DON BOSCO: LIFE AND WORK

John Melchior Bosco was born into a family of poor farmers on August 16, 1815 at Becchi, a hamlet near Turin, Italy. He was orphaned of his father at the tender age of two. His mother, Margaret took on the task of bringing up her three children with love, discipline and great courage. She taught them to till the soil and to see God's presence in all things in the beauty of the sky, in the abundant harvest and in the storm which destroyed their vines.

A mysterious dream at the age of nine left an indelible stamp on his life. He saw himself amidst scruffy street kids who were fighting and using abusive language. He jumped in to stop the commotion, hitting out wildly with his fists. A majestic personage, who introduced himself as Jesus, stopped him short. He promised to give John a teacher who would show him how to deal with the ragamuffins who, to John's horror, had metamorphosed into ferocious beasts.

At that instant a beautiful lady appeared, Mary the mother of Jesus, “Not with blows”, she said, “but with loving kindness!”. And as she spoke the wild beasts became gentle lambs. She left him an agenda for life “Make yourself humble, steadfast and strong”.

John saw in the dream a divine commission to work for poor and abandoned urchins. The long years that followed were filled with an amazing enthusiasm to make that dream come true, which was not without its share of humiliation and hardship.

In order to pursue his dream, he began his studies for the priesthood. John had to leave home to join the city school. Being bigger than his classmates, he was often the object of much ridicule. Little did they know what it cost him - earning whatever he could after school, and studying by the light of a candle at night.

He was ordained a priest in 1841 and took as his counselor Don Joseph Cafasso, a teacher with a very down-to-earth spirituality. On his advice, young Bosco explored human misery through the by-lanes and market places of Turin and was deeply disturbed.

Everywhere he looked he saw young people - unemployed, sad, roaming the streets. His visit to the prisons disturbed him even more. He made up his mind: "At all costs, I must stop boys from ending up here".

From then on he began a relentless search - through factories, markets, taverns and piazzas - for boys in need of food, shelter and education.

One December day in 1841, Bartholomew Garelli, a migrant from a village called Asti, entered the church to seek warmth from the biting cold. The angry sacristan drove the boy out. Don Bosco ordered him to bring 'his friend' back. Then putting a warm arm around Bartholomew he sat him down and began to teach him how to whistle and to pray.

He invited the boy to come again, on condition that he brought his friends too. Three days later he had around him nine urchins, a month later, twenty-five that grew to eighty. And by the summer of 1842 he had over 300 boys. This large following of street kids angered the neighbours.

It lost him a lucrative job as the chaplain of a rich countess. It enticed the political insurgents to consider using his boys to further their prospects for an independent Italy. The impending political revolution and the possibility of the boys joining the rebels, instigated some bureaucrats to dissuade Don Bosco from gathering his boys. It incited some of his superiors to question the meaning of his priesthood. It even made his fellow clergymen arrange to lock him up in a mental asylum 'for his own good'.

Meanwhile, the boys who frequented Don Bosco's club began to accept him as their father and guide. Some expressed their desire to become like him. And so, the Salesian Society, comprising of priests and lay brothers, was bom. (The word 'Salesian' is from the name of the patron, "St. Francis de Sales", a saint much admired by Don Bosco for his conversion from an angry young man to a kind and gentle bishop.)

In the early hours of January 31,1888, Don Bosco breathed his last. He has left posterity is his unique way of educating called the Preventive System which has 3 pillars-Reason, Religion and Loving kindness.

The Salesians of Don Bosco (SDB) founded by Don Bosco in 1864 today numbers 1755 spread over 1676 provinces in 134 nations throughout the world.

John Melchior Bosco was born into a family of poor farmers on August 16, 1815 at Becchi, a hamlet near Turin, Italy. He was orphaned of his father at the tender age of two. His mother, Margaret took on the task of bringing up her three children with love, discipline and great courage. She taught them to till the soil and to see God's presence in all things in the beauty of the sky, in the abundant harvest and in the storm which destroyed their vines.

A mysterious dream at the age of nine left an indelible stamp on his life. He saw himself amidst scruffy street kids who were fighting and using abusive language. He jumped in to stop the commotion, hitting out wildly with his fists. A majestic personage, who introduced himself as Jesus, stopped him short. He promised to give John a teacher who would show him how to deal with the ragamuffins who, to John's horror, had metamorphosed into ferocious beasts.

At that instant a beautiful lady appeared, Mary the mother of Jesus, “Not with blows”, she said, “but with loving kindness!”. And as she spoke the wild beasts became gentle lambs. She left him an agenda for life “Make yourself humble, steadfast and strong”.

John saw in the dream a divine commission to work for poor and abandoned urchins. The long years that followed were filled with an amazing enthusiasm to make that dream come true, which was not without its share of humiliation and hardship.

In order to pursue his dream, he began his studies for the priesthood. John had to leave home to join the city school. Being bigger than his classmates, he was often the object of much ridicule. Little did they know what it cost him - earning whatever he could after school, and studying by the light of a candle at night.

He was ordained a priest in 1841 and took as his counselor Don Joseph Cafasso, a teacher with a very down-to-earth spirituality. On his advice, young Bosco explored human misery through the by-lanes and market places of Turin and was deeply disturbed.

Everywhere he looked he saw young people - unemployed, sad, roaming the streets. His visit to the prisons disturbed him even more. He made up his mind: "At all costs, I must stop boys from ending up here".

From then on he began a relentless search - through factories, markets, taverns and piazzas - for boys in need of food, shelter and education.

One December day in 1841, Bartholomew Garelli, a migrant from a village called Asti, entered the church to seek warmth from the biting cold. The angry sacristan drove the boy out. Don Bosco ordered him to bring 'his friend' back. Then putting a warm arm around Bartholomew he sat him down and began to teach him how to whistle and to pray.

He invited the boy to come again, on condition that he brought his friends too. Three days later he had around him nine urchins, a month later, twenty-five that grew to eighty. And by the summer of 1842 he had over 300 boys. This large following of street kids angered the neighbours.

It lost him a lucrative job as the chaplain of a rich countess. It enticed the political insurgents to consider using his boys to further their prospects for an independent Italy. The impending political revolution and the possibility of the boys joining the rebels, instigated some bureaucrats to dissuade Don Bosco from gathering his boys. It incited some of his superiors to question the meaning of his priesthood. It even made his fellow clergymen arrange to lock him up in a mental asylum 'for his own good'.

Meanwhile, the boys who frequented Don Bosco's club began to accept him as their father and guide. Some expressed their desire to become like him. And so, the Salesian Society, comprising of priests and lay brothers, was bom. (The word 'Salesian' is from the name of the patron, "St. Francis de Sales", a saint much admired by Don Bosco for his conversion from an angry young man to a kind and gentle bishop.)

In the early hours of January 31,1888, Don Bosco breathed his last. He has left posterity is his unique way of educating called the Preventive System which has 3 pillars-Reason, Religion and Loving kindness.

The Salesians of Don Bosco (SDB) founded by Don Bosco in 1864 today numbers 1755 spread over 1676 provinces in 134 nations throughout the world.