The Holy Don Bosco
Don Bosco, SDB (Becchi, 16 August 1815 - Turin, January 31, 1888) was an Italian Catholic priest, founder of the Pious Society of St. Francis de Sales and proclaimed a saint in 1934. John Melchior Bosco was born and was acclaimed by John Paul II as the "Father and Master of Youth".
He is the founder of the Salesian Society of St. Francis de Sales (1859), known as Salesians, co-founder of the Congregation of the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians, known as Salesian Sisters and founder of the International Association of Salesian Cooperators. He was canonized on April 1, 1934 by Pope Pius XI, being the patron saint of young people and apprentices. Your day is celebrated on January 31st.
Don Bosco founded an oratory in Turin on December 8, 1841, when he attended and taught the young Bartolomeo Garelli in the sacristy of the Church of St. Francis of Assisi. On December 8, 1844, this oratory was renamed the Oratory of St. Francis de Sales, and was the first Salesian house, and on April 12, 1846, it had its permanent headquarters in a property of Francisco Pinardi, in the district of Turin Of Valdocco.
Bosco thought of organizing a religious association, however, the political context of the unification of Italy, the dispute over the separation of State and Church, did not stimulate the creation of a religious order in the traditional molds.
From 1863, in addition to the oratories, the Salesians also began to dedicate themselves to Catholic schools and schools for boys and girls. With the separation of state and church, there is a strong demand for Catholic schools, making this type of institution spread rapidly. The Society's rules, called Constitutions, were approved by the church in 1874. At his death in 1888, the Society had 768 members, with 26 houses founded in the Americas and 38 in Europe.
There is controversy whether it be dreams, visions or premonitions. St. John Bosco himself seems not to know very well how to deal with these events. Finally, he decided to pay attention to them, since they were often premonitory dreams that warned him of the imminent death of a student or Salesian. It was his custom to tell the dream to his confessor or spiritual director before telling it to the others. Concerning the dreams of Saint John Bosco, Pope Pius IX ordered him to consign everything in writing, in its literal and detailed sense, to further stimulate the children of the Salesian Congregation.
The biography of John Bosco draws countless dreams from the first, still in childhood, when he finds himself fighting with other boys and a man - according to the symbols of the dream, Jesus Christ - approaches and instructs him to educate, not with blows, But with meekness and charity.
