IT WAS THE YEAR 1815. The evil times were far from being over. But all in all this was a good year. Napoleon had fallen. Oppressive anti-Church laws were lifted in Italy. The exiled Pope Pius VII was able to return to Rome and, in thanks­giving for deliverance from the Corsican’s tyranny, he insti­tuted the Feast of Mary, Help of Christians.

The evils of the times yet to come might soon have effaced the memory of the Feast and its implicit hope from Christian hearts. But She who is their unfailing succor would not permit it. Instead, She raised up a champion to propagate throughout the world devotion to Her as the Help of Christians.

The place was Becchi in the northern Italian state of Pied­mont. Mystically the date was also 1815, August 16, to be exact. This was such a great day in that good year, in fact, that we believe the angels might have tolled a thunderous ova­tion on the church bells of Piedmont, had Napoleon not con­fiscated every last one for making his cannons. For this was the birthday of one of the greatest and most beloved of modern saints, Saint John Bosco.

The Making of a Saint

No one is born a saint. Heroic sanctity, which is what our Holy Mother the Church honors in her canonized children, must be achieved. It is achieved simply by total and unconditional surrender of the personal will to the Divine Will. The operations of God’s graces on the soul fulfill all other qualifying needs. On man’s part, one has only to con­tinue perfecting this discipline to the end to win the crown of sainthood.

Anyone, therefore, can be­come a saint. It is never too late in life to begin, as Saint Augus­tine’s glorious example testifies. More commonly, however, the great saints have been set on the road to heroic sanctity early in life, usually by holy mothers. Our modern apostle of youth was just such a saint...


More: http://catholicism.org/don-bosco.html