in which, through the narration of anecdotes culled out from everyday life
don Bosco offers ordinary people as models of virtuous behavior.
They are presented as:
a practical demonstration
and a testimony
of how the Oratorian style has been instrumental in the human and spiritual success of ordinary young boys.
To present youthful models;
To show the efficacy of the educative method practiced in his institutions.
Through the use of narration Don Bosco shows the type of youthful holiness he wants to propose:
simple and for all,
joyful,
lived in everyday life, even though it admits no half measures,
alive, real and reachable, young people could identify with and emulate.
Don Bosco and the boys were convinced of Dominic’s holiness and of the heroism of Michael and Francis.
The prevailing mentality and the young people of the common class – attracted by the desire for perfection – had the desire to know real models who will inspire them to imitation.
DB makes a selection from among available documents:
he highlights a particular behavior demonstrated by the lives of the protagonists, leaving aside forms of religiosity that are not focused on the sacraments, on Marian devotion and on the fulfillment of the duties of one’s state of life;
he presents the characteristics of a boy in a school environment (at a time in Italy when there was an increasing request for a humanistic education and the Catholic movement was starting to organize schools and colleges);
he wants to show that “true cheerfulness” is a natural expression of the state of grace and a peaceful conscience;
he indicates holiness as doing one’s “duties” as a good Christian according to one’s particular “state of life” (Francis de Sales).
Even though DB makes free use of available documents and presents models for preadolescents and adolescents, these “Lives” are very important in understanding:
the author’s mental schemes,
the inner dimension and the complex and deep articulation of the proposed model,
the spiritual teaching he promotes,
the world of the common class to whom he addresses himself
the social and religious context of his audience.
The “obvious” plot: use of selected biographical details to which Don Bosco inserts episodes classified according to the moralistic or hagiographical aspect of the virtues concerned.
The underlying plot: Don Bosco’s mental paradigm, his convictions, his attitudes, his style of relating, his ideal behavior...
A structure of articulation into sequences which is identical in the three Lives.
