Founder of the Salesians and the Daughters of Mary, Help of Christians (1815-1888)
His life
+ John was born in Turin, Italy. Following the death of his father, his mother, Venerbale Margherita Bosco, worked to support the family as best she could.
+ Against great odds, John was ordained a priest in 1841 and, soon after, he founded the Oratory of St. Francis de Sales.
+ A gifted teacher and leader, “Don Bosco” developed an education system based on “reason, religion, and kindness.” He was able to construct workshops to train boys as tradesmen, schools for arts and sciences, and schools for liberal arts for boys preparing for priesthood.
+ In his ministry, he was always guided by this principle: “Jesus began to do before he began to teach.” He would often use magic tricks and games to attract the attention of poor boys who would often not want to have anything to do with a priest.
+ To secure the future of his work, he founded the Salesian Priests and Brothers and, with Saint Mary Mazzarello, the Daughters of Mary, Help of Christians.
+ Saint John Bosco, the “Apostle of Youth,” died on January 31, 1888, and was canonized in 1934. Because of the magic tricks he would perform to attract the attention of the youth whom he sought to serve, John Bosco has come to also be honored as a patron of magicians and jugglers.
For prayer and reflection
“This was the method that Jesus used with the apostles. He put up with their ignorance and roughness and even their infidelity. He treated sinners with a kindness and affection that caused some to be shocked, others to be scandalized and still others to hope for God’s mercy. And so He bade us to be gentle and humble of heart.”—Saint John Bosco
Spiritual bonus
On this day we also remember Blessed Maria Cristina of Savoy. The daughter of the king of Sardinia, she married the King Ferdinand II of the Two Sicilies in 1832, although their marriage was an unhappy one and Maria Cristina was uncomfortable with the pageantry of the royal court. She worked to ensure care for the poor and sick and also actively opposed the death penalty within the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies. Maria Cristina died on January 31, 1836 (at the age of twenty-three), five days after giving birth to her only child, Francesco d’Assisi Maria Leopoldo, who would be the final king of the Two Sicilies. Celebrated for her simplicity and charity, she was beatified in 2014.
Prayer
O God, who raised up the Priest Saint John Bosco
as a father and teacher of the young,
grant, we pray,
that, aflame with the same fire of love,
we may seek out souls and serve you alone.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
God, for ever and ever. Amen.
(from The Roman Missal)
Saint profiles prepared by Father Silas Henderson, S.D.S.
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