"First tell the devil to rest, and then I'll rest too."
Feast of St. Don Bosco, that tireless saint who worked for the young
photo from the Salesian of Don Bosco in the United States website
Today is the feast of St. John Bosco. Born on August 16, 1815 in Becchio, Italy, John’s father died when he was three years old. His mother Margaret raised John and his three brothers with strict and loving devotion. She taught them the necessity of hard work, setting an example of goodness and faithfulness for them.
John felt his calling to the priesthood from a young age. Once, while walking with his mother, John called out hello to a passing priest. The priest only nodded in response, hurting John’s feelings. John turned to his mother and said, "When I grow up, I'm going to be a priest, and I'll talk to children all the time, and I'll do everything for them!"
John began his mission of helping children even when he was one of them. Beaten up by young boys in the village, John explained to his mother that the boys weren’t really bad, only misguided because they didn’t have a good mother like he did, didn’t have parents who took them to mass and educated them in the faith. Those boys became his first followers.
Throughout his life, John had many “dreams” that helped direct him towards his vocation and guide him in his mission to serve the youth of, first, Turin, and then the world. Here's the story of God’s first overt call to John Bosco, (from the Salesian Order's website):
When John was nine, the Master called him openly. A mission as important as his could not be left to a mere urge. In a "dream," John found himself fighting a large crowd of rowdy lads who were cursing and carrying on abominably. He tried to stop them, but they refused to listen to him. Suddenly, a Man appeared, who motioned to John and said, "Not with punches will you help these boys, but with goodness and kindness!" "Who are you?" gasped the astonished boy.
Then a Woman appeared. Putting her arms around him, she said, "Watch what I do, John." John looked. The boys changed to a pack of snarling wild animals whose growls sent terror to his heart. Then the woman put out her hand. The beasts changed again, to a frolicking flock of lambs.
"But what does it all mean? I'm just a farm boy. What can I do?" He burst into tears.
The Lady's answer came to him, ever to resound in his heart, to be repeated audibly several times in his life, "This is the field of your work. Be humble, steadfast, and strong!'"
To become a priest meant school and the money to pay for it, but Bosco’s family was poor. Initially, John was taught by a local farmer, then he walked the three miles to a country school, but due to strife with his stepbrother, the situation at home became unbearable. John’s mother divided the small farm and sent John to study in Castelnuovo. John lived with a family she knew and attended the local public school. He did exceptionally well in school, even while taking on any odd job he could in order to send money to his mother.
In 1835 John entered seminary and was ordained in June of 1841. Within a few short months of his ordination, on December 8, 1841, John received a sign to serve the lonely, abandoned, and orphaned boys of Italy. Again from the Salesian website,
While vesting for Mass, the priest heard the sacristan shrieking at a poor young boy who had sneaked into the church to get warm. "Here, call the boy back," cried Don Bosco, "he's my friend!" The boy came over to Don Bosco.
Don Bosco asked, "What is your Name?"
"Bartholomew Garelli" the boy answered.
"How old are you Bartholomew?"
"Sixteen," answered the boy.
"Can you serve Mass?"
"No."
"What do you do?"
"I'm a bricklayer," he responded, head lowered.
"Your mother and father..." Don Bosco continued.
"I'm alone," the boy responded sadly.
"Can you whistle?" Don Bosco broke in.
"Of course I can whistle!" exclaimed Bartholomew laughing.
And that friendship, struck up on the spur of the moment, began Don Bosco's worldwide ministry to bring young people to God. He told Bartholomew to stay for Mass.
After Mass Don Bosco told the boy, "Next Sunday, bring your friends here, and we'll spend the day together."
The next Sunday, four ragged boys, looking badly in need of a meal and warm clothing, came to Don Bosco. They were certainly in very dire spiritual need. And their number multiplied in a few weeks, so that caring for them soon came to be a major problem.
"But my girls!" exclaimed the directress of the girls' orphanage where Don Bosco was chaplain, "What will become of them?"
"You can always find a priest for them," said Don Bosco, "these boys, they need me!"
Don Bosco became his work in Turin, a city overrun with young boys and men. The industrial revolution had changed many things in the world, including the lives of many children. At that time, the slums of Turin, like slums the world over, were filled with children and teenagers who worked in the sweatshops and were paid a pittance. Most people, of course, viewed these many of these young people as troublemakers and criminals. But Don Bosco saw them as good children who needed only a loving hand. He saw them as souls worth saving.
He started a “wandering Oratory,” meeting with the boys from the city every Sunday in a different places throughout Turin. He heard the boys’ confessions, said Mass for them, gave them religious instruction. This was followed by an outing to the country. The day ended with a final talk.
During the week, Don Bosco would trek through the city, checking up on the boys. Bosco called these the "pioneer days. Days of strenuous work they were, a shiftless existence that threatened to collapse any Sunday, a bankrupt enterprise with no capital, and very little funds."
From this meager beginning, Don Bosco’s work grew. He was able to purchase property on the outskirts of the city. Though the property was in a sketchy part of town, Bosco believed it to be holy ground. And it was: the burial place for the Martyrs of Turin. An orphanage, a trade school, an order of priests and nuns, and, finally, the Salesians Missions, all followed.
If you have a chance, please read about Don Bosco and his life. He was a man of great faith who worked tirelessly to bring souls to God, especially young people. He is a saint we should call upon today to help children and teenagers know their own worth and value, to know that they are made in the image and likeness of God. There are still children who suffer as those boys of Turin did in Bosco’s time, but even children who live materially comfortable lives are suffering. They’ve paid a heavy price due to COVID policies. Our technology overlords are trying to capture them, buying and selling their attention, their youth, their souls.
Don Bosco had so many spiritual gifts—healing, prophecy, he could read consciences, could foretell vocations— that Pope Pius XI said, "In Don Bosco the extraordinary becomes ordinary." Call upon this extraordinary man whose times were not so very different from our own. Take your ordinary life and make it extraordinary by imitating his example.