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Don
Bosco
St. John Bosco 1815 - 1888
 Founder
of the Salesian Society. Born of poor parents in a little cabin at
Becchi, a hill-side hamlet near Castelnuovo, Piedmont, Italy, 16 August,
1815; died 31 January 1888; declared Venerable by Pius X, 21 July, 1907.
[Note: Pope Pius XI beatified him in 1929 and canonized him in 1934.]
When he was little more than two years old his father died, leaving the
support of three boys to the mother, Margaret Bosco. John's early years
were spent as a shepherd and he received his first instruction at the
hands of the parish priest. He possessed a ready wit, a retentive
memory, and as years passed his appetite for study grew stronger. Owing
to the poverty of the home, however, he was often obliged to turn from
his books to the field, but the desire of what he had to give up never
left him. In 1835 he entered the seminary at Chieri and after six years
of study was ordained priest on the eve of Trinity Sunday by Archbishop
Franzoni of Turin.
Leaving the seminary, Don Bosco went to Turin where he entered zealously
upon his priestly labours. It was here that an incident occurred which
opened up to him the real field of effort of his afterlife. One of his
duties was to accompany Don Cafasso upon his visits to the prisons of
the city, and the condition of the children confined in these places,
abandoned to the most evil influences, and with little before them but
the gallows, made such a indelible impression upon his mind that he
resolved to devote his life to the rescue of these unfortunate outcasts.
On the eighth of December, 1841, the feast of the Immaculate Conception,
while Don Bosco was vesting for Mass, the sacristan drove from the
Church a ragged urchin because he refused to serve Mass. Don Bosco heard
his cries and recalled him, and in the friendship which sprang up
between the priest and Bartolomeo Garelli was sown the first seed of the
"Oratory", so called, no doubt, after the example of St. Philip Neri and
because prayer was its prominent feature. Don Bosco entered eagerly upon
the task of instructing this first pupil of the streets; companions soon
joined Bartolomeo, all drawn by a kindness they had never known, and in
February, 1842, the Oratory numbered twenty boys, in March of the same
year, thirty, and in March, 1846, four hundred.
As the number of boys increased, the question of a suitable
meeting-place presented itself. In good weather walks were taken on
Sundays and holidays to spots in the country about Turin where lunch was
eaten, and realizing the charm which music held for the untamed spirits
of his disciples Don Bosco organized a band for which some old brass
instruments were procured. In the autumn of 1844 he was appointed
assistant chaplain to the Rifugio, where Don Borel entered
enthusiastically into his work. With the approval of Archbishop Franzoni,
two rooms were secured adjoining the Rifugio and converted into a
chapel, which was dedicated to St. Francis de Sales. The members of the
Oratory now gathered at the Rifugio, and numbers of boys from the
surrounding district applied for admission. It was about this time
(1845) that Don Bosco began his night schools and with the closing of
the factories the boys flocked to his rooms where he and Don Borel
instructed them in rudimentary branches.
The success of the Oratory at the Rifugio was not of long duration. To
his great distress Don Bosco was obliged to give up his rooms and from
this on he was subjected to petty annoyances and obstacles which, at
times, seemed to spell the ruin of his undertaking. His perseverance in
the face of all difficulties led many to the conclusion that he was
insane, and an attempt was even made to confine him in an asylum.
Complaints were lodged against him, declaring his community to be a
nuisance, owing to the character of the boys he befriended. From the
Rifugio the Oratory was moved to St. Martin's, to St. Peter's
Churchyard, to three rooms in Via Cottolengo, where the night schools
were resumed, to an open field, and finally to a rough shed upon the
site of which grew up an Oratory that counted seven hundred members. Don
Bosco took lodgings nearby, where he was joined by his mother. "Mama
Margaret", as Don Bosco's mother came to be known, gave the last ten
years of her life in devoted service to the little inmates of this first
Salesian home. When she joined her son at the Oratory the outlook was
not bright. But sacrificing what small means she had, even to parting
with her home, its furnishings, and her jewelry, she brought all the
solicitude and love of a mother to these children of the streets. The
evening classes increased and gradually dormitories were provided for
many who desired to live at the Oratory. Thus was founded the first
Salesian Home which now houses about one thousand boys.
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