Saint John Bosco

St John Bosco is remembered as a man who dedicated his life to the service of abandoned young people. Over 150 years ago he challenged the way young people were treated in the desperate poverty that existed at that time in the city of Turin, Italy. He was driven by first-hand experience of the effects of dreadful poverty and hunger on the young people he came across, he was determined to change their condition. Others were inspired to follow him in responding to the needs of the young. John Bosco created an order in the Catholic Church, called the Salesians.

His followers, the Salesians, became numerous. A phenomenal growth was achieved through a combination of factors, not least Don Bosco's determination and his inspiration from his dream. The Salesians are to be found working throughout the world, in every continent, thousands of Priests and Brothers who in turn have inspired huge numbers of other people.

Don Bosco knew that education was the key to helping these young people. He sought to teach them (many could only learn after their day's work and not all wanted to), and to get fairer treatment for them with their employers. He looked to help other young people who still slept under bridges and on the streets. Even when they stole from him, as some did, he never gave up hope. He never lost his confidence in youth. Don Bosco started technical schools to educate the young people in skilled jobs like printing, bookbinding and mechanics. In those days, these were the skills that would guarantee better conditions and a better future for them. Today there are more than 3200 Salesian schools and colleges around the world, which educate following the inspiration of the Salesian spirit of St John Bosco. 

Saint Frances De Sales

For busy people of the world, he advised "Retire at various times into the solitude of your own heart, even while outwardly engaged in discussions or transactions with others and talk to God." The test of prayer was a person's actions: "To be an angel in prayer and a beast in one's relations with people is to go lame on both legs. Born in France in 1567, Francis was a patient man. He knew for thirteen years that he had a vocation to the priesthood before he mentioned it to his family and began the training, eventually getting ordained. The key to love of God for Francis was prayer. "By turning your eyes on God in meditation, your whole soul will be filled with God. Begin all your prayers in the presence of God."
He believed the worst sin was to judge someone or to gossip about them. Even if we say we do it out of love we're still doing it to look better ourselves. But we should be as gentle and forgiving with ourselves as we should be with others.

As he became older and more ill he said, "I have to drive myself but the more I try the slower I go." He wanted to be a hermit but he was more in demand than ever. The Pope needed him, then a princess, then Louis XIII. "Now I really feel that I am only attached to the earth by one foot..." He died on December 28, 1622.

He is patron saint of journalists because of the tracts and books he wrote. His spirituality of gentleness and loving-kindness inspired Saint John Bosco, who in turn called his followers 'Salesians', a name he took from St. Francis de Sales.  

Saint Mary Mazzarello

Maria Domenica was born on 9th May 1837 at Mornese in the Alessandria region of Italy. In her family she received a grounding in solid piety, hard work and a remarkable common sense and judgement which stood her in good stead when she became a Religious Superior.

At the age of fifteen she enrolled in the Association of Daughters of Mary Immaculate and started to take part in apostolic work for the girls of the area. A serious bout of typhoid contracted when she was 23 had a profound effect on her spiritual development. This experience of being physically frail deepened her sense of abandonment to God, but also moved her to open a dressmaking workshop in order to teach girls about work, prayer and the love of God. Thanks to her devout sacramental life and the wise guidance of Don Pestarino she made great progress in spirituality. When Don Bosco visited Mornese on 8th October 1864 she remarked "Don Bosco is a saint – I can sense it".

In 1872 Don Bosco chose her to help him found the Institute of the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians. As Superior she showed herself to be an able teacher and guide in the spiritual life. She had the gift of serene and comforting cheerfulness, radiating joy and drawing other young people to dedicate themselves to the education of girls.
After her death the Institute continued to develop rapidly. She left her Daughters a style of education permeated with gospel values: the search for God, known through enlightened teaching and fervent love, responsibility in work, openness and humility, austerity of life and joyful self-giving. She died at Nizza Monferrato on 14th May 1881.

Saint Dominic Savio

Dominic was born on 2nd April 1842 at San Giovanni di Riva, near Chieri (Turin). When he was twelve he was accepted by Don Bosco to go to the Oratory in Turin, and he asked Don Bosco to help him 'become a saint'. He was a gentle lad, always calm and cheerful, and he put great efforts into his studies and into helping his companions in every way, teaching them their Catechism, tending the sick, sorting out quarrels, etc.

One day he told a boy who had just arrived at the Oratory: "You ought to know that here we find holiness through being very happy! We try to avoid sin, which robs us of God's grace and our peace of mind, and we carry out our duties as well as we can."

Dominic kept faithfully to this plan, strengthened by the sacraments and his devotion to Mary, and accepted hardships gladly. God blessed him with special gifts. Mamma Margaret (Don Bosco's mother), who had come to Turin to help her priest son, said one day: "You have many good boys, but none can match the good heart and soul of Dominic Savio. I see him so often at prayer, staying in church after the others; every day he slips out of the playground to make a visit to the Blessed Sacrament. When he is in church he is like an angel living in Paradise."

Dominic died in Mondonio on 9th March 1857, just under a month before his fifteenth birthday. Pope Pius XII described him as "small in size, but a towering giant in spirit."