Born into abject poverty, orphan of his father at 2 years of age, so poor that there were nights without food on the table, tempted relentlessly by the devil, shot at several times by political enemies—- all of the above describe the many trials and tribulations that one of the greatest modern saints courageously endured. The name of this saint is SAINT JOHN BOSCO!
TALENTS. Along with the trials God endowed this “Spiritual hero and giant” with innumerable talents, that the saint would use
to promote the honor and glory of God and the salvation of souls. Indeed his motto in life as a priest was “Give me souls and take all the rest away!”
agrarian-farm life of the fields to the urban-city life. This resulted in divided families, children
and teens abandoned to the streets, orphans roaming the city streets with no
compass and direction in life. BOSCO enters the scene! His specific charism was
to become a father to the fatherless street-urchins starting in the enormous
industrial city of Turin, Italy.
Food, clothing, an education, training for a trade in life— were all part and parcel of the Oratory life. However, of greatest importance St. John Bosco assured every single one of
those boys that they were special, a treasure, of infinite value in his eyes
and in the eyes of God. Such was the charism of Bosco that every one of the
boys in the Oratory was convinced that “he” was Bosco’s favorite.
the Oratory, the Sacramental life emphasized to the max. Of course the tender and filial love for the Blessed Virgin Mary (Our Lady Help of Christians) that John Bosco had instilled in him by his own mother, Mama Margarita, the saint labored ceaselessly to instill in his family the Oratory.
the very depths of their souls. He would approach one and whisper in his ear:
“Confession time!” or to another, “Avoid that near occasion of sin…” Still to
another a word of warning or encouragement!
How he loved the boys and the salvation of their immortal souls!
relieved of the suffering!
He asked St. John Bosco what was written on the wall in Latin. St. John Bosco translated to the young man
from Latin into Italian what was the motto of his priestly life: “Give me souls
and take all the rest away!” Admiring
the spirituality of the priest the boy made an offering in these words: “I am the cloth and you are the tailor; make me into a saint!” The desire became a
fact. That young man, who compared
himself to cloth in the hands of the tailor, was none other than SAINT DOMINIC
SAVIO. It was through the guidance and
spiritual direction of St. John Bosco that Dominic Savio, eventually
became SAINT DOMINIC SAVIO. He lived only 14 years and 11 months and his
motto in life was: “Death rather than sin.”
CHRISTIANS, on the higher, JESUS IN THE BLESSED SACRAMENT. After directing
safely the ship between the two pillars and anchoring the ship, the waves subsided,
the enemy ships were put to flight and the ship arrived safely ashore.