Congeniaì saints

The priests at the Oratory kept the spiritual tradition o f St Philip Neri alive, both in Turin and in Piedmont. He was widely known through a biography written during the 17lh century by one o fh is confreres, Pier Giacomo Bacci ( 1575 circa-1856): The life o fS t Philip Neri, the apostle o f Rome and the founder o f the Congregation ofthe Oratory29 and by a collection o f Thoughts fo r Youth.

In the sem inary in Chieri, the feast o f St Philip N eri was one o f three great feasts o fth e year: The Immaculate Conception, which the Rules considered to be the greatest o f all solem nities o f the sem inary,30 the feast days o f St Francis de Sales and St A loysius Gonzaga. The sem inary chapel w as dedicated to the Im m aculate Conception; two chapels in the public church nearby were dedicated to St Francis de Sales and to St Philip N eri. May 26, the feast o f St Philip, was celebrated solem nly with a M ass, serm on and, in the evening, Benediction o f the Blessed Sacram ent.31

Don Bosco, the student-sem inarian, becam e fam iliar with the Founder o f the Oratory and his special pastoral ministry involving cheerful piety, serene chastity and devotion to the Blessed Sacram ent, all to be shared with young people. Don Bosco m ade it so clearly evident in a w ell-know n serm on, delivered at A lba on M ay 26, 186832 and in the pages on the Preventive System in 1877. In a pam phlet w ritten in 1858, A Vade Mecum fo r Christians, D on Bosco included a short series o f words o f advice fo r youth written by St Philip Neri.33 In his Church History, Don Bosco clearly indicated many similarities between his own preventive style and the one used by another Piedm ontese, a m em ber o f the O ratory o f St Philip, Blessed Sebastian

28 Cf. P, Stella, Don Bosco nella storia della religiosità cattolica,voi. 1 85-95; E. Valentini, Don Bosco eS. Alfonso,(Pagani (Salerno): Casa Editrice Sant’Alfonso, 1972), 83. 85 pages.

29 Rome 1622, with other Roman editions from 1745 and 1837.

30 A. Giraudo, Clero, seminario e società,264.

31 Ibid., 444-445.

32 The manuscript signed by Don Bosco is preserved and a copy by Don Berto with author’s corrections. The textisreproduced with variationsin MB 1X214-221. Di Filippo had already drawn up a short profile in Storia ecclesiasticao f 1845 and 1848 (315-316, OEI 315- 316) (added to in the third edition 1870 highlighting the coincidences between the two systems o f education).

33Porta teco cristiano ovvero Avvisi importanti intorno ai doveri del cristiano acciocché ciascuno possa conseguire la propria salvezza nello stato in cui si trova, (Turin, tip. G. B.

Paravia, 1858), 34-36, OE X I34-36.

Valfrè: “ It is hard to express thè extent o f thè zeal that he showed for the salvation o f souls.5'1 In his Practical guide fo r Christians Don Bosco also introduced Bl. Valfrè’s General Advice fo r a Father o f ci Family by Bl. Valfrè, and Advice Given by Bl.

Sebastian Valfrè in Two Letters to Two Mothers,35

The other saint Don Bosco came to know during his days at the seminary was St Francis de Sales from Savoy. (1567-1622). He came into contact with this saint, once again, through the influence o f the Marchioness di Barolo and at the beginning o f the Oratory. In Piedm ont there was ab io g raphy o fth e Bishop o f Savoy w hich was widely circulated. It had been written by the chaplain to the Monastery o f the Visitation in Turin, Father Piergiacinto Gallizia, and it was published in Venice in 1720 and reprinted several times.

St Francis de Sales was better known in the urban areas than in the countryside and m ainly through his book The Introduction to the DevoutLife and The Treatise on thè Love ofGod. Don Bosco probably read the first o f these books at some tim e in his life; it is unlikely that he read the latter one. During the 19th century in Piedmont, Don Bosco, and before him Lanteri, the M archioness di Barolo, Father J. Cafasso, knew the saint from Savoy as a “model o f gentleness and pastoral zeal”; more so for Don Bosco, for those who worked for young people and for the poor.36 This, was the m ost likely im pression that St Francis de Sales had m ade on Don Bosco during his seminary studies.

The follow ing was thè schedule for the feast o f St Francis de Sales:

In the morning, at a convenient hour, there will be a solemn Mass; a panegyric delivered by the vice rector o f thè chapel; thè day will then go on as usuai, with study and tutorial review o f lessons.37

During thè 1870s, while writing his Memoirs ofthe Oratory, Don Bosco justified the dedication o f the first small chapel, thè Pinardi shed, to St Francis de Sales, for these reasons:

34 G. Bosco, Storia ecclesiastica, 331, O E1489; cf. 330-352. O E 1488-490.

35 G. Bosco, P orta teco cristiano, 8-22,48-55, OE X I 8-22,48-55; cf- A. Dordoni, Un maestro d i sp irito nel P iem onte tra S ei e Settecento, il p a d r e S ebastian o Vlafré dell ’O ra to rio di Torino, (Milan, Vita e Pensiero, 1952), 210 pages.

36 Cf. P. Stella, Don Bosco e San F rancesco diS a les: incontro fo rtu ito o identità spiritu ale!

In J. Picca and J, Struce (eds), San F rancesco di S ales e I S alesiani dì Don Bosco, (Rome, LAS, 1986), 139-159.

37 C ostitu zion i p e l Sem inario M etropolitano di Torino (1819), part 1, ch. 2, art. 9, cited by A. Giraudo, Clero, sem in ario e società, 351.

1. Because the Marchioness di Barolo had the intention o f founding a Congregation o f priests under that title, and because o f that she comm issioned a painting o f St Francis de Sales.

2. Since our pastoral m inistry dem ands calm ness and m eekness w e had to place ourselves under the protection o f this saint, that he m ight obtain for us from God the grace to be able to imitate him in his extraordinary meekness and in his zeal for souls.

3. The third reason was that o f placing ourselves under the protection o f this saint, so that from heaven he m ight help us imitate him in his fight against the errors leveled at our religion, especially Protestantism which tries to infiltrate our towns and especially the city o f Turin.38

During the same period Don Bosco was able to acquire a particular knowledge o f St Vincent de Paul (1581-1660). The Vincentians and the Sisters o f Charity were well lcnown in Piedmont. The form er were know n especially because o f the Parish M issions they preached, for their retreats and for the form ation o f the clergy, The latter were lcnown for the care they had for the poor, for the sick and for the soldiers located in military hospitals.

The H ouse o f D ivine Providence had been founded by Father John Baptist Cottolengo, under the protection o f St Vincent de Paul and was inspired by St PauPs words: Caritas Christi urgent nos (The Love o f G od urges us on.) His m essage, according to a scholar who had studied his life, could be summ ed up in this formula:

The spirit and mystery o f charity.39 Don Bosco m ade his retreat, prior to his priestly ordination, in the house o f the Priests o f the Mission in Turin, from March 26 to July 4, 1841.40 H ere is w hat D on B osco w rote about St V incent de Paul in his Church History.

A nim ated by a true spirit o f Charity there was no calam ity o f any kind that he did not attend to. Everyone felt the effects o f St V incent’s fatherly C harity. 41

The p ro o f for the existence o f the perfect harm ony betw een Don Bosco and the saint o f the effective and affective love, is given in the book, The Christian Guide d toward Virtue and Civility According to the Spirit o f St Vincent de Paul.

38 MO(1991), 132-133.

39 A. Dodin, Si Vincent et la charité, (Paris, Éditions du Seuil, 1960), 72-75, 127-133.

40 Don Bosco records this in the M em orie d a l 1841 al 1884-5-6, reporting the resolutions taken, amongst which “may the charity o f kindness o f St Francis de Sales guide me in everything”. (F. Motto, M em orie d a l 1841 ai 1884-5-6 p e l sac. Gio. B osco a ' su oi f ig li salesiani, RSS 4 (1958): 88-89).

41 G. Bosco, Storia ecclesiastica, 328, O E 1486.

This book was prepared by Don Bosco him self and edited by the French Benedictine Joseph Ansart ( 1723-1790).42