29 JANUARY

How the piety of Don Bosco permeated the entire Oratory! He began on December 8, 1841 with just one boy. And before the lesson started -the first lesson of Catechism -he fell on his knees and recited a Hail Mary to Our Lady in order that she might help him to save the soul of that poor lad. Surely, that was a prayer, heartfelt and fruitful! On December 8, 1885 as he spoke to his Co-operators on what had then been done and on the conditions of the work forty five years earlier, he declared that it was all the work of Mary help of Christians on account of that Hail Mary "said with fervor and earnestness". The first effects of it were not long in manifesting themselves. The following Sunday Don Bosco's lone pupil returned but not alone, for he brought with him a crowd of pals, poor street urchins like himself, who were received and treated by Don Bosco in his enchanting manner. As Sunday followed Sunday the number of boys grew and with the number grew goodness and mirth too. At Christmas a few of them were able to make their first Holy Communion. On the two feasts of our Lady that next came round the Presentation and the Annunciation, the praises of the august Mother of God were sung by youthful voices trained by the able Don Bosco into a choir; and besides, scores of the more interested boys approached the sacraments. Don Bosco was thoroughly happy. 

These boisterous gatherings were held in a place of quiet, if not a monastery exactly, but the quiet was broken only at stated times with moderation. That place of quiet was the Ecclesiastical College of Turin, the Convitto, where the finishing touches of sacerdotal formation were given to the newly-ordained Piedmontese priests, by means of a deeper study of moral and pastoral theology and by exercising the sacred ministry under the guidance of capable men -Fr. Joseph Cafasso among them. The zealous apostle of youth could have found no better place for preparing himself for his mission. The three years spent there helped immensely to form his spirit in a very definite manner. The grace which Divine Providence bestowed on him by placing him alongside that holy moulder of priestly souls did not remain fruitless. At the School of St Joseph Cafasso Don Bosco avidly imbibed that piety, which by supernatural intuition he had already foretasted in spite of the customs of the day. A piety that meant unlimited trust in God's goodness and love for us." He learned, too, from the holy man's theological conferences and spiritual direction how to hear confessions. Our saint heard insistently repeated that the pulpit was not a stage for showing off one's talents, but rather for telling the world "there is a heaven; observe the commandments; pray; be devout to Mary; frequent the sacraments; flee from idleness, bad company, and dangerous occasions; love your neighbor; be patient in affliction" and no sermon should end without referring to these Eternal Maxims.