At the origin of the “religious” option Don Bosco gave much im por
tance to its “functional” aspect, emphasized in what Pius IX said to him:
without vows there would be no effective bonds between the members, and between superiors and subjects. But noteworthy and even essential are the evangelical and theological references in respect of “consecration” and the
“imitation of Christ”. In the first place the vows break the chains that en
slave us to the “world” (sensual satisfaction, pressure of temporal things, self-will, etc.); and secondly, they bind us closely “with the supreme head of the Church and consequently with God h im s e lf , detaching us from earthly things; in consequence they create compact community cohesion.
But the “consecration” of the vows brings with it radical enrichments at the level of grace: “the merit of our works is greatly increased”, “our bap
tismal innocence is restored”, “it is though we had suffered m artyrdom”,
“because what the vows lack in intensity they make up for in duration”.
From all this follows the closing reminder: “In every assignment, in all our work, pain or sacrifice, let us never forget that we are consecrated to God, for him alone we are working and from him alone we look for our reward”.
a. The virtue and vow o f obedience require unconditional submission to G od’s will. Taking inspiration from St Paul (Phil 2, 3), this “ought to be after the example of our divine Saviour who practised it even in things
m ost difficult, even to the death on the cross; and should the glory o f God dem and as m uch from us, we ought also to be obedient to the sacrifice o f ou r ow n lives” . B ut since it calls also for great confidence in the superior, it has great practical possibilities as well. Individual selfishness gives way to a com m on seeking for the com m on good o f the C ongregation, co n sid er
ing the honour o f one the honour o f all, and m aintaining a strong co rp o rate spirit.
D on B osco continually inculcated and praised a kind o f obedience that had passed from a purely friendly and fam ily practice to one that had be
com e a real religious sacrifice. From this standpoint he declares em phati
cally, quoting Sts. G irolam o, B onaventure and G regory: “In the vow o f obedience lies the com plexus o f all the virtues” ; “the w hole o f religious perfection consists in the practice o f obedience” ; “obedience leads to the possession o f all the other virtues and preserves them all” .
A t the T hird G eneral C hapter (1880) he lam ented a certain laxity in obedience, declaring that it was “intolerable” that a confrere “w ithout say
ing anything should neglect a task for which he w as responsible”, because this “w ould have caused im m ense harm to the C ongregation”. O bedience had to be absolute, beginning from the Superior C hapter and extending to
“directors, prefects and all m em bers o f the congregation” . And to one w ho said that observance o f the rules w as burdensom e, he replied: “M y dear brethren, do we w ant to jo u rn ey to Paradise in a horse-draw n carriage? We have becom e religious not for our enjoym ent but to suffer and gain m erit for the next life; we are consecrated to God not to com m and but to obey;
not to attach o u rselv es to creatu res but to p ractise ch arity to w a rd s ou r neighbour, for the love o f God; not to lead an easy life but to be poor w ith Jesus C hrist, to be poor w ith him on earth so as to be w orthy o f his glory in heaven” .
b. W ith regard to poverty, it is significant that the first G eneral C hapter (1877) began the first partial publication o f the A cts w ith the central them e o f econom y, i.e. o f saving and austerity. We know o f course that on the badge o f the C ongregation Don B osco did not w ant the m otto “w ork and p rayer”, but “w ork and tem perance” .
The text o f the constitutions saw the virtue and vow o f poverty rather from the standpoint o f the com m on life, though still w ith a referen ce to
“detachm ent from all w orldly goods” . Even the circular on poverty, sent to
the Salesians on the eve o f the definitive approval o f the constitutions, is m ade up only o f practical norm s about econom y and saving, m ade neces
sary by the many expenses connected w ith the building o f new houses and the “increase in all kinds o f foodstuffs”, w ith som e alleviation in its final phrases.
But underneath it all there is the strong recall o f the Gospel. In the C on
gregation the Salesian religious “is considered as literally possessing no th ing, having m ade him self poor to becom e rich w ith Jesus C hrist. He is fol
low ing the exam ple o f our S aviour w ho w as born in poverty, lived d e prived o f all things, and died stripped o f his clothes on the cross” .
T here are, o f course, other m otivations. The C ongregation and its houses live by charitable donations and have decided, constitutionally, to live in that way, w ithout depending on secure sources o f incom e, foundations, rev
enue and the like. “We live by the charity o f our benefactors” , and conse
quently: “It m ust be considered an inviolable principle that we do not m ain
tain proprietorship o f any property except for the houses and accessories needed for the health o f the confreres or pupils. To keep property for finan
cial gain is an insult to divine providence, w hich alw ays com es to our help in w onderful and even astonishing w ays” . Later he ham m ers hom e the same point: “W hen we begin to give way to ease and com fort, our pious society will have run its course. The world will alw ays w elcom e us as long as our concern is directed to the w ild and unruly, to poor children, to those in soci
ety m ost at risk. This is our true happiness that no one will envy or w ant to take from us” .
Finally the Salesian frees h im self “by poverty from the burdens o f tem poral concerns” , and m akes his activities m ore straightforw ard and effec
tive, to such an extent that D on Bosco intended poverty to be really aus
tere, w ithout any half m easures or com prom ise: “F or us, anything beyond food and clothing is superfluous and opposed to the religious vocation” .
c. In the m atter o f chastity, even m ore than in the case o f obedience and poverty, D on B osco refers m ore frequently to the virtue than to the vow.
His conferences and talks to the Salesians are all m ore or less sim ilar, w ith som e sm all changes w hen talking to novices, to young professed m em bers or to young people in general. To the Salesians he alw ays em phasizes the delicacy o f their m ission am ong the young, and this all the m ore so if the latter com e from m orally degraded environm ents.
In the introduction to the constitutions Don B osco is lavish in his praise for the virtues and in w arnings about dangers and cautions to be observed, partly present also in the constitutions them selves. He indicates therapies too, analogous to those suggested indiscrim inately to all: the avoidance o f fam iliarity w ith persons o f the other sex, the avoidance o f particular friend
ships w ith the young, keeping the bodily senses under control, and tem per
ance especially in m atters o f food and drink; and the avoidance o f w orldly places, persons and situations.
In se p arate co n fe re n ce s fo r S alesian s, y o u n g p eo p le an d a d u lts, he spoke o f “positive and n egative m eans” in term s analogous to those he used for the boys. The starting point consisted in the m ethod o f “flight” . “I am alw ays recom m ending you to stay in the m idst o f the young, and now I am telling you to fly from them . W hat I m ean is this: we m ust be w ith them , w e m ust be in their m idst, but not alone w ith any one o f them , not with one m ore than w ith another. We m ust face the fact: this has been the cause o f the ruination o f religious congregations dedicated to the education o f the young” . This is the paradox o f Salesian chastity: w ith the m ost g en
erous and affectionate co-involvem ent, with loving kindness, m ust be co m bined the m ost radical detachm ent; to em otive vulnerability m ust be added the rigour o f self-discipline.
F o r the p reserv atio n o f ch astity Don B o sco spoke also o f “p o sitiv e m e a n s” : “m e d ita tio n , e x a m in a tio n o f c o n sc ie n c e , e tc .” ; and e sp e c ia lly som e “little things, easy to do but effective”, sum m ed up in the com pre
hensive program “the exact fulfilm ent o f o n e ’s duties” : study, assistance, teaching, punctuality at m eals and recreation, adherence to the tim e-table.
Don Bosco was tireless in the battle for the preservation o f m orality. H e w anted a general “personal and environm ental atm osphere” w hich, in addi
tion to chastity called for caution in behaviour, w ords, books and new spa
pers, decorations and theatrical presentations. “L et not even the sm allest blem ish ever appear am ong us” , he insisted during the course o f the second G eneral C hapter (1880)