January 31st - St. John Bosco

These are two excerpts from the book Some Pedagogical Ideas of Don Bosco.

1 It is indisputable that the personality of Don Bosco's mother, Mamma
Margherita, influenced his formation. This woman, a widow at age 29, profoundly
marked the souls of her three sons. She had little formal education but
remarkably good sense. Her uprightness of judgment, great piety and virile
firmness made her an exemplary educator. Margherita required her sons to work
either in the house or the fields. From the break of dawn, after morning prayer
the children worked hard all day long. "Life is too short to lose the best part
of the day," she would say.

Laziness was not permitted. The meals were simple and at night they slept on the
floor. She never allowed self-complacence and had always her mind turned toward
heaven: "We are soldiers of Christ always with our weapons ready, facing the
enemy, and we must win," she used to say. This is the way she prepared her sons
for life.

2 In addition to the work of his religious congregation, the building of
churches, the foundation of numerous orphanages and preparing missions in
faraway countries, Don Bosco dedicated time by day and night to write. He knew
how to serve the Church with the pen, at times combating errors, at times
strengthening souls. As a man of his time, he was aware of the great influence
of that new modern giant, the press. He used his pen for more than 45 years
producing a variety of works according to the needs of his fight.

When Protestantism launched offensive attacks against the Catholic Church with
popular periodic brochures, Don Bosco countered with his Catholic Lectures, a
monthly publication with timely articles and questions that responded to the
Protestant propaganda.


Comments of the late Prof. Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira: (died 1995)

Let me comment on these excerpts one at a time.

Regarding Mamma Margherita, she fits the description of that strong woman of the
Scripture who fulfills her duties and whose value is "far and from the uttermost
coasts." She lived her life uprightly, she formed her sons perfectly, and one of
them became the great St. John Bosco.

Her life offers proof of just how erroneous the progressivist mentality
inundating the Church today is. Indeed, for this flawed mentality, anyone who
has to bear hunger, cold and suffering cannot have a spiritual life. According
to it, the first step is to do away with poverty and hunger. Only then can one
begin to talk about a spiritual life. Therefore, the beginning of all apostolate
is this material action. Doing away with poverty becomes, then, one of the main
if not the principal ends of the Catholic Church.

The life of Mamma Margherita demonstrates precisely the opposite. Her house was
so poor that all the members of the family slept on the floor; the meals were
frugal; the family members were subjected to much hard work. They led a typical
poor life. Notwithstanding, she knew how to profit from this life and sanctified
it by means of fortitude and the spirit of abnegation and sacrifice. Despite the
poverty of the family, she saw to their material needs: her sons became strong
men, capable of all kinds of work. At the same time, and this is what is
important for us to note, she also took good care of their spiritual lives.

You see how Progressivism lies and fools Catholics when it implies that soft,
comfortable conditions are indispensable for sanctity. This is completely wrong.
Austerity, not softness, is what is needed.. This austerity must be observed in
the formation of every family, even those of high levels with many resources.

In Europe this austerity was maintained in the formation of children and youth
until some time ago. In the memoirs of the Duke of Nemours or the Duke of
Alençon - I don't remember which - it tells about the time when he was in
London, exiled from France. He was young and lived with several other noble
young men in the same house along the River Thames. The windows of their large
bedroom were on the second floor opening straight out to the Thames. He wrote
that when they would wake in the morning, it was their habit to jump out the
window into the Thames. They would all do this every morning in the winter. This
shows how they were accustomed to austerity. It is an example that comes to my
mind on austerity in the formation of nobles. I wonder how many bad consequences
would have been avoided if austerity were imposed in the formation of the youth
of today's wealthy families.

Regarding the second excerpt, it is interesting to observe how St. John Bosco
was always aware of the problems of his times. He was not a saint living in the
clouds, as sentimental hagiographies depict many saints. St. John Bosco knew the
problems of his time and combated the enemies of the Church as they actually
were. When the Protestant propaganda became strong in north Italy, he developed
an effective intellectual action against it.

Today most people have a revolutionary understanding of what is important. They
think that the economic means is more important than intellectual skills, and
that the material is greater than the spiritual. For this reason, when they
speak about St. John Bosco, they tend to stress his works of social assistance,
and underplay his intellectual work. I also praise and recognize the importance
of the foundations he made to help poor boys and give them a good formation, but
I don't agree that he should be remembered primarily for those works.

When you examine his life, you see that he spent a large number of years
writing; therefore, he was as much a writer as a man of outside activity. It is
why he joins St. Francis de Sales as one of the two patron saints of the press.
It is good for us to stress this point that sets things aright.

Let us ask St. John Bosco to give us the spirit of austerity he had and protect
our intellectual work and our Catholic journalism.

See Pictures at:
http://www.traditioninaction.org/SOD/j165sd_DonBosco_2-01.html

Longer Version found at:
http://www.saintpatrickdc.org/ss/0131.htm


Saint Quotes:
Fly from bad companions as from the bite of a poisonous snake. If you keep good
companions, I can assure you that you will one day rejoice with the blessed in
Heaven; whereas if you keep with those who are bad, you will become bad
yourself, and you will be in danger of losing your soul.
-Saint John Bosco

Enjoy yourself as much as you like-if only you keep from sin.
-Saint John Bosco

Do you want our Lord to give you many graces? Visit him often. Do you want him
to give you few graces? Visit him seldom. Visits to the Blessed Sacrament are
powerful and indispensable means of overcoming the attacks of the devil. Make
frequent visits to Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament and the devil will be
powerless against you.
-Saint John Bosco

Bible Quote:
They that sow in tears shall reap in joy. He that goeth forth and weepeth,
bearing precious seed, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his
sheaves with him. (Psalm 126:5-6 )