities.
Actually he had been on the list of those that were chosen three times:
in 1921 he should have gone to Ecuador; in 1923 to Kimberley, Aus­
tralia; in 1924 to Japan. But each time something happened that pre­
vented his departure.
In 1931 Father Rinaldi named him provincial of the central pro­
vince which had been established in 1926 and consisted mainly of
houses for the education of candidates for the Salesian and missionary
life. Father Ziggiotti worked hard for four years and was then sent as
provincial to Sicily, where he stayed for only two years. In 1937 he

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was called to the superior chapter to become prefect general of educa­
tion, in which capacity he was confirmed by the XV and XVI General
Chapters. Under Father Ricaldone’s direction, he organized the philo­
sophical and theological studies and the development of the schools
of the Congregation.
During World War II he was given a rather special task. Turin was
heavily bombed from 1942 until the end of the war, and Father Ziggi­
otti gave proof of his courage as head of the first-aid group, ready to go
at once to the stricken areas or deal with incendiaries. One night in
December 1942, he found the old Oratory library in flames but suc­
ceeded in saving not only several volumes but also the rooms of Don
Bosco above by opening a window.
On May 1, 1950, Father Berruti, prefect general of the Congre­
gation, (who many had thought would become the next rector major),
died.15 Father Ricaldone chose Father Ziggiotti to succeed him which
contributed further to Father Ziggiotti’s knowledge of the Congre­
gation.
When the general chapter met in July 1952 to choose a successor
to Father Ricaldone there was immediate agreement which produced
an absolute majority of votes for Father Ziggiotti.
The Rectorship o f Father Ziggiotti, 1952—1965
His Journeys
Reviving the tradition of Father Rua, the new superior general
started out on a series of long journeys immediately after his election;
in this respect he accomplished far more than his predecessor, but we
must remember that the conditions for traveling had changed consider­
ably since then. It was the first time, in fact, that a rector major visited
America and the Far East. There were times when the conditions
seemed to favor the realization of Don Bosco’s boldest dreams.
Naturally, Father Ziggiotti’s first visits were reserved for the Sale­
sian houses in Italy, with a special preference for the houses of forma­
tion. Between November 1952 and January 1953, he had visited all
the novitiates and seminaries of Upper Italy; he then turned to the
center and the south, using the opportunity for brief visits to many

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other houses as well.
Right from the start he exuded an air of great exuberance which
he himself explained as follows: “The figure of Don Bosco continues
to live and to increase in importance in the world through the work
of the Salesians and the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians, and
through the publicity carried out by the Past Pupils, the Cooperators
and innumerable friends.” 16
In 1953 Father Ziggiotti used the occasion of various feasts and
Salesian anniversaries to visit France, Germany, Austria, Spain, and
Portugal. “I can tell you,” he wrote in October of that year, “that these
first visits have induced me to do all I can to visit provinces and houses
abroad as well.” 17
In 1954 he criss-crossed Europe: Italy, Spain, Portugal, France,
Germany, Austria, Belgium, Holland, England, and Ireland. At the
end of that year he decided to go on a tour of the world.18 Before
setting out, he asked the Salesian family to accompany him in thought
and prayer and to look upon it as a sort of collective pilgrimage. He
went first to Egypt, where he stayed at the houses in Alexandria and
Cairo, then to the Holy Land, from there to Damascus, Aleppo, Beirut,
and Teheran. In these countries of the Middle East, he saw for himself
the complex situations in which the Salesians found themselves. India
was next and, as he himself said, he travelled “from Karachi to Bom­
bay, from Goa to Vellore and Madras, from Calcutta to Krishnagar,
from Shillong to Dibrugarh, from Sonada to the foot of Mt. Everest,
and on to the Brahmaputra and Ganges.” At Madras he was welcomed by
Archbishop Mathias, a pioneer of the Salesian work in that country,
where the abundance of vocations made the visitor very optimistic for
the future. He flew from Calcutta to Rangoon and Mandalay in Burma,
to Bangkok and Ban-Pong in Thailand, where the Salesian method of
education was used throughout the country. Enthusiastic receptions
awaited him at Hong Kong and Macao where the non-Christians were as
enthusiastic as the rest. Unfortunately he could not visit the Chinese
mainland and went on to the Philippines, instead, where the work had
begun under good auspices. In Japan he assisted at the celebration of the
Golden Jubilee of the ordination of Msgr. Cimatti, the first Salesian in
that country, and he also spoke on the national radio. The last stops on
this prodigious journey were Australia, the United States, and Canada.

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Returning to Turin, after an absence of six months, he planned
another world tour in 1956. This time he went to Central America,
the Antilles, Mexico, and Argentina which had been “the land of Don
Bosco’s dreams” and therefore had a special claim on his attention.
He spent four months there as the official guest of the government. The
Onas Indians also wanted to show their respect by conferring on him
the title of Honorary Chief! Upon his return from this trip Father
Ziggiotti admitted: “The sum of all I have seen and the emotions I
have felt have reached such a peak that I find it impossible to express
it in words” 19
Two more trips took him to Latin America, towards which Popes
Pius XII and John XXIII were turning the attention of Catholics.
Between February and October 1957, he visited the houses of several
countries: Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, and Brazil. In 1960 he went
to Chile, Peru, Bolivia, Paraguay, and Uruguay. During these three
visits to South America, he visited the five hundred Salesian houses
and almost as many Salesian convents. One of his last memories of that
continent would be the inauguration of a Salesian house in the futur­
istic capital, Brasilia.
The visits produced an immediate effect. With the war over, they
served to concentrate Salesian unity around the successor of Don
Bosco. There was great interest everywhere, and the welcome given him
was warm, enthusiastic, and sometimes overwhelming.
Organizing Work
At Turin Father Ziggiotti continued the organizing work of Father
Ricaldone. With the XVII General Chapter as a basis, he looked after
the proper running of the houses of formation. One particular motive
inspired him in this task: the urgent need of more men, which he now
understood so well, thanks to his visits.
He encouraged the work of the religious sodalities, because, “they
formed a vital part of the Preventive System.”20 If necessary, he
intervened by letter. There were certain people who said the sodali­
ties were out-of-date, and he reminded them that they were meant to
prepare the boys for Catholic Action. As a consequence there was a

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DON BOSCO
renewal of sodalities, with congresses, gatherings, and reviews, which
were further inspired by the canonization of Dominic Savio on June 12,
1954. There were feasts to honor the boy saint everywhere, both in
Italy and abroad. “Dominic Savio Clubs” sprang up and “Friends of
Dominic Savio,” and the Pueri cantores chose him as their patron.
Various solemn occasions and achievements complete the picture
of Father Ziggiotti’s rectorship. In May 1959, on the occasion of the
consecration of a new church, dedicated to St. John Bosco at Cinecitta
in Rome, an extraordinary celebration took place. As a very special
privilege, the urn containing Don Bosco’s body was brought from
Turin. On the 3rd of May Pope John XXIII came to exalt the apostle
of the young before a crowd of more than one hundred thousand
people. Father Ziggiotti also started to put into action his predecessor’s
vow regarding a “temple” on the hill of Becchi. In 1962 John XXIII
advanced to cardinal the Salesian Archbishop of Santiago (Chile) Msgr.
Raul Silva Henriquez. Father Ziggiotti completed the transfer to Rome
of the pontifical Salesian Athenaeum, and added a faculty for advanced
Latin which the Holy See entrusted to the Salesians. Finally in what he
called “my supreme honor and joy,” the rector major participated in
the first three sessions of the Second Vatican Council in 1962.
When the XIX General Chapter met in Rome in April 1965, Father
Ziggiotti asked the electors to give their vote to someone younger than
himself. It was the first time a Salesian rector major had resigned and
Father Ziggiotti did it with edifying simplicity. He returned to Becchi
as rector of the new establishment.
Despite a slight drop toward the end, between 1952 and 1965, the
Congregation experienced a very substantial increase in numbers,
reaching more than 20,000 members. The optimism of the rector major
and the encouragement he was able to provide in every country brought
great results. A man of God, he endeavored to promote through his
work and through his writings the spiritual life of the Salesians.

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283
NOTES ON CHAPTER 23
1. Msgr. Fulton Sheen quoted in Don Bosco in the World,
3rd ed., Turin 1964, p. 67.
2. R. Ziggiotti, Sac. Pietro Ricaldone, quarto successore di San
Giovanni Bosco, Turin December 20, 1951; also the accounts of
Father Ricaldone in the Salesian Bulletin, Bolletino salesiano, and
A cts o f the Superior Chapter. Further information can be found in E.
Valentini, Don Eusebio Vismara, salesiano, Turin 1954.
3. Bolletino salesiano, July 1952, p. 193.
4. Ibid., January 1952, p. 18.
5. E. Ceria, Vita del Servo di Dio Fillippo Rinaldi, Turin 1951,
p. 378.
6. E. Ceria, Memorie biografiche, XIX, 256-368.
7. A cts o f the Superior Chapter, November-December 1961,
no. 222; also Bolletino salesiano, January 1952, p. 31.
8. Quoted in the Bolletino salesiano, January 1952, p. 28.
9. R. Ziggiotti, Sac. Pietro Ricaldone, p. 6.
10. A cts o f the Superior Chapter, May-June 1940, no. 99, p. 8.
11. Ibid., November-December, no. 222, p. 1259-60.
12. E. Ceria, Annali, III, inscription.
13. Bolletino salesiano and A cts o f the Superior Council, 1952-
1965.
14. Quoted in Bolletino salesiano, October 1952, p. 362.
15. Notice what Father Ziggiotti himself says in his preface to P.
Zerbino. Don Pietro Berruti, luminosa figura di Salesiano, Turin
1964, pp. III-IV. We note here that Father Berruti stayed in Rome
from 1943 until the end of the war, acting as vicar of the rector
major.
16. A cts o f the Superior Council, March-April 1953, no. 173.
p. 170.
17. Ibid., September-October 1953, no. 176, p. 244.

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DON BOSCO
18. For an account of this see Bolletino salesiano, September
1955, pp. 333-42.
19. A c ts , July, August 1956, no. 193, p. 497.
20. Ibid., December 1952, no. 171, p. 113.

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24
GENERAL CHAPTERS
REGULATIONS AND CONSTITUTIONS
OF THE SALESIAN SOCIETY AFTER 1888
During the four rectorships we have dealt with here, the important
work of developing rules and regulations continued as always within
the Salesian Society.
Adaptation to Progress
Some people, especially in the past, have been surprised that the
Salesian regulations and even the constitutions themselves were sub­
jected to modifications after Don Bosco’s death. Their story however
is in a sense independent of their originator. The older generations
considered it a lack of respect to touch the testament of the founder.
We therefore find Father Rinaldi (in 1924) resorting to prudent expla­
nations and referring to the existence of previous alterations before
presenting the new “regulations.” 1 Again, without overlooking the
advice of Pius IX about practicing the rules without seeking to change
them, Father Rinaldi recalls the “range of interpretation” that existed
under Don Bosco himself as well as under his immediate successors.
The amendments after 1888 were based on very good reasons.
Generally they were aimed at clarifying and strengthening the organiza­
tion of the Society; therefore there was no danger of undermining

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DON BOSCO
the essential content. We may attribute the changes to various factors:
The Congregation had been growing in number and size, it had reached
new countries, and new circumstances demanded new considerations.
Sometimes changes had to be made at the behest of the Holy See,
for instance in 1917, when the new Code of Canon Law was published.
In other cases the text simply followed the normal evolution.
When Father Rua succeeded Don Bosco, the legislative apparatus
of the Society consisted of the following documents: the text of the
constitutions approved in 1874 (this was the basic document of which
the others were simply faithful interpretations); the regulations for the
Oratory and the Salesian houses, published together in 1877; and two
collections of deliberations of the general chapters, published in 1882
and 1887. Obviously, the decisions of the general chapters produced
the most important transformations and developments.
Deliberations o f Six General Chapters, 1894
From 1889 to 1904 general chapters took place regularly every three
years. They instituted new deliberations and an effort was made to
bring them in line with earlier decisions. A first collection published in
1894 contained the deliberations of the fifth and, especially the sixth
general chapter.
After Don Bosco’s death, the legislative activities of the superiors
of the Congregation continued.2 On September 2, 1889, the fifth
General Chapter met at Valsalice under Father Rua.3 It followed
the methods established by previous chapters, and, as in the past,
commissions were set up to make preliminary studies of the various
subjects under discussion.
An important task was the formation of young Salesians. On this
occasion the Chapter concentrated on the quality of the houses of
formation and anticipated the opening of major seminaries, with some
discussion about the choice of text books. Opinions varied on the
question of Salesian parishes and their relationship with Salesian
houses. One problem was, for instance: Who should come first, the
parish priest or the rector? In the end, weary of arguing, this contro­
versial matter was left to the superior chapter to decide. Eventually in a

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287
new set of regulations for parishes, the superior chapter decided in
favor of the rector. Before closing, the assembly made the traditional
declaration to the effect that the rector major could make additions or
corrections as he saw fit.
The result of this chapter was a new volume of deliberations, which
was printed in 1890.
The VI General Chapter met at Valsalice in 1892. In view of the
continuous additions to the Salesian regulations there was a need for
some measure of simplification.4
This task was entrusted to a commission for “reviewing and co­
ordinating into one volume the various deliberations of the general
chapters.” The members of the commission had to identify and elim­
inate the defects of previous editions; sometimes there was confusion
about certain deliberations and they had to be clarified; many articles
inserted into the deliberations were merely repetitions of the consti­
tutions; the order of procedure did not follow the order of the consti­
tutions; finally, some of the deliberations sounded good but were
unrealistic.
The commission completed its difficult task within the assigned
time of one year. In 1894, The Deliberations fo r the first six General
Chapters o f the Pious Salesian Society, preceded by the Rules and
Constitutions o f the same Society were published in Turin.
The new document was a weighty one containing some four hundred
pages. The “deliberations” were grouped according to the structure that
became traditional after 1882, but sometimes it was difficult to insert
certain instructions that did not fit into place. There were six main
divisions: I Special Regulations (General Chapters, Superior Chapter,
Provincials, Rectors, Salesian Sisters, Parishes, Oratories); II Common
life; III Piety; IV Morality (with paragraphs on the Cooperators and
the Salesian Bulletin at the end); V Studies (with the problem of ordi­
nations); VI Economy. There were 712 articles altogether presented
for the first time in progressive numeration.
It is clear that this collection had the benefit of the experience of
General Chapters V and VI, especially with regard to Salesians in
military service, the seminaries, the provincial procurator and the
craftmasters.
This publication of 1894 was the first important systematized collec­

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DON BOSCO
tion of Salesian law; however further adaptations soon became nec­
essary.
The Salesian Regulations o f 1906
The three following general chapters took place in 1895, 1898, and
1901. They did not introduce great innovations, but they attempted to
point out matters that had been neglected, they dealt with the details
of certain articles, and proposed new regulations, at least ad experimen-
tum.
There were various topics of discussion and the chapter members
started their work almost with joy—an afterglow of the recent triumph
at Bologna. The chapter of 1895, for example, discussed the relation­
ship between the provincial and the rector of the provincial house,
proposed regulations for the heads of agricultural schools, as well as
for the pupils’ refectory. That of 1898 dealt with oratories, work­
shops, matters of the Institute of the Daughters of Mary Help of
Christians, etc. The main subjects however were the election of mem­
bers to the superior chapter and the re-election of Father Rua. There
was an effort in 1901 to combine into a simple text the most recent
deliberations with the older ones. A new and permanent commission
was appointed for this purpose by the rector major, at the suggestion
of the capitular members. The commission took a long time, and it is to
be noted finally that this particular chapter introduced the innovation
of a practical tirocinium for young Salesians.
The X General Chapter was held in 1904, and must be considered
of special importance in the history of Salesian rules.5 The chapter
convened for twenty-two days, with representatives of thirty-two
provinces, some of recent origin. It drafted regulations for provincials
and for novitiates, but the greatest concern of this convention dealt
with the adaptation and rewriting of all previous legislation. The
deliberations concern the text of the constitutions, regulations, and
decisions of chapters. They led to the drafting of one hundred and
ten “pertinent articles,” which we shall mention later, and to the
compiling of the Regulations o f the Pious Society o f St. Francis de
Sales, published in 1906. For the first time there was one complete

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289
collection—consisting of 1,406 articles-which contained all regulations
and all decisions of the preceding general chapters. Its outline, which
was to be preserved henceforth at least in its essential parts is as fol­
lows:
I Regulations fo r the Houses: This was the most important part,
because it concerned all the religious in all the houses. It contained
the following three sections: 1. Religous Life; 2. System of Education
(with Don Bosco’s text on the Preventive System) and various offices;
3. Regulations for the Pupils. The section on the religious life is the
most original one. Based not only on the decisions of the general
chapters but also on letters of Don Bosco and his successors, and on
the circulars of other major superiors, it was divided into sixteen chap­
ters: 1) Common life; 2) Fraternal charity; 3) Poverty; 4) Chastity;
5) Obedience; 6) Occupations and Holidays; 7) Priests; 8) Clerics;
9) Coadjutors; 10) Piety; 11) Suffrages for deceased members of the
Pious Society; 12) Confreres away from their houses; 13) Relationship
between houses; 14) Mistakes to avoid; 15) Economy; 16) Traditions.
We must also note that the paragraph on the Preventive System had
been enlarged by several chapters dedicated to education, moral forma­
tion, religious schooling, vocation, intellectual training, and athletics.
II Regulations fo r the N ovitiate Houses: They benefitted from
frequent re-examinations of questions brought about by the multi­
plication of novitiates under Father Rua. Contrary to the decision of
the Chapter of 1901, that of 1904 definitely rejected the idea of
separate novitiates for clerics and Coadjutors.
III Regulations for Provincials: They too were the result of the
Congregation’s rapid development and contained a supplementary
section on the provincial chapter and the provincial counselors.
IV Regulations fo r Parishes: Substantially, a redrafting of the
previous decisions.
V Regulations fo r the Oratories: These were the rules of Don
Bosco, preceded by eighteen general articles.
VI Regulations fo r Cooperators: Recommendations for Salesians.
As we can see, these numerous regulations left no aspect of Salesian
life unprovided for. The only thing they did not deal with was the
often debated question of the relationship with the Institute of the
Daughters of Mary Help of Christians. On November 21, 1906, Father

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Rua explained to the Salesians that as of now the Institute was to be
regarded as an independent congregation.
Annotated Edition o f the Constitutions, 1905
The chapter of 1904 made another important decision regarding
the constitutions of 1874. Father Rua’s reluctance to introduce changes
was counterbalanced by the need of keeping the Congregation abreast
of the times at the start of the twentieth century.6
Hence certain articles were modified and 110 articles, described as
pertinent, were added to the text of the constitutions. To distinguish
them from the original text, they were placed in the 1905 edition
as footnotes.7
Several new facts at once became apparent in this new edition:
the general chapter was to meet only every six years, on account
of the increasing problems in organizing these great meetings which
were henceforth subject to detailed regulations. Moreover the provinces
and provincials—unknown in 1874-were to take their rightful place
in the government of the Society. Other additions and clarifications
concerned the set-up of the Salesian houses, the details of the so-called
rendiconto, how to practice the monthly Exercise for a Holy Death,
etc. Rome approved these modifications on September 1, 1905.
The Constitutions after the New Code o f Canon Law,
1921 and 1923
In 1917 the Holy See published the new Code of Canon Law, and
on June 16, 1918, the Congregation of Religious requested religious
superiors to revise the constitutions accordingly. The Salesian canonists
working on the reforms profited by the occasion to insert further
pertinent articles.
When we compare their work, published in 1921, with preceding
editions, we are mainly impressed by the presentation: the footnotes
have disappeared there is one text of 240 articles numbered pro­
gressively, but the new articles are marked by an asterisk. As to con-

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291
tent, the modifications are less obvious. They concern, among other
things, the paragraph on poverty (the novice, for example, is required
to make his last will and testament before first profession, in accor­
dance with canon 569, 5 par. 3; the age of the rector major (the mini­
mum age on election was raised from thirty-five to forty); the opening
of new houses (for which henceforth a written permission of the Curia
was necessary); admission to the Congregation (which was dependent
now upon the provincial and his council).
Those who worked on the revisions were not satisfied however.
The mere insertion of the pertinent articles into the body of the text
led to a loss of logical coordination and many repetitions. A new draft
was therefore suggested. The matter was deferred to the XII General
Chapter, which convened in 1922 under the presidency of Father
Rinaldi.8 When the work was completed, the new text was issued and
received Rome’s approval on June 19, 1923. Apart from corrections in
style, adaptations, deletions, and inversions of articles, which were
reduced to 201, there were changes in the titles of the paragraphs.
Thus paragraph 9 now dealt with the provinces, paragraph 11 with the
general chapter, while the 6th included the titles of the former 7th
paragraph. Of particular importance was the fact that the pertinent
articles were no longer distinguished from the rest.
This radical transformation was followed by a period of almost
complete calm. One hardly notices that the general chapter of 1938
deleted the point about the participation of vicars and prefects apo­
stolic, the number of consultors to the superior chapter was raised from
three to five, and despite the perplexity of some people at this new
change, the members fully approved of it for reasons one can easily
imagine.
In 1954 a new edition of the constitutions was printed, repro­
ducing that of 1923 with the exception of the changes just noted and
various other points of little importance.
The story continues. The XIX General Chapter made a number of
decisions that affected further editions.9 They provided mainly for an
increase in the number of members of the superior chapter, six of
whom were to supervise groups of provinces; the creation of the posi­
tion of vice-provincial; the substitution of the name “superior council”
for “superior chapter,” etc. The changes already approved by Rome or

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the ones proposed merely ad experimentum met a threefold need:
providing the central government with effective liaison between the
religious and the superiors of the Congregation, preserving the tradi­
tion of patrimony, and facilitating the collaboration between the
Salesian Society and the various branches of the universal Church.
The Regulations o f 1924
After the publication in 1906 of the Regulations o f the Pious
Salesian S o ciety, it soon became obvious that this volume needed to
be revised. The main criticism concerned the length of its 1,046 articles.
The work involved was neither easy nor fast. The IX General Chap­
ter in 1910 made this subject its chief topic of discussion, appointing
commissions, one for each of the six sets of regulations. Nothing came
of it, however. Eventually, as is usual in such cases, everything was
left to the superior chapter, which named a new and permanent com­
mission. For lack of anything better, various guidelines were established
to facilitate the task: the spirit of Don Bosco was not to be interfered
with, the articles written by him were to remain untouched, mere
exhortations were to be eliminated.10
This commission labored for twelve long years. In its defense it must
be said that during that period of time it was impossible to convene a
general chapter and that they had to wait for the publication of the
new Code of Canon Law until 1917. It was the XII General Chapter
that provided the final impetus in 1922. Dealing with the revision
of the constitutions, this chapter also attended to the text of the
regulations.11 It took into account the new canonical dispositions, the
new edition of the constitutions and the deliberations made by the
chapter itself. Before issuing a final text, preliminary copies were sent
to the provinces for study and observation.
The new Regulations o f the Salesian Society were printed in 1924.
While the general presentation was identical with that of 1906, the
revising members had not been idle. The number of articles had di­
minished to 416, and everything unessential, provisional, or too local,
had been eliminated. Several sections were reduced for clarity.
The regulations for pupils disappeared, to be printed separately.

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In the regulations for the Oratory, the parts concerning the various
offices were deleted, though Father Rinaldi had fought successfully
in 1910 to have it retained. This latter part therefore became almost
incredibly short; the number of articles was reduced from 287 to a
mere 29.
Regulations o f 1954 and Further Changes
The 1924 edition enjoyed considerable stability.12 However, in
certain fields the continuing work of codification still called for cer­
tain revision and additions. This was particularly so in the case of the
problems of formation to which Father Ricaldone gave so much atten­
tion.
The General Chapter of 1938 proposed six new regulations to cover
the whole period of Salesian training, yet a new edition, published in
1942, does not mention them, while another, published in 1954, gives
at least their substance. The old regulations for the novitiates and
seminaries were replaced with new ones for aspirants, novices, pro­
fessed seminarians, and schools for advanced training for Coadjutors.
This was certainly the most important change in a text that did not
differ very much from the one which preceded it.
The changes brought about by the 1964 chapter which appeared in
the edition of 1966 were most numerous. They concerned the monthly
retreat, the training of young priests and Coadjutors, the Union of
Cooperators, the Pontifical Salesian Athenaeum, etc. Even so, it is not
difficult to see in this new edition of the regulations the basic structure
of the volume of 1924.
The history of the Constitution and Regulations o f the Salesian
Society reflects search for improvement at the highest legislative level.
The questions introduced, the solutions given, the formulas suggested,
their juridical or spiritual nature, are all indicative of successive states
of mind and of the permanence of the spirit of faithfulness.

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NOTES ON CHAPTER 24
1. See A cts o f the Superior Council January 1924, no. 23,
p. 188. In this same number Father Rinaldi gives an over-all history
of the constitutions and regulations.
2. For what concerns the regulations see the editions of 1 8 9 0 -
deliberations of the V General Chapter 1894, deliberations of the first
six general chapters 1896 deliberations of the VII General Chapter;
1899 deliberations o f the VIII General Chapter; 1906; Regolamenti
della Societa di San Francesco di Sales; 1924, 1942, 1954, 1966.
Summaries are to be found in E. Ceria, Annali, II, III, IV passim.
Used here in the original has been the cyclostyled work, with useful
biographies. See F. Desramaut, Reglements de la Societe salesienne.
Jalons de leur histoire depuis les origines jusqu’en 1953, Lyons 1953.
There exists also a synopsis of the Salesian Regulations drawn up by
a Salesian research group at Lyons, viz. J. Heymans, Evolution du
texte des Regolam enti della Societa salesians, in six booklets, Lyons
1962-1967.
3. The story of this is to be found in E. Ceria, Annali, II,
37-47. The text of the decisions is to be found in Deliberazioni del
quinto Capitolo Generale, San Benigno Canavese 1890.
4. The story of this chapter can be found in E. Ceria, Annali,
II, 238-49.
5. Ibid., Ill, 537-57; also the text of the actual Regulations,
Turin 1906.
6. Father Rinaldi wrote: “Only one who lived with Father Rua
in those years could have any idea of the labor and soul searching he
went through in order to amend our constitutions according to the
requirements of the times without introducing substantial changes”—
Acts, January 1924, no. 23, p. 189. See the modifications to the
Constitutions, in E. Ceria Profili dei capitolari salesiani . . ., Colle
Don Bosco, 1951, pp. 474-81.
7. Constitutions o f the Salesian Society, eds. 1905, 1921, 1923,
1942, 1954, 1966.
8. For this period, A c ts, January 1924, no. 23, pp. 191-93.
9. A cts o f the X I General Chapter, 1966, no. 224.

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10. E. Ceria, Annali, IV, 6-9.
11. For this period, consult A cts, January 1924, no. 23, p. 195.
12. F. Desramaut, Reglements de la Societa salesienne, pp. 11-13.

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SALESIAN FORMATION
Since Father Rua
In tracing the history of the Salesian Congregation one particular
point deserves special attention: it is the ability to adapt to gradual
change, or it may be called its essential spirit of reform. We use the
word “reform” here in its positive sense, fully aware that “itching
for reform” had so annoyed Don Bosco.
In a religious society and, above all, in one devoted to education,
the problem of formation naturally assumes great importance. A
glance at the circular letters of the rectors major and the deliberations
of the general chapters shows the amount of attention paid by Salesian
superiors to this development. The task of training the religious, the
priest, the educator is complex and sensitive and it is understandable
that detailed directives and suggestions have been required frequently.
Two observations will guide us in this field. On the one hand we
have the continuity of the traditional methods inherited from Don
Bosco and carried on by his successors; and on the other hand, we
witness the spectacular development of the houses of formation.

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The Traditional M ethods
The stability of the ordinary formation of Salesian personnel after
Don Bosco’s time is quite evident.
On September 2, 1901, Father Rua recalled the method used by the
founder with his first seven or eight disciples: instructions, “Good
Night,” weekly lessons in sacred scripture, private talks.1 Another
qualified witness, Father Albera, gave some interesting details in 1911:
“He would gather us together from time to time in his modest little
room, after night prayers, when all the others had gone to bed for
a short but most interesting conference. Although there were only
a few of us, this was precisely what made us happy: to be chosen to
help with the fulfillment of the grand design of our most kind master.
It was not difficult for us to understand his Providential calling to help
the young and it was a great honor indeed to be chosen to carry out
his marvelous ideals. Thus, little by little, he formed us in his own
school.”2
Some of his methods of formation had withstood the test of time
as, for instance, the Good Night, even though it was usually meant for
the pupils.3 This little talk, given by the rector or someone else in his
place, was a kind of symbol for the family atmosphere that should be
in every house of Don Bosco. Father Rua, who was so exemplary in
everything, demanded it of his spiritual director every evening even
during his last illness. Closer to our own time, Father Ricaldone at­
tached great importance to such Salesian traditions as “the sermon-
ettes,” little exhortations, and those other examples and customs which
are not specifically mentioned in the constitutions and regulations.”4
Another means of formation traditionally held was the rendiconto
to the superior which had already been in the constitutions of the
founder. It was the 1904 general chapter that decided to introduce an
article to clarify its content.5 According to this article, the practice
consisted of “giving an account” at least once a month on certain
subjects: health, work, spiritual life, relgious observance, fraternal
charity, disorders noticed. Reading the exhortations of Father Rua
and Father Ricaldone on this matter, we can understand the impor­
tance they attached to the rendiconto, but we can also see the inherent
difficulties. The Roman Decree of 1901 had forbidden superiors to hear

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DON BOSCO
the confessions of their subjects. In Salesian circles that prohibition
was not popular as it constituted an obstacle to that “full confidence
in the superior” desired by the Salesian constitutions.
Other means of formation came naturally with Salesian development
and expansion. Father Rua had already had to give up with great regret,
direct contact with the confreres and even with the provincials. “How
gladly we would have continued the traditional method of formation
which gave us the chance to see each other, to deal with matters of
mutual interest, to share joys and sorrows. It is with great regret that
I and other members of the superior chapter give up these pleasures.
We are not motivated by bureaucracy but only by our duty to obey
regulations.”6
The successors of Don Bosco therefore had recourse to written
instructions, circular letters or “edifying letters” which were sometimes
very detailed. The specialists in such letters were Father Rua, Father
Albera, and Father Ricaldone. As of 1920 the A cts o f the Superior
Chapter appeared almost every two months, giving the rector major and
the members of the council the opportunity of communicating with all
the Salesians throughout the world. The superiors often used this means
of contact for dealing with questions regarding the training of Salesians,
religious affairs (prayer, apostolate, vows, retreat), Salesian affairs
(faithfulness to Don Bosco), scholastic matters or, less frequently,
general human problems.
Development o f Houses
After Don Bosco’s death, some houses, dedicated particularly to the
formation of Salesians, needed improvements or relocation to a more
convenient place. This was especially the case with novitiates and
houses of philosophy.
Other houses came into being through pressure from the Roman
authorities or because of new requirements; minor and major semi­
naries, centers of training for Coadjutors. The general chapters often
played a determining role in arranging the work of these institutes.

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Minor Seminaries
Though a worldwide study of the sources of vocations is still lacking,
the great majority of candidates seem to have come from Salesian
schools. Any kind of minor seminary was therefore merely a supple­
ment.
The house could be the usual secondary school which was open to
all. Vocations “maturing there would be considered aspirants.” This
was Father Rua’s opinion, and he declared in the 1892 general chapter:
“One can consider as aspirants boys who want to train themselves to
achieve a kind of Christian life that will enable them to become clerics
or Coadjutors.”7 Pointing out that this kind of youth should receive
special care, he recommended that they attend bi-monthly conferences,
which should not deal with the Congregation but simply with “Chris­
tian” life, and that only those of proven virtue should eventually be
chosen.
While the creation of minor seminaries is comparatively recent, the
basic idea is an old one. Father Ricaldone assures us that right from
1884 the founder wished to have a house for aspirants at the Oratory
at Valdocco. After Don Bosco’s death the need for Salesians brought
about “institutes which would receive boys, generally between twelve
and sixteen years of age who wanted to belong to the Salesian So­
ciety.”8
There was a remarkable increase in the number of minor seminaries
by 1936, and Father Ricaldone wanted at least one in every province.
The time of necessary schooling varied. In 1929, the general chapter
prescribed a four-year course for boys who had come from elementary
schools. In 1936 and 1947 Father Ricaldone insisted on five years.
Moreover, the superior made a well-defined institution of the Salesian
minor seminary, and a chapter in the 1954 regulations rewarded his
efforts by proclaiming that the seminary should be a “model house
with trained personnel.” The candidates for the Salesian life were to
be turned towards “simple and spontaneous piety which was also
deep and fervent, as Don Bosco wished.” “Confidence in the rector”
was stressed. The general chapter of 1965 took up once again the study
of the houses for vocations and divided them into three categories ac­
cording to the degree of maturity of the aspirants.

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Novitiate
The candidate who succeeded in passing what the constitutions
call “the trial of the minor seminary” is then admitted to a second
trial period: the novitiate. The purpose of this period is to build up a
spiritual foundation in the future religious which will prepare him for
profession at the end of the year.
We must remember that Don Bosco did not submit very willingly
to the idea of a purely ascetic novitiate that excluded other activities.
Similar evolution followed after his death. At first the novitiates were
attached to houses engaged in youth work; however, they were de­
tached one by one. The Argentinian novices left the school at Almagro
for Bernal in 1895, the Chileans at Concepcion left for Macul the same
year, the Belgians at Liege and at Lille left for Hechtel in 1896, the
English novices at Battersea moved to Burwash in 1897.
There was a period during which, at least in some places, the novices
studied philosophy, but the 1929 general chapter recalled the strict
application of canon 565, par. 3, which prohibited any form of secular
study during the novitiate. Novices were allowed however to brush
up on material already acquired, and they were permitted to teach
Italian to fellow novices who did not know it.
The directives dealing with the formation of novices emphasized
to a great degree the guidelines issued by Canon Law, the constitu­
tions, and the advice of Don Bosco. There were, however, some dif­
ferences as can be seen if we compare Father Rua’s idea with Father
Ricaldone’s. Both speak of ascetical formation during the novitiate.
Father Rua stresses the virtues of piety, humility, and mortification;
the “religious hallmark” that should, in his opinion, characterize
the figure of the Salesian from this period of formation.9 Father
Ricaldone, on the other hand, prefers to emphasize that “Salesian
asceticism is not an end in itself but a means of training towards the
salvation of souls.” 10
We must recall that after some hesitation and different experiments,
the principle of having a simple novitiate for both future priests and
Coadjutors was definitively approved by the general chapter of 1904.
Father Ricaldone later enumerated the motives and advantages of
the above, such as equality among the members of the Congregation,

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an all-round brotherliness right from the novitiate, and identity of the
apostolic idea.
Ecclesiastical Studies
The intellectual training of the future priest consisted essentially
of the study of philosophy and theology.
A house o f philosophy existed in the Congregation before Father Rua
became rector major. In 1887, Don Bosco had made the former school
at Valsalice a house of this kind, naming it a “seminary for foreign
missions.” In due course most provinces had a house of philosophy.
The time spent on philosophical studies varied. We read, for instance,
that the 1901 chapter reduced the number of years from three to two, in
order to conform to the constitutions. This was comparatively short
when one considers that the aspirants then studied for only four years. A
third year of philosophy found support at the 1929 chapter and became
a requirement in 1939 and again in 1954. At intervals the general chap­
ters took an interest in the authors of the philosophy textbooks. The
1889 general chapter wanted the students’ textbooks for philosophy and
theology written by Salesian authors, and the 1901 general chapter wel­
comed the texts of Varvello and Conelli; the chapter of 1924 insisted
that the texts must be approved by the rector major.
Apart from the study of philosophy, the seminaries were founded
to provide all-round training for the young Salesians, and this require­
ment was made clear in the 1924 regulations which declared that “their
aim was not merely the intellectual and cultural education of the
clerics but also, and in a special way, their spiritual and Salesian for­
mation,” 11 while those of 1966 added the words “religious, cultural,
general, and specific.” This is why the 1946 publication of Programs
and Norms fo r the Houses o f Philosophy and Theology o f the Salesian
S o ciety12 contemplated, in addition to such subjects as ontology and
ethics, a striking number of studies of every kind, such as catechesis,
mathematics, languages, history, and aesthetical and physical education.
After philosophy, pedagogy was stressed because of the society’s special
emphasis on teaching. For the same reason an appeal was sent to Rome
in 1901 to obtain permission for the young clerics to attend universities

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at this stage of their formation.
The second cycle of studies, required of the candidates for the
priesthood, consisted of the years of theology. (To comply with the
constitutions, the Salesian clerics had to devote at least four years to
the study of theology).
Before the turn of the century there were no special hosues of
theology. In 1880 the second General Chpater certainly over-estimated
the demand by asking for a major seminary of theology in every pro­
vince; in 1901 it had to be admitted that practically nothing had been
done in this field for twenty yars.13 The provinces simply could not
support the burdens of such institutions. Until the dream could be
realized, the future priests continued to take the courses at the diocesan
seminaries, or else, for better or for worse, they received their education
in a Salesian house which served that purpose; some students went to the
Gregorian University in Rome. A serious attempt was made around
1940, with the opening of the seminaries at Foglizzo (Piedmont), San
Gregorio (Sicily), Grand-Bigard (Belgium), and El Manga (Uruguay).
There were also so-called minor seminaries, without well-defined pro­
grams. In 1920 Father Albera requested that they be minor only in
name, but even in 1929 they apparently still left much to be desired.
As to writers, they were discussing the respective merits of Perrone,
Del Vecchio, Sala, Schouppe, and Hurter in 1889. In 1904 the Salesian
writers Paglia, Piscetta and Munerati were much in vogue. When syste­
matizing the seminaries of theology in 1946 important norms were
established once more.
The two years of applied or practical moral theology prescribed
by the general chapter disappeared in 1901, probably because they
were then too difficult to arrange. Nevertheless the apostolic consti­
tution Sedes Sapientiae of May 31, 1956, revived the seminaries to
some extent by prescribing a supplementary year of pastoral education
after ordination. Moreover, a quinquennium was laid dewn for young
priests for further theological training.
The determination of the superiors eventually gave the Congregation
an institute of higher studies for the education of those destined to
bear responsibility. Father Rua first launched the idea—thought by
many premature—of establishing an International Theological seminary
at Foglizzo.14 It was founded in 1904 and remained there until 1923,

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when it was transferred to the Crocetta in Turin. In 1940 Father Rical­
done obtained recognition for it as pontifical athenaeum.
The faculties of theology, philosophy, and canon law were approved
in May 1940. An institute of pedagogy was added and approved in July
1940. Under Father Ziggiotti the athenaeum was transferred to Rome.
It received a special program in the last regulations.
Let us now take a look at the method of teaching. Soon after Father
Rua had become rector, he reacted against the tendency to extoll the
lecture method of teaching. In a letter of December 27, 1889, he re­
commended the traditional Salesian practice: “Even for courses in
philosophy and theology, the teachers should not consider it beneath
themselves or a waste of time to question the pupils in order to make
sure they know what they have studied. He who is merely content to
give his lectures, but does not succeed in getting his pupils to study and
to learn may be a learned man, but he is not a good teacher.” 15 In due
course, the programs and norms expressed his preference to the effect
“that the professors should not only teach but also educate and inspire
their pupils by words and example to love and practice the Salesian
system of education.16
Tirocinium
The 1901 general chapter made an important decision regarding
the training of personnel. It decreed that future priests have a three-
year period of practice in a Salesian house. This tirocinium was to take
place between philosophy and theology.
The decision was not entirely a new one, since already, in the Deli­
berations of 1890, one could read: “After the study of philosophy, let
the clerics spend an entire year at the Oratory in Turin, or in the
provincial house, or in some other house appointed by the provincial;
during this year they will exercise in practical fashion the offices of
teacher and assistant.”
We find further details in the discussions of September 2 and 3,
1901 which brought about the triennium.17 It is said that the sponsors
of the project did not wish to deprive the houses of a certain amount
of support at the very time when means were sought to create houses

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for the regular studies of clerics. It would also serve as a good test of
vocations and fitness for Salesian life. We must add to these motives the
memory of the formation of the first Salesians under Don Bosco,
and the importance he attached to practice and experience. Father
Rua fully approved of this innovation, to the point of insisting that the
three years should not be shortened. In a circular letter of March 19,
1901, he entrusts the clerics in the tirocinium to their rectors.
The purpose of the tirocinium did not change: it continued to be
for the pedagogical and Salesian formation of the future priest. It did
not interfere with those who wished to study at the university because
the capitular members of 1901 wanted the students to secure official
teaching qualifications. We find the same preference again in 1958, in
amendment 51 of the 1954 Regulations.
Formation o f Coadjutors
The training of the Coadjutors raised special problems which the
Congregation attended to only later.
After the decision to have a common novitiate—intended by the
1904 chapter to ensure the same basic religious formation for all
young Salesians—there remained the question of more advanced train­
ing for the Coadjutor to equal that of the cleric. It was not that the
matter was overlooked, for we read the following article in the 1906
regulations: “After the novitiate he should, if possible, have two or
at least one year of technical training in his particular trade, during
which time he should affirm his moral strength and the spirit of his vo­
cation.” The regulations did not say a great deal and were strictly
speaking rather vague.
The years went by, apparently without change. Then, on May 15,
1921, Father Albera requested that the Coadjutors prepare themselves
“to practice among the young the same apostolate as the priests, except
for strictly ministerial offices,” 18 but he did not mention how they
should prepare themselves to comply with his directives.
The impetus was provided by the XII General Chapter in 1922,
which considered the qualifications of the Coadjutors. The practical
decisions can be read in the 1924 regulations, which state that the

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lay Salesians should take a finishing course of two years; provincials
were urged to create houses of formation for this purpose. Various
centers—San Benigno, Cumiana, Rebaudengo, Becchi, and others—
opened in Piedmont. These houses also admitted aspirants who wished
to become Coadjutors. The 1929 Chapter envisaged this form of minor
seminary and stated at the same time that the course should not only
deal with the professional life but should include the entire human
and religious formation.
An experimental set of regulations had all Coadjutors spend at least
two years in a special finishing course held in a Salesian house of
formation. The 1954 regulations emphasized this need by providing
for a three-year course for those who were taking up a profession,
and two years for the others. The chapter of 1965 more or less adopted
Father Albera’s idea about the apostolic vocation of the Coadjutors,
requesting a time of preparation for “spiritual, theological, and peda­
gogical development.”
Finally, taking a general view of the situation, we can say that the
Second Vatican Council and the 1965 general chapter started a move­
ment at the very heart of the Congregation towards improving the
training of all its religious, to prepare them for the apostolate in the
world of today. Among other things a study considered the possibility
of a second novitiate of six months to be held after ten years of priest­
hood or after ten years of active apostolate for the Coadjutors.
In the three quarters of a century that have passed since the death of
Don Bosco and the election of Father Rua in 1888, the need for
competent Salesians with thorough and specialized knowledge, whether
priest or layman, has exerted a continuous influence on the years of
preparation. This need increased after World War I, and the publication
in 1917 of the Code of Canon Law. It would be interesting to know
just how the ministry of the Salesians has been influenced by the
evolution of their formation. Actual studies made of the Salesian
work since 1910 (when Father Rua died) do not yet yield precise
answers to that question.

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NOTES ON CHAPTER 25
1. E. Ceria, Annali, III, 155.
2. P. Albera, L ettere circolari, ed. cit., pp. 54-55.
3. Re: the “Good Night,” see E. Ceria, Annali, III, 856-69.
4. P. Ricaldone: “Fidelity to St. John Bosco,” in A cts o f the
Superior Chapter, March 1936, no. 74, p. 45.
5. P. Ricaldone, “ II Rendiconto” in A cts . . . July-August
1947, p. 142.
6. M. Rua, L ettere circolari, ed. cit., p. 341.
7. E. Ceria, Annali, II, 246.
8. P. Ricaldone, “Formation of Salesian Personnel,” A cts . . .
November 1936, no. 78, p. 102.
9. M. Rua, L ettere circolari, p. 211.
10. See his letter on the novitiate in Acts, May-June 1939,
p. 207.
11. Regulations o f the Salesian Society, ed. 1924, art. 308.
12. See these in Acts, November-December 1946, no. 138.
13. E. Ceria, Annali, III, 156.
14. Ibid., Ill, 564.
15. M. Rua, L ettere circolari, 43-44.
16. Acts, November-December 1946, n. 138, p. 7.
17. E. Ceria, Annali, III, 156-57.
18. P. Albera, Lettere circolari, p. 483.

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THE SALESIANS MISSIONS AFTER 1910
By 1910 thirty-five years had passed since Cagliero and his com­
panions had first set foot on the American continent. In spite of
innumerable obstacles, the first missionaries had succeeded in taking
possession of their territory, in cultivating it and finally in rendering
it productive throughout certain areas. From then on the Salesian
missionary effort increased to such an extent that eventually the
Society became the second largest missionary congregation of the
Church. The great pioneers of the previous century—Cagliero, Fagnano,
Milanesi, Costamagna, Lasagna—did not lack successors or rivals. At
first all were Italians, but later the Salesian missionaries became inter­
national.
The missionary activities of the Salesians unfolded in the missions
directly entrusted to them by the Holy See (vicariati apostolici, prela-
ture nullius, or dioceses dependent on the Sacred Congregation for the
Propagation of the Faith), and in mission centers under the jurisdiction
of others.1

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Salesian Missions in South America
The work of the Salesians in the most southern part of America
was not without result. As of 1935, the Guide to the Catholic Mis­
sions, published under the auspices of the Sacred Congregation for the
Propagation of the Faith, could affirm that practically all the Indians of
Patagonia were Catholics. Moreover, Patagonia and Tierra del Fuego
had ceased to be called “missions” and had become dioceses in either
Argentina or Chile.
Elsewhere, however, progress was slow and much work remained
to be done. One need only think of the type of life led by the Indian
tribes, their scattered villages, their hatred of the white man—who
either exploited or killed them—to realize how difficult it was to win
them over.
Perhaps the most encouraging results came from the Kivaros, who
were head-hunters.2 For many years the vicariate apostolic of Mendez
and Gualaquiza seemed to stagnate largely because Bishop Costamagna
rarely received permission to travel into his territory. In 1920 his
successor, Bishop Comin, said one day to Pius X: “Your Holiness, we
are flogging a dead horse!” Nevertheless, the missionaries were in the
meantime perfecting their methods of approach. They mastered the
language and compiled a dictionary and a grammar; they opened the
roads through the forest, and they created “social services” with the
help of the Salesian Sisters. In 1934 Father Rouby initiated a more
radical approach that had been tried elsewhere. It consisted of grouping
together in every village certain Indian families, each of which was
given a little house and a piece of ground to cultivate, (one of these
villages was rather pompously called Seville Don Bosco!) This method
combined with the interest of the Salesians in the younger generation
brought the desired results; the majority of the Kivaros became Chris­
tians. Another sign of progress occurred on the occasion of a congress,
when—in the presence of the authorities of Quito—a Kivaro asked them
publicly to take an interest in their Kivaro brothers!
In 1920 some Salesians began working among the Indians of the
Gran Chaco in Paraguay.3 There had been protracted negotiations
with Bishop Bogarin of Asuncion before this mission was accepted.
Difficult exploratory journeys were made by Father Queirolo, Father

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Pittini (provincial of Uruguay and Paraguay), and by Father Sosa before
they could get started in 1925, when a residence was established on
the island of Napegue in Paraguay. Other centers followed at Fuerte
Olimpo, at Puerto Pinasco, at Puerto Casado, at Puerto Sastre, etc.,
which Father Ziggiotti was able to visit in 1960. In the meantime,
in 1948 the Salesian mission of Chaco Paraguayo had become a vicari­
ate apostolic.
The Salesians founded another mission in 1932 in Venezuela, on the
bank of the Upper Orinoco, with Puerto Ayacucho as its center.4
Started as a prefecture apostolic by Msgr. De Ferrari, the mission
became a vicariate apostolic in 1953. The Salesians built schools and
dispensaries in that region in order to help the Uakibis Indians.
Missions in Brazil
The great missionary activity of the Congregation after 1910 took
place in Brazil, where those vast areas, Mato Grosso and the basin of
the Amazon kown as the “Green Hell” were turned over to the Salesi­
ans. Since Bishop Lasagna’s time there has been intensified missionary
activity among the Indians living along the rivers and in the forests of
that immense region.
Appreciable results were obtained in Mato Grosso among the Boro-
ros, and in recognition the Holy See in 1914 nominated the Salesian
Provincial, Father Anthony Malan, bishop of the diocese called Registro
de Araguaia. His territory stretched over about 108,000 square miles
and was populated by whites, fazendeiros, cattle breeders, garimpeiros,
diamond-seekers, and by Indian tribes called Bororos, Carajas, Chavan-
tes, etc. The last named were notorious for their ferocity. Between
1860-1888 they had been evangelized by the Capuchins but had de­
veloped a hatred for white men who had come searching for diamonds.
A tragic incident occurred in November 1934 when this hatred was
turned against two Salesians, Father Fuchs from Switzerland and
Father Sacillotti from Brazil who were murdered in cold blood.5
It was not until January 29, 1951 that the old missionary, Father
Colbacchini, was able to establish contact with them.
In the field of science the Salesians of Mato Grosso founded the

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Museu Dom Bosco at Campo Grande, which is truly remarkable for
its knowledge of the Indians of Brazil. Its creators, Father Albisetti and
Father Venturelli, also published a richly documented Bororo Encyclo­
pedia, which earned high praise from the French ethnologist Claude
Levi-Strauss, who said that “ the Bororos Indians were undoubtedly
the best studied tribe of tropical America.”6
A second Brazilian mission received by the Salesians in 1914 was
the territory of the Rio Negro in the northwest of the country, on
the borders of Colombia and Venezuela.7 Father Balzola, a veteran at
Mato Grosso, was given the task of exploring the territory, and his
arrival in May 1915 at Sao Gabriel, in the center of the region, marked
the start of missionary activity. His various trips into the country made
him aware of the violence and greed surrounding the so-called “black
gold,” i.e., rubber. Three large tribes inhabited the territory; the Tu-
canos, notorious for their savage customs; the Macus, the most savage
and the most despised; and the Tarianos. With Msgr. Giordano in
charge, the missionaries adopted their usual strategy: they started
building a residence at an accessible place and took a special interest
in the children. Under Msgr. Massa, who became superior of the mission
in 1921, the centers of Christian civilization multiplied and included
Taraqua, Barcelos, Moura, Marabitana, etc.
In 1926 the Salesians accepted the mission of Porto Velho, on the
borders of Bolivia.8 As large as Italy, this region has been called the
most unhealthy in the world. Consequently one of the first projects
of the missionaries, under Father Nicoletti, was to build a hospital
at Porto Velho.
In 1961, with the new diocese of Humaita, the very heart of the
Amazon jungle forest was turned over to the Salesians.
The Missions in India
After South America, India can claim the second largest number of
Salesian missions.9
It will be recalled that under Father Rua a first group of Salesians
had been sent to the eastern coast of India and began work in the
former diocese of Mylapore. Actually, Salesian activity in India began

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only fifteen years later in Assam, a totally different region, situated
between the borders of Tibet and Burma.
Up to 1915 the prefecture apostolic of Assam had been in the hands
of the German Salvatorians who were the actual founders of the mis­
sion. When they had to leave at the outbreak of World War I, on ac­
count of their nationality, the Jesuits tried to keep things going in spite
of scarcity of personnel. Cardinal Van Rossum, prefect of propaganda,
then turned to the Salesians. In 1921, in spite of serious problems of
personnel, Father Albera answered his request, and eleven Salesians
disembarked at Bombay one year later. Their leader was a French­
man, Louis Mathias, a first-rate man and the future “Cagliero of India.”
They settled at Shillong and began their apostolate among the Khasi
whom they soon converted. Msgr. Mathias became prefect apostolic in
1923, and founded many more mission centers. Faithful to his motto
A ude et spera he at once opened a novitiate, and recruits came over
from Italy to join the first Indian Salesian novices.
The activity of the Salesian missionaries was not limited to Shillong
and to Assam. Thanks to the kindness of the Jesuit Archbishop of
Calcutta, Msgr. Perier, they were able to enter the metropolis of Bengal,
where they took over the cathedral parish and the Catholic Orphan
Press formerly run by the Jesuits.
1928 was an important year, when new prospects opened up with
the Roman decision to entrust the diocese of Krishnagar and the
archdiocese of Madras to the Salesians. Father Bars was nominated
administrator apostolic of the first, while the important see of Madras
went to Father Mederlet. Things were going very well in Assam, to the
extent that people spoke about a “new Pentecost” in that country.
1934 brought further developments. Returning from the canoniza­
tion of Don Bosco, Msgr. Mathias was made Bishop of Shillong, which
had just then been made a diocese, while the diocese of Krishnagar
went to one of his co-workers, Father Ferrando. A year later the see
of Madras became vacant because of the untimely death of Archbishop
Mederlet, and the Bishop of Shillong was appointed to take his place.
From then on the name of Archbishop Mathias is firmly linked
with Madras, the great metropolis of the south-east. He became a well-
known and respected figure throughout the country, a leader of the
Church and of the episcopate in India. Both before and after the

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country gained independence, he was respected by the authorities
for his frankness and cordiality. He was not afraid to oppose Gandhi
who maintained that the missionaries should concern themselves
solely with social activities and not seek conversions. By no means
inactive in the area of social work, the archbishop was the driving
force behind many projects: Houses for the homeless, hospitals and
clinics, centers for rice distribution, asylums for the incurable, etc.
New changes were afoot to show the Church’s interest in the regions
entrusted to the Salesians. The diocese of Shillong was so vast, and the
number of Catholics was increasing so much that Rome decided to
divide it. In 1951 they established the new diocese of Dibrugarh which
consisted of the eastern part of Assam; Msgr. Marengo, S.D.B. became
the first bishop of the new diocese.
A year later the archdiocese of Madras was reorganized. The ancient
see of Mylapore was united with Madras, but Vellore was removed
to form a new diocese; Msgr. Mariaselvam was its first Indian Salesian
Bishop. In a relatively short time, then, one can look upon these five
dioceses as a sort of crown of the Salesian missionary work in India.
Vicissitudes o f the Missions in China
In contrast with the relatively smooth missionary expansion in
India, the Salesians in China had a rough time. The political events
there at the beginning of the century could not but have repercussions
on the work of the missionaries.10
The Salesians arrived in China in 1906, where they first worked
in the Portuguese city of Macao. The first setback came with the
Portuguese revolution in 1910, which expelled the religious from
Macao, but they managed to return within a year. During their absence,
however, they had taken up work in actual Chinese territory in the
Heung-Shan district, between Macao and Canton. Father Versiglia and
Father Olive worked extremely hard to create little Christian com­
munities at Seak-Kei, Mong-Ciau, Ngan-Hang, etc. They attended
carefully to the training of lay catechists and tried to get some kind of
Catholic Action going.11
The Salesians were to continue in the Heung-Shan mission until

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313
1928, when they were replaced by the Jesuits. Back in 1917 the mis­
sion of Shiu-Chow, north of Canton, had been given to them; it was
elevated in 1920 to a vicariate apostolic, with Msgr. Versiglia as first
bishop. Many great things were achieved in this new territory: mis­
sionary residences, churches and chapels, schools for boys and girls,
and especially two fine training schools for teachers and a seminary
for vocations. On February 25, 1930, while on a trip in the neighbor­
hood of Siu-Pin, Bishop Versiglia and Father Caravario were attacked
by a gang of pirates and murdered. The martyred Bishop’s place was
taken by Msgr. Canazei.
The outbreak of the Sino-Japanese War in 1937 marked the begin­
ning of another period of great difficulty for the missions. This war
lasted until 1945 and was followed by a period of renewed and intense
missionary activity throughout the Church in China. In 1948 the
vicariate of Shiu-Chow became a diocese with Bishop Arduino in
charge, and by October 1946, the Salesians had opened a house in
Peking itself.
Unfortunately this optimism was to be of short duration, because
the troops of Mao Tse-tung gradually took over the whole territory.
In 1949 the proclamation of the People’s Republic ended missionary
activity in China. All the Catholic institutions eventually died of pro­
gressive paralysis, and we shall speak elsewhere of the persecutions
that followed. In 1954 only twenty-one Salesians remained in China,
all of them Chinese. The Salesian mission in Shiu-Chow had by and
large ceased to exist.
Mission in Thailand
The Salesians went to Thailand (Siam) in 1927.12 Three years later
they were officially given charge of a mission formerly run by the Paris
Foreign Missionaries. The main centers were Ratburi and Bang-Nok-
Khuek; the territory consisted of a strip of land, nine hundred miles
long which ran down the full length of the peninsula.
Faithful to the instruction of Pius XI (“Following Don Bosco’s
example, you will help the young”) the Salesians began oratories and
schools under the guidance of Father Pasotti; pagans and Christians

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were accepted without distinction. In 1937 the school at Ban-Ponghad
four hundred pupils, by 1966 they had increased to 1,500. Generally
speaking, schools proved to be the most suitable and most appreciated
works in this country; a good example is the technical school at Bang­
kok.
In 1934 this mission became a prefecture apostolic under Msgr.
Pasotti; in 1941 it became a vicariate apostolic. This center remained
for some time at Ratburi and was later transferred to Bang-Nok-Khuek.
Mission in Katanga
“What a great day it will be when the Salesian missionaries in the
Congo will be able to shake hands with the ones in North Africa!” This
exclamation is attributed to Don Bosco and under his successors it
soon came close to reality.
The first Salesian house in Africa was at Oran. Started in 1891, it
made Don Bosco known in North Africa, but the first works there did
not prove to be absolutely necessary. The same could hardly be said
of the Salesian hostel opened at Katanga in the southern Congo in
1911.13 Elizabethville was the center of the province where the first
Salesian missionaries, mostly Belgians, started a small technical school.
Father Sak, the rector, used to go around visiting the local chiefdoms
(villages ruled by government-recognized chiefs) in search for pupils.
In due course the school grew in importance; we are told that several
important people who had come for a visit in 1922 could not conceal
their admiration when they saw the workshops for mechanics, print­
ing, and book-binding. New centers sprang up at Kiniana and at La
Kafubu. In 1925 the prefecture apostolic of Upper Luapula was estab­
lished with Msgr. Sak in charge, and a mission proper began to be
organized. Raised to a vicariate apostolic in 1939, it became the diocese
of Sakania twenty years later.
In 1964 there were fifteen mission territories administered by the
Salesians: seven in South America, seven in Asia and one in Africa.
Other missions have been added since then.

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Salesians in Other Mission Territories
Apart from those missions run by the sons of Don Bosco, there
were numerous places in the world (especially in the so-called Third
World) where the Salesians have opened centers that are more or less
missionary. Since we cannot mention all of these here, we shall have a
quick look at those places where they are most firmly established.14
Let us begin with Africa. In North Africa activities were successfully
carried out within the European community, especially in the parishes
and oratories at Oran, Algiers, Tunis, Casablanca, Kenitra, etc. These
houses, which belonged to the French Salesian province, experienced
great development between the two world wars, especially under
Father Beissiere: in 1906 however a decline had set in because of de­
colonization; it proved to be fatal for several foundations. New activi­
ties took their place with schools at Oran and Bouisseville for Muslim
boys.
Further down we find the Spanish Salesians in the Canary Islands
(Las Palmas, Santa Cruz de Tenerife); Portuguese Salesians on the
islands of Cape Verde (Sao Vicente); French Salesians at Brazzaville
(Point-Noire) and in Gabon (Sindara). Because of the special needs of
these countries, the Salesians run technical schools in most cases.
From Katanga some missionaries went to the neighboring countries
of Ruanda and Burundi. In Ruanda, they founded a technical school
at Kigali, and in 1962 a college at Ngozi was opened in Burundi. In
1959 the first Salesian province of Africa was created; it consisted of
twenty houses in Central Africa. In 1960 a novitiate and a house of
philosophy were established at Kansebula.
In the south of the continent the Salesians of the Anglo-Irish pro­
vince succeeded at length in transforming the distant and difficult
foundation at Cape Town into one of the best technical schools in
the country. Apart from centers for Europeans opened in South
Africa, at Lansdowne (1923), Daleside (1949), Johannesburg (1952), a
secondary and elementary school for Africans was taken over in 1953
at Bremersdorp (later called Manzini) in the little African country of
Swaziland. In 1959 the opening of a novitiate at Clonlea gave great
hopes for the future.
Passing over to Asia, we stop first to look at the extraordinary

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Salesian province of the Middle East which spans three continents
with houses in Turkey, Egypt, Iran, Lebanon, Syria, Jordan and Israel.
The problems are incredibly complex on account of the diversity of
languages, religions and rites, to say nothing of political conflict. In
the beginning several of these works were simply schools for the Italian
groups of Istanbul, Smyrna, Cairo, and Jerusalem. However, on the
occasion of his visit in December 1954, Father Ziggiotti was able to
congratulate the missionaries on the “ecumenical” character of the
Salesian works.15 The house of Teheran counted no less than twelve
religions or rites; Catholics were in the minority. More recently houses
were opened at Aleppo in Syria (1948), at Beirut in Lebanon (1952),
and at Abadan in Iran (1954). A house of formation for everyone from
aspirants to students of philosophy was started in 1957 at El Hussun
in Lebanon.
In India, apart from the five dioceses already mentioned, the Sale­
sians had three provinces in 1965; that of Gauhati in the north-east,
Madras in the south, and Calcutta in the north. The number of Indian
vocations has been a particularly encouraging phenomenon. Included
in the province of Madras is the house at Ettukal on the island of
Ceylon. Calcutta in turn includes also the houses in Burma, where
the Salesians took over an orphanage at Mandalay in 1937. They worked
hard to find vocations and opened a school for aspirants at Anisakan
in 1957; they were also active in Rangoon where they had arrived
earlier.
The vicariate apostolic at Ratburi in Thailand and the Salesian
Province of Bangkok have been mentioned already. From these we
pass on to the Province of Hong Kong which also includes the houses
at Macao, Vietnam, and Taiwan (Formosa). After the enforced with­
drawal of the missionaries from the Chinese mainland, the work in
Hong Kong was able to flourish and develop. In South Vietnam, in
spite of the long drawn out war, the Salesians continued their work,
and were able to obtain a good number of vocations for the house
for aspirants at Thu-Duc, opened in 1955, and the novitiate at Tram-
Hanh (1962). A good technical school was begun at Go-Vap in 1955.
Here we may also mention in passing the Salesian work on the
Portuguese Island of Timor. It began at Dili, the capital, in 1946 from
where it spread to Ossu (1960) and Baucau (1962).

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317
The first Salesians entered Japan in 1926; they began their work
on the island of Kyushu mainly at Miyasaki, Nakatsu, and Oita.16
At the head of the group was Father Cimatti, whom Father Ziggiotti
^described as the most charismatic and all-around Salesian missionary
he had ever known. Simple, jovial, and active, Father Cimatti was also
a good musician who knew how to use music in his apostolate. In 1928
the civic provinces of Miyasaki and Oita were combined into a mission
territory and turned over to the Salesians. In 1935 a prefecture apo­
stolic under Msgr. Cimatti was established. During the war, when all
foreign missionary superiors were replaced by Japanese, he gave up his
post and dedicated all his energies to the Salesian Province of St.
Francis Xavier which had been established in 1937. From Kyushu the
Salesian work spread northwards to Tokyo in 1933, to Osaka in 1949.
The work consisted mainly of oratories, schools, and parishes (large
churches were built at Beppu, Oita and Tokyo). The Christian press was
another interesting apostolic development. It reached its highest point
with the publication in 1965 of Father Barbaro’s vernacular edition of
the Bible. Salesian vocations were found also for the novitiate and
seminary at Chofu, in Tokyo.
From the land of the rising sun the Salesians were led to branch
out to Korea, the land of morning calm.17 Invited by Bishop Henry,
vicar apostolic in South Korea, they started a school at Kwang-ju,
which reached vast proportions, within a few years with 1,400—mostly
non-Christian— pupils. Upon the request of Archbishop Ro of Seoul,
they accepted a large parish in the suburbs of the capital.
Expelled from China, some Salesian missionaries went to the Philip­
pine Islands in 1951, where their work immediately brought results.18
Several oratories were begun at Manila, a boarding school for boys at
Cebu, a technical school at Victoria, and more schools at Manila and
Tarlac. At first these houses belonged to the Hong Kong Province,
but in 1963 the autonomous Province of the Philippines was formed.
Finally, we must speak of Australia.19 From 1922 until 1927 the
Salesians, under Bishop Coppo, administered the vicariate apostolic
of Kimberley in the western section of the continent which they had
taken over temporarily from the German Pallotine missionaries. In
1927, aided by personnel from the United States, they started an
agricultural school at Sunbury near Melbourne. In 1940, we find a

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Boys’ Club and hostel in Melbourne itself; in 1943 a Boys’ Town at
Adelaide and another at Engadine in Sydney, in 1952. The center of
the foundation was established at Chadstone, the headquarters of the
provincial of Australia since 1958.
Conclusion
There is obvious missionary expansion between 1910 and 1965
due, no doubt, to the noble missionary ideal that has never been
allowed to wane within the Salesian Congregation.
The years from 1925 to 1939 were particularly productive ones. The
Salesians’ success in general can be attributed to this method of evan­
gelization. Faithful to the exhortations of Don Bosco, the Salesians
according to Father Auffray, went “straight to the young.”20 This
fact is exemplified not only in the oratories, schools, and hostels, but
also in the parishes and missionary residences. To the young they
brought joy and cheerfulness through amusements, games and music.
They also imparted scholastic, technical, and agricultural knowledge
which was their contribution to the modernization process of develop­
ing countries.
After a few years they were usually surrounded by people who
loved them and among whom they had created a nucleus of young
Christians, the best hope for the future. Practical, talented, and fervent,
the Salesian missionaries threw themselves into their activities, where-
ever possible applying European know-how to the conditions they
found. In some countries, such as Mato Grosso and Japan, they made
notable contributions in the fields of scientific and religious culture.
In 1965 the Salesian missions celebrated ninety years of work.
Compared with the Franciscans and Jesuits, they are still young in
the field, but they are evidently thriving, as witness their acceptance
of yet further territories among the Indians of Mexico and Colombia,
and in Bhutan.
With the advent of more ecumenical trends among Catholics and
non-Catholics, a new era would seem to have opened in the history
of evangelization.

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CHAPTER 26
1. The principal, rather fragmentary sources for this chapter
are: E. Ceria, Annali, IV, passim, and accounts in the Salesian Bulle­
tin after 1910. A concise history of the various missions and the
Salesian provinces with valuable information and statistics can be
found in Don Bosco in the World, 3rd ed., Turin 1964. Also used
here has been the practical Esquisse d ’une chronologie des mission
salesiennes des origines a la m ort de Pie XII (1815-1958) by a Sale­
sian research group at Lyons in 1964.
2. E. Ceria, Annali, IV, 292-308, and B olletino salesiano August
1957, 291-92; August 1965, 247,51.
3. E. Ceria, Annali, IV, 309-21, and Bolletino salesiano, Novem­
ber 1960, pp. 456-58.
4. Bolletino salesiano, March 1934, pp. 83-85.
5. J. Duroure, Sur le Fleuve de la Mort, Lyons 1936, and P.
Mongour, Face aux redoutables Chavantes, Le Puy 1957, with an
introduction by the ex-Administrator Apostolic of the District of
Araguaia, J.B. Couturon.
6. Quoted in the Bolletino salesiano, July 1963, p. 241.
7. E. Ceria, Annali, IV, 338-55, and Missioni Salesiane, Pre-
fettura apostolica del Rio Negro, Turin 1925.
8. Bolletino salesiano, March 1954, pp. 93-95, and August
1960, pp. 330-33.
9. On Salesian work in India, see E. Ceria, Annali, IV, 417-28;
Bolletino salesiano, March 1965, pp. 85-88 and November 1965,
pp. 306-10. One should also consult L. Mathias, Quarant’anni di
missione in India, I, Turin 1965. Bishop Mathias died before he was
able to publish the second volume.
10. E. Ceria, Annali, IV, 370-89; Don Bosco in the World, 1964,
pp. 293-94; Missioni Salesiane, L ’orfanetrofio di Macao e la missione
delVHeung-Shan in Cina, Turin 1925, and Vicariato apostolico di
Shiu-Chow in Cina (Leng Nam Tou), Turin 1925.
11. See G. Bosco, Mons. Versiglia e Don Caravario, Turin 1935.
12. Don Bosco in the World, 1964, pp. 298-99, and Bolletino

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salesiano, June 1966, pp. 25-27.
13. E. Ceria, Annali, IV, 356-69, and Bolletino salesiano, July
1960, 290-94.
14. The best guide here is Don Bosco in the World, 1964,
especially since it has maps showing the various Salesian centers
throughout the world.
15. Bolletino salesiano, February 1955, pp. 56-58; September
1953, pp. 326-28.
16. See V. Cimatti, N ell ’Impero del Sol levante, Turin 1953. On
the personality and work of Msgr. Cimatti himself, see Bolletino sales-
ano, December 1965, pp. 367-69; January 1966, pp. 11-18; also
Quelle che di Mons. Cim atti ho visto e sentito, by A. Crevacore S.D.B.,
1969.
17. Bolletino salesiano, March 1962, pp. 94-98, and October
1963, pp. 346-50.
18. Bolletino salesiano, July 1965, pp. 213-17.
19. Bolletino salesiano, February 1959, pp. 57-58.
20. A. Auffray, Les missions salesiennes, Lyons, 1936, p. 14.

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SALESIANS UNDER PERSECUTION
In 1896 the Salesians were driven out of Ecuador, with the start
of the year 1901 they suffered greatly in France, and in 1910 they were
expelled from Portugal. It can hardly be said therefore that perse­
cutions are a new phenomenon in Salesian history.
It is nevertheless true that the wars and disturbances of the past
few decades have caused much more dramatic repercussions. In several
countries, and especially during the time of Pius XI and Pius XII,
antireligious sectariansim ran rampant and inflicted serious damage
on Salesian work; a considerable number of confreres lost their lives,
some of whom suffered greatly before they died.
It must be recorded that extreme left terrorism was responsible for
the persecutions in Spain, Central Europe and China while extreme
right Nazism was the cause in Poland. Sometimes Salesians who had
escaped the one fell victim to the other.
Spain, 1936-1939
The frightful civil war that bathed Spain in blood between 1936
and 1939 had repercussions throughout Europe and brought about
an extremely violent religious persecution.1

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With the fall of the monarchy in 1931, open hostility against the
Church erupted because it was considered an enemy of the republic.
The war that broke out on July 17, 1936 inflicted terrible blows on
the Church. Innumerable massacres, attributed to anarchists and
communists, decimated the ranks of the clergy and religious congre­
gations. The number of victims will give some idea of the horror of
the events then taking place: In three years the Church in Spain lost
eleven bishops, 4,200 priests, 2,500 religious, 45 nuns, and a great
number of lay Catholics. The destruction of religious buildings must
be recorded here also.
The Salesians suffered their share of violence. Before the war there
were 800 in about fifty houses. Statistics published in 1964 reveal
that there were 97 Salesian victims, 39 priests, 22 clerics, 26 Coad­
jutors, 2 Sisters, 3 aspirants, 3 Cooperators, and 2 workmen;2 and 350
Salesians were thrown into prison. The fate of Salesian houses varied,
but many were either burnt down, or sacked, or else transformed into
barracks, hospitals, or even prisons.
How did it happen? According to Father Burdeus, the revolutionists
based the right to their attacks against religious congregations on two
principal allegations: The religious meddled in politics and concealed
arms in their dwellings.3 The idea of monastery-arsenals was rather
ridiculous, particularly in the case of the Salesians whose houses were
open to all. It seems that the only thing ever discovered in a Salesian
house was at Alicante where the intruders found a species of cannon
in the festive Oratory which turned out to be an automatic sweet-
distributor!
Sometimes the Salesians reacted strongly to the accusation that
they were enemies of the people and of the working classes. We give
here some significant replies:
“You know our school,” said the rector of the house at Valencia
to the revolutionaries, “and you know the number of poor boys who
receive free education. You may have an ideal but so do we . . .”
“We are simply doing what we were told to do,”4 was the reply.
Father John Alberto, rector of St. Vicente dels Horts, had a similar
conversation with the young leader of a military patrol who came to
“visit” the house:
“You dedicate yourselves to . . .” “To the education of poor boys,

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323
children of laborers.” “And what do you teach them?” “We teach
general and cultural knowledge and languages like Spanish, French,
mathematics, religion, etc.” “And all these children eat and sleep
here?” “Yes, sir.” “Free?” “Yes, all free.”
The leader asked to see the pupils. It was the siesta period and they
were in the dormitories. When the armed soldiers burst in, the chil­
dren’s panic was understandable. The visit however had good results.
The obvious affection of the pupils for their teachers and the simplicity
of the house impressed the revolutionaries, and nothing happened that
day. The Salesians were merely ordered to remove all religious objects
and were told not to teach religion.5
There are several incidents which show the existence of a certain
feeling towards the Salesians on the part of the “Reds.” When Coad­
jutor James Ortiz of Barcelona admitted to being a religious and ex­
plained that his mission was to educate young laborers, he got an
obviously embarrassed response to the effect that he was doing a very
good thing. The Salesian school at Cadiz was spared simply because it
housed many of the sons of the revolutionaries. Utrera, the oldest
Salesian house in Spain, escaped the fate in store for it, thanks to the
democratic ideas of its rector, who invited to lunch all kinds of people
including, it is said, several communists.
These facts should not be exaggerated however. In general the
Salesians fully experienced the treatment reserved for the Spanish
clergy unless they could hide or escape. During the first days of the
revolution many Salesians were compelled to abandon their houses or
schools in order to flee the danger that threatened them. At Villena
they saved themselves only by climbing over the roofs of houses and
taking refuge in the house of a Cooperator. Many were hidden by
friends who risked their lives for them. Some fled abroad, especially to
France, and sent back help for their confreres. We must here acknowl­
edge that religious who were foreigners, mostly Italians, were permitted
to return to their own countries.
The fate of those who could not find a hiding place was tragic
indeed. Alone, without friends and without means of sustenance, they
sometimes blundered into wild and panicky mobs. At any moment
they could be asked at pistol point to produce documents they did not
have, as for instance their trade-union card, or the safe-conduct permit

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signed by a “local committee.” Father Burdeus said: “People would
close the door in their faces, trains refused them, in the streets they
were denounced.”6 If they could not find friends who were willing to
share with them “not only food and lodging but also danger,” they
would have to spend the night on the benches in public parks.
They were what Pius XI called “true martyrs in every sacred and
glorious meaning of the word.”7 Each of the three Salesian provinces
had members among them: Barcelona 33, Seville 22, Madrid 42.
At the head of this long list we must place the provincial of Bar­
celona, Father Jose Calasanz. In a spot-check he was recognized as a
priest, because he had a cassock in his case. He was invited together
with the other Salesians to mount a lorry in order “to go for a ride”
towards Valencia. When the convoy arrived at the San Jose Bridge,
a loud explosion was heard. The Father Provincial fell onto the back
of Coadjutor Florencio Celdran, covering him with blood. A bullet had
been fired into his head at point-blank range.
We do not know the details surrounding the death of the majority
of the victims, and it was only when a body could be recovered that
one could guess what had happened. It was evident that torture had
frequently been a prelude to death; the usual diagnosis was inter­
nal hemorrhage, cerebral hemorrhage, traumatic shock, etc. This is
how Father Burdeus sees the last moments of these Salesian victims:
“They were publicly hunted; if they were found hiding, they were
immediately thrown into some makeshift local prison where they
were often tortured. Then, after some horrible auto-da-fe, they were
taken outside the town limits to be shot and left by the roadside until
the ambulances arrived the next day to collect the macabre remains.” 8
We have few details about how they behaved in the face of death,
nor do we know their final words before execution, but those we know
of showed a striking courage and Christian dignity. It is told of Father
Sergio Cid that, when asked who he was, he replied emphatically:
“I am a Salesian priest.” and as he stood waiting to be shot, he said
to the firing squad: “May God forgive you, as I do with all my heart.”9
Afterwards the Spanish Salesians sought the glorification of their
martyred confreres, and their cause was introduced in Rome after the
three diocesan processes for canonization.

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Poland, 1939-1944
The invasion of Poland by the Germans in September 1939 was
catastrophic in every way. In a short time the whole country was
ravaged, a systematic persecution, directed particularly against the
Jews and the Catholic clergy, soon set in. Between 1939 and 1944 the
two Salesian provinces in Poland lost ninety members.10 Their death
notices usually bear the name of a concentration camp like Dachau,
Mauthausen, Auschwitz, Dzialdow, Buchenwald, where their lives
ended in gas-chambers and furnaces.
Sometimes the Nazis employed different methods: In October 1939,
five Salesians belonging to the house of Alexander Kujawski were
arrested together with all the clergy of the district. They were thrown
into prison and later marched to Goma Grupa. There, on the night of
November 17, the guards set them free in the forest before shooting
them down like animals.
Hardly anything is known about the circumstances of their deaths
in most cases, except that this one or that one disappeared in a certain
town or place. But we do possess irrefutable testimony concerning
the awful deaths of some Salesians.
Father John Swierc arrived at the concentration camp of Auschwitz
in June 1941, where he and a group of Jews, were handed over to the
notorious Strafkompanie, charged with torturing victims before killing.
He was interrogated by the commandant of the “ death-block” : “Your
profession?” “Catholic priest.” In reply to this the commandant kicked
him twice in the stomach and lashed him across the face with his whip
until the blood flowed. The next day Father Swierc was made to work
in the ditch behind the kitchen, while blows were raining upon his head
and shoulders. One blow, more terrible than the rest, put out an eye;
another broke his teeth, only a weak groan escaped his lips: “Jesus,
mercy!” Finally an executioner grabbed hold of him and with all his
strength hurled him against a wheelbarrow full of stones, which he was
pushing. He then finished him off by battering his head in, while a
group of SS men, laughing heartily, watched the scene.
Father Joseph Kowalski died in the Auschwitz concentration camp
on July 3, 1941. He was only thirty years old and had just recently
been appointed secretary to the provincial of Cracow. Showing excep­

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tional courage in practicing his ministry right to the end, he was the real
chaplain of the camp where he succeeded in gathering a group of
Christians around him. One witness reports. “I met Father Joseph
Kowalski in the concentration camp of Auschwitz in 1941, in a place
where they were praying together. At half past four in the morning,
about eight people would meet for prayer in the darkness at some
hidden place. The group increased despite the risk, and Father Joseph
was the soul of it.” From another source we learn that he secretly
celebrated Holy Mass, heard confessions and preached. One day, to
amuse themselves, the wardens threw the prisoners into a cesspool to
drown them. Father Kowalski managed to get out, whereupon the
guards mockingly asked him to bless those who had drowned. Slowly,
he recited aloud the Lord’s Prayer and an Act of Contrition. On an­
other occasion a Nazi found his rosary and shouted angrily: “Step on
it!” The priest went down on his knees and touched the rosary to his
lips with devotion whereupon the Nazi kicked him in the face and
continued to beat him until he died.
We know that other Salesians died in German or Russian armies,
but without suffering the horrors of the concentration camps.
Other Countries o f Central Europe
After World War II, the Communist take-over in Central and Eastern
Europe brought much suffering to Salesians there. Their work was
brutally cut off or quickly came to a stand-still either because of
hostility toward religion or Marxist ideology.
In 1944 there were twenty-five Salesians in five centers in Lithuania.
Some of them were deported to Siberia, others were shot. Some left
the country in order to serve their compatriots abroad. (More than a
million Lithuanians live in fifteen countries and are very well organ­
ized). They opened a school for those who aspired to the priesthood,
in Venezuela, and a school for poor sons of emigrants at Castelnuovo
Don Bosco in 1959; a Salesian Bulletin was printed there in the native
language.11
In Czechoslovakia the Salesians were flourishing before World
War II.12 There were two provinces (Bohemia-Moravia and Slovakia)

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consisting of twenty-seven houses with about four hundred and fifty
Salesians. The case of Father Trochta is well known. He had been rector
in Prague where he was taken hostage by the Nazis and interned for
three years in various concentration camps, from one of which he
managed to escape. In 1949 he became Bishop of Litomerice, only to
be confronted with new trials by the communists who first confined
him to his home, and later in 1952 arrested him for having started a
clandestine seminary and a Catholic circle. A tribunal found him guilty
and condemned him to twenty-five years in prison. The case of Bishop
Trochta is fairly typical but not unique. All Salesian houses were requi­
sitioned, and the fine province of Slovakia suffered most. On the night
of the 14th of April 1950, three hundred Salesians, thirty novices and
postulants were sent to labor camps. About a hundred Salesians escaped
abroad, where they founded a little seminary in Rome for the sons of
the refugees; in Belgium, they established a technical school.
The Salesians went to Hungary in 1913, and in time opened about
ten houses with two hundred confreres. After World War II the houses
were occupied by governmental departments, and news has been scarce
ever since.13
In Yugoslavia a more liberal communist regime allowed the Salesians
to continue their parochial ministry, and priestly vocations have flour­
ished.
China
In 1949 there were three hundred Salesian missionaries in China,
one third of them Chinese. Most missionary activity took place in the
diocese of Shiu-Chow, where Msgr. Arduino, had become bishop the
year before. Salesians were also at Peking, Shanghai, Macao, Hong Kong
and Nanking. There were twenty novices and more than two hundred
aspirants in the houses at Shanghai, Peking and Macao.
At first the new regime simulated tolerance, but since 1950, and
especially since 1951, harassment increased until Salesian work on
the entire Chinese mainland came to a standstill.
The Communists entered the Salesian mission of Shiu-Chow in
October 1949.14 (Although the year 1950 passed without incident,

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DON BOSCO
the Christians sensing danger increased their efforts, and the Legion
of Mary founded in the principal missionary residences of the diocese,
flourished; and mutual aid organizations also improved. With the arrival
of the army however in early 1951, things began to deteriorate. Soldiers
invaded the bishop’s residence the night of March 28 and, while the
bishop and three missionaries were locked into one room, the soldiers
made a thorough search of the premises that did not even spare the
altar in the church. The search was followed by an interrogation,
during which his captors said repeatedly: “If you really had the Chris­
tian spirit, if you were truly humble, you would certainly admit your
mistake, and we would leave you alone.” The interrogators demanded
that the bishop admit to being a spy in the service of the enemies of
China or, worse, to being a counter-revolutionary. Bishop Arduino was
then held prisoner in a room of his residence, where he suffered from
the heat, lack of exercise and constant harassment. At the end of 1952
the government moved him under heavy guard to Canton and then ex­
pelled him from China.
There were similar incidences in other places. In the school at
Yangtsepoo in Shanghai, the police turned everything upside down in
an effort to find a suspected cache of arms as well as secret subter­
ranean hideouts of the reactionaries.15 They only found two wooden
rifles among the stage props in the theater! (Worse was to come when
instigators tried to incite the boys in Shanghai to denounce their
teachers as traitors.) In general, however, the Salesians could be proud
of the behavior of their boys and of the extern Chinese teachers.
Apart from the general charges levelled against all missionaries
without distinction and especially against the Apostolic Nuncio, Arch­
bishop Riberi, there were some specific ones against the Salesians. It
was said, for example, that they were forcing young men to become
priests and obliging children to attend catechism lessons. A horrible
and macabre charge was made against the Salesian Sisters who were
accused of killing babies in order to send their eyes to Europe for
medical research.
Several religious fell victim to the persecutions. One of them, the
cleric Peter Yeh, was the first Salesian to die in prison (on June 3,
1952); he had been condemned for his opposition to the National
Chinese Church and for his fidelity to Rome. This was also true in the

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case of Father Leong Shu Tchi16 who had been invited to speak at a
meeting to stir up hatred against “the imperialists and the exploiters of
the people” but instead he spoke only of love. This was considered
unpardonable. One day, when celebrating Mass, he was violently inter­
rupted, publicly humiliated before a crowd of Christians and pagans
and beaten. They accused him of having started the Legion of Mary
and of having forced boys into the priesthood. He was thrust into
prison and never heard from again. Early in 1956 his body was dis­
covered at the gate of the prison at Lienhsien.
The Salesian work on the Chinese mainland was practically wiped
out. The Europeans among them were expelled, and one by one the
Salesian houses passed into government hands. The last to survive
for some time was the one at Peking, which has been called “the last
rampart of orthodoxy” in the midst of the Chinese schism.17
The expulsion from the mainland freed Salesians to concentrate
with renewed energy on their houses in Hong Kong and Macao. Later
they crossed the South China Sea to begin work in the Philippine
Islands as well.
Thus, in the third decade of the twentieth century, the sons of
Don Bosco wrote part of their history in blood across the map of
Europe and Asia. The founder had said that to reign with Christ, one
must be ready to die for him. Deprivations and violence had bared their
very souls, and they stood revealed for what they truly were. Some
have faltered, but it ill behooves their more fortunate brethren to
condemn them. Though we have no statistics, the evangelical strength
of so many Salesians is a measure of the strength of the Congregation as
it enters the second century of its long and distinguished existence.

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NOTES ON CHAPTER 27
1.
Sources here have been: A. Burdeus, Lauros y palmas, Bar­
celona 1958. Others are: P.F. de la Hoz, Precis d ’histoire salesienne,
(Seville 1965); A. Burdeus, Jaime Ortiz, 4026, Barcelona 1963; F.
Villanueva, Estampas de martirio, Cadiz 1960; C. Ripoll, Las pro-
tom artires salesianas, Barcelona 1965; A. Montero, Historia de la
persecucion religiosa en Espana (1936-1939) Madrid; also the acts of
the diocesan process of the victims.
2. Don Bosco in the World, Turin 1964, pp. 105-06.
3. A. Burdeus, Lauros y palmas, p. 14.
4. Ibid., p. 311.
5. Ibid., p. 87.
6. Ibid., p. 172.
7. Address of Pius XI to Spanish refugees: see Bolletino sale-
siano, October 1936, p. 226.
8. A. Burdeus, Lauros y palmas, p. 298.
9. Ibid., p. 349.
10. P. Tirone, Medaglioni di 88 confratelli polacchi periti in
tem po di guerra, Turin 1954, N ote esp. the articles dedicated to John
Swierc and John Kowalski. The story is completed by the testimony
o f Father Rokita, ex-provincial in Poland, in Don Bosco in the World,
Turin 1964, pp. 283-84.
11. Bolletino salesiano, August 1959, p. 315.
12. Don Bosco in the World, 1964, p. 275; Bolletino salesiano,
October 1954, p. 370.
13. In 1969 the nominal Provincial of Hungary managed to pay
a short visit to Turin in the guise of a tourist. In the traditional
“Good-Night” talk, he said that the only time the Salesians could
ever safely get together was in the cemetery after one of them had
d ie d —(Translator).
14. See Bishop Arduino’s account in Bolletino salesiano, July
1952, pp. 264-67; also that of Msgr. Cucchiara, vicar general, in
Bolletino salesiano, May 1952, pp. 172-74 and October 1952, pp.
379-80.

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15. See Bolletino salesiano, July 1950, p. 259, August 1950,
pp. 296-300; June 1953, pp. 212-19.
16. Ibid., May 1959, pp. 163-64.
17. Ibid., July 1950, pp. 255-58; December 1953, pp. 445-47;
September 1954: p. 345.

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THE SALESIAN SISTERS
AFTER 1888
On January 31, 1888, Mother Daghero arrived in Marseilles. She had
visited the houses in Spain and was ready for France. It was there that
she received the news of Don Bosco’s death. We know that it was a
terrible blow, similar to the one Mother Mazzarello experienced when
Father Pestarino died.1 However, for the Sisters and other Salesians,
the death of the founder did not stop the life of the Congregation. It
would take too long to describe fully the multiplicity of its develop­
ment and its leading characters—among whom were the saintly Mother
Morano and Sister Valse—but we can at least say something about the
various superiors general.
Between 1881 and 1957 the Institute of the Daughters of Mary
Help of Christians had only three superiors general: Catherine Daghero
from 1881 to 1924, Luisa Vaschetti from 1924 to 1943, and Linda
Lucotti from 1943 to 1957. When Mother Angela Vespa took over in
1957 her Institute was the second largest female congregation.
Mother Daghero, Woman o f Action
Mother Daghero remained at the head of the Congregation for an
exceptionally long period which was characterized by great efforts at

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organization and development. It can safely be said that it was due to
her that the Institute took on its definite character.
An active woman, she considered personal contact the best way to
carry out her task. She would say: “We must see things with our own
eyes, we need firsthand experience,” and during her long career she
visited numerous parts of the world.
Apart from her many journeys in Italy, we are amazed to hear that
she visited the French province thirty times, and also travelled to Bel­
gium, England, Spain, and North Africa. From February to May 1895,
she visited the houses in Palestine (Jerusalem, Bethlehem, Beitgemal),
and six months later we find her on a journey through South America
from Argentina, Patagonia, Uruguay, Brazil to Tierra del Fuego, Chile,
and Peru. Her secretary wrote a voluminous diary of the trip, full of
edifying memories, recounting their adventures and dangers over a
period of nearly two years. From November 1895 until September
1897, we find “la Madre”—the title was inherited from Mother Mazza-
rello— entering the Indian toldos in far-away Tierra del Fuego, dis­
tributing little gifts to the Bororos of Mato Grosso, moved to tears over
the poor living conditions of some of her Sisters, marvelling at their
cheerfulness despite privations, and carrying her joy and dynamism
everywhere.
She was equally active at Nizza Monferrato, the center of the Con­
gregation.2 Helped by such valiant assistants as Emilia Mosca, Elisa
Roncallo, and especially by her vicar, Henrietta Sorbone, she carried
on the work of organizing the Institute.
She also had to think about establishing provinces.3 At the death of
Don Bosco there were only certain houses which were called “central,”
and round which the others revolved; they were Nizza for northern
Italy, France, and Spain; Trecastagni for Sicily; Almagro (Buenos Aires)
for Argentina; and Villa Colon for Uruguay. Gradually the terminology
and organization of the Salesians were adopted by the Sisters, but
their first provinces were canonically established for the first time
only in 1908; six of them were in Italy. La Madre wanted a novitiate
for each province.
Mother Daghero had the instruction of her Daughters very much
at heart. She faithfully followed Father Cerruti’s directives (to whom
the two congregations owe much in the field of education) and she had

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confidence in the abilities of her assistant, Mother Mosca. The first
teachers’ training school for the Sisters was opened at the mother-
house in Nizza and obtained official government recognition on June 7,
1900. The more gifted Sisters were permitted to attend the university.
At the end of her life, this great superior had the joy of assisting at the
realization of one of her dreams, a school for preparing future mission­
aries, which opened at Borgo San Paolo in Turin and was named the
Casa Madre Mazzarello.
In general, La Madre was not against innovations. While she was
superior, for example, the Sisters started out on rather dangerous
missions among the Bororos in 1895 and among the Kivaros in 1902. A
year before her death she sent the first Sisters to China and to Assam.
She also accepted the direction of hostels for working girls, first at
Cannero in 1897, and then in many other parts of Italy.
It is easy enough to guess that she must have had many difficult
moments during her long stewardship. Among them may have been the
news of an attack on the missions or some catastrophe like the train
accident at Juiz de Fora in 1895 that killed four Sisters, or the earth­
quake at Gioia dei Marsi in 1915 which took the lives of three Salesian
Sisters. There were the troubles in France that brought secularization
which arrested the development in that country. During World War I
she placed her Institute at the service of orphans and refugees, trans­
forming schools into hospitals and Sisters into nurses as well as organ­
izing distribution centers to meet immediate needs. The aftermath of
the war brought many rewards such as the Congress of 1920 in Turin,
which brought about a reunion of a great many faithful former pupils.
In August 1922 the Institute rejoiced in the celebration of its Golden
Jubilee; and one month after that, La Madre actively participated in the
VIII General Chapter, which again re-elected her. She died in 1924 on
the 26th of February.
Mother Daghero, a great superior, was active as well as spiritual.
Father Rinaldi who had dealings with her for over twenty years greatly
admired her qualities. Father Ricaldone said she had the “heart of a
woman and the backbone of a man. He called her a great woman
and a saintly nun.”4 A one hundred percent Salesian Superior, her
leitmotif was: “hand to work, heart to God!”
Under her the Congregation forged ahead. Between the years 1888

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and 1924 the number of Sisters increased tenfold, amounting to 4,500
at her death, and we may note in passing that in 1912, the diocesan
congregation of Ursulines of Acqui joined up with them.
Naturally the Italian foundations and Sisters constituted a majority
in the Congregation. In 1924 a network of foundations covered the
entire peninsula. These were ten provinces: Piedmont, Vercelli, Mon-
ferrato, Lombardy, Rome, Sicily, Novara, Venice, Tuscany, and Naples.
In addition, there were the provinces of France, Spain, Argentina,
Brazil, and Uruguay. The Salesian Sisters were also to be found in
several other countries of Western Europe such as Belgium, England,
and Germany as well as in most of South America, in the United States,
North Africa (Algeria and Tunis), the Middle East (Palestine, Egypt,
and Syria) in China and in India.
Faced with such an active and productive career, Giuseppina Mai-
netti, Mother Daghero’s biographer, says significantly that “she acted
more like a founder than a superior general.” 5
The Salesians and the Salesian Sisters
An event that can be considered as the most critical one experi­
enced by the Institute of the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians
after the death of Don Bosco occurred during Mother Daghero’s term
of office.6
Originally the union of the two religious congregations—the Salesians
and the Salesian Sisters—was ensured by a common direction. Their
rules stated: “The Institute is under the superior general of the Society
of St. Francis de Sales who is its major superior.” In practice the rector
major delegated his power to a Salesian priest who was given the title
of director general of the Institute and was in turn represented locally
by Salesian Provincials. The internal affairs of the Institute, however,
remained completely in the hands of the mother general and her coun­
cil. Don Bosco had liked this idea and had not sought Roman appro­
bation for the Institute of Sisters, probably to forestall refusal.
On June 28, 1901 the decree Normae Secundum Quas was issued
by the Congregation of Bishops and Regulars with the object of putting
a semblance of order into the affairs of institutes with simple vows

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that proliferated since the beginning of the nineteenth century. Article
202 states that a congregation of women bound by simple vows must
not in any way be subject to a male congregation of the same kind.
That was plain enough.
Father Rua did not rush the decision. (Father Ceria reports that,
although the superiors of the Salesian Sisters knew that they had to
face facts and that appeals to Rome would be useless, the announce­
ment came like a bolt from the blue when, in 1905, the Sister’s General
Chapter was confronted with the inevitable break.)
We know perfectly well how the Sisters must have felt. Under the
direction of Don Bosco and his successor, their Institute had developed
beyond all expectations. It was to the Salesians they turned in every
kind of difficulty and whenever the need arose for dealings with the
civil or religious authorities. To break this seemingly vital bond ap­
peared to be inviting distruction.
Pius X signed the decree of the reform of their constitutions on
April 1, 1906, and on June 20, the Sisters received the duly modified
text. Father Rua referred to this change in a circular to the Salesian
provincials of November 21, 1906, which dealt with basic facts of
the complete separation of the two congregations, with regard to
government as well as administration and economy. The Salesians
were to be connected with the Sisters only in religious matters and
only at the express request of the bishops. This change was made
known in 1907 at the Extraordinary General Chapter of the Daughters
of Mary Help of Christians held for the first time under the presidency
of the bishop of Acqui. After accepting the above change, the Sisters
obtained papal approbation in 1911.
Nevertheless they never could resign themselves to the break. Other
attempts were made, and it was taken as a sign of encouragement from
Rome when it was agreed that the Sisters and the Salesians should have
the same procurator general.
Thanks to the prestige of Cardinal Cagliero, events took a turn for
the better, when on June 19, 1917 the rector major of the Salesians
became the apostolic delegate to the Daughters of Mary Help of Chris­
tians. Although the administration remained autonomous and inde­
pendent, and the rights of the bishops were safeguarded, every two
years the rector major or his delegate had to pay a visit paterno consilio

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to the Sisters’ houses. When on January 14, 1919, Benedict XV asked
Mother Daghero during an audience what she thought of this arrange­
ment, we can well imagine her reply.
Mother Vaschetti, a Mistress o f Spirituality,
1924-1942
Mother Daghero was succeeded by her private secretary, Mother
Vaschetti.7
Luisa Vaschetti was bom at Aglia Canavese, in the province of
Turin, on July 9, 1858. When her mother died at an early age she
naturally assumed her place in the family. Don Bosco admitted her
personally to the Institute on January 21, 1883 and he said to her
sad father: “I want only the pearls.” A missionary at heart, she ob­
tained permission to leave for Argentina, where she made her profession
on January 29, 1884 in Buenos Aires. A year later, she was already
vice-superior at the house at Moron, and two years later she became its
superior. In 1892 she returned to the capital where she was appointed
provincial of the Argentine province under the rather rough Msgr.
Costamagna and later under Provincial, Father Vespignani. Her calm
and energetic direction established several new foundations: Rosario
in 1893, Uribelarrea in 1894, Mondoza and Buenos Aires in 1895,
a novitiate at Bernal and a school at La Plata in 1898, Maldonado in
1901 and Rodeo del Medio in 1902. She also succeeded in starting a
teachers’ training school at Almagro. In 1903 she was recalled to Nizza
to become secretary to the mother general, a post of confidence but
of great monotony, especially for one who had known wider horizons.
Undoubtedly she was chosen because of her intelligence, her exactness
and her discernment, for she was Mother Daghero’s faithful assistant
and alter ego for twenty years. When the superior died in 1924, a papal
decree appointed Mother Vaschetti to succeed her until the next
general chapter confirmed the choice of Rome.
As head of the Institute, Mother Vaschetti did not exhibit the same
exuberance as her predecessor, nor the same propensity for long jour­
neys. She limited herself to visiting the centers in Italy and, from
March to May 1927, the houses in Spain. Instead she sent her delegates

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DON BOSCO
to visit Europe, the Middle East, North Africa, and the two Americas.
She herself preferred to direct the affairs of the Congregation from
the motherhouse, then in Nizza, and later in Turin (since 1929). The
new superior concealed high energy, intuitive intelligence, and great
sensitivity under a rather stately and austere manner. These qualities
always raised encounters with her above the merely conventional
level. It was her usual procedure to send monthly letters to her Daugh­
ters, which the Salesian Gerolamo Luzi consisered so important that
he collected them.8 His anthology reveals a superior concerned with
the inner life of her nuns, their adherence to their vows, to their vo­
cation and to the Rule; and displeased because there were too many
Marthas and too few Marys. She also insisted on the “continuity of
the Mass into life.” Exalting the missionary apostolate, she recom­
mended catechism as “the essence of teaching,” and the oratory as
“the basic source of all the good the Institute is meant to do.”
Very outspoken, La Madre kept making urgent appeals for sisterly
charity. Her letters which have been preserved are filled with the
Salesian spirit.9
Another of Mother Vaschetti’s great concerns was the training of
the Sisters. In 1925 she called a meeting of the superiors of the Congre­
gation to discuss the problem of the novitiate. As on all such important
occasions Father Rinaldi was called in for advice. Among the matters
dealt with on that particular occasion, we note the development of the
religious spirit and the training of the novices with emphasis on respon­
sibility.10 She also had to think about founding novitiates in Italy, five
in other countries of Europe, and eight more in America. A missionary
house for aspirants was opened at Arignano. In order to make her
Sisters aware of the problems involved, she would discuss them during
retreats and at the many other conferences she held, or at the meetings
she organized for provincials, superiors, and mistresses of novices.
The missions were another favorite subject and her constant con­
cern. Missionary departures continued during her term of office, as
follows: 400 Sisters went to the missions and more than 300 others
who were also called “missionaries” were sent to the countries of the
old continent. The Daughters of Mary Help of Christians, went for the
first time to the Congo (1926), to Japan (1929), to Siam (1931), to
Haiti (1935), and to the mission on the Upper Orinoco (1940). She

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was overjoyed whenever she heard of Indian, Siamese, Chinese, and
Japanese girls wanting to become Salesian Sisters.
Her period as superior general was marked by events both sad and
joyful. In 1926 the Mexican revolution destroyed the Sisters’ work in
that country. In 1928 the general chapter took steps of great im­
portance; first they re-elected the mother general and her entire coun­
cil, then they prepared a new edition of the Regulations of the Insti­
tute. Above all, they discussed Father Rinaldi’s suggestion that the
motherhouse should be transferred to Turin. La Madre attacked all
difficulties with her usual energy and the transfer was made in the year
of Don Bosco’s canonization. In 1936 bad news began to come from
Spain, and the houses in Madrid were the first to be burnt down or
destroyed; Valencia suffered the same fate, but the houses in Catalonia
were confiscated. Fortunately many Sisters were able to escape abroad
and only two fell victim to the revolution. On November 20, 1938,
however, there was joy about the beatification of Mother Mary Mazz-
arello. World War II brought new trials, and La Madre feared for her
Daughters throughout Europe, some of whom lost all contact with the
center of the Congregation. Every effort was made to find them through
the Red Cross and a special office was set up by the Vatican to contact
and encourage them.
By then advanced age and blindness had greatly reduced her activi­
ties, and in 1938, Vicar General, Mother Lucotti, had to assume direc­
tion of the Institute. Mother Vaschetti died on the 26th of June in
1943. Under her “paternal motherly” rule, to quote Father Ricaldone,
rector major of the Salesians, the Institute of the Daughters of Mary
Help of Christians had once more doubled its achievements.11
Linda Lucotti, a Good and Intelligent Mother,
1943-1957
After Mother Vaschetti’s death, Mother Lucotti was elected superior
general, as had been expected.12
Born at Mede Lomellina, near Pavia, on October 30, 1879, Linda
Lucotti joined the Salesian Sisters at Nizza at the age of twenty-three,
taking the veil on April 13, 1903 and making her profession on April 25,

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1905. She had a propensity for learning, and after receipt of her teach­
ing diploma in Nizza she went to the University of Rome, where she
obtained degrees in liberal arts in 1910 and in pedagogy the following
year. By 1912 she had become superior of the provincial house in
Rome, and three years later she was sent to Sicily to take charge of the
teachers’ training school which was founded by Mother Morano at
Catania (and transferred later to Ali Terme). In 1918 she became super­
ior, an office she held till 1922, when she became provincial of Sicily,
with headquarters at Catania. It is said that her sensitivity and kindness
of heart helped to unite those around her and we can imagine therefore
what a hard blow it was, as she herself confirmed, when the general
chapter of 1928 transferred her to assume the office of general coun­
selor for education. On October 11, 1938, the Congregation for Religi­
ous put her in charge of the Institute, while Mother Vaschetti con­
tinued to hold the title of mother general.
During World War II, Rome again stepped in to nominate her super­
ior general after Mother Vaschetti’s death, a post which was confirmed
by the general chapters of 1947 and 1953. As all agreed, this was in­
deed a unique event.
The new superior general took the helm at a tragic moment. The
war not only limited communications between the center and the
other houses of the Institute but reduced La Madre’s activities, jour­
neys, and office. No matter how bad the news, she never lost courage.
Whenever possible she herself would go and encourage her Daughters
who often lived in partially occupied houses, makeshift dwellings,
military hospitals, etc. She encouraged them to remain at their posts
whenever possible and to give whatever assistance they could to the
unfortunate. Apart from the destruction of the houses, several Sisters
lost their lives at Palermo, Massa and most of all at Alessandria.
After the war, Mother Lucotti had to re-establish contact with the
Sisters around the world. She began by visiting each of the houses in
Europe and then, like Mother Daghero before her, she set out in 1948
on a long journey across the Atlantic. In one year she visited all the
principal houses in South America. These visits were by no means
a waste of time, for her simplicity and kindness established bonds of
affection which helped to unite the Congregation.
Though the end of hostilities again permitted expansion, La Madre’s

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heart was saddened at the thought of so many centers of Salesian life
that had been extinguished, especially in Eastern Europe and China.
In Yugoslavia, Albania, Hungary, Poland, Lithuania, and Czechoslo­
vakia most of her communities had been forced to close. Generally the
Sisters had been dispersed, secularized, or sent to labor camps or, as
happened to one Lithuanian Sister, sent to Siberia. In China they had
been subjected to indoctrination and brainwashing.
In the matter of Salesian formation, one of Mother Lucotti’s titles
to fame was the realization of work that had first been conceived
in the fertile imagination of Father Ricaldone.13 Through her efforts
there arose in Turin the International Institute of the Sacred Heart, a
higher training school of pedagogy and religious and social sciences,
which received Roman approbation in 1956, and later became affiliated
with the Salesian Pontifical Athenaeum.
Mother Linda had the great pleasure of assisting in her capacity as
mother general at the canonization of Mother Mazzarello on June 24,
1951, a joy shared, of course, by the entire Institute. Feasts in honor of
the new saint were celebrated wherever the Salesian Sisters congregated,
and they were held on a magnificent scale in Valdocco; in Momese
of course they were equally festive and deeply touching.
Under Mother Lucotti the Congregation made further progress and
during her term of office—from 1943 until her death in 1957—there
were no less than six thousand new Salesian Sisters.
At an average of 420 new recruits each year, foundations could be
multiplied. In this respect we quote here merely some countries abroad,
e.g., the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians opened their work in
Mozambique in 1952, in Lebanon and Australia in 1954, in the Philip­
pines in 1955, in Korea in 1957.
This new development was certainly due to a large extent to the di­
rection of the mother general. She was not a woman who forcibly im­
posed her authority, on the contrary, she was inclined to be reserved, even
timid and preferred to remain in the background, especially on public
occasions. During the general chapters her interventions were always
very discreet. She cultivated simplicity and on a visit one day to the
community of Andresy, near Paris, she sat down with the local Sister
and mended the Salesians’ socks.14 In short, she was a model of serene
benevolence and active intelligence in the service of her Congregation.

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DON BOSCO
Mother Angela Vespa, 1956—1969
Mother Angela Vespa succeeded Mother Lucotti on September 15,
1958, after she had been her vicar for two years.
The new superior general had known her predecessor well, having
lived and worked at her side for a long time.15 When Mother Lucotti
had been superior in Rome, Sister Angela was attending university
there and later accompanied her to Sicily. Then after ten years of
teaching in the teachers’ training school at Bordighera, she was called
to Nizza to become superior of the motherhouse. In 1933 we find her
installed as superior at the Casa Madre Mazzarello in Turin. Three years
later she became provincial of the central province. In 1937 she re­
placed Mother Lucotti as general counselor for education and became
her vicar in 1955.
Her wide experience in the field of education and above all, in the
organization of professional schools made her a natural choice for
Mother Lucotti’s office. She was also responsible for the publication
of a magazine for girls called Primavera.
On becoming superior general, Mother Vespa put heart and mind to
work on everything that concerned religious education16 and cate-
chesis. Under her influence, the Institute aimed at “living the cate­
chism,” and in order to stimulate interest in this ideal way of life, she
often invited the pertinent personnel to study-sessions and meetings for
the exchange of information. From the 18th to the 24th of September
1960, there was an international congress “for the oratories,” which
dedicated an important part of its work to catechetical projects. In
April 1961, La Madre called to Turin the mistresses of novices and
those entrusted with the training of the young Sisters; and in Sep­
tember, she met with almost six hundred superiors and assistants in
schools. The main subject in each case concerned modern methods of
teaching religion to Sisters and pupils. The International Catechetical
Congress during September and October 1963 considered methods of
adapting catechetical methods to the needs of the modern world in
accordance with the directives and wishes of the Church. They also
studied the possible contributions of methodology, psychology, and
pedagogy to catechetical instruction.
Even more important than these great ideas however was putting

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them into practice, and Mother Vespa set herself this task. The Inter­
national Catechetical Center at Turin provided directives and working
aids, and summer courses were organized during the holidays to help
the Sisters perfect their knowledge of religion.
The Second Vatican Council helped to arouse awareness of the
advantages of a more thorough biblical, liturgical, and theological
formation. All these enterprises of Mother Angela were greatly appre­
ciated, most of all in Latin America because of a lack of priests.
La Madre’s basic idea was that the Sisters should become compe­
tent catechists and help in turn to develop others; to this end she
arranged for comprehensive courses for lay catechists.
Catechetical instruction was the main theme of the 1964 general
chapter. The assembly considered it the basis for all human, Christian,
and religious formation. In November of the same year there was a
congress to discuss sociological means of communication which served
very much the same purpose.
Under Mother Vespa, the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians
continued to carry out their widespread apostolate, especially on behalf
of the young. She was the moving spirit behind the Laura Vicuna
Sports Center at Turin and it has become an excellent monument to
her. Under her the Sisters went to Burma, South Africa and Holland;
and all those who had to leave Cuba in 1961 went to work in Puerto
Rico and Mexico instead.
At the general chapter in 1969 Mother Angela Vespa resigned. She
died within a few months, leaving behind the memory of a wonderful,
immensely productive woman with the soul of a saint.
The Daughters of Mary Help of Christians have achieved a remark­
able development within less than one hundred years. Today in the
second half of the twentieth century they are as devoted to their mis­
sion as ever, still faithful to the guidelines of Saint John Bosco and
Saint Mary Mazzarello.

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DON BOSCO
NOTES ON CHAPTER 28
1. G. Mainetti, Madre Caterina Daghero, prima successora della
Beata Maria Mazzarello nel governo generate delVInstituto “Figlie di
Maria Ausiliatrice,” Turin 1940, p. 165.
2. Ibid., p. 211-56.
3. E. Ceria, Annali, II, pp. 493-97.
4. G. Mainetti, Madre Caterina Daghero, pp. 269-72.
5. Ibid., p. 249.
6. E. Ceria, Annali, III, pp. 645-71. For the legal aspect consult
C. Bruno, El derecho de los Salesianos y de las Hijas de Maria Aux-
iliadora, Buenos Aires 1957. A historical note can also be found in
the cyclostyled edition of F. Desramaut, Filles de Marie-Auxiliatrice
et Salesiens, Lyon 1953.
7. Biography by L. Dalcerri, Madre Luisa Vaschetti, terza super-
iora generale delle Figlie di Maria Ausiliatrice, Turin 1954.
8. G. Luzi, Parla la Madre, Turin 1944.
9. Tesoro di salesianita, Raccolta de lettere di Madre Luisa
Vaschetti, Turin 1949.
10. L. Dalcerri, Madre Luisa Vaschetti, p. 200, passim.
11. For her term of office, see L. Calcerri, Madre Luisa Vas­
ch etti pp. 181-96.
12. Biographical information about Madre Lucotti can be found
in II notiziario delle Figlie di Maria Ausiliatrice, December 24, 1957;
see also A. Gennaro, In memoria di Madre Linda Lucotti, 4a super-
iora generale delle Figlie di Maria Ausiliatrice, Turin 1957.
13. In this respect, see A. Gennaro, In memoria, pp. 27-30.
14. See A. Gennaro, In memoria . . ., p. 36.
15. For some biographical information on Madre Vespa see II
notiziario delle Figlie di Maria Ausiliatrice, July-August-September
1958.
16. See II notiziaro delle Figlie di Maria Ausiliatrice, for the
years from 1958-1965.

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THE COOPERATORS AFTER 1888
A Last Appeal
In his last letter to the Salesian Cooperators we read this appeal from
Don Bosco: “I now ask you, who have helped me with such devotion
and perseverance in the past, to continue to help my successor after my
death. The works I have been able to begin with your support, no
longer need me, but they do still need you and all those who, like you,
love to promote that which is good on this earth.” 1
This last instruction to his “dear” Cooperators did not remain un­
heeded, and Father Ceria has shown its effect simply by tracing the
story of the various rectorships which came after Don Bosco.2
In fact, the so-called “Salesian Third Order,” which, back in 1877,
Don Bosco foresaw making great strides, never ceased to progress in
organization as well as influence, even though there were occasional
periods of lesser vitality during the hundred years that followed.
Soul o f the Movement
In Don Bosco’s regulations for the Cooperators we read: “The
superior of the Salesian Congregation is also the superior of this associ-

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DON BOSCO
ation.” The general chapter of 1885, under the presidency of Father
Rua, applied the founder’s ideas as follows: “Only the rector major
can confer and sign the certificates of membership, and all must en­
deavor to foster the relationship with the Cooperators.”3
The task of “direction” conferred on the superior was taken serious­
ly by the successive rectors major. They felt very strongly about this
responsibility, and supervised—sometimes in a very personal way—the
running of the association of Salesian Cooperators.
In order to attain the goals of the association, it was necessary,
above all, to maintain contact with the majority of its members. The
simplest and certainly the most efficient way to accomplish this was
through the Salesian Bulletin, which has never ceased to serve that
function. From Don Boco’s time, it has been customary for the rector
major to publish a special letter to the Cooperators at New Year’s,
informing them of his projects and concerns. Several of Don Bosco’s
successors went out of their way to make personal contacts, and one
cannot help thinking of all the handshakes of Father Rua and Father
Ziggiotti during their numerous journeys! National and interna­
tional congresses, meetings, and conferences have all contributed to
strengthening the bonds with Don Bosco’s successors. The Salesians
also did their share through the circular letters and the acts of the
general chapters.
The Trend o f the Movement
The Association of the Cooperators proposes that its members “be
active in the exercise of charity toward their fellow man and especially
towards the imperiled young.” This “charity” would generally seem to
assume the form of alms.
By appealing to the Cooperators to finance the numerous Salesian
enterprises, the successors of Don Bosco were merely following his
example. Though the association gradually enlarged its scope of ac­
tivity, the heavy financial burdens made the necessity of fund raising a
“vital” form of cooperation.4
Don Bosco’s successors have often pointed out that it was due to
the Cooperators that the Salesian work has been able to continue so

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347
effectively, and that what they gave had great spiritual value, because
it helped to save souls and was, in any case, an excellent way of saving
theirs.
The beneficiaries have been truly grateful to the Cooperators for
their practical benevolence and generosity. Father Rua felt it was a
debt that could never be repaid and expressed his sentiments in the
rhetorical style of the time: “I must thank you, and I do thank you
with all my heart, my dear Cooperators, for having shown yourselves
so worthy of the trust I have placed in your generosity and kindhearted­
ness. You have been to the poor Salesians, angels of Divine Providence
and conveyors of their charity.”5 On another occasion, even though
little inclined to effusiveness, he declared: “The great affection I have
for all our benefactors stirs in me each day feelings of obligation and
gratitude.”6
Distribution of alms however does not exhaust the concept of Sale­
sian “cooperation,” even if some documents seem to stress that point
unduly or make it seem a primary concern. In the recommendations of
the rectors major the call to a Christian and apostolic sense of responsi­
bility is clear.
During Father Rua’s term and at his initiative a Manual o f Theory
and Practice (Manuale teorico e pratico) was printed in Turin in 1893.
Often reprinted and revised, it aimed to serve those responsible for the
Cooperators’ Movement, as a “guide on how to help the Salesians with
their work.”7
Without belittling the giving of alms, we find emphasis on a much
more personal commitment in the second part of this little volume,
which deals with “zealous efforts.” It stresses teaching catechism—
“every Cooperator ought to be a catechist”—looking for and encourag­
ing ecclesiastical vocations in families and schools, disseminating good
books “among the people, in schools, at catechism lessons, in the
oratories, in offices, hospitals, etc.,” helping abandoned young people
through assistance with projects set up for them, and by supporting
Salesian work in general. Father Rua and his successors set a standard
for perfection: it was to spread the spirit of Don Bosco by carrying out
the above recommendations.
Obviously this would not come naturally to everybody and some­
times there were inevitable reactions. Starting in 1915, Father Albera,

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DON BOSCO
ably assisted by his right-hand man Father Rinaldi, began to provide
guidelines by means of a series of articles in the Salesian Bulletin
which corrected some errors concerning the purpose of the Pious
Union. An introductory article pointed out that many had little idea
of what it was all about.8 Old truths were recalled and particularly
the fact that the Salesian Cooperators were to be considered more than
merely a financial support for Salesian works. Father Rinaldi then
revived the monthly retreat, (if the practice had ever existed) and he
insisted on the personal apostolate of the Cooperator within his secular
circle.
Father Rinaldi became rector major at a time when the Church was
placing renewed emphasis on missionary activity. In accordance with
the directives of Pius XI, he stressed missionary cooperation. On the
occasion of the Golden Jubilee celebrations for the Salesian missions
in 1925, the Cooperators organized congresses and meetings of every
kind in order to highlight and support the apostolate in missionary
territories.
Father Ziggiotti in turn asked the Cooperators to take their secular
responsibility toward the Church very seriously. In September 1952,
Pope Pius XII had stressed this point before the Cooperators who had
assembled in Rome, in a discourse that came to be considered the
Magna Carta of the Association. The Holy Father recalled that the
Pious Union had been “grafted onto the fruitful vine of the religious
family of Saint John Bosco” and that its immediate purpose was,
therefore, to place itself at the disposal of the hierarchy, and that the
Church expected much from this “new and Providential movement
of the Catholic laity.”9
The apostolic and ecclesiastical course of the Pious Association
of Cooperators became more and more defined. In an important
document in 1955 Father Ziggiotti affirmed that “the real mission
of the Cooperators was the apostolate carried out in true Salesian
spirit,” and he recalled the fact that Pius XI had defined their move­
ment as “a notable first draft of Catholic Action.” 10 Called to “par­
ticipate fully in the secular apostolate,” 11 the Cooperators were invited
by their superior on the very eve of the Second Vatican Council to
“live the Church.” 12

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Organization o f the M ovement
Like every other movement, the Association of Salesian Cooperators
needed organization and strucure if it was to achieve its purpose, the
more so, since the number of its members continued to increase in
proportion to the rate of Salesian expansion.
In practice it is a matter of making sure that the directives of those
at the head of the movement reach all the members, of arranging
meetings to agree on a common endeavor, and of finding suitable
local leaders capable of maintaining contact with the center. In this
field too the various rectors major have set an example.
Right from the start of his term, Father Rua took a practical interest
in the efficient running of the Pious Union. His manual went into de­
tails and enlarged on several points of the original regulations. Inspired
by certain arrangements made before Don Bosco’s death, he either
introduced new elements into the organization, or else preferred ideas
already in use. There was to be a diocesan director, who would be the
central figure of the work in the diocese; a co-director, head of the so-
called decurioni in cities or important towns; promoters, i.e., active
Cooperators who dealt with the movement in their districts; com­
mittees and sub-committees charged with helping the diocesan director,
etc. He also established precise guidelines for the conferences.
In Italy Father Rua succeeded by using the following method:
Whenever a sufficiently important group of Cooperators became estab­
lished in a diocese, he would ask the bishop to appoint a diocesan direc­
tor, who was generally a parish priest or a vicar general, and who would
propose the names of the decurioni (group leaders) to the rector
major.
In 1893 Father Rua arranged for a first meeting of the officers of
the movement around the tomb of Don Bosco at Valsalice.13 It was a
promising beginning, for representatives of twenty-six Italian dioceses
accepted the invitation. The meeting was very productive, and at this
“General Chapter of the Diocesan Directors of the Pious Union,” (as
it was curiously called in the official report) the idea of having the
first International Congress at Bologna was born. Then the organization
made rapid progress, and by 1898 forty dioceses were represented at
a meeting held in Turin.

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DON BOSCO
We may say that one of the first concerns of Father Rua was to
convince his own Salesians of their responsibility toward the third
order; certain statements he made confirm this. During the general
chapter in 1895, for example, a special commission was set up at his
request to study the relationship between Cooperators and Salesian
houses, as well as that between the houses and Turin. In the chapters
of 1901 and 1904 he himself suggested that a “provincial correspon­
dent” should be nominated in each province who would report on the
movment, and that each house should have “someone in charge of the
Cooperators.” The eleven articles at the end of the Regulations of the
Salesian Society with the significant title “Rules of the Salesians for
the Pious Union of Cooperators” were taken substantially, if not
word for word, from the deliberations of that time. We also find
another innovation brought about by Father Rua, i.e., the creation of a
“Central Office of Cooperators,” with a president (the prefect general
of the society), three consultors (the editor of the Salesian Bulletin,
the man in charge of publicity and the head of the correspondence
section), and one or more secretaries. Finally Father Rua found a most
suitable man for this purpose: he put Father Stephen Trione in charge
of “publicity” and made him first Secretary General of the Pious
Union, which marked the beginning of fifty years of active “coopera­
tion.”
Difficulties, however, were not wanting. After Father Rua, Father
Albera’s term of office coincided with a period of chaos which did little
to help an organization of this kind. Although proposed gatherings to
commemorate the centenary of Don Bosco’s birth could not be held
because of World War I, important meetings took place in South
America, including an International Congress at Sao Paulo in 1915.
Former Pupils were also encouraged to become members of the Pious
Union. In 1920 there was a Congress for Cooperators and Past Pupils
at Turin for the unveiling of a monument to Don Bosco in front of the
Basilica. This gathering brought the comforting assurance that the
Salesian spirit had created a real feeling of brotherhood and friendship
among people coming from countries that until recently had been at
war with one another. Moreover, this congress gave proof of the con­
tinuing vitality of the movement, even after several years of torment
throughout Europe caused by the war.

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351
The period of Father Rinaldi’s term of office has been considered
the golden age of the Cooperators. With his own first-hand knowledge
of the problems and of Don Bosco’s mind as well, the new rector
major showed great interest in the Cooperators, and met personally
with many officers of the movement.
The 1926 congress held at Turin was attended by 1,500 members,
including numerous international delegations. One unlikely statistic
of the period informs us that in less than two years various meetings
had been attended by 300 diocesan directors and more than 4,500
decurioni. 14
Father Rinaldi was creative in thinking up new ways of increasing
the number of Cooperators. He once wrote to a provincial in America:
“I am glad that you are trying to give life to the Salesian Cooperators.
It is the third work of Don Bosco and we must make it flourish every­
where. Don Bosco used to say that the Salesian Cooperator is synony­
mous with a good Christian. Therefore, all the good Christians of the
world should become Cooperators.” 15 He even asked the Past Pupils at
the beginning of 1927 to “spread the idea of Salesian cooperation,”
and in compliance with his wishes, the Salesian Bulletin took an active
part in this campaign.
During the first years of Father Ricaldone’s term, the association
was doing well, but later not even the rector major could prevent a
temporary decline. Times were bad and the superior general had many
other problems. Besides, Father Trione died in 1935, and Salesian
“cooperation” suffered to some extent everywhere.
After the chaos of World War II (1939-1945), there was a reawaken­
ing in 1947 which was fostered by the first post-war general chapter.
On that occasion Father Ricaldone gained an additional consultor on
the superior chapter who was to take charge of the general direction of
the Cooperators. In 1950 he revived one of Father Rua’s projects by
asking each provincial to nominate a “provincial delegate” for the
Cooperators as well as “local delegates” for each house. In the same
year he chose a new secretary general, Father Guido Favini, to whom
he gave the simple task: “You must do what Father Trione used to
do.” 16 Received in audience by Pius XII on June 23, 1951, Father
Favini aroused the Pope’s interest in the “third Salesian order” and at
once set about preparing a congress to signal the revival of the associa­

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DON BOSCO
tion, and to celebrate the 75th anniversary of its foundation. This
congress was held in Rome from September 11-13, 1952; it was privil­
eged to be addressed by the Pope at Castel Gandolfo, and it was a com­
plete success. Father Ricaldone had died a few months earlier.
His successor, Father Ziggiotti, took up the torch determined to
harmonize Don Bosco’s ideal concept with the directives of the Holy
See. He established a special Secular Institute of Cooperators, first
called “Oblates” and then “Volunteers of Don Bosco,” which devel­
oped along the lines of the former “supporters” encouraged by Father
Rinaldi. This movement sprang up in Italy, France, and Spain.
In 1953 Father Ziggiotti appointed Father Louis Ricceri director
general of the Cooperators transferring him from his position as provin­
cial of Lombardy. Upon the rector major’s initiative the September-
October issue of the Acts of the Superior Chapter published a text
of orientation which was an appeal to all Salesians on behalf of the
Association of Cooperators. Father Ricceri promoted annual meetings
with the leaders and issued a special monthly Bulletin for them which
was published on the 15th of every month. He also brought the Manual
up to date and re-organized the central office of the Cooperators. All
these initiatives served to meet many requests from Italy and other
countries. Among other events we should mention a pilgrimage to
Lourdes in 1958, participation in the Eucharistic Congress in Munich
in 1960, a pilgrimage to Rome and Pompei in 1962 in connection with
the Ecumenical Council, as well as several international congresses
which we shall describe in the following chapters.
By 1962 Father Favini could count one thousand centers of Salesian
Cooperators, usually attached to the houses of the Salesians in their
parishes or to the houses of the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians.
International Congresses
International congresses have played an important part in the life
of this vast organization, because they answer a need for a common
bond so often emphasized by Don Bosco and especially mentioned in
the Regulations for Cooperators.
Speaking of the first congresses held under Father Rua, Father

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Ceria hastens to meet certain possible objections by observing: “These
great meetings are not held just to create publicity for the Salesian
Society, they are above all to spread Don Bosco’s spirit around the
world through the Cooperators who should endeavor to grow more
numerous.” 17
Cardinal Gasparri expressed more or less the same idea in 1930 on
the occasion of the congress in Bogota, Colombia: “An International
Congress of Salesian Cooperators is always an event of the first order
in the area of Salesian activity, nay Catholic activity, and especially
in the apostolate for the young, the scholastic and popular press, the
missions, and in the expression of filial attachment to the Holy See.” 18
As we have seen, the first of these congresses was held at Bologna
in 1895 in an atmosphere of contagious enthusiasm. Thereafter they
were held at comparatively regular intervals, except for the years
between 1930 and 1952. They were in Italy (Bologna, 1885; Turin,
1903, 1920, 1926; Milan 1906; Rome 1952, 1959). South America
(Buenos Aires, 1900, 1924; Lima, 1906; Santiago de Chile 1909; Sao
Paulo, 1915; Bogota, 1930). Similar congresses were held in Belgium
(Brussels, on the occasion of the World Fair in 1958) and in Spain
(Madrid, 1906; Barcelona, 1961).
These great gatherings were organized according to a proven plan.
At the beginning and at the end there were solemn general meetings
of the entire assembly; the most serious part of the congress was
dedicated to learning or to sessions and discussions of certain special
subjects, such as the nature of cooperation, individual development,
youth and education, vocations, social action, the press, the missions,
etc. At the 1952 congress in Rome the subject was “Cooperation in the
Universal Apostolate of the Church,” which led to new developments.
Finally we must add that the presence of important religious and civic
personalities was of great help on such occasions as well as the at­
tendance and speeches of foreign delegations, the so-called letters of
“reality” that were read, and, above all, the message from the Pope,
which contributed to creating a climate of fervor that found its express­
ion in the final voting and the resolutions that were adopted.

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The Reply o f the Cooperators
There are many people in the world who are interested in the works
of the Salesians and are attracted by the idea of “cooperation,” but it
is obviously difficult to measure the value and influence of the Salesian
“third order” though some relevant observations can be made.
First of all, considering the number of readers it reaches, the world­
wide distribution of the Salesian Bulletin provides a significant cri­
terion. After Don Bosco’s death its editions multiplied. In Father
Rua’s time there were, besides editions in Italian, French, and Spanish,
editions in English, German, Polish, Portuguese, and Hungarian with
even more publications after 1910. In 1964, there were thirty official
editions19 including those coming from Madras, Thailand, Hong Kong,
Malta, Burma, Peru, etc. Father Rua had been able to announce that
600,000 people received the Bulletin, and by 1964 the number of the
combined editions must have been close to a million. Even though
not all readers are Cooperators (for there is a significant difference),
their number must indeed be very high.
As to the actual results, the response of the Cooperators to the
directives contained in the Bulletin is even more difficult to gauge. Mere
subscription to or receipt of the Salesian Bulletin do not constitute
the actual Christian commitment of the Cooperator; there will always
be only nominal Cooperators. However, when members attend con­
gresses and go on retreats, there is certainly a more profound awareness
of their personal responsibilities. It would really be necessary to calcu­
late actual “Salesian activity” in the lives of the Cooperators, but this
is impossible.
The best we can do is to list the names of some outstanding Cooper­
ators. Dorothy Chopitea has already been mentioned. Pope Pius X was
a Salesian Cooperator. Charles d’Espiney (f 1891) was the author of
a widely, read biography of Don Bosco and deserved to be considered
one of the finest Salesian Cooperators. Father Felix Reviglio, diocesan
director and parish priest of St. Augustine’s in Turin retained all his life
a great sense of gratitude toward Don Bosco, who had received him into
the oratory as a child. Leon Rolland (f Toulon, 1900) wrote to a Sale­
sian that if he “were able to choose how to die, he would wish to die
of disappointment for not having lived as a Salesian.” Fernando Bauer,

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a Jewish convert, was one of the founders of the Salesian work at
Madrid. The life of a Portuguese Cooperator, Alexandrina Maria da
Costa (f 1955) was extraordinary for its apostolate of prayer and
suffering; two books have already been written about her. Among those
who contributed towards the establishment of good works in Italy,
Argentina and Brazil, many were genuine Cooperators.
In short, thanks to the initiative of the Church, it would seem that,
in the second half of the twentieth century, the Salesian Cooperators
have come to a deeper understanding of the apostolic requirements
of their association. In the years 1951, 1957, and 1967, they sent their
delegations to the World Congress of the Lay Apostolate. The great
vital force, however, emanated from the Second Vatican Council;
and in this respect we can compare with pleasure a saying of Don
Bosco with a Council text.
In 1886 the saint declared: “There will come a time when the name
‘Cooperator’ will stand for the ‘true Christian.’ ”20 The council, in
a decree on the Apostolate of the Laity, appeals to all Christians to
“respond gladly, generously, and promptly to the voice of Christ.. .to
prove themselves His Cooperators in the various forms and methods
of the Church’s universal apostolate.”21 These two declarations to­
gether constitute quite a program.

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NOTES ON CHAPTER 29
1. E. Ceria, Memorie biografiche, XVIII, 621-22.
2. See esp. E. Ceria, Annali, II, III, IV passim: E. Ceria, I
Cooperatori salesiani Un p o ’ di storia, Turin 1952, pp. 66-103;
G. Favini, II cammino di una grande idea: I Cooperatori salesiani,
Manuale per i dirigenti, Turin 1958, esp. pp. 18-31. See also Bolletino
salesiano, [and the Salesian Bulletin], the official organ of the Sale­
sian Cooperators.
3. See M. Rua, L ettere circolari ai salesiani, Turin 1910,
p. 147.
4. See e.g., Father Ricaldone’s New Year letter in the Bolletino
salesiano, January 1938, pp. 1-5.
5. Bolletino salesiano, January 1892, p. 4.
6. Ibid., January 1902, p. 3.
7. Full Title: Manuale teorico pratico pei direttori e decurioni
della Pia associazione dei Cooperatori salesiani, Turin 1893. Suc­
cessive editions continued until 1941.
8. Bolletino salesiano, February 1915, p. 34 see also P. Rical­
done, II Cooperatore salesiano, Turin 1916.
9. Text of Pius XII discourse: G. Favini, II cammino di una
grande idea, pp. 203-07, and by the same author, Cooperatori sale­
siani a Rom a nel 75 della Pia Unione, Turin 1953, pp. 81-84, (acts of
the congress in Rome in 1952).
10. A cts o f the Superior Chapter, September-October 1955, no.
188, p. 418.
11. Bolletino salesiano, January 1958, p. 4.
12. Ibid., January 1963, p. 2.
13. G. Favini, II cammino di una grande idea, p. 198.
14. E. Ceria, I Cooperatori, p. 91.
15. Letter of Father Rinaldi to Father Nai, provincial of Chile,
dated December 12, 1922, in Manuale per i dirigenti, p. 24.
16. Quoted by Father Favini himself in his Cooperatori salesiani
a Rom a, p. 3.

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17. E. Ceria, I Cooperatori, p. 69.
18. Letter to the president of the Congress at Bogota, June 4,
1930, to be found in Actas del X I Congreso international de los
cooperadores salesianos, Bogota 1931.
19. Don Bosco in the World, 3rd. ed., Turin 1964, p. 180.
20. E. Ceria, Memorie biografiche, XVIII, p. 161.
21. Vatican II decree Apostolicam actuositatem.

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THE PAST PUPILS
The alumni can also be said to be Salesians. On July 17, 1884, they
were described by Don Bosco as follows: “With the name “Salesian”
I mean to refer to all those who have been brought up according to
the ways of the great Saint Francis de Sales. Therefore you too are
Salesians.” 1 These words were an echo of what he had said four years
before when exhorting his former pupils to prove themselves “good
Salesians” everywhere.2
Naturally the title “Salesian” has no legal status nor can it be com­
pared with the Salesian Cooperator. But when a former pupil becomes a
Cooperator, he forges a bond with the Congregation founded by Don
Bosco. The title as such evokes what may be called a vital link that
includes a relationship between teachers and their former pupils.
It is a very close relationship, initially meant to compare with family
ties. For Don Bosco, all the boys who left the Oratory remained his
sons, and he never ceased to consider himself their father.
Even after his death, the pupils who left Salesian schools called
themselves sons and former pupils of “Don Bosco.” Their story is the
saga of a family which has continued to grow and whose organization
has developed over the years. We therefore do not consider it out of
place to dedicate a special chapter to them.

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Don Bosco and the Past Pupils o f the Oratory
At the beginning there was, of course, Don Bosco with his charis­
matic personality and his method of teaching, based on “loving kind­
ness and good will,” which was practiced at the Oratory in an atmos­
phere of family life.3 As Don Bosco explained in his little pamphlet,
the Salesian system contains an element of permanent awareness that
gives former pupils a deeper understanding, so that a teacher can
always speak to them in the language of the heart, not only during the
school years but also afterwards. Having once gained the confidence
of his pupils, he can later exert a great influence on them; he can
counsel, advise, and even criticize, thus providing guidance in whatever
position they may find themselves in the world later on.”4
There is plenty of evidence that these principles brought excellent
results, and we find Don Bosco joyfully welcoming his former pupils,
maintaining a correspondence and arranging meetings with them and
sometimes inviting them to join in the celebrations of feasts at the
Oratory.
A number of past pupils became priests, like Felix Reviglio who
was parish priest of St. Augustine’s in Turin. Don Bosco was very happy
indeed to see some of them dedicate themselves to the service of the
diocese, even though he would have liked many of them in his own
Congregation.
The majority, however, were laymen; they could be found in every
sector of civic and professional life. Father Lemoyne says that even as
early as 1855, one could find among them a “great number of laborers,
employers, teachers, civil servants, or military officers, and some who
had chosen careers in liberal arts.” 5 Among them was Charles Gastini
who had remained most affectionately attached to Don Bosco and the
Oratory. He had been received by Don Bosco as far back as 1847, and
had left the Oratory nine years later, yet he continued to regard it as
his second home and always tried to make himself useful whenever
there was a chance.
Don Bosco maintained a great interest in his former pupils, their
families, their work, and their Christian life. He even provided financial
help to those who found themselves in difficulties. (Unfortunately
there were also some who, after taking advantage of his generosity,

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DON BOSCO
became his opponents, but he remained patient and kind even toward
them).
The pupils who had attended the Oratory at Valdocco liked to show
their fidelity to Don Bosco above all on the occasion of his yearly
feast, celebrated solemnly on June 24. On that day his table would be
piled high with letters of best wishes and gratitude. As time passed
however it did not seem to be enough. “That feast,” says Father Ceria,
“was a triumph, an outpouring of gratitude of all those who had lived
at the Oratory, and very soon others, who lived in different parts of
the country, wanted to join—if not in person at least in spirit.”6
First Meetings o f the Past Pupils
The first official move toward an Organization of past pupils can be
traced back to 1870.7 On June 24 a dozen workers of Turin—it has
been said that the most affectionate former pupils were the simple
laborers—decided to participate in Don Bosco’s feastday. They chose
Charles Gastini as their representative who was to convey to the saint
their best wishes together with a gift. Don Bosco was pleasantly sur­
prised.
When their former companions heard of this gracious idea other
alumni in ever increasing numbers wanted to join, and thus an organi­
zation was born. A committee was given the principal task to make
arrangements for an annual meeting on Don Bosco’s feast day. In 1871
forty-five past pupils attended. In 1875 some of them formed a band
which, at Gastini’s suggestion, gave its first concert in honor of Don
Bosco.
Then Don Bosco wanted to reciprocate their courtesy and began
to invite them each year to a family reunion at his table, a custom
which began in 1876. The great moment on these occasions was always
Don Bosco’s after-dinner speech, full of fun, intimate, wise, and deli­
cately laced with good advice; he reminded them to remain always true
sons of Don Bosco, and in 1878 they decided to form a kind of mutual
aid society.
New arrangements were made in 1880, when, in view of the grow­
ing number of participants, Don Bosco suggested to have two separate

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meetings, one for the laity and the other for the clergy, an arrangement
that continued on even after his death. During one of these meetings,
on July 13, 1884, Don Bosco spoke significantly about the future of
the movement: “You were only a little flock, but you have grown, you
will grow still more and you will continue to multiply. You are going to
be shining lights in the world.”8
Local Associations
The same phenomenon occurred in other houses, founded by Don
Bosco in Italy and elsewhere; former pupils would return spontaneously
for a visit every now and then. In 1888, especially, numerous alumni
returned to Salesian houses to express their sympathy to former teach­
ers on the death of Don Bosco. Little by little local associations sprang
up, though it is not always easy to trace their growth. We do, however,
possess information about some of them.
Regarding Valdocco itself, the Salesian Bulletin published a report in
1898 of a “Union of Past Pupils of the first Oratory of Don Bosco.”
It also reported unveiling of a monument in honor of Don Bosco at
Castelnuovo d’Asti, and the feast celebrating the crowning of the pic­
ture of Our Lady, Mary Help of Christians in 1903.
A similar association was founded in 1896 in Parma under the aegis
of Father Baratta, and with a member of the Italian parliament, Joseph
Micheli, as president. These examples were repeated at Faenza, Buenos
Aires, Milan, and in many other places.
In 1898 Father Rua personally requested that the alumni of the
various houses organize themselves into associations like the Oratory
inTurin. Father Ceria relates that in several cities of Europe, America,
and even Africa, the Salesian houses complied with his wishes by
organizing meetings, forming groups, drafting rules and starting a regu­
lar correspondence.9
It is worth pointing out that during this period the former pupils of
Valdocco continued to celebrate Don Bosco’s name-day in June each
year; they now called it “a filial demonstration in memory of Don
Bosco” and combined it with a tribute to his successor. Father Rua
was for them not only the successor of the founder but the very replica

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DON BOSCO
of his concerned fatherliness. As one enthusiastic member once put it,
“One hardly realized that Don Bosco was not there.”
Toward an International Federation
Another step forward was taken at the end of Father Rua’s rector­
ship and at the beginning of Father Albera’s.10 Up to that time the
bond between the various associations had merely signified a common
attachment to Don Bosco and the Salesian work. Now they began to
think of fortifying these bonds with regional, national, and inter­
national federations. The success of such meetings as the congress at
Buenos Aires in 1900, which gathered together the former pupils of
several houses in America, and the creation on July 7, 1906, of a Past
Pupils’ Society of Lombardy, continued the idea of a wider association.
The final impulse came from Turin through the ever-present Father
Rinaldi.
This colleague of Father Rua started a “Don Bosco Circle,” in Turin,
in 1906 which was composed of former pupils from different Salesian
houses. Its purpose was a Christian and social action, and we may note
in passing that it made quite a name for itself with the plays it staged
from time to time. It was from this nucleus in Turin that the idea
originated in 1908 of a federation large enough to embrace all the
associations throughout the world.
The proposal seemed feasible, especially in view of the fact that
the idea of a national association was growing, particularly in Argen­
tina, France, Belgium and Brazil. In July 1909, the Don Bosco Circle
drafted statutes for an international federation, and within a short
time, about one hundred groups had accepted them. It was only a short
step from there to the organization of an international congress of
past pupils.
This congress was scheduled for 1910, the year of Father Rua’s
Golden Jubilee of priesthood, but it had to be postponed for one year
because of his unexpected death. The International Congress of the
Past Pupils of Don Bosco was finally held in Turin from the 8th to the
10th of September 1911. Two months earlier a somewhat liberal
newspaper had summed it up as follows: “This congress represents

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363
an innovation in the history of pedagogy” ;11 it went on to explain
that it was the first time in the annals of pedagogy that such an im­
pressive public demonstration was taking place. Over a thousand past
pupils participated, among them representatives of twenty-two coun­
tries. It was said, that considering the diversity of countries and social
backgrounds, the unity of spirit and feeling was truly extraordinary.
As to concrete results, we note the approbation of the Statutes of the
international federation, the launching of Federazione as the past
pupils’ magazine, and the election of Peter Gribaudi as international
president. Father Rinaldi, the promoter and organizer of this congress,
was happy indeed to see how well the former pupils had taken their
affairs in hand.
World War I interrupted the federation’s activities, but work was
begun again after the war, when a second international congress was
held in Turin in 1920 to unveil Don Bosco’s monument outside the
Basilica.12 Several practical points were adopted on that occasion, as,
for instance, the composition of the president’s council (two Italians,
one Frenchman, one Spaniard and one German). Moreover, the
framework of the federation was to follow the Salesian patterns, with
a union or local association at each Salesian house, a regional associa­
tion at provincial level, a national association in each country, all of
them connected with the international federation. It was further de­
cided to set up a special secretariate at the motherhouse in Turin which
would serve at the same time as executive organ and central committee
for the entire movement. The publication Federazione had folded dur­
ing the war and was now replaced by the monthly Voci fraterne (Broth­
erly Voices). Felix Masera succeeded Gribaudi as president.
Throughout these efforts one notes the discreet intervention of
Father Rinaldi, who was rewarded with the title “Founder of the Inter­
national Federation.” On becoming rector major in 1922, he main­
tained his great interest in the movement; in 1929 however, he trans­
ferred to Father Candela the immediate responsibilities for the federa­
tion.
At a meeting of all the provincials and rectors of Italy which took
place in the same year, he insisted that they deal with matters con­
cerning the past pupils.
Father Ricaldone, in turn, attended to these concerns and obtained

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DON BOSCO
from Argentina the expert services of Father Serie, whose contributions
to the federation in his own country were well known. When Masera,
the president, died in 1938, he appointed Arthur Poesio to succeed
him.
The second interruption brought about by World War II (1939-
1945) caused difficulties again, but by then the movement was much
better organized. The local associations and unions had increased enor­
mously on a worldwide scale, and in proportion to the expansion of
the work of the Salesians and Daughters of Mary Help of Christians
who had their own Past Pupils’ Association. In 1920 there were 61
associations; 89 in 1928; and 110 in 1940, with literally thousands of
former pupils enrolled as members of the federation, and two inter­
national congresses held on their behalf which had completed and
worked out the statutes from their original embryonic local associa­
tions. Although everything considered, the situation was in reasonably
good order, the movement still seemed to lack that continuity and
efficiency which transforms a large body into a living organism.
Toward a World Confederation
The post-war years and, above all, the stewardship of Father Zig-
giotti constitute a brilliant period in the history of the Past Pupils of
Don Bosco.13 Father Serie’s great efforts began to produce results and
the president, Arthur Poesio, working with him, kept in touch with the
world-wide federations. We shall single out now some of the major
events of this period: Under Father Ziggiotti, a national gathering
of the regional presidents and other leaders took place in 1953 on
September 10-13.14 The purpose of the meeting was the consolidation
and development of the organization in Italy. Several regulations
were drafted, one for each group of the association, i.e., national,
regional and local. New statutes were proposed because those of 1920
were rather dated and too simple. An attempt was also made to estab­
lish order and precision in the terminology of the movement by de­
fining the composition of the various councils, which included a large
number of officers and Salesian delegates and the much smaller man­
agement committees which form the executive bodies of the councils.

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It was decided to replace the old international federation with a world
confederation which would unite all the national federations. This
change was due to the strength that had been gradually acquired
by several of the national federations. When the Italian meeting was
over, the proposed regulations and statutes were sent to the other
countries for study and comment.
Between the 21st and 23rd of November 1954, thirty-five national
presidents and their delegations gathered once again around the rector
major.15 They examined the question of the new statutes of the
previous year and the observations to the questions. Finally a text was
drafted and adopted for a trial period of one year. The president of the
confederation was to study new proposals if any and to prepare a
text in the meantime.
A year later, between the 11th and 13th of November 1955, the
confederate presidency (the president, the three vice-presidents—
French, Spanish, and Argentinian—and the Secretary), with the consent
of Father Ziggiotti, approved the final text of the statutes of the
confederation, which were proclaimed at Buenos Aires in 1956, on the
occasion of an Inter-American Congress of Past Pupils. This, then, was
to be the Magna Carta of the movement, and the president declared it
to be the crown and goal of eighty-five years of effort and experiment.
But not even he could foresee the events that shaped the following
decade.
The first European Congress of Past Pupils of Don Bosco was held
between September 9-12, 1965, with three hundred persons present,16
but at the final public demonstration an estimated 10,000 people
participated. A new text of the statutes, more in keeping with the
decisions of Vatican II and the XIX General Chapter was drafted and
proclaimed in 1966. It contained actual Council texts and quoted the
decree on the apostolate of the laity, which stressed participation in the
mission of the Church, acceptance of responsibility, dialogue, etc. This
congress did indeed mark a new point of departure in the long history
of the past pupils’ movement. Thanks to these concerted efforts at
co-ordination it went from vigor to strength. In the 1964 statistics,
published by Secretary General Father Bastasi, Italy alone counted
160,000 enrolled members.17 The local unions were divided as follows:
377 in Europe (217 in Italy), 17 in Africa, 5 in the Middle East, 20 in

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DON BOSCO
North America, 15 in Central America, and 169 in South America.
There were 59 national federations altogether. The review Voci fraterne
continued as the international organ, with another fifteen publications
in Spanish, French, German, Chinese, etc.
At this time Dr. Taboada Lago was the fourth international presi­
dent with Father Borra of the superior chapter in charge of the past
pupils. The confederation continued with its work, always seeking
to keep pace with the changing times.
Salesians in the World
It was Don Bosco’s wish that his former pupils should not only be
members of his family but take their place as Salesians in the world
outside, to continue and extend his work. He wanted them to prove to
all that it was possible to live “as good Christians and good citizens.”
In turn the various rectors major have appealed to the past pupils
to live up to this title.18 They were exhorted to live in the spirit of
Don Bosco and to convey it to their family and to their professional
and social world. Father Ricaldone, for example, recommended that
each one consider himself, wherever he might be, but above all within
his family, as rector of a small Salesian community. Father Ziggiotti
regarded them as the vanguard of the Salesian movement.
Don Bosco’s fifth successor said that the past pupils were in the
Salesian front ranks, and they themselves were very eager to be connec­
ted with the Salesian Congregation. The most recent statutes of the
world confederation stress “full responsibility for initiative and activi­
ties,” and state their desire for “a very close union” with the Salesian
Society through which their fidelity to Don Bosco finds expression,
above all, by the fruitfulness of their labor. Hence they continue to
recognize the rector major as their superior and are eager to follow
his direction. Many of them are Salesian Cooperators. On the other
hand, the member of the Salesian Superior Council who is responsible
for their affairs has full and permanent rights in their organization; the
same can be said of the various Salesian delegates as each participates
in the life of the organization at his own level.
Because of Vatican II, and thanks to the thorough preparation and

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many exhortations of Father Ziggiotti, the past pupils have become
more fully aware that their need for working together on a Salesian
level will enlarge the dimensions of the Church and contribute greatly
to its universal mission.19 Hence the 1965 statutes declare that the
past pupils are “laymen who participate in the mission of the Church
and wish to promote, by word and the example of their life and action
the Christian spirit in the world according to the teachings of Church
and Council.”20 There is no political aspect to the movement, nor does
it wish to clash with other movements already in existence by dupli­
cating the program of Catholic Action. Father Serie has been very
pleased that several past pupils were committed to various ecclesial
enterprises. He felt that this way of participating in the apostolate
was both right and good and meant that the former pupils were holding
fast to the principles learned in the school of Don Bosco.
Life o f the Past Pupils
If one were to ask how in actual practice the former past pupils
follow the ideals of their movement and the expectations of their
former teachers, it would indeed be difficult to reply.
Don Bosco himself expressed optimism when he said in 1884:
“There is one thing, however, for which we ought to be very grateful
to God, something that consoles me very much: wherever I go, I always
hear good things about you. Everywhere they speak well of my former
pupils. They are truly the honor and the glory of my last years.”21
After witnessing their attachment to Don Bosco on the occasion of
the inauguration of the monument in his honor, Father Albera said
that the Past Pupils constitute the finest and truest monument to the
glory of Don Bosco. During his journeys Father Ziggiotti constantly
found gratifying manifestations of the past pupils’ loyalty everywhere.
However we must face the fact that there are two kinds of past pu­
pils, those who remain faithful and the others; one might say, those
who are grateful for the education they received in Salesian schools
and those who, for one reason or another, remember only the flaws.22
It would seem, however, that the majority have retained gratitude
to and affection for Don Bosco and his religious (even though the

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DON BOSCO
latter may not possess his charismatic personality). On the other hand,
we know that only one out of every five former pupils is officially
enrolled in the movement—a rather small percentage in one way, but
actually a fairly big one when one considers the nature of this associa­
tion.
Father Serie was able to cite concrete examples of the Christian
and Salesian work of the past pupils.23 He mentioned one, for instance,
who dedicated his free time on Sundays to the youth of his district;
another whose zeal for finding vocations helped him send forty aspi­
rants to Ivrea. He recalled heroic figures in Spain, Mexico, and China
who had risked their own lives in order to save refugee Salesians. From
his own experience he was able to emphasize the unselfishness of the
leaders of the association, their readiness to help their companions
organize activities, meetings, retreats; not forgetting those who were
affiliated with the Catholic Action movement.
Quite an imposing list could be drawn up of former pupils who have
distinguished themselves in one way or another.24 Father Bastasi lists
in first place past pupil priests who left their mark, like Louis Guanella,
Louis Orione, Joseph Allamano. Among laymen, he mentions the
mathematician Camillo Possio, the explorer Gerard Sora, the Madrid
painter Vasquez Diaz, the Marseilles past pupil and Cooperator Joseph
Mouroux, the Belgian August Vanistendael, secretary general of the
International Confederation of Christian Trade Unions and lay observer
at Vatican II.
Salesian history, therefore, is not just confined within the bounds
of the Congregation. It flows out into the world through innumerable
channels that are far more active than is generally realized and often
unknown even to its leaders.

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NOTES ON CHAPTER 30
1. E. Ceria, Memorie biografiche, XVII, 176,77.
2. E. Ceria, Memorie biografiche, XIV, 511.
3. For points on the “psychological preparation” for the Past
Pupils’ movement, see E. Ceria, Annali della Societa Salesiana, I, 712-
13.
4. Regulations o f the Salesian Society, art. 87, par. 4, 1966.
5. G.B. Lemoyne, Memorie biografiche, V, p. 398. (English
ed, p. 258).
6. E. Ceria, Annali, I, 715.
7. U. Bastasi, Guida organizzativa del m ovim ento ex-allievi
di don Bosco, Turin 1965, pp. 229-52.
8. E. Ceria, Memorie biografiche, XVI, 174.
9. E. Ceria, Annali, III, p. 4.
10. For this, and especially re. the First International Congress
of Past Pupils, see E. Ceria, Annali, IV, 16-27.
11. E. Ceria, Annali, IV, 17.
12. Ibid., IV, 390-409.
13. U. Bastasi, Guida organizzativa, pp. 24-29.
14. Federazione Italiana Ex-Allievi di Don Bosco, 5° Convegno
nazionale dirigenti regionali dTtalia. A tti e documenti, Turin 1954.
15. Ex Allievi di Don Bosco, Congresso dirigenti confederazione
mondiale. A tti e documenti, statuto-base, Turin 1956.
16. Congresso europeo ex-allievi di Don Bosco. A tti e docu ­
menti, Statuto della confederazione mondiale, Turin 1966.
17. Don Bosco in the World, 1964, pp. 131-35.
18. G. Serie, Profili e raconnti, Turin 1956, pp. 23-28.
19. Although the XVIII General Chapter was concerned with the
Past Pupils’ problems, not many ecclesial dimensions were dealt with.
See Acts. . . July, October, 1958, no. 203, p. 768-770.
20. Statuto, II, par. 7.

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21. E. Ceria, Memorie biografiche, XVII, 173.
22. The results of research on this point can be found in
Grasso, La Societa salesiana tra il passato e I’avvenire. R isultati
u n ’inchiesta tra ex-allievi salesiani, Rome, 1964.
23. G. Serie, Profili e racconti, passim.
24. U. Bastasi, Guida organizzativa, p. 59 f.

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NEW TRENDS
Two Anniversaries
On August 15, 1965, in the little hamlet of Becchi, now known as
Colle Don Bosco—in the crypt of a great “temple” that the Salesians
had decided to build in honor of their founder, representatives of all
branches of the Salesian family gathered at a solemn Mass celebrated
by the new Rector Major Father Louis Ricceri. The place and the
moment were in perfect harmony with the purpose of the celebration,
for only a few yards away stood the original modest little farmhouse,
carefully preserved, in which the one who had given rise to everything
Salesian, John Bosco, had lived 150 years ago. (The event was broadcast
through the medium of Eurovision so that all viewers could see as well
as those who were present the enormous contrast between the poverty
of the beginning and the vast expansion of the present. It was truly very
moving.1
On a quieter note, the Salesian Society, which was born on Decem­
ber 18, 1859, had completed its first century.

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A New Stage
The above-mentioned anniversaries coincide with a privileged, if
somewhat difficult, stage in the one hundred year life span of this
great organization. Today, like all other religious and Christians in
general, the Salesians are facing new and different situations. The rapid
changes of modern times create new conditions that demand new
adjustments even within the Church itself which, in turn, provokes
contradictory reactions. Confronted with choices that cannot be
avoided, the present superiors are trying to adjust the old formulas
and remain essentially faithful to Saint John Bosco at the same time.
The new trends in the Congregation reflect this state of mind. Their
source of inspiration is to be found, above all, in the declarations of
Vatican II, so far the most memorable event of the Church of the
twentieth century. We do not intend to imply that nothing had been
happening before because it is in fact possible to trace a certain con­
tinuity without oversimplification. It remains true, nevertheless, that
the Council did accelerate the movement of ideas and indicate a change
of direction that some have not hesitated to call a fundamental turning
point.2
The Council acted as an extraordinarily powerful leaven, directly
inspiring the work of the XIX General Chapter, and the new rector
major has made it the premise of all his actions.
Father Aloysius Ricceri
One of the first actions of the 1965 general chapter was to elect a
new rector major because Father Ziggiotti had insisted on not standing
for re-election. As this had come as a surprise to the electors, the first
scrutiny was rather uncertain, but then the voting went rapidly in the
direction of Father Louis Ricceri, who had been the member of the
superior chapter who dealt with the Cooperators and the press.
Father Ricceri, sixth successor of Don Bosco, was born in Mineo,
near Catania, in Sicily, on the 8th of May, 1901.3 He was ordained
at the age of twenty-four, in 1925, and was soon entrusted with impor­
tant responsibilities. In 1935 he was appointed rector of the Salesian

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house in Palermo (Sampolo), when Father Ziggiotti was provincial in
Sicily. Five years later, he became rector of the Dominic Savio Insti­
tute in Messina. His talents were recognized in Turin, and in 1942,
in mid-war, Father Ricaldone appointed him provincial of the subal-
pine province. In 1953 while he was provincial in Milan, Father Ziggi­
otti made him a member of the superior chapter, which marked a new
phase in Father Ricceri’s life. After years of directorship during which
he had acquired valuable experience with the men and affairs of the
Congregation, his new office acquainted him with two important sec­
tors of the modern apostolate, that of the Christian laity through the
Cooperators, and that of the press. To both he was eventually to
dedicate twelve years of hard work. Next to increasing the member­
ship, he aimed, above all, to improve the spiritual and apostolic quality
of the members of the Association of Salesian Cooperators by concen­
trating on their training and selection. Their organization was consoli­
dated and made more efficient by finding new activities that were more
suitable for Christians of our time. In explaining to his confreres the
exact position of the Cooperators in the Salesian family complex,
Father Ricceri succeeded to restore importance and modernity to their
mission. In the sphere of the press, his accomplishments revealed a
modern concept of journalism and of the dissemination of information.
He had the Italian Salesian Bulletin printed in offset with abundant
illustrations; and he established an information agency in Turin (Agen-
zia N otizie Salesiane) which collected and distributed news from all
over the Salesian world; there was also the launching of the carefully
prepared monthly review Meridiano 12 in 1955, which was to become
a successful replacement of the L etture cattoliche (Catholic Readings),
founded one hundred years before by Don Bosco himself. Since these
activities involved many journeys and personal contacts, they broaden­
ed Father Ricceri’s vision of the tasks of the Church and of his Congre­
gation.
All these facts were undoubtedly considered before the final vote
of April 27, 1965. In electing Father Ricceri superior general, the
members of the XIX General Chapter placed at the helm of the Salesian
Society a man who combined a thorough knowledge of internal affairs
with a flair for dealing with external problems.

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DON BOSCO
The X IX General Chapter
Problems similar to those that preceded the election of the new
rector major surfaced during the remaining sessions of the general
chapter.
In many ways it was a truly unique chapter. Postponed for a year
for practical reasons and on account of the events that were taking
place in the Church, it opened in full conciliar climate, on April 8,
1965, between the third and the fourth session of Vatican II. During
the course of its preparation four thousand suggestions flowed into the
central offices of the Congregation from all over the world. According
to Father Ziggiotti, no previous chapter had had so much preparation
and such vast participation of confreres.4 For the first time it was in
Rome, where one hundred and fifty members assembled in the halls of
the recently completed Salesian university. Unable to attend were the
representatives from Poland, Hungary, Bohemia, and Slovakia. The
official work of the chapter began on the 19th of April and continued
until the 10th of June, setting a record for duration. Following tradi­
tion, the members were divided into commissions and sub-commissions
and were on this occasion assisted by twenty specialists including two
Coadjutors.
The discussions took place in an atmosphere of complete freedom
and were often lively.5 On several points divergences arose when some
members emphasized the necessity of “flexibility” and others insisted
on “fidelity.” Father Ricceri’s moderation accentuated both freedom
of expression and mutual understanding and was apparently the
determining factor on several occasions. It was his respect for and recog­
nition of the same “priestly and Salesian ardor” in all those present
that often smoothed the way. The special message of the members of
the XIX General Chapter to all the confreres of the Salesian Congrega­
tion, dated May 17, seems to reflect a profound unity despite the
differences of experience and mentality. The message was to the effect
that the captiular members firmly intended to work for the updating
of their Congregation in a spirit of apostolate and charity.
Though the decisions and the trends indicate nothing really spec­
tacular, they are marked by a striving for renewal. The example of the
Council and the memory of Don Bosco’s initial and fundamental intui­

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tions provided a definite incitement for action. Accordingly, guidelines
were issued pertaining to attempts at decentralization and to more
thorough attention to the underprivileged young. One of the highlights
of the chapter, was the papal audience of May 21, 1965, when Paul VI
addressed the members and invited them to go ahead and join in the
world progress. His words were ringing in their ears and came to repre­
sent a summary of his thought. In the prevailing atmosphere, the chal­
lenge of the rector major at his first “Good Night” talk was rich with
meaning: “Today, the living tradition of Don Bosco is confronted with
the needs of our time and the expectations of the Church.”6
The XIX General Chapter accomplished important work indeed, and
it is said that about fifteen miles of magnetic tape were used to record
the debates.7 Twenty-two documents and 274 papers were incorpor­
ated in the official edition of the A cts o f the General Chapter. These
can be grouped into five sections which reveal at first glance the con­
cerns of the capitular members:
1. Structure of the Congregation.
2. Formation and life of Salesians.
3. Works of the Salesian apostolate (for the young, the adults,
and the missions).
4. Education of the boys.
5. Constitutions and Regulations.
Since we cannot deal here with all the details, we select only several
important innovations.
New Structures
The XIX General Chapter can be characterized primarily by im­
portant directives regarding the functioning of the Salesian organiza­
tion.
With the appearance of new elements, the former superior chapter
now became the superior council of the Congregation. The number of
counselors was raised to nine, six of whom were entrusted with a “pro­
vincial region” or group of provinces with natural affinities. This
arrangement increased the efficiency of the superior council in its role
as guide of the Congregation through practical directives and enter­

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DON BOSCO
prises. Moreover, the work of rejuvenating the Salesian Congregation
in the various parts of the world would be facilitated by a mutual
understanding between the provinces brought about through the
efforts of the regional superiors. The 1965 general chapter also pro­
moted “provincial conferences” which grouped together, on a smaller
scale, provinces with common interests i.e., the same language; all of
which was to turn local strength to greater account.
Next to the provincial each province was now to have also a vice­
provincial, and more counselors. This was to allow the provincial
greater liberty of movement and to effect, what was being sought at all
levels of the Congregation, a better liaison between the center and the
periphery of the Congregation.
Finally, in each house and community the Salesians were invited to
take a more active part in the general work by sharing their responsi­
bilities in a more collegial way. The rector was to remain always the
“focus of unity and initiative” aware of the fact that the essential
nature of his mission was spiritual and educative rather than adminis­
trative and disciplinary. Courses for future rectors were planned as well
as for those already appointed to help them improve their performance
in fulfilling the demands of their special office. The house council was
also enlarged by the establishment of a “council of action” which
would deal with current problems and would include coadjutor con­
freres among its members.
‘‘R e-Dim ension ing''
Concerning the Salesian works themselves a new word became very
popular at the 1965 general chapter: “re-dimensioning.”
Although there was cause for satisfaction in view of the Congre­
gation’s development over a century, there was a general concern about
the spiritual and educative effectiveness of such a multiplicity of
activities.
It was therefore decided to concentrate on the interior and exterior
consolidation of the various works and to ask the provincials to draft
a “precise plan for re-dimensioning that would take into account the
number of confreres, the particular geographical and cultural circum­

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stances, future possibilities, priorities, and timeliness of the actual pro­
jects themselves.” One remembers Father Rua’s time when the Congre­
gation began to consolidate and reflect. In 1965 however the matter
was far more urgent because of the size and scope of the Salesian work
which made further expansion seem imprudent.
On the other hand, the general chapter established priorities regard­
ing projects. For example it firmly restored to its place of honor the
open and popular work of the oratory. The reasons advanced for the
apparently waning support for this type of project in favor of schools
should not obscure the important role the oratory or club could still
play in our own time, if it were truly a “youth center,” properly equip­
ped and staffed with qualified helpers who knew how to teach. En­
couraged were hostels for young workers and for students who had to
live away from home. Such projects which were new in some places
were considered to fill a great need. Technical schools were again
thought relevant because of the Church’s new awareness of the work­
ing people and the poor as well as of the conditions prevailing in
underdeveloped countries.
Formation o f Salesians
If renewal was conditioned by structures and activities, it also de­
pended fundamentally on the men entrusted with the work. The
capitular members therefore emphasized that the problem of forma­
tion, especially spiritual formation, was one of great importance.
Dealing with the religious life and vows, the 1965 chapter was
convinced that the time had come for a “serious, doctrinal and vital
intensification.” From the doctrinal point of view the chapter itself
set the example by drawing up a brief theological and Salesian synthe­
sis of the vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience which was to serve
as the outline of a “spiritual rule” that was to be formed. This rule
was to be presented to the Salesians together with the constitutions
and regulations (which mainly concern the canonical aspect of religious
life) as a “condensed expression of the mission, spirit, and life” of the
Society founded by St. John Bosco. Emphasis was also placed on the
atmosphere of union and brotherliness that ought to exist in com­

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munities and motivate apostolic zeal.
To provide an incentive for the renewal of spiritual life, the existing
practices of piety were reconciled with the liturgical reforms, the value
of spiritual direction was re-emphasized, and the formulas for the
conventional prayers were revised. A proposal for a six-months second
novitiate after ten years of priesthood for the priests, and after ten
years of active apostolate for the Coadjutors was also studied. These
examples will give some idea of the evolution of Salesian mentality.
After several years in which the accent had been on continuous activity,
with the ever present risk of superficiality, a period had begun when
the intensification of spiritual life and hence of apostolic vocation was
held in highest esteem.
Taking an over-all view of the work in general, we can affirm that
the Salesian Society sought to improve the standards for qualifica­
tion of its members and to significantly increase the number of spe­
cialists. “We have reached the stage,” said Father Ricceri, “when
everything we do requires a specialist, be it in the fields of theology,
liturgy, philosophy, pedagogy, science, technology, education, art,
recreation, or administration.”8
The execution of such a gigantic program obviously demanded pro­
tracted efforts and sometimes altogether new enterprises of which we
have already considerable evidence in several sectors. Such accomplish­
ments of previous rectors major, as the Salesian Catechetical Center,
higher technical training schools for the Coadjutors, and the Pontifi­
cal Salesian Athenauem continued to render great service, and, on the
scholastic plane, such methodological articles in reviews as Orienta-
m enti pedagogici and II salesiano coadiutore had already helped for
some years in the development of teachers. Also, several countries
evidently made efforts to organize more advanced training courses,
seminars of every kind, refresher courses, etc. They were extremely
successful despite still existing limitations. The fact remains that
modern intellectual training, higher education, and technology, all of
which generally require diplomas, are more widely encouraged now
then they were in the first half of the century.
It must also be added that nowadays it is very important that all
recognize the necessity of these qualifications. In the first place one
must bear in mind the harmonious formation of the Salesian in every

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dimension, both natural and spiritual. This humanistic perspective,
although not really new,9 has today become more pronounced because
of the modern situation of the religious in which each individual
comes before the actual work, and the Salesian is “at the center of
everything.” Moreover, Salesians are eager to respond to the needs
of the men and women of our times which creates the necessity of
supplying the means. If in the past this demand was met perhaps
only by force of circumstance in order to comply with the laws of
state or Church, many are convinced that now the need should be met
by the very nature of the Salesian mission or vocation. In order to
accomplish this it is imperative to be competent; it is also necessary
not to be afraid to debunk the “honest delusion” of those who feel that
a little goodwill is all it takes.10 Hence the urgency of adequate prep­
aration of the Salesian, as affirmed by research work in the Congre­
gation itself.11
Youth Apostolate
Vatican II requested religious institutes to ensure that “loyal recog­
nition and safekeeping should be accorded to the spirit of their foun­
ders, as also to all the particular goals and wholesome traditions which
constitute the heritage of each community,” 12 for it felt that the
Church itself was at stake.
It is rather difficult to define the Salesian spirit as such, for it is
an existential reality which resists exact definition; it is easier, there­
fore, to point out the specific intention of Don Bosco and hence the
real mission of his disciples. Father Ricceri has summed it up in one
phrase: “the youth apostolate.” 13 He maintained that the first Salesian
concern was with the young and that it should find expression in all
Salesian activities and in the parishes.
But it is not easy to comply with all the needs and aspirations
of the youth of today and to pass on to them the message of the
gospel. (The Salesians try to make use of pedagogy as an indisputable
means to this end, which is in fact the very method of formation
the founder has used himself.) He employed the term “Preventive
System” in contrast to other systems, which he called “repressive.”

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Regardless of what may be thought of the more or less systematic
character of this method, it is a precious heritage of the Salesian family,
and it is still a subject of interest.14 The great characteristics
of Salesian education are well known. The family spirit, mutual trust
between teachers and pupils, cheerfulness, and kindness. All this can be
summed up easily in the keywords left by Don Bosco himself: “It is
not enough that the boys are loved, they must know that they are
loved.” 15 It is not difficult to realize that there must be a supernatural
faith and charity at the source and summit of this kind of formation,
and that the Salesian’s primary concern is to be a “catechist.”
As a matter of fact there have been many important achievements
during the past thirty years especially in the catechetical field. We need
only mention Father Ricaldone’s zeal in propagating Christian doctrine,
and how, in spite of the war, Italy responded to his campaign for
catechism. His enterprise has continued to bear fruit because of the
organizations he created.
In the meantime, however, factors have to be considered in the
pastoral apostolate, in short: more than the teaching of catechism is
needed; to be effective, the teacher must take into account both men­
tality and circumstances of his pupils. Also, the teacher’s work has to
be coordinated with the over-all apostolate of the dioceses and the
parishes, and it must serve to channel youth into ecclesial movements
such as Catholic Action and the Y.C.W. or C.Y.O. Hence the 1965
general chapter’s advocating of commissions and action centers to
promote at all levels of the Congregation a truly up-to-date pastoral
apostolate. A great deal is therefore expected of the resulting Youth
Apostolate Centers. However, in order to make progress in this field,
every single house must endeavor to become a truly educative com­
munity. In this respect the former “companies” or sodalities have
given way to more typical youth movements which assume respon­
sibility, not only for the religious or devotional life and the recrea­
tional activities of the house, but also for all other aspects of the
common life.

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Adult Apostolate
Although the Salesians recognize the priority of their youth apos­
tolate, they follow an uninterrupted tradition in maintaining that their
presence in other fields is not only justified but in accordance with the
expectations of the Church. Don Bosco used to speak warmly of “the
people,” and the 1965 chapter underlined the responsibility of his
disciples toward the laborers of this world and especially toward those
far from God. The important “Encyclopaedia on Atheism,” started
before Vatican II, has been published in various languages since 1967,
under the aegis of the Salesian Athenaeum in Rome. In April 1965
some teachers of that school were invited to join the Vatican Secre­
tariat for non-believers.
From many points of view one project compliments the other,
for how could one in fact be genuinely involved with the education of
the young without contact with their parents? Perhaps we forget at
times that Don Bosco was a man who wanted “to see to everything.” 16
The XIX General Chapter enumerated no less than nine areas of apos­
tolate on behalf of adults, some of which are already well-known:
work among the Cooperators, Past Pupils, chaplaincies for the Salesian
Sisters, the press (and other media of social communications), and
the missions. The others, while not altogether new, benefited by a
greater publicity: the family apostolate, work among teachers (with
the advocation of more effective interaction with lay teachers and
laborers, and finally retreat houses (it was recalled that the 1958
general chapter had requested a retreat house in each province, not only
for the confreres but also for the laity.) In general terms, the apostolate
among adults is considered most useful “because it places the Salesians
right in the center of the Church’s action in the natural environments
to which the gospel should be brought.”
Traditions and Contemporary Needs
In addition to the variety of his duties, the Salesian has the problem
of adjustment due to the Church’s confrontation with the modern
world. In fact, in approaching the world he wishes to evangelize he uses

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a certain number of traditional methods inherited from Don Bosco
and his successors. Yet, without wishing in any way to neglect that
which is essential, he finds he simply must yield to the legitimate needs
of our time.
“You must know the difference,” said Paul VI to the Salesians at
the XIX General Chapter, “between what is essential and what is acci­
dental, between the inner meaning which animates your pedagogy and
your skill as teachers, and the outer forms that leave room for improve­
ment and experimentation; between that which is forever valid and that
which modern times have rendered useless or ineffective.” 17
“This is a delicate task,” said Father Ricceri, “especially since
Salesian tradition as such is comparatively recent.” However, the
Salesian superiors have already started to work on this matter, which
continues to be a subject of study and research. Some of the results
have recently been published.
People nowadays—especially the young—have a keen sense of free­
dom. The Salesian style of doing things in a family spirit effectively
favors the free expression of the religious in his dealings with his su­
perior, or of the pupil with his teacher. More than ever before, the
accent today is on personal liberty and inner conviction rather than
on authoritarian restrictions. In this respect there is definitely an ob­
vious need to put into practice the appeal of the rector major to “per­
sonalize doctrines and norms” according to the theme explained in his
long letter on dialogue in 1967.18
Many feel that the kind of patronizing in education which was
tolerated in the nineteenth century is now outmoded and that the
young must be trained for liberty by actually being free. The 1965
general chapter took up the ideas of liberty, conscience, and initiative,
and applied them in a special way to the realities of the spiritual life.19
On the basis of Salesian humanism and optimism and under the guid­
ance of the Vatican II constitution Gaudium e t spes their attention has
been focused on certain values and the needs of people in our time,
on a sense of community or groups, a search for the genuine enthusiasm
for scientific and technical progress, an understanding of the workers
of the world, respect for individual fulfillment, an awareness of “law­
ful autonomy” with regard to worldly realities respect for diverse
cultures, and different religions, etc.

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The Ecclesial Dimension
Although Don Bosco’s religious are trying to adjust to the necessities
and aspirations of their time, they also want to be ecclesial.
This, of course, is nothing new. Devotion towards the pope, whom
Don Bosco considered the representative of the Church, has always
been deeply rooted in the Salesian family. It is the image of the Church
itself that has expanded and developed, and therefore the activities of
religious institutes can no longer be viewed from the angle of Pius IX
and Vatican I. Effective cooperation had already been going on for
many years between the Salesians and the diocesan clergy. Among
recent rectors major, Father Ziggiotti in particular has greatly en­
couraged this exchange, and groups of Salesian Cooperators and past
pupils have been taking part in the life of great international lay organi­
zations which were established under Pius XII and John XXIII. Signifi­
cant in this respect was Father Ricceri’s message to the Cooperators
at their meeting at Brussels in 1958: “If the Cooperators are to be
connected with the Congregation it does not mean that they should
form a little church of their own. No, the Cooperator linked to the
Salesians is broad-minded and universal in his apostolate, hence the
Cooperator is available for the service of the parish, the diocese, and
the Church.”20
With the advent of Vatican II, these ideas were developed and broad­
ened, and the capitular members of 1965 showed their eagerness to
be truly ecclesial by frequent references to the spirit and texts of the
council. They overcame a certain isolated “Salesianity” in order to
urge a much closer cooperation in the apostolate of the diocese. This
spirit of cooperation, already obvious throughout Salesian parishes
was henceforth to be the accepted fashion for all Salesian activities.
Apostolic and Missionary Dimension
The council’s drive towards apostolate and missionary work was
of advantage to the Salesians also, for with their founder’s motto Da
mihi animas, the Congregation seemed well suited to put into effect
the wish expressed in Perfectae caritatis, “the entire religious life of

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the members should be permeated with the apostolic spirit.”21 It would
seem that Paul VI detected in the religious life of the Salesians “a
predominance not only of dignity but also of virtue.”
Essentially apostolic and missionary by nature, the Salesian Society
obviously could not escape renewal. In 1965 the general chapter
requested that the formation, spirit, and activities of the Salesians
and of their pupils, Cooperators, and Past Pupils should be charged
with the missionary spirit. The existing institutions were also examined
by asking whether it was wise to keep on an old work, develop it, or to
create a new one. In both cases, more clearly than in the past, the
criterion was an apostolic one. The capitular members also kept in
mind the special Salesian mandate on behalf of “the underprivileged
young” (Article 1 of the Constitutions). Therefore, knowing well that
“there is a natural tendency for institutions to keep seeking a higher
level and risk losing sight of their original purpose,” they felt the
Salesians should redouble their efforts to remain faithful to it.22
We have mentioned quite a number of questions that are impor­
tant for today and for the future. They have been and continue to be
the subject of many divergent opinions—a fact one cannot deny—since
each religious reacts in his own way to the need and urgency of mod­
ernization. Perhaps the debate is keenest with regard to structures and
schools. While many continue their activities in the “apostolate of the
Christian community” within the regular Salesian framework, others
want a “missionary apostolate” that is more liberal and more suitable
for contact with people in their own environment such as schools,
dwellings, meeting places, recreational places, etc. This vision obviously
cannot be contained within the walls of a Salesian house, no matter
how adequate.23 Those who have actually worked with neglected
young people are quite certain on this point. This will give some idea of
the complexity of the problems that would have to be faced by the
next general chapter of the Salesians of Don Bosco.
Conclusion
Let us summarize: At the outset of the second century of their his­
tory, Don Bosco’s family may seem to contemporaries of such gigantic

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proportions as to inspire a certain optimism among its members.24
But it is also true that the new situations in the world and in the
Church have brought new problems to the Salesian Congregation. The
XIX General Chapter, based on Vatican II, revealed many urgent ques­
tions. Since then there have been original enterprises to adapt the
society to contemporary needs. It cannot be denied that there are some
who find it difficult to accept the new state of affairs, where not every­
thing is done the way it was in the past, while others show a certain
impatience with the slowness of the Salesian aggiornamento. It would
be strange if this were not so. The present superiors, for their part,
have tried to strike a balance which should not be mistaken for immo­
bility.25
At this point the historian stops. The future does not depend on
him. At best, he may be permitted to express wishes or make predic­
tions. It seems fair to believe, (and there are indications which justify
this thought), that in the years to come the Salesian family will not only
take care to avoid the temptation of self-sufficiency suggested by mere
results and statistics, but will courageously seek to fulfill the purpose
Saint John Bosco gave it more than a hundred years ago: to be among
the people of God, to work for their salvation, and especially to serve
the underprivileged young.
In giving expression of the renewed confidence of the Church in
the Salesian Congregation, Pope Paul VI (address of May 21, 1965),
encouraged it to go forward with words that may sound flattering
but nevertheless were a call to action: “The Salesians are one of the
most remarkable, most beneficial, most exemplary, and most prom­
ising pillars of Catholicism of the past and of the present century,
and may it please God to preserve them for those yet to come.”26

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NOTES ON CHAPTER 31
1. Many celebrations were held to com m em orate the 150th
anniversary o f the birth o f St. John Bosco in many parts o f the
world. See the special issue o f Bolletino salesiano, Septem ber 1,
1965.
2. Father Ricerri uses the term positively in A cts o f the Super­
ior Council, January 1966, no. 244, p. 5-6.
3. For biographical details see Bolletino salesiano, June 1965,
p. 164.
4. A cts o f the Superior Chapter, August 1965, no. 241, p.
1721.
5. Ibid., January 1966, no. 244, which contains the capitular
texts, the discourse o f Paul VI, Father R icceri’s personal interven­
tions, the special message to the confreres, the chronicle of the
chapter etc.
6. Bolletino salesiano, June 1965, p. 164.
7. Father R icceri’s conference at the Salesian A thenaeum in
R om e, O ctober 29, 1965, in Cahiers du Groupe lyonnais de recher-
ches salesiennes, May 1966, no. 1.
8. A cts o f the Superior Council, January 1966, no. 2 4 4 —a fer­
vent appeal for the “ qualification” of Salesians.
9. The chapter entitled “ Christian Perfection and Human
F u lfillm en t” in F. Desramaut, Don Bosco e la vita spirituale, Turin,
1969, pp. 125-52, (English ed., pp. 139-70).
10. A cts o f the Superior Council, January 1966, no. 244, p. 5.
11. The project Recherche-Renovation was carried out among
French speaking Salesians o f the Paris, Lyons and Belgian provinces.
It brought to light the fact that 9.6% o f those w ho replied to the
questionnaire believed them selves well prepared for the mission they
were fulfilling; 34.7% said they were sufficiently prepared, while
32.8% said they were poorly prepared and 13.2% adm itted that they
were badly prepared.
12. Decree Perfectae Caritatis on the renewal o f religious life,
no. 2.

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387
13. See interview with Father Ricceri in the daily newspaper
Italia, September 12, 1965.
14. See the bibliography m entioned by P. Braido in his II sis-
tema preventivo di Don Bosco, 2nd ed., Zurich 1964, pp. 13-15* o f
recently published books about D on B osco’s m ethod o f teaching we
may cite the following: in Italian: Braido, Casotti, Valentini, Vari,
Zitarosa; in German: Burg and Endres; in French: Bouquier and
Desramaut; in Spanish: Fierro Torres; in English: The Educational
Philosophy o f Saint John Bosco by Morrison.
15. Epistolario di San Giovanni Bosco, IV, Turin 1959, p. 264.
The phrase is taken from the letter written by D on B osco from
Rome on May 10, 1884, asking the Oratory in Turin to recover the
“liveliness, cheerfulness, open-heartedness” of the past. According to
Father Braido, it contains “one o f the most genial psychological in­
tuitions and pedagogical principles o f Don B o sco ” —See P. Braido, II
sistema preventivo di Don Bosco, 2nd. ed., Zurich 1964, p. 171.
16. See F. Desramaut, Don Bosco e la vita spirituale, p. 31.
(English ed., p. 28). The author quotes a significant expression o f
A. du B oys’ biography o f the saint and his contem porary: “ Hither­
to the founders of orders and congregations had a w ell-defined aim
within the Church, putting into practice what the modern econom ist
calls the law of division o f labor. It would seem that D on B osco had
conceived the idea o f having his com m unity do all typ es o f w ork.”
17. Discourse o f Paul VI to capitular members in A cts o f the
Superior Council, January 1966, no. 244, p. 301.
18. A cts o f the Superior Council, January 1967, no. 247. pp.
2-33.
19. Ibid., January 1966, no. 244, pp. 182-85.
20. Bolletino salesiano, O ctober 1958, p. 368.
21. Perfectae Caritatis, no. 8.
22. A cts o f the Superior Council, January 1966, no. 244, p. 11.
23. J. Aubry, “ Pastorale de la jeunesse dans l’Eglise actu elle” in
Cahiers du Groupe lyonnais de recherches salesiennes, August 1967,
no. 8, p. 56.
24. Here are som e official statistics for the year 1965; 2 2 ,3 8 3
Salesians; 18,214 Daughters o f Mary Help o f Christians; 4 2 0 ,1 1 0

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DON BOSCO
enrolled Cooperators; 188,997 Past Pupils affiliated with the Interna­
tional Confederation and 518,754 female Past Pupils in organizations;
658,105 boys being educated in 726 Oratories or clubs; 1,395 ele­
mentary and secondary schools, 352 technical or agricultural schools;
556,323 girls being educated in 1,573 schools of every kind, in 1,058
girls-clubs, in 462 “family workshops,” 164 orphanages, etc; 835,144
sick people nursed by the Sisters; 153 missionary residences; 554
parishes with 5,854,800 parishioners, etc., etc.
25. A cts o f the Superior Council, September 1966, no. 246, p. 9.
26. Ibid., January 1966, no. 244, p. 297.

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32
THE SALESIANS AFTER VATICAN COUNCIL II
The preceding chapters o f this book were written by Father M orand
Wirth,
o f France, and they provide the Salesian fa m ily with an
excellent, if succinct, history o f its first one hundred and fifty years.
The account ends with the X IX General Chapter o f 1965. Since then
tw o other general chapters have been held. I t is im portant that th ey
too be recorded as well as the vital period o f tw elve years betw een
1965-78.
The impact of Vatican II on the Church also affected the Salesian
family and every branch of its apostolate. Following the wise decisions
of the council and the sage advice and directives of the sovereign
pontiffs, the Salesians too set about renewal. Definite guidance was
needed at every level for such a vast and vital enterprise. In accordance
with the directives of the Holy See, the Salesian Congregation began to
prepare to hold its own Special General Chapter after a three-year
period of preparation.
On October 25, 1968, in his official announcement of the coming
special general chapter, Father Ricceri stated that it would “have to
deal with objectives that have never before been so momentous and so
essential; they have already appeared in the dogmatic constitution
Lumen Gentium, and the decree Perfectae Caritatis, and have been
defined in the Moto Proprio Ecclesiae Sanctae. He also stressed the

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in dispensability of the written and verbal contributions and the shared
responsibility of each province, community, and member for “that
interior, spiritual, and apostolic renewal founded on our harmony
with Christ, on faithfulness to both the essential charisma of Don
Bosco and the signs of the times.” He stated: “Without this, every
effort for renewal and adjustment would become mere formalism and
technicality, a body without a soul, it would be an illusion to try to
solve vital problems with mere formulas and articles” (ASC. no. 294).
The Salesian Congregation Between 1965-71
At one of the first sessions of the 1971 chapter, the rector major
gave his “ Report on the General State of the Congregation.” As had
been agreed upon by the XIX General Chapter, it was based on ques­
tionnaires, visits, findings, and experiences channeled through the
extremely copious work of the superior council over a period of six
years.
The report considered first the consecrated life of the Salesian
and was fortunately able to state that “most confreres remain faithful
and generous, sometimes even to the point of heroic sacrifices, in the
observance of their vows,” despite the vast sweep of liberalistic atti­
tudes then prevalent throughout the world, and a tendency to discredit
religious vows as a limitation on individuality and full freedom of
spirit.
In living the community life there had been a much greater emphasis
on the very wholesome aspect of genuine brotherliness, friendship,
and Koinonia together with a greater sense of collegiality, consultation,
and dialogue.
Liturgically—as a result of Vatican II—the Congregation had de­
veloped favorably on the whole, and the practice of concelebration
had done much to unite the hearts of the confreres around the cen­
tral act of daily and community worship. Father Ricceri warned against
the unfortunate world-wide tendency to play down the importance
of the sacrament of confession and devotion to Mary, which had
been so strongly emphasized by Don Bosco. In the period since 1965
there had been a greater emphasis on the values of what the rector

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391
major called “these strong moments” of the monthly, quarterly,
and annual retreats.
Throughout the world of the Church there has been since Vatican II
an alarming decline in the number of priestly and religious vocations,
and the Salesian Society was also affected. Moreover, there was the
additional crisis of defections among those already professed or or­
dained. Here, too, the Congregation suffered, even though not as much
as the majority of other religious institutes.
Nevertheless, the lack of perseverance especially among the young
caused considerable concern. Worldwide materialism, liberalism, and
hedonism, and the unfortuante downgrading of celibacy for the sake
of the Kingdom, in other words, a general lowering of spiritual stan­
dards accounted for defections and fewer vocations.
Concerning the Salesian youth apostolate, the previous six years had
witnessed a notable dynamic drive with very many positive results. In
that period the young in general had asserted themselves very forcibly
in the political, social, and educational fields. It was up to the Salesians
to re-examine their own attitudes and frameworks to ensure that they
kept pace with the times and remained on the same wavelength with
modern young people in order to guide them as Don Bosco would
have done. To this end the establishment of a special Youth Apostolate
Department at the superior council level had helped considerably in
rendering the Congregation and its members sensitive toward this vital
aspect of the Salesian vocation.
The report noted the considerable increase in the number of parishes
entrusted to Salesians (665 in 1971) and the zeal displayed by the
Congregation in the missionary apostolate. Despite diminishing world­
wide membership, each year a notable number of confreres had volun­
teered for and been sent to the missions, especially to the so-called
Third World countries.
The Salesian Cooperator figured very heartily in Father Ricceri’s
report as a vital member of the Salesian family. He emphasized the
very special role and share of responsibility the Cooperators have
among the followers of Don Bosco and in the Church itself.
Specially mentioned were the Volunteers of Don Bosco (V.D.B.),
a recent secular institute, which received diocesan approval in Turin in
1965, and pontifical status in 1979. (By 1970 there were already 559

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DON BOSCO
women members, with 32 groups in Italy and 18 elsewhere, including 2
behind the Iron Curtain).
The Special General Chapter
June 10, 1971—January 5, 1972
By the time the XX or Special General Chapter began on June 10,
1971, at the new Salesian Generalate at Via della Pisana in Rome, an
enormous amount of preparatory work had been accomplished on a
gigantic scale. There were 202 official capitular members including the
superior council and the provincials and delegates of 73 provinces.
Confreres from certain Iron Curtain countries (Hungary, Czecho­
slovakia) were sadly absent for political reasons. Present also were
twelve official observers and four experts, together with a strong
secretariate.
In his opening address Father Ricceri expressed his emotion “at
seeing confreres from the most diverse and distant regions, all present
here with the same ideal, moved by the same spirit in the name of our
common father.” He quoted Perfectae Caritatis, article 3, which con­
veyed the theme of the Special General Chapter: “The manner of
living, praying, and working should be adjusted according to the physi­
cal and psychological needs of modern religious and also, to the extent
required by the nature of each community; it should consider the needs
of the apostolate, the prevailing culture, the social and economic cir­
cumstances anywhere, but especially in missionary territories. The way
in which communities are governed should also be re-examined accord­
ingly. For this reason constitutions, directors, manuals, books of prayer
and ceremonies, and similar volumes are to be suitably revised and
brought into harmony with the documents of the sacred synod; a task
which will require the suppression of outmoded regulations.”
Father Ricceri then asked, “Must everything be changed? Must
nothing of our past remain?” Those questions, in fact, were very per­
tinent and the cause of much anxiety among religious throughout
the world at the time. The rector major answered them: “It is not a
matter of destroying the Congregation or substituting it by another,
nor does it demand a new foundation. We are not here to form a new

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congregation, for we have neither the charisma nor the mandate to do
so. It is the very same Congregation that is called upon for renewal
while remaining essentially what Don Bosco had wished it to be accord­
ing to divine inspiration as well as according to its development along
the lines of sound tradition. It is a question of the delicate process of
rejuvenation.
The New Constitutions, 1972
and the Special Chapter Documents
One of the major tasks of the Special General Chapter was a re­
appraisal of the Constitutions of the Salesian Society according to the
sage demands of a special decree for religious, Perfectae Caritatis of
Vatican II. With the revision of the official code of Canon Law in 1914,
all relgious constitutions had to be rewritten according to strict canon­
ical formulae. This brought about a preponderant legalism which made
for somber reading, as the emphasis was on law rather than motive.
Perfectae Caritatis allowed a fortunate and wholesome improvement
of expression regarding the norms of religious life. The Salesian Special
General Chapter entered into its spirit heartily and prayerfully. An
official declaration stated: “Out-of-date elements have been eliminated;
articles which specify the realization of the text of the constitutions
have been transferred to the regulations; some articles have been modi­
fied ad experimentum, and for the same reason others have been
introduced; principles from the gospels and from theology which
touch on the religious life and its ecclesial import have been inserted.
Texts to keep alive the spirit of the founder among the members have
been added” (const, p.l 1).
By the end of numerous discussions on every article of the old and
the proposed new constitutions and regulations, the general chapter
had succeeded in composing a truly excellent set of norms for renewed
Salesian life totally in accordance with Don Bosco as well as Vatican II.
Because of their excellence the official documents of the Special
General Chapter of 1971 are bound to remain a renewed Salesian
Magna Carta and a source of inspiration and study. They were the fruit
not merely of numerous and extensive discussions, writing, revising

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DON BOSCO
and polishing, but also the product of a world-wide group of the
Society’s best men of spirit, intellect, experience, and prayer. Their
symbolic and actual value can therefore not easily be overestimated.
There were twenty-two documents with a wide range of topics as
indicated by the following summary:
Document 1: Salesians of Don Bosco in the Church
Document 2: Don Bosco at the Oratory: Return to sources
and adjustment to the times
Document 3: Evangelization and catechesis
Document 4: Pastoral renewal of Salesian action among
the young
Document 5 Salesian work in parishes
Document 6 The mass media in Salesian pastoral activity
Document 7 Salesian missionary action
Document 8 The community of brotherhood, Salesian
and apostolic
Document 9: The community at prayer
Document 10 Salesian chastity today
Document 11 Salesian poverty today
Document 12 Salesian obedience today
Document 13 Formation for the Salesian way of life
Document 14 Principles and criteria of the organization
of our society
Document 15 Structures at local level
Document 16 Structures of government at world level
Document 17 Administration of temporal goods
Document 18 Salesian Cooperators
Document 19 Salesian work for Alumni
Document 20 Post-capitular program
Document 21 Faculties and powers delegated by the
Special General Chapter
Document 22: Message from the chapter to all Salesians.

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The Aftermath, 1972-77
The impact of the Special General Chapter upon the Salesian Con­
gregation and the wider Salesian family is not one that can as yet be
definitively described in a few words. The extensive global effort should
not end in dusty archives. In the following six years there were to be
constant exhortations to implement the chapter’s decisions at every
level.
Obviously, in such a worldwide enterprise equality of effort and
effect is impossible to hope for. Eventually, in 1977, the rector major
would have to state as accurately as possible his overall impression of
the actual application within the Congregation. In the meantime each
province, community, and member was expected to do all that was
possible to put into practice the new regulations.
In the following six years after the chapter Father Ricceri would
serve the Congregation well through frequent written and verbal exhor­
tations on a wide range of topics as important and varied as the Mis­
sions, Cooperators, Vocations, Prayer, Optimism, Work and Temper­
ance, Family News, and the Evangelization of Youth.
His written accomplishments could well rank with those of the
scholarly fourth successor of Don Bosco, Father Peter Ricaldone.
Transfer o f the Generalate to Rome, 1972
The transfer of the Society’s general headquarters to Rome, which
took place in the summer of 1972, was for many very moving, if not
actually traumatic and an official explanation was required. Father
Ricceri delivered it in a letter to the confreres in July 1972, in which
he confessed to being deeply touched: “With the transfer of the seat of
government of the Society from Turin to Rome, a chapter of our
history has ended-and what a chapter it was! Turin saw the first
daring enterprise of Don Bosco on behalf of the poor and neglected
young. In Turin the Congregation was born and developed despite
difficulties and obstacles; from Turin Don Bosco and his Congregation
set out on the road which was to lead across the continents of the
world—a success which only the holiness and the extraordinary charis-

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DON BOSCO
ma of our father can explain.
“Valdocco with well over a hundred years of memories from the
father to his best sons has become a center of attraction for thousands
who have found there in the ‘land of his dreams and of his achieve­
ments’ sustenance for their vocation. Generation after generation has
left the Basilica of Valdocco for the missions of the world, filled with
the enthusiasm and creative optimism of the father, heartened at the
memory of these truly blessed places. Distance, however great, never
diminished their loving fidelity. Valdocco belongs to all of us. It is our
home, which was for so many years the scene of the remarkable enter­
prise of Don Bosco, the place where he died on the 31st of January
1888. It was the place that witnessed the ever-increasing series of events
which began on the very day of his funeral and continued to take their
course.
“Such richness, accumulated over more than a hundred years, could
not be left behind without pain. We share a sense of loss with the
confreres in Turin, especially those of the motherhouse, as well as with
the people of Turin who, through the highest civil authority, expressed
their own sense of loss at the transfer of the superior council which
would leave a void in a city, that has always considered Don Bosco
and his Congregation as one of its renowned spiritual treasures . . . ”
(ASC.no. 267, p. 3f).
Why the transfer? The idea had come up at the 1965 general chap­
ter which, in view of the universality of the Salesian family, felt it
desirable for the headquarters to be close to the center of the activi­
ties of the Church in Rome. As Father Ricceri put it in a letter of
explanation to the mayor of Turin: “It is a vital necessity that trans­
ports us to the center of the Catholic world.” Nevertheless, the promise
was made that the Salesian work at Valdocco would remain “a point of
departure and of convergence, of inspiration and of spirituality for
the entire Salesian family.” It would always be the motherhouse, the
“historical and spiritual center” of the Salesians. (ASC. no. 267).

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Beatification o f Father Michael Rua, 1972
On June 22, 1972, His Holiness Pope Paul VI had publicly declared
the young American Indian Servant of God, Zefferino Namuncara
venerable—a step necessary before beatification. Soon after this happy
event came the joyful news, in a letter of Cardinal Jean Villot, Vatican
Secretary of State, that the 29th of October was to be the day of
the beatification of Father Michael Rua, Don Bosco’s first successor.
The event naturally evoked a special message to the Salesians from
Father Ricceri. In it he proclaimed Father Rua “the faithful servant
who had belonged completely to Don Boso.” An estimated 30,000
members of the Salesian family assisted at the joyful event at St.
Peter’s, Rome.
Other Important Events
The new center for studies in theology and liberal arts called “Sale-
sianum” was established in Rome in January 1973 right next to the
Generalate. Ever since then meetings, congresses, courses, and days of
reflection for a wide assortment of groups have been held there.
In April of that year the rector major was able to announce the
glad tidings that Bishop Stephen Trochta, S.D.B., of Litomerice in
Czechoslovakia, a truly heroic figure during World War II and since,
had been publicy pronounced cardinal by Pope Paul VI after having
exercised this office for some time (since 1969) in secret (in pectore)
because of political circumstances. The fourth Salesian to reach such
eminence certainly deserved that honor, in Father Ricceri’s words:
“I am glad to record that throughout the thirty painful and turbulent
years of his service for Church and Congregation,” Cardinal Trochta
proved himself faithful to Don Bosco’s teachings always and every­
where. That statement can be fully appreciated in the light of the
complete account of the life and sufferings of this heroic bishop and
great cardinal who died one year later on the 6th of April 1974 in times
of rather distressing political circumstances.
During these years various intercontinental meetings of Salesians
were held in connection with the problems of putting into practice

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DON BOSCO
the directives of the Special General Chapter. Usually they were pre­
sided over by the regional major superiors from Rome. The U.P.S.
later the Salesian Pontifical University in Rome, held special courses in
theology and spirituality which were open to all members of the
Salesian family (S.D.B., F.M.A., V.D.B., Cooperators, and Alumni).
Other arrangements were made to provide for the current formation
or theological and spiritual updating of Salesians at the “Salesianum.”
Through all these years the Holy See frequently called upon the
Salesian Congregation to allow certain members to be consecrated
bishop to serve the Church at large. For many years there have been
about fifty Salesian bishops, most of them at the head of missionary
territories. 1975 saw the first centenary of the Salesian missions, and
celebrations were held on a world-wide scale in order to re-kindle
missionary interest, zeal, and vocations. One hundred fourteen Salesians
were assigned to the missions that year.
At this time, the rector major made a special point of visiting as
many parts of the Salesian world as possible in order to show his
interest in the work being done and to encourage the efforts and zeal
of all.
The long anticipated World Congress of Salesian Coadjutor Brothers
was of outstanding importance in the Salesian Congregation; it was
held in Rome in September 1975. The concluding Eucharistic cele­
bration of the congress was presided over by the Vicar of the Holy
Father, Cardinal Poletti. The acts of this world congress form an im­
posing and interesting 650-page volume.
There was yet another world congress in 1976, for the Salesian
Cooperators; its theme was: “The Salesian Cooperators’ Commitment
in the Family, in the Church, and in Society.” One of the very bene­
ficial outcomes was the establishment of the Salesian Cooperators’
World Council, composed mainly of laity, but also including Salesians
and Daughters of Mary Help of Christians (F.M.A.) to provide the
association with world-wide leadership.

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The X X I General Chapter, 19 7 7
In a special letter of July 1976, Father Ricceri officially announced
the preparations for and convocation of the XXI General Chapter,
the theme of which was “Witnessing and Proclaiming the Gospel.”
It also had the task of the revision of the ad experim entum constitu­
tions and regulations. “The question ,” he said, “of putting into prac­
tice the directives and norms of the Special General Chapter was very
important, to check carefully whether, how, and to what extent the
hope for renewal had been accomplished.”
One hundred fifty capitular members assembled at the generalate in
Rome on October 22, 1977; again Hungary, Czechoslovakia, and Viet­
nam were not represented.
At the first plenary session the rector major gave his report “on the
state of the Congregation,” a candid panoramic vision of the global
picture to be studied, prayed over, and discussed. Once again the report
dealt not merely with the general spirit and state of the Congregation,
but also in greater detail with the various sectors of Salesian work.
Necessarily, because of the vastness and complexity of the indepth
analysis, it contained lights and shadows in the interest of truth, but
the rector major was able to pronounce the Congregation to be an
essentially sound organization.
Four main commissions were set up at the outset of the chapter to
deal with a) the constitutions and regulations; b) witnessing and pro­
claiming the gospel; c) Salesian formation; d) the Salesian Coadjutor
Brother.
The first very important decision of the chapter was to ask the
Holy See’s permission to extend for another six-year period the study
and practice of the ad experimentum constitutions and regulations
drafted by the Special General Chapter in 1917, “adding those modifi­
cations which would be deemed necessary on the basis of the repeated
advice of the provincial chapters, the confreres, and the work of the
XXI General Chapter.”

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Rector Major Father Egidio Vigano
A very special highlight of the chapter was the election of Father
Ricceri’s successor. The importance of this event was very obvious,
for the rector major is the successor of Saint John Bosco himself,
“another Don Bosco,” “father and center of unity for the whole
Salesian family,” the head of a vast and influential body with world­
wide responsibilities in the Church, in education, and pastoral life, in
society itself. Quite naturally, then, the day before the election was
dedicated to prayer and spiritual preparation with all-day exposition of
the Blessed Sacrament.
The Very Rev. Father Egidio Vigano was announced 7th successor
of Don Bosco for the term of 1977-83 on the second ballot. A provin­
cial of Chile, he had been a member of the superior council in Rome
for the last six years. Vatican radio as well as other radio and TV sta­
tions soon announced the glad tidings to the whole world.
Born on June 26, 1920, at Sondrio in northern Italy, Father Vigano
became a Salesian in 1936. In 1938 he was sent to Chile where he was
ordained in 1947. He had been professor of dogmatic theology at the
University of Santiago for twenty years and attended Vatican II as a
theological expert for the hierarchy of Chile. He also played an impor­
tant part in the Medellin Conference for the application of the council
in Latin America and attended two synods of bishops in Rome. At his
election it was said of him: “ He has displayed a vast knowledge in his
favorite field, ‘the Church of our time’; he has meditated profoundly
and spoken with courage and hope on the signs of the times, on the
rapid developments, and on the ability of the Church to adjust to new
values and perspectives. Among his outstanding qualities are serene
optimism, genuine inclination to dialogue, trust in God and in his
helpers.”
His first message to the Salesian family in his capacity as rector
major was to the effect that “together with you I share the convic­
tion that ours is a splendid vocation, to be lived thoroughly even in
these times, which, due to the rapid changes are beset by many prob­
lems but are nevertheless rich with hope. Ours is a full-time commit­
ment to the young, who are the hope of our society and whose welfare
is one of the most important missions of the Church today.”

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Conclusion o f the X X I General Chapter
The XXI General Chapter ended on February 12, 1978. In its
final message to the confreres it stated among other things:
“The XIX General Chapter is intimately related to the Special
General Chapter; since its convocation, in fact, it has been understood
and intended as a general chapter of verification, with the well-defined
task of confirming whether and in what measure the Congregation has
followed the road mapped out by the Special General Chapter. It also
had the task of coming up with proposals to encourage and perfect
those initiatives and activities that are already being pursued according
to the guidelines of the Special General Chapter.
“We have tried to discharge our duty, in a spirit of deep gratitude
to all the provinces of the Congregation for their active cooperation . . .
We have good reason to hope that you will recognize our verifica­
tion . . . Since this was a chapter of verification, it naturally had to be
at the same time ‘a chapter of the future.’ It was therefore not content
to review the six years that have passed since the Special General
Chapter but tried to isolate and to confirm the directions of our main
effort which have carried the Congregation forward since then and
which will have to continue leading the way into the future.
“Our verification has taken the practical form of concentrating on
our mission of evangelization on behalf of the young . . . ‘proposing
goals to be attained, plans to be developed, and initiatives to be ex­
plored. We have also suggested new enterprises, (ASC. no. 283) which
we hope may lead the way and profoundly affect our work of renewal.”
“What is needed now is a common effort by all of us to put this
program into action . . . The capitular members have tried ‘to remain
faithful to the gospel and to their founder’s charisma, (const. 151) . . .
Throughout this chapter, we have made contact with the living reality
of the Congregation, and for this we are grateful to God; we have lived
as brothers throughout these months in common commitment and in
daily prayer, sharing the hopes and fears of our provinces, seeking to
discern the will of God for our Congregation by a frank exchange of
our views. ..
“Although the Congregation has great hopes for the future, it carries
heavy responsibilities. Together with our new rector major, we affirm

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the beauty of our vocation in a time of rapid changes but rich promise;
a vocation calling for total commitment and service on behalf of the
young . .. Our Salesian mission is in no way diminished by the times we
live in; if anything, it is more than ever needed. The recent synod of
bishops insisted on the urgent need for the evangelization of young
people. The Pope has repeated the same message, with an appeal
addressed directly to us: The young are calling out to you, they need
you; there are millions of them in the world, often shattered and
bewildered by a chaos of discordant voices; they are waiting to hear the
message of salvation. John Bosco, your father, firmly and enthusi­
astically leads the way.
“Looking at this gigantic task, we may feel that our strength is
unequal to that which has to be achieved, but we have hope for the
future because we believe, above all, that it is God who calls us and
it is He who sends us on our way; our constitutions affirm that our
society rose not only by human effort but also by the Providence of
God for the salvation of the young (art. 1). Don Bosco teaches that we
must work with faith and hope, because we know the will of God for
our Congregation . . . We firmly believe that the Lord will bless our
society and its apostolate, that He will raise new vocations among
the young for the Salesian life if the example of our personal and
communal lives harmonizes with the gospel we announce. As Pope Paul
has said to us: ‘Witness first and foremost. The young need authen­
ticity; they want almost to see and touch the Christian message in the
life of the one who proclaims it.’
“Love for the young urges us on to renewed dedication; it prepares
us to face courageously the difficulties and obstacles placed in our way
in our time . . .
“Let us be inspired by the love and total self-surrender of our first
confreres. United around the seventh successor of Don Bosco, let us
renew in ourselves that same spirit of faith, of solidarity, and initiative
which is given anew today so as to ‘turn the wheel’ of our history
(MB VI, p. 901) in service to the young and the Church.
“Don Bosco, whose feast we celebrated together in Rome on the
90th anniversary of his death, assures us: ‘The Lord is with us, and
Our Lady, our Help, will sustain our endeavors with her motherly

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di San Giovanni Bosco, Turin 1951.
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Cim atti, V., NelVImpero del Sol levante, Turin 1953.
Cojazzi, A., Don Balzola fra gli Indi del Brasile Mato Grosso, San
Benigno Canvese 1932.

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INDEX
- A-
Abadan, 316.
Abyssinia, 188.
Acqui, 151, 155, 162, 335, 336.
Adelaide, 318.
ADVENTOR, Martyr, 191.
Africa, 191, 223, 230, 234, 241,
254, 262, 314, 315, 333, 335,
338, 343, 365.
AGAGLIATE, Brigida, 62.
Agenzia Notizie Salesiane {ANS),
373.
Aglie Canavese, 337.
Agua de Dios, 248.
AIME, Anthony, 233.
Aire-sur-la Lys, 143, 183.
Alakalufs, 251.
ALASIA, Joseph Anthony, 11.
ALASONATTI, Victor, 43, 89, 91,
218, 219, 258.
Alassio, 127, 129, 169, 204, 272.
Alba, 122.
Albania, 341.
Albano, 130, 204.
ALBERA, Paul, 91, 102, 119, 122,
123, 198, 199, 202, 207, 226,
245, 253, 255, 257-62, 265,
266, 273, 274, 277, 297, 298,
302, 305, 306, 311, 347, 362,
367.
ALBERDI, Ramon, 138.
ALBERTO, John, 322.
ALBISETTI, Cesare, 310.
Aleppo, 280, 316.
Alexandria, 223, 230, 254, 280,
340.
ALFARO, General, 247.
ALFONSUS LIGUORI, Saint, 16.
ALFONSUS XIII, 267.
Algiers, 315.
Algeria, 335.
Ali, 231.
Alicante, 322.
ALIMONDA, Cardinal, 209.
ALLAMANO, Joseph, 368.
ALLAVENA, James, 243.
ALLORA, Alexander, 62.
Almagro, 192, 244, 300, 333, 337.
Almeria, 223.
ALOYSIUS GONZAGA, Saint, 24,
35, 50-51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56,
216-17.
AMADEI, Angelo, 83, 117, 146,
149, 173, 174, 185, 198, 212,
227.
Amazon, 309.
AMEDEO, Prince, 121.
America, 77, 97, 162, 168, 170,
172, 187-99, 204, 206, 210,
220, 241-53, 260, 262, 272,
279, 280, 281, 307-10, 314,
333, 335, 338, 343, 351, 353,
362, 365, 366.
Ancona, 232.
Andresy, 341.
ANEIROS, Bishop, 188.
ANFOSSI, John Baptist, 41.
Anisakan, 316.
Annals o f the Propagation o f the
Faith, 187.
Annecy, 132.
Annuario pontificio, 204, 206.
Antilles, 242, 243, 281.

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INDEX
ANTONELLI, Cardinal, 51, 111.
Aosta, 20.
APORTI, Ferrante, 78.
Araucania, 246.
ARCE, Aniceto Arduino, Bishop,
243.
Arequipa, 242.
Argentina, 97, 170, 188, 189, 191,
192, 207, 241, 244, 246, 247,
248, 249, 281, 333, 335, 337,
362.
Ariccia, 130.
Arignano, 338.
Asia, 191, 241, 314, 315, 329.
Assam, 262, 311, 312, 334.
Ateneo pontificio salesiano (P.A.S.)
276, 282, 293, 374, 378, 381,
398.
Atlantic, 340.
Astudillo, 267.
Asuncion, 243, 308.
Aubagne, 222.
AUBERT, Roger, 36, 94.
AUBRY, Joseph, 70, 104, 105, 387.
AUFFRAY, Augustin, 13, 48, 89,
94, 138, 160, 185, 227, 320.
Auschwitz, 230, 325.
Australia, 188, 191, 278, 280, 317,
341.
Austria, 1, 8, 118, 135, 220, 223,
231, 261, 280.
Auteuil, 132, 133.
Avigliana, 89, 231.
- B-
BADARIOTTI, Nicolo, 247.
Bage, 245.
Bagnolo, 267.
Bahia, 246.
Bahia Blanca, 193, 249.
Balerna, 229.
BALZOLA, John, 252, 310.
BANAUDI, Peter, 9.
Bangkok, 280, 313, 316.
415
Bang-Nok-Khuek, 313, 314.
Ban-Pong, 280, 314.
Baracaldo, 232.
BARATTA, Charles, 361.
BARBARO, Frederick, 317.
BARBERIS, Julius, 126, 130, 146,
201, 258, 275.
Barcelona, 126, 134, 137, 220,
222, 232, 237, 323, 324.
Barcelos, 310.
BARCO, Antonietta,'57.
Bari, 232.
BAROLO, Marchioness, 20, 21, 164.
Barranquilla, 242.
Barreiro de Cima, 252.
BARS, Emmanuel, 311.
BASTASI, Umberto, 365, 368, 369,
370.
Battersea, 135, 136, 222, 234, 300.
Baucau, Timor, 301.
BAUER, Fernando, 354.
BEAUVOIR, Joseph, 194, 195.
Becchi, 3, 4, 5, 6, 22, 61, 79,
80, 217, 277, 282, 305, 371.
Befar, 232.
Beirut, 280, 316.
BEISSIERE, Leon, 315.
Beitgemal, 253, 333.
Belgium, 136, 222, 229, 234, 260,
261, 280, 302, 314, 327, 333,
335, 362, 386.
BELLAMY, Charles, 133.
BELLIA, James, 39, 87.
BELLONI, Anthony, 253, 254.
BELMONTE, Dominic, 98, 100,
210, 265.
BELTRAMI, Andrew, 122.
BENEDICT XV, 261, 268, 337.
Bengal, 311.
Beppu, 317.
BERARDI, Cardinal, 111.
Berlin, 27.
Bernal, 244, 300, 337.
BERRUTI, Peter, 275, 279.
BERTO, Joachim, 37.

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416
Besancon, 233.
BESLAY, Jules-Marie, 138, 269.
BESUCCO, Francis, 45, 69.
Betgiala, 253.
Bethlehem, 253, 333.
BIANCHI, 112, 113.
BIANCHI, Joseph, 41.
Bible, 11, 22, 77, 125, 297, 317.
Bible Society, 136.
Bibliofilo cattolico, 184.
Biella, 16, 20, 23, 169.
Blessed Sacrament, 35, 67, 81, 154.
Blessed Sacrament Sodality, 53, 56.
BODRATO, Francis, 190.
BOGARIN, Bishop, 308.
Bogota, 242, 248, 353.
Bohemia, 136, 326, 374.
Bolivia, 242, 243, 281, 310.
Bollettino salesiano (See Salesian
Bulletin).
Bologna, 232, 238, 245, 267, 288,
349.
BOLOGNA, Angelo, 32.
Bombay, 280, 311.
BONETTI, John, 26, 53, 91, 122,
126, 210, 260, 270.
BONGIOANNI, Joseph, 53, 59, 64.
BONZANINO, Charles, 40, 63, 217.
Bordighera, 129, 342.
BOREL, John Baptist, 20, 21,
176, 177.
BORGATELLO, Maggiorino, 255.
BORGHINO, Michael, 196, 244.
Borgomasino, 170.
Borgo S. Martino, 122, 169, 272.
Borgo S. Paolo, 334.
Bororos, Indians, 251, 310, 333,
334.
BORRA, Guido, 366.
BOSCO, Anthony, 3, 4, 6, 7.
BOSCO, Eulalia, 160.
BOSCO, Francis, Father of Don
Bosco, 3.
BOSCO, Francis, Nephew of Don
DON BOSCO
Bosco, 42.
BOSCO, Joseph, 3, 4, 61, 80.
BOSCO, Henri, 71.
BOSCO, Louis, 42.
BOSCO, Margaret. See OCCHIENA.
BOSCO, Teresa, 3.
BOSIO, Guido, 319.
BOTTO, Louis, 193.
Bouisseville, 315.
BOUQUIER, Henri, 387.
BOYS, Albert du, 135.
BOZZO, John, 59, 60.
Braga, 229.
BRAIDO, Peter, 47, 59, 82, 83,
104, 387.
Bramaputra, 280.
BRANDA, John, 133, 134.
Brazil, 196, 207, 241, 24547, 251,
252, 259, 262, 267, 281, 309,
310, 333, 335, 362.
Brasilia, 281.
Brazzaville, 315.
Bremersdorp, 315.
Brescia, 77.
BRIATA, Ernest, 242.
Brigue, 236.
Bronte, 170, 231.
Brothers of the Holy Family,
253-54.
BRUNO, Cajetan, 344.
Brussles, 383.
Buchenwald, 325.
Budapest, 262, 267.
Buenos Aires, 100, 126, 170, 188,
190, 192, 193, 195, 204, 244,
245, 249, 333, 337, 361, 365.
BURDEUS, Amadeo, 330.
BURG, Cecilia, 387.
Burma, 273, 280, 311, 316, 343.
Burundi, 315.
Burwash, 234, 300.
Bhutan, 318.
Buttigliera, 7.
BUZZETTI, Charles, 39, 120.

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INDEX
417
BUZZETTI, Joseph, 18, 39, 87, 98,
99.
- C-
CABRIERES, Bishop, 233.
Cachoeira do Campo, 245, 247.
Cadiz, 323.
CAFASSO, SAINT JOSEPH, 15, 17,
19, 95, 176, 187.
CAGLIERO, John, 40, 41, 48, 57,
67, 77, 87, 88, 91, 97, 134,
135, 167, 178, 189, 191, 194,
195, 198, 199, 206, 210, 217,
218, 220, 244, 248-51, 252,
261, 267, 268, 271, 307, 336.
CAGLIERO, Joseph, 167.
Cairo, 280, 316.
CALASANZ, Joseph, 264, 324.
CALCAGNO, Louis, 196, 247.
CALCAGNO, Magdalene, 151.
Calcutta, 280, 311, 316.
Callao, 242.
CALLORI DI VIGNALE, Count, 17
176.
CALOSSO, Joseph, 7.
CALVI, B. (Author), 199.
CAMPI, Valentino, 157.
Campinas, 245.
Campodoro, 277.
Campo Grande, 310.
Canada, 241, 280.
Canary Islands, 315.
CANAZEI, Bishop, 313.
CANDELA, Anthony, 101, 363.
Canelli, 232.
Cannero, 334.
Cannes, 132, 222.
Canton, 313, 328.
CANTU, Cesare, 12, 183.
Capetown, 230, 254, 315.
Cape Horn, 251.
Cape Verde, 315.
CAPRA, Peter, 91.
Capriglio, 6.
Caracas, 242.
Carajas (Indians), 309.
CARAVARIO, Callixtus, 313.
Carhue, 193.
Carmagnola, 69.
Carmen, 246.
Carmona, 232.
CARPANO, Giacinto, 176.
Carthage, 230.
CARTIER, Louis, 260.
Casablanca, 321.
Casale Monferrato, 122, 169, 232,
259, 272.
Cascinette, 170.
Caselle, 219.
Caserta, 232.
CASOTTI, Mario, 387.
Castel Gandolfo, 352.
Castellammare di Stabia, 231.
Castelnuovo d ’A sti (Later, Castel-
nuovo Don Bosco) 3, 6, 7, 38,
62-63, 75, 232, 326, 361.
Catalonia, 339.
Catania, 131, 170, 231, 340, 372.
Catanzaro, 232.
Catholic Action, 268, 281, 312,
348, 367, 368, 380.
Catholic Readings, 126, 219, 373.
CAVIGLIA, Albert, 59.
CAVOUR, Benso di, 20.
CAVOUR, Camillo, 51, 118.
CAVOUR, Gustavo, 30.
CAYS of Giletta, Count 176.
Cebu, 317.
CECCARELLI, Peter, 188, 191.
Czechoslovakia, 136, 326, 341.
CELDAN, Florencio, 324.
CENCI, Peter, 99.
CERIA, Eugene, 25, 26, 36, 37, 47,
52, 53, 59, 60, 70, 82, 83, 86,
94, 104, 105, 116, 117, 119,
127, 128, 138, 142, 148, 149,
160, 161, 173, 174, 185, 186,

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418
198, 199, 212, 227, 229, 240,
255, 256, 269-70, 283, 294-95,
306, 319-20, 344, 345, 353,
356, 357, 361, 369-70.
CERRUTI, Francis, 41, 122, 123,
204, 210, 333.
Ceylon, 316.
Chaco. (See Gran Chaco).
Gladstone, 318.
Challonges, 132.
CHAMBORD, Count of, 183, 220.
CHARLES ALBERT, 8, 22, 27, 30.
CHARLES BORROMEO, Saint.,
141.
CHARLES FELIX, 8.
Chartres, 133.
Chavantes, 309.
Cherasco, 122, 123.
Chertsey, 234.
CHIATELLINO, Michelangelo, 75,
176.
CHIAVEROTTI, Bishop, 10.
Chieri, 7-10, 16, 49, 76, 130, 170,
187, 231.
Chile, 195, 196, 241, 242, 256,
281, 282, 333, 356, 400.
China, 254, 262, 273, 377, 280,
312-13, 316, 317, 321, 327-29,
334, 335, 339, 341, 368.
CHIUSO, Thomas, 12, 13, 25, 94.
Chofu, 317.
CHOPITEA, Dorotea de, 134, 183,
354.
Chosmalal, 249.
CHRIST. (See Jesus Christ).
Christian Brothers, 23, 132, 216.
Chubut, 250.
Church, 3, 16, 39, 41, 47, 68, 88,
90, 107, 108, 119, 125, 151,
178, 180, 184, 268, 290, 292,
307, 311, 312, 313, 322, 328,
348, 353, 355, 365, 367, 372,
373, 374, 375, 377, 379, 381,
382, 383, 385, 389, 396, 397,
398, 400, 401, 403.
DON BOSCO
Church History (Subject), 22.
Church History, by Don Bosco, 24,
125.
Church History, by C. Fleury, 11.
CID, Sergio, 324.
CIMATTI, Mons., 218, 317.
Cinecitta, 282.
Citizens of Italy, 196, 243, 244,
323.
Ciudalela, 238.
CLARAC, Sister, 173.
CLAUDEL, Paul, 139.
Cluny, 222.
Coadjutors, Salesian, 34, 91, 95-105,
145, 147, 237, 293, 298, 304-05,
376, 398.
Coat-an-Doch, 267.
COGLIOLO, Peter, 229.
COJAZZI, Anthony, 256.
COLBACCHINI, Anthony, 255, 309.
Colle Don Bosco, 215, 276, 371.
(See also Becchi).
COLLE, Count, 183, 190.
COLLE, Louis, 183, 190.
Colombia, 241, 242, 248, 281,
310, 318.
COMBES, Emil, 233, 234.
COMIN, Bishop, 308.
COMOLLO, Louis, 11, 55, 125.
Company of Mary Immaculate, 52,
53, 54, 55, 56, 64, 68, 218.
Concepcion, 196, 243, 246, 300.
CONELLI, Arthur, 301.
Congo, 314, 338.
Congregation of Bishops and Regu­
lars (Congregation for Religious)
110-13, 179, 205, 290, 335,
340.
Congregation of St. Anne, 166.
Consolata, 40.
Constitutions (or Rules) of the
Salesians, 90, 106-17, 140, 147,
180, 200, 201, 202, 225, 258,
285-95, 297, 393, 399, 402.
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INDEX
of Christians, 165, 168, 336, 339.
CONTRATTO, Bishop, 155.
Convitto ecclesiastico, 15, 16, 19,
95.
Cooperators, 115, 126, 147, 175-86,
231, 238-39, 246, 265, 266,
293, 345-57, 373, 384, 391,
395, 398.
COPPO, Bishop, 244, 317.
CARAMANO, 196.
Cordilleras, 196, 244, 249.
Cordoba, Argentina, 245, 246.
Cordoba, Spain, 233.
COSTA, Alexandrina Maria da, 355.
COSTAMAGNA, Bishop, 168, 170,
190, 193, 194, 207, 243, 244,
246, 247, 252, 307, 308, 337.
Costa Rica, 250.
COTTA (Banker), 120.
COTTOLENGO, SAINT JOSEPH,
17.
COUTURON, John Baptist, 319.
Cremisan, 253.
Crocetta, Turin, 276, 303.
CRUZ, Victor Julio, 196.
Cuba, 262, 343.
Cuenca, 347.
CUFFIA, Francis, 122.
CUGLIERO, Joseph, 63.
Cuiaba, 252.
Cumiana, 171, 267, 305.
CUMINO, Thomas, 9.
Curacao, 243.
CURE OF ARS, 226.
Curileo, 249.
Custoza, 28.
Cuzco, 242.
Czechoslovakia, 392, 397, 399.
- D-
Dachau, 325.
DAGHERO, Catherine, 171-72, 332-
35, 337, 340.
DALCERRI, Lina, 344.
419
Daleside, 315.
DALMAZZO, Francis, 122, 123,
206, 232.
Damascus, 280.
DANIEL-ROPS, 149.
Daszawa, 230.
Daughters of Mary Help of Chris­
tians, 158-74, 175, 180, 190,
193, 195, 203, 205, 220, 224,
245, 250, 265, 268, 280, 281,
288, 289, 332-44, 364, 387.
Daughters of Mary Immaculate, 155-
57, 162-63.
Dawson Island, 195, 251.
Deliberations of the General Chap­
ters, 140, 146-48, 204, 206, 207,
211, 286, 287, 288, 303-04.
DEL VECCHIO, 302.
DESRAMAUT, Francis, 12, 13, 14,
25, 26, 36, 47, 48, 60, 70,
71, 127, 128, 148, 173, 212,
294, 295, 386.
DESRAMAUT, Michael, 344.
DHUIT, Julien, 233.
DIAMOND, Patrick, 250.
Dibrugharah, 280, 312.
Dili, 316.
Dinan, 260.
Diocesan Review, 134.
Director’s Manual, 261.
DOGLIANI, Joseph, 77, 99.
DONATO, Edward, 91.
Dora River, 20.
DOUTRELOUX, Bishop, 136, 229.
DURANDO, Celestine, 41, 210.
DUROURE, Jean-Baptiste, 319.
Dzialdow, 325.
- E-
Ecija, 232.
Ecuador, 196-97, 225, 241, 242,
246-48, 252-53, 278, 281, 321.
Egypt, 230, 273, 280, 316, 335.
El Hussun, 316.

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420
ELIJAH, 238.
Elisabethville (Later Lumbumbashi),
314.
ELISHA, 238.
ENDRES, Nikolaus, 387.
Engadine, Australia, 318.
England, 68, 135, 136, 137, 234,
261, 267, 280, 333, 335.
ENRIA, Peter, 99.
Ensdorf, 262, 267.
Ensenada, 244.
ENTRAIGAS, Raul, 198, 199, 255.
ESPINEY, Charles d \\ 135, 354.
ESPINOSA, Bishop, 193.
Essen, 262.
Este, 131, 170, 278.
Ettukal, 316.
Europe, 1, 30, 129, 228-40, 241,
244, 246, 254, 267, 273, 277,
280, 318, 321, 326-27, 328,
335, 338-39, 341, 350, 365.
Everest, 280.
- F-
Faenza, 131, 207, 361.
FAGNANO, Bishop, 189, 191, 193,
194, 195, 210, 250, 307.
FALCO, Louis, 99.
Falkland Islands, 195, 250.
Farnborough, 234.
Far East, 254, 273, 279.
FASSATI, Marchioness, 177.
FASSATI, Marquis, 176.
FASULO, Anthony, 199.
FAURE, Ippolito, 160.
FAVINI, Guido, 105, 160, 185,
351-52, 356.
FERRANDO, Bishop, 311.
Ferrara, 232.
FERRARI, Bishop, 309.
FERRIERI, Cardinal, 205, 208.
FIERRO, Torres Rodolfo, 255, 387.
FILIPELLO, John, 5.
DON BOSCO
FILIPPI Brothers, 20, 21, 29, 76.
FLEURY, Claude, 11.
Florence, 120, 131.
FOGLIO, Ernest, 36, 82, 94, 198.
Foglizzo Canavese, 41, 131, 202,
266, 267, 278, 302.
Formosa, 316.
Fossano, 112, 220, 231.
France, 30, 131, 132, 133, 135,
136, 170, 172, 183, 184, 200,
205, 207, 211, 221-22, 233,
235, 258-60, 268, 271, 280,
321, 323, 333, 334, 352, 362.
FRANCESIA, John Baptist, 40, 41,
48, 57, 65, 78, 89, 122, 126,
164, 178, 204, 217, 268.
FRANCIS DE SALES, Saint, 20,
22, 88, 146, 151, 165, 178,
218.
FRANCIS II, 1.
Franciscans, 10.
FRANSONI, Bishop, 11, 20, 28, 39,
51, 78, 85, 86, 90, 93, 107,
109, 216.
FRASSINETTI, Joseph, 153, 155.
French Revolution, 2.
French Senate, 228.
Frohsdorf 220.
FUCHS, Jean-Baptiste, 309.
Fuerte Olimpo, 309.
- G-
Gabon, 315.
Gaeta, 267.
GAGLIARDI, Joseph, 176.
GAIA, Joseph, 97.
GAMBA, Joseph, 245.
GAMBINO, Joseph, 99.
GANDHI, 312.
Ganges River, 280.
GARELLI, Bartholomew, 18, 275.
GARIBALDI, 189.
GARINO, John, 91.

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INDEX
GARNERI, Dominic, 269.
GASPARRI, Cardinal, 353.
GASTALDI, Bishop, 85, 123, 176,
177, 180, 201, 208, 209.
GASTINI, Charles, 39, 87, 359,
360.
Gauhati, 316.
Gavi, 153.
GAVIO, Camillo, 68.
GAZZOLO (Argentine Consul), 188,
189.
General Acha, 250.
General Chapters (SDB) 286-95, 288,
289, 290, 294, 299, 300, 301.
I (1877), 147, 181, 203-04.
II (1880), 147, 206-07, 302.
III (1883), 147, 184, 207-08.
IV (1886), 147, 210-11.
V (1889), 286, 287.
VI (1892), 287, 299.
VII (1895), 286, 288, 350.
VIII (1898), 288.
IX (1901), 288, 289, 301, 302,
304, 350.
X (1904), 237, 288, 289, 297,
300, 304, 350.
XI (1910), 260.
XII (1922), 291, 292, 304.
XIII (1929), 300.
XIV (1932), 273.
XV (1938), 276, 279, 291, 293.
XVI (1947), 277, 279, 291, 351.
XVII (1952), 279, 281.
XVIII (1958), 369, 381.
XIX (1965), 282, 291, 305,
365, 372-85, 389, 390, 396,
398, 401.
XX (1971-72) 392-93, 395.
XXI (1978), 399, 401.
General Chapters (FMA), 170, 171,
334, 341, 343.
Geneva, 88, 151.
GENNARO, Andrew, 344.
Genoa, 2, 15, 80, 123, 150, 151,
153, 155, 170, 183, 190, 259.
421
Genzano, 323.
Germany, 250, 262, 267, 280, 335.
Gerona, 232, 264.
Gevigney, 233.
GHIVARELLO, Charles, 91.
Giaveno, 121, 124.
Gioia d e ’ Marsi, 334.
GIOIA, Vincent, 97.
GIORDANO, Bishop, 196, 245,
310.
GIRAUDI, Fedele, 25, 36, 127.
Goa, 280.
GOMEZ, Baron, 135.
Gorizia, 231.
Gorna Grupa, 325.
Go-Vap, 316.
Gran Chaco, 243, 262, 313.
Grand-Bigard (Groot Bijaarden), 229,
302.
GRANDIS, Louis, 242.
GRASSO, Peter John, 370.
Gregorian University, 302.
GREGORY XVI, 8.
GRIBAUDI, Peter, 363.
Guadalajara, 242.
GUALA, LOUIS, 15, 17, 19.
Gualdo Tadino, 231.
GUANELLA, Louis, 130, 368.
Guemesey, 233.
Guiana, 255.
Guines, 222.
GUIOL, Clement, 132.
- H-
Haiti, 338.
Haifa, 223, 254.
HALNA, Jean, 160, 185.
Hechtel, 229, 300.
HENRY, Bishop, 317.
Heung-shan, 312.
HEYMANS, James, 294.
History of Italy, 125, 218.
HLOND, Cardinal, 230, 267.
Holland, 280, 343.

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422
Holy Alliance, 2.
Holy Family, 141.
Holy Office, 224.
Holy Places of Palestine, 223, 253,
254.
HOLY SPIRIT, 62.
Holy See, (See Rome).
Hong Kong, 188, 280, 316, 327,
329, 354.
HOZ, Francisco de la, 330.
Huesea, 236.
Humaita, 310.
Hungary, 262, 267, 327, 341, 374,
392, 399.
HURTER (Author), 302.
I -
-
Imitation of Christ, 11.
Immaculate Conception, 18, 45, 52,
64, 66.
Indian Tribes, 188, 193-97, 243,
246, 248, 250, 251, 281, 308-
10, 318, 333.
India, 188, 254, 262, 267, 273,
280, 310-12, 316, 335, 339.
Iquique, 246.
Iran, 316.
Ireland, 135, 250, 280.
Isola Grande, 195, 251.
Israel, 316.
Istanbul, 230, 316.
Italy, 1, 2, 8, 27, 28, 30, 35,
75, 76, 118-28, 129-31, 133,
172, 183, 200, 205, 207, 218,
222, 225, 231-32, 259-60, 267,
268, 275, 279, 280, 282, 310,
333, 334, 335, 338, 349, 352,
353, 363, 364, 365, 380, 386,
400.
Ivrea, 267.
DON BOSCO
- J-
Jaffa, 254.
JANE FRANCES DE CHANTAL,
Saint, 151.
Japan, 267, 273, 278, 280, 317-18,
338, 339.
JEMOLO, A. C., 12.
Jerusalem, 253, 254, 274, 316, 333.
JESUS CHRIST, 6, 62, 66, 67, 95,
155, 182, 194, 225, 226, 248,
254, 325, 329, .
Jews, 325.
Johannesburg, 315.
JOHN XXIII, 281, 282, 383.
Jordan, 316.
JOSEPH, Saint, 55.
Juiz de Fora, 252.
- K-
Karachi, 280.
Kansebula, 315.
Katanga, 262, 315.
Kenitra, 315.
Kashi, 311.
Kigali, 315.
Kimberley, 278, 317.
Kiniama, 314.
Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, 1.
Kivaro, (Indians), 252-53, 308, 334.
KLEIN, Jan, 13.
Korea, 317, 341.
KOWALSKI, Joseph, 325-26.
Krakow, 325.
Krishnagar, 267, 280, 311.
KUJAWSKI, Alexander, 325.
Kyushu, 317.
Kwang-Ju, 317.
- L-
La Boca, 192.
La Candelara, 251.

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INDEX
LACERDA, Bishop, 196.
LACQUA, Joseph, 6.
La Crau, 132.
LAGO, Angelo, 98.
La Kafubu, 314.
La Marsa, 230.
Lansdowne, 315.
LANTERI, Anthony, 99.
LANTERI, Pio Brunone, 25.
Lanusei, 232.
Lanzo, 39, 76, 95, 122, 146, 147,
169, 203, 206.
La Paz, 243.
La Plata, 192, 244.
L ’Armonia, 51.
LASAGNA, Louis, 190, 192, 193,
196, 207, 210, 243, 245, 252,
259, 307, 309.
Las Palmas, 315.
La Spezia, 130, 136, 225.
Las Piedras, 193.
Lateran Treaty, 268.
LATTES (Cooperator), 183.
La Valponasca, 152, 156.
LAVIGERIE, Cardinal, 230.
Lebanon, 316, 341.
LE CHAPELIER, 30.
Legion of Mary, 328, 329.
Leipzig, 273.
LEMOYNE, John Baptist, 10, 13,
25, 36, 47, 48, 57, 59, 82,
83, 94, 116, 117, 122, 126,
127, 140, 148, 149, 184, 185,
198, 207, 369.
LEO XIII, 131, 183, 208-09, 220,
228, 242.
LEONG SHU TCHI, 329.
Letture cattoliche, ( See Catholic
Readings).
LEVI-STRAUSS, Claude, 310.
Liege, 136, 223, 229, 300.
Lienhsien, 329.
Liguria, 123, 129, 136, 150, 169,
183, 188, 204, 207, 231, 237.
Lille, 126, 133, 222, 233, 260.
423
Lima, 242, 353.
Limay River, 249.
Linares, 246.
Lisbon, 135, 229, 254.
L ’ltaliano in America, 244.
Lithuania, 326, 341.
Little House of Divine Providence,
17.
Litomerice, 327, 397.
Lombardy, 1, 16, 20, 23, 28, 118,
335, 352, 362.
Lombriasco, 231.
London, 135, 136, 274.
LONKAY, Anthony, 183.
Lorena, 245, 247.
Loreto, 231.
Lourdes, 352.
LOUVET, Claire, 133, 183.
Lu, 169, 263.
Luapula, 314.
Lubliana, 230.
Lucca, 130, 133.
LUCOTTI, Linda, 332, 339-41.
Lugano, 229.
Lugo, 231.
Lunga, 254.
LUZI, Jerome, 338.
Lyons, 222, 386.
- M-
Macao, 254, 280, 312, 316, 327,
329.
MACCAGNO, Angela, 155, 156,
163.
MACCONO, Ferdinand, 160, 161,
170, 171, 173.
Macerata, 231.
MACEY, Charles, 131, 234.
MAC KIERNAN, Edward, 135.
Macul, 246, 300.
Macus (Indians), 310.
MADONNA, 16. (See also MARY).
Madras, 254, 267, 280, 311, 312,
316, 354.

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424
Madrid, 134, 222, 232-33, 237,
267, 324, 339, 353, 355.
Magenta, 118.
Magliano Sabino, 130, 207.
MAGONE, Michael, 45, 57, 65, 69,
75, 258.
MAINETTI, Josephine, 174, 344.
MALAN, Bishop, 252, 309.
Maldonado, 337.
Malta, 234, 235.
MANACORDA, Bishop, 112, 220.
MANASSERO, Emmanuel, 230.
Mandalay, 280, 316.
Manga, 245, 247, 302.
Manila, 317.
Manuel Grande, 193.
MAO TSE-TUNG, 313.
Marabitana, 310.
Marassi, 123, 124, 259.
MARENGO, Bishop, 176, 312.
MARIASELVAM, Bishop, 312.
MARKIEWICZ, Bronislas, 230.
MAROCCO, John, 59, 60.
Maroggia, 229.
Marsala, 231.
Marseilles, 77, 126, 132, 137, 171,
183, 207, 220, 222, 223, 233,
260, 261, 267, 332.
MARY MOTHER OF JESUS, 6, 45,
52, 62, 63, 66, 80, 111, 119,
120, 151, 155, 188, 225, 226,
235, 390.
MARY HELP OF CHRISTIANS,
119-21, 151, 165, 266, 268,
361, 403.
Church of
119-21, 189,
219, 266.
MASCHERONI, Francis, 99.
MASERA, Felix, 364.
Massa, 340.
MASSA, Bishop, 310.
MASSAGLIA, John, 68.
Mathi, 130, 264.
MATHIAS, Bishop, 280, 311.
DON BOSCO
Mato Grosso, 196, 246, 251-52,
309-10, 318, 333.
MATTA, Lucy, 9.
MATTA, Secondo, 5.
MATTAI, Joseph, 36.
MATTANA, Francis, 253.
Matteo, 96.
Mauthausen, 325.
MAZZARELLO, Angela, 160.
MAZZARELLO, Felicina, 152, 165,
169.
MAZZARELLO, Joseph, 151.
MAZZARELLO, SAINT MARIA
DOMENICA, 150-61, 274, 332,
341, 343.
MAZZARELLO, Petronilla, 156,
157, 158, 160, 163, 165.
Medellin, 400.
Mede Lomellina, 339.
MEDERLET, Bishop, 229, 254,
311.
MEHLER, John, 183.
Melazzo d*Alessandria, 170.
Melbourne, 317, 318.
Melipilla, 246.
Memoirs o f the Oratory, 1, 5, 7,
12, 13, 25, 26, 36, 37, 47, 59,
79, 82, 83, 94, 127, 148, 185.
Mendez y Gualaquiza, 247, 252-
53, 308.
Mendoza, 244.
MENDRE, Louis, 135.
Mendrisio, 229.
Menilmontant, 133, 322.
Mercedes, 245.
MERLA, Peter, 176, 217.
Merrymakers Society, 9, 49, 73.
Messina, 225, 231, 373.
Metz, 223.
Mexico, 242, 246, 281, 318, 343,
368.
Michaelites, 240.
MICHELI, Joseph, 361.
Middle East, 254, 273, 280, 316,

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INDEX
335, 338, 365.
Milan, 77, 231, 274, 353, 361,
373.
MILANESIO, Dominic, 190, 194,
196, 249, 250, 306.
Mineo, 372.
Mirabello, 54, 55, 122, 123, 145,
146, 169, 219, 263, 272.
Miyasaki, 267, 317.
Modena, 232.
MOGLIA, 7.
Mogliano, 131.
MOLINARI, Bartholomew, 98.
MOLINERIS, Michael, 12.
MOMO, Gabriel, 91.
MONATERI, Joseph, 204.
Moncalieri, 76.
Moncucco, 7.
Mondonio, 61, 63, 64.
Mondovi, 130.
Monferrato, 80, 131, 150, 162,
263, 335.
Mong-Ciau, 312.
MONGOUR, Paul, 319.
MONTERO, Anthony, 330.
Montevideo, 170, 192, 245,
252.
Mon tilla, 232.
Montpellier, 233.
MORANO, Magdalen, 332, 340.
Moravia, 326.
Mordreux, 233.
Morelia, 242.
MORETTA, 20, 23.
Morialdo, 3, 7, 8, 15, 62.
Mornese, 130, 150, 151-58,
162-63, 164-67, 169-71, 341.
Moron, 193, 336.
MOSCA, Emilia, 333, 334.
Mosquera, 242.
Moura, 310.
MOUROUX, Joseph, 368.
Mozambique, 254, 341.
MUNERATI, Dante, 302.
425
Munich, 352.
Muri, 229.
Museu Dom Bosco, 310.
Mutual Aid Society, 31.
Mylapore, 254, 310, 312.
- N-
NAI, Louis, 356.
Nakatsu, 317.
NAMUNCURA, 194, 250.
NAMUNCURA, Zeferino, 194, 397.
Nanking, 327.
Nepegue, 309.
NAPOLEON I, 2.
NAPOLEON III, 118.
Naples, 232, 235, 335.
NASI, Louis, 75, 99, 176.
Navarre, 132, 136, 170, 222, 233.
Nazareth, 254.
Neuquen River, 249.
New York, 243.
Ngan-Hang, 312.
Ngozi, 315.
Nice, 2, 126, 132, 133, 137, 170,
183, 204, 222, 233, 260.
NICOLETTE, 310.
NINA, Cardinal, 205.
Niteroi, 196, 245.
None, 257, 258.
Novara, 20, 28, 231.
- O-
OBERTI, Ernest, 134, 233.
OCCHIENA, Margaret, 3-4, 7, 29,
32.
OCCHIENA, Michael, 7.
Oita, 317.
OLIVE, Ludwig, 312.
Onas, 251.
Oporto, 135, 229.
Oran, 223, 230, 314, 315.
Oratory of St. Francis de Sales,

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426
(Turin), 17, 19, 21, 24, 25,
28-32, 50, 39-47, 49, 51, 53,
54, 57, 62-65, 69, 72, 74, 75,
76-79, 85-90, 91, 92, 96-97,
112, 121, 122, 126, 137, 141-45,
163, 175-77, 189, 192, 200,
202, 216-19, 222, 224, 258,
259, 277, 299, 358-60, 387.
ORDONEZ, Bishop, 196.
OREGLIA, Frederick di Santo
Stefano, 97, 98, 99.
Orinoco, 309, 338.
ORIONE, BLESSED LOUIS, 57,
368.
ORTIZ, James, 323.
Orvieto, 231.
Osaka, 317.
Ossu, 316.
Oswiecim /'see A uschwitz).
OCTAVIUS, Martyr, 119.
OZANAM, Frederick, 54.
- P-
Padua, 277.
PAGLIA, Francis, 302.
PAGLIERE, Esteban, 250.
Palermo, 232, 340, 373.
Palestine (Holy Land), 223, 253-
54, 273, 280, 333, 335.
PALESTRINO, Dominic, 99.
PALLAVICINI, Bishop, 153.
Palmeiras, 252.
Pampa, 193, 249.
Papal States, 2, 139.
Paraguay, 242, 243, 262, 281,
308-09.
Paray-le-Monial, 222.
Paris, 8, 73, 132, 133, 137, 220,
222, 233, 260, 341, 386.
Parma, 1, 131, 361.
PASOTTI, Bishop, 314.
PASTRE, benefactor of Don Bosco,
132.
DON BOSCO
Patagones, 170, 178, 193, 194-
OS, 248.
Patagonia, 170, 188, 189, 194-
95, 241, 248-50, 255, 308,
332.
Patronage Sainte-Anastasie, 170.
Patronage Saint-Leon, 132.
Patronage Saint-Pierre, 132, 133.
PAUL VI, 375, 383, 384, 385, 397,
402, 403.
Pavia, 96, 232, 339.
Paysandu, 193, 245.
Peking, 313, 327, 329.
PEDRO II, 196, 245.
PELAZZA, Andrew, 99, 130.
PELLICO, Silvio, 40.
Penango, 131, 170, 267.
PERETTO, Charles, 245.
PERIER, Bishop, 311.
Pernambuco, 245.
PERRONE (Author), 302.
PERROT, Peter, 132.
Peru, 241, 242, 246, 281, 333.
PESCARMONA, Alexander, 38.
PESTARINO, Dominic, 153, 155,
158, 163, 165, 167, 332.
Petropolis, 196.
PHILIP NERI, Saint, 19, 74, 139,
141.
Philippines, 280, 317, 329, 341.
PIANO, John Baptist, 70.
PIANTA, Joseph, 9.
PICCO, Matthew, 40, 64, 66.
Piccolo clero, 53.
PICCONO, Angelo, 242.
Piedmont, 2, 3, 4, 8, 27, 28, 30,
39, 46, 76, 88, 107, 109, 118,
120, 121, 126, 130, 178, 204,
231, 237, 250, 302, 305, 335.
PINARDI, Francis, 21, 23, 50.
— House, 36, 29, 32, 33, 38,
41, 140.
Pinerolo, 257.
Piova, 231.

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INDEX
Pisa, 232.
PISANI (Priest, 133.
PISCETTE, Louis, 302.
PITTINI, Richard, 309.
Piura, 342.
PIUS VII, 2.
PIUS IX, 27, 28, 45, 51, 90, 108,
113, 131, 159, 165, 167, 178,
180, 183, 192, 198, 201, 202,
224, 285, 383.
PIUS X, 77, 131, 194, 226, 261,
272, 308, 336, 354.
PIUS XI, 68, 127, 159, 267, 274,
313, 321, 324, 348.
PIUS XII, 68, 159, 274, 281,
321, 348, 351, 356, 383.
Po River, 17.
POESIO, Arthur, 364.
Pointe-Noire, 315.
Poland, 223, 230, 261, 267, 321,
325-26, 341, 374.
People of - , 230, 231.
POLETTI, Cardinal, 398.
Pompei, 352.
Pordenone, 278.
Port Stanley, 250.
Porta Nuova, 28, 85, 218.
Porto Velho, 267, 310.
Portugal, 135, 223, 229, 280, 321.
Porvenir, 251.
POSSIO, Camillo, 368.
Prague, 136, 327.
Pringles, 249.
PROVERA, Francis, 41, 122.
PRUN, Athanasius, 254.
Prussia, 118.
Przemysl, 230.
Puebla, 242.
Pueri cantores, 282.
Puerto Ayaeucho, 309.
Puerto Casado, 309.
Puerto Pinasco, 309.
Puerto Rico, 309.
427
Puerto Sastre, 309.
Punta Arenas, 195, 250.
-Q -
Quargnento, 170.
QUEIROLO, Dominic, 308.
Quito, 196, 241, 147, 308.
- R-
RABAGLIATI, Evasio, 193, 196,
242, 248.
Randazzo, 131, 207.
Rangoon, 280, 316.
Ratburi, 267, 313, 316.
RATTAZZI, Urbano, 79, 84, 85,
90, 107.
Ravenna, 232.
Rawson, 250.
Rebaudengo, 267, 276, 305.
Recife, 245.
Recommendations of Don Bosco,
86, 127.
Red Cross, 339.
Refuge, The, 20, 23, 216.
Registro do Araguaia, 309.
Regulations of the Salesian So­
ciety, 139-49, 285-89, 292-93,
299, 304, 305, 306, 350.
(See also Constitutions).
Regulations for the Oratory, 24,
82, 102, 107, 143-46, 147, 289,
294.
Regulations for the Houses, 36, 37,
47, 107, 140-44, 147, 286, 289.
REVIGLIO, Felix, 39, 87, 354, 359.
Rialp, 232.
RIBERI, Bishop, 328.
RICALDONE, Peter, 60, 72, 82,
83, 148, 149, 185, 233, 235,’
267, 271-77, 279, 281, 293,
297, 298, 299, 300, 303, 306,

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428
334, 339, 341, 351, 352, 356,
363, 366, 373, 380.
RICCARDI DI NETRO, Bishop,
111, 121.
RICCERI, Louis, 352, 371, 372-73,
374, 378, 379, 382, 383, 386,
387, 389, 392, 395, 396, 397.
Rieti, 130.
RINALDI, Philip, 101, 223, 229,
232, 233, 257, 261, 267-70,
271, 273, 277, 278, 283, 285,
291, 293, 294, 334, 338, 339,
348, 356, 362, 363.
Riobamba, 247.
Rio Colorado, 194, 249.
Rio das Garcas, 252.
Rio de Janeiro, 196.
Rio Gallegos, 195, 250.
Rio Grande do Sul, 245.
Rio Negro, 193, 194, 248, 249,
262, 310.
Ripoll, 330.
Riva de Chieri, 62.
RIZZAGHI, Gaetano, 103.
RO, Bishop, 317.
ROBERTO (Tailor), 8.
ROCA, General, 193, 248.
Roca, 249.
ROCCHIETTI, Joseph, 40.
Rodeo del Medio, 244, 337.
ROKITA, Stanislaus, 330.
ROLLAND, Leon, 354.
Rome \\(Holy See) , 19, 77, 90,
108, 110, 111, 112, 118, 120,
130, 131, 170, 179, 180, 183,
189, 200, 201, 202, 203, 206,
208, 210, 211, 220, 221, 224,
226, 232, 237, 241, 242, 245,
251, 252, 261, 266, 274, 282,
286, 290, 291, 302, 303, 307,
311, 324, 327, 335, 336, 337,
340, 348, 352, 353, 374, 389,
392, 395, 396, 397, 398, 400,
403.
DON BOSCO
Romans, 233.
RONCALLO, Elisa, 178, 333.
RONCHAIL, Joseph, 132, 233.
Ronda, 233.
Roquefort, 222.
Rosario, 242, 337.
ROSMINI, Anthony, 30, 107.
ROSSARO (Coadjutor), 135.
ROSSI, Joseph, 91, 96, 99, 133.
ROSSI, Marcello, 100.
Rossignol, 233.
Rotterdam, 223.
ROUBY, 308.
ROUSSEAU, Jean-Jacques, 79.
RUA, John Baptist, 216.
RUA, Louis, 216.
RUA, BLESSED MICHAEL, 16, 23,
37, 40, 48, 52, 57, 59, 60,
64, 68, 70, 87, 88, 91, 92, 99,
108, 111, 122, 124, 146, 170,
178, 201, 206, 209, 210, 211,
215-27, 228-40, 241, 242, 245,
248, 254, 258, 260, 264, 272,
277, 278, 279, 286, 288, 289,
290, 296-306, 310, 336, 345-57,
361, 367, 377, 397.
Ruanda, 315.
Rueil, 233.
RUFFATO, Joseph, 99.
RUFFINO, Dominic, 91, 122, 219.
Russia, 250.
- S-
SACILLOTTI, Peter, 309.
SACRED HEART, 16, 134, 226,
268.
Church of the —, 131, 211.
Saint Augustine, Church of, 40.
Saint-Cyr, 110, 111, 172.
Saint Francis of Assisi, (Church
of), 17, 19.
Saint-Gabriel, 133.

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INDEX
Saint Ignatius, (Shrine of), 39,
95, 97.
Saint John the Evangelist (Church
of), 131, 264.
Saint Martin (Chapel), 20.
Saint Peter in Chains (Church of),
20.
Sainte-Marguerite, 32, 222, 233, 267.
SAK, Bishop, 314.
Sakania, 314.
SALA, Anthony, 210.
SALA (Author), 302.
Salamanca, 232.
Salesian Bulletin, 126, 134, 147,
184, 207, 253, 2*55, 261, 283,
287, 319, 320, 330, 331, 346,
354, 356, 361, 373, 386, 387.
Salesian Congregation. (See Sale­
sian Society).
Salesian Society, 84-93, 110, 111,
112, 114, 175, 179, 180, 181,
182, 184, 189, 200, 203, 218,
230, 231, 234, 236, 238, 271,
286, 292, 293, 335, 371, 385,
389, 398, 401.
SALOTTI, Cardinal, 125.
Salvador, 245.
Sampierdarena, 123, 124, 126, 127,
136, 202, 207, 225, 259, 263.
San Benigno Canavese, 100, 126,
130, 131, 202, 207, 263, 305.
San Francisco, 243.
San Giovanni della Pigna, 232.
San Gregorio, 231, 302.
San Jose del Valle, 233.
San Nicolas de los Arroyos, 88,
191.
San Rafael, Tierra del Fuego, 251.
San Rafael de Maracaibo, 243.
San Salvador, 242, 250.
San Sebastiano, 195.
San Vicente dels Horts, 232, 322.
Sangolqui, 247.
Sangradouro, 252.
429
Santa Cruz, Patagonia, 195, 250.
Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Canary
Islands, 315.
Santa Fe, 244.
Santa Maria Liberatrice (Church of),
226.
Santa Rosa de Toay, 250.
Santander, 232, 264.
Santiago, 196, 246, 282, 353, 400.
Sao Gabriel, 310.
Sao Paulo, 196, 245, 350, 353.
Sao Vicente, 315.
Sardinia, 232.
Sarria, 134, 232, 264.
Sassi, 79.
SAVINI, Angelo, 185.
SAVIO, Angelo, 40, 68, 70, 91,
195, 242, 243.
SAVIO, Charles, 61.
SAVIO, SAINT DOMINIC, 45, 52,
56, 57, 61-71, 75, 218, 258,
274, 282.
Savoy, 2, 20.
Savona, 123, 188, 225, 231.
SCALONI, Francis, 229.
SCARAMPI DI PRUNEY, Count,
176.
SCAVINI, Bartholomew, 97, 103.
SCHOENEBERGER, Peter, 104,
105.
Schola Cantorum, 77.
SCHOUPEE (Author), 302.
SCIANDRA, Bishop, 165.
SCOTTON, Bishop, 166.
Seak-Kei, 312.
Secular Institutes, 179.
SERIE, George, 364, 367, 368,
369.
SESTRI Levante, 170.
Seoul, 317.
Sevilla Don Bosco, 308.
Seville, 133, 232, 233, 235, 237,
272, 324.
SHALUB, George, 256.

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430
Shanghai, 327.
SHEEN, Fulton, 271.
Shillong, 280, 311, 312.
Shiu-Chow, 262, 313, 327.
Shrigley, 267.
Siberia, 326, 341.
Sicily, 131, 170, 207, 220, 231,
237, 267, 278, 302, 335, 340,
342, 372, 373.
SILVA HENRIQUEZ, Cardinal, 282.
Simplon Tunnel, 236.
Sindara, 315.
Sliema, 235.
Slovakia, 326, 327, 374.
Smyrna, 230.
SOAVE, Pancrazio, 21.
Societa delTallegria, (See Merry­
makers Society).
Society of Jesus, 97.
Sodality of the Immaculate Concep-
tio a (See Company of Mary
Immaculate).
Sodality of St. Joseph, 35, 53,
56.
SOLA, Bishop, 132.
Solferino, 118.
SOLUTOR, Martyr, 119.
Sonada, 280.
Sons of Mary, 202.
SORA, Gennaro, 368.
SORBONE, Henrietta, 333.
SOSA (Missionary), 309.
Spain, 133-34, 136, 137, 183,
207, 211, 222, 229, 232-33,
235, 250, 261, 264-66, 267,
272, 277, 321-24, 332, 333,
337, 352, 353, 363, 368.
SPEZIA (Architect), 120.
STACKPOOL, Countess, 135.
STEFENELLI, Alexander, 249.
STELLA, Peter, 13, 14, 25, 26,
36, 94, 116, 117, 125, 127,
173, 174, 186, 196, 198.
Storia della chiesa, (See Church
History).
DON BOSCO
Strasbourg, 223.
Stupinigi, 80.
Sucre, 243.
Sui-Pin, 313.
Sunbury, 317.
Superga, 79.
Sussex, 234.
SVAMPA, Cardinal, 238.
SVEGLIATI, Stanislaus, 110, 111,
112, 114, 115, 179.
Swaziland, 315.
SWIERC, Jean, 325.
Switzerland, 223, 229, 236.
Syria, 316, 335.
Szentkereszt, 262, 267.
- T-
TABOADA LAGO, Jose Maria, 366.
Talca, 196, 246.
Tanjore, 254.
Taraqua, 310.
Tarianos (Indians), 310.
Tarlac, 317.
Tarragona, 232.
Teheran, 280, 316.
Tehuelches, 250.
Testaccio, 226.
Thailand {Siam), 267, 273, 280,
313-14, 316, 338, 339.
THERESE MARTIN OF LISIEUX,
Saint, 154.
Thereza Christina, 252.
Thu-Duc, 316.
Tibet, 311.
Ticino, 229.
Tibidabo, 134.
Tierra del Fuego, 195-96, 241,
250-51, 255, 272, 308, 333.
Timor, 316.
TIRONE, Peter, 313.
Tokyo, 317.
TOMATIS, Charles, 78.
TOMATIS, Dominic, 246.
TOMATIS, George, 255.

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INDEX
Tor d e ’ Specchi, 206, 207.
Toulon, 182, 183, 190, 222, 233,
354.
Tournai, 229.
TOZZI, Eneas, 234.
Tram-Hanh, 316.
Trecastagni, 333.
Trent, 131, 136, 231.
Trevi, 231.
Treviglio, 231.
Trieste, 267.
Trinita, 138.
Trino, 231.
TRIONE, Stephen, 238, 350, 351.
Tripailao, 193.
TROCHTA, Bishop, 327, 397.
Trofarello, 122.
Tucanos, 310.
Tim/s, 230, 315.
Tunisia, 223, 230.
TURCHI, John, 40.
Turin, 1, 2, 8, 15, 16, 19, 20,
391, 395, 396.
Turkey, 316.
Tuscany, 1, 130, 335.
- U-
Uakibis, 309.
ULLOA, don Diego de Gasa, 142.
Umbria, 231.
UNIA, Michael, 248.
United States o f America, 242,
244, 247, 280, 317, 335.
Uribelarrea, 244, 247, 337.
Uruguay, 191, 192, 196, 198, 207,
241, 245, 247, 302, 309, 333,
335.
Ushuaia, 251.
Utrera, 133, 207, 222, 232, 272,
323.
431
- V-
Valdivia, 246.
Valdocco, 21, 22, 24, 29, 44,
46, 50, 51, 54, 57, 64, 65,
69, 73, 76, 78, 85, 89, 107,
120, 121, 123, 126, 134, 141,
145, 163, 169, 216, 226, 244,
266, 273, 299, 341, 360, 361,
396.
Valencia, Spain, 232, 322, 324,
339.
Valencia, Venezuela, 243.
VALENTINI, Eugene, 13, 128, 283,
387.
VALLAURI, Thomas, 126.
Vallecrosia, 129, 136, 169.
Valparaiso, 246.
Valsalice, 123, 127, 131, 207,
210, 272, 278, 301, 349.
VALSE, Sister Teresa, 332.
Vanchiglia, 28, 85, 218, 219.
VANISTENDAEL, August, 368.
VAN ROSSUM, Cardinal, 311.
Var, 132.
Varazze, 123, 127, 129, 165, 204,
224, 265.
265.
VARVELLO (Author), 301.
VASCHETTI, Luisa, 332, 337-39,
340.
VASCONCELLOS, Sebastien Leite
de, 135.
VASQUEZ Diaz (Painter), 368.
Vatican, 267, 339, 397.
Vatican I, Council, 383.
Vatican II, Council, 282, 305,
343, 348, 355, 365, 366, 372,
374, 381, 382, 383, 385, 389,
390, 391, 393, 400.
Vellore, 280, 312.
Venezuela, 242, 246, 281, 309,
310, 326.
Venice, 1, 118, 130, 335.
Ventimiglia, 129.
VENTURELLI, Angelo, 310.

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432
VERA, Bishop, 192.
Vercelli, 335.
VERDI, Giuseppe, 77.
Verona, 231, 278.
VERSIGLIA, Bishop, 254, 312,
313.
VESPA, Angela, 332, 342-43,
344.
VESPIGNANI, Joseph, 190, 244,
337.
VEUILLOT, Francis, 18, 25.
Viana do Castelo, 229.
Vicenza, 278.
Victoria, 317.
Victorica, 250.
VICUNA, Laura, 343.
VIGANO, Egidio, 400.
Viedma, 194, 248, 249.
Vienna, 27, 230, 267, 274.
Vietnam, 316, 399.
VIGLIETTI, Charles, 13.
Vignaud, 245, 246.
Vigo, 232.
Villa Colon, 170, 192, 245, 333.
VILLANUEVA, F., 330.
Villena, 323.
VINCENT DE PAUL, Saint, 55.
Conferences of - , 53, 54.
VICTOR EMMANUEL I, of Sardinia,
2, 3.
VICTOR EMMANUEL II, of Italy,
28, 118, 121.
DON BOSCO
VILLOT, Jean, Cardinal, 397.
Vlast, 136.
VOLA, Ignatius and Joseph, 176.
Volunteers of Don Bosco, 391,
398.
- W-
WALDECK-ROUSSEAU, 233.
Waterloo, 1.
Westminster, 234.
WINOWSKA, Maria, 240.
WIRTH, Morand, 389.
Wurzburg, 262.
- Y-
Yangtsepoo, 328.
Yugoslavia, 230, 261, 327, 341.
YEH, Peter, 328.
- Z-
ZERBINO, Peter, 283.
ZIGGIOTTI, Renato, 271, 277-83,
303, 309, 316, 316, 346, 348,
352, 364, 365, 366, 367, 372,
373, 374, 383.
ZITAROSA, Gerard Raphael, 387.
ZUCCA, John, 62.
ZUCCA, Margaret, 3.