(Continued
from yesterday) To others he would say, "Do you know, I want to cook
you." Or "You are not sufficiently cooked as yet" meaning that
he wanted to see in him a more perfect tenor of life, or a more sincere love of
God.
At
other times he would ask one whom he had seen distracted during the sermon
"tell me, are you suffering from a toothache?" "I? No".
"Oh! I thought you had a bad toothache." Then he would explain to the
boy that he meant that he chewed the word of God so badly, that it seemed that
he did not like it and therefore did not derive any fruit from it. While at
other times he would ask. "Poor fellow, have you a headache?" meaning
thereby that he was capricious and disobedient.
Another
very common phrase of his was, "when will you start working
miracles?" Sometimes he would address these phrases to someone who was
rather thoughtful or to another whom he thought was thinking of something away
from the subject or to one who whispered an aside to a companion when Don Bosco
had a crowd around him.
Don
Bosco rarely, if ever, reprimanded severely, much less publicly. He never let
any boy know that he had little esteem for him. And even those who knew that
they did not merit any regard knew well that Don Bosco would never stigmatize
them before the others. During the whole of his life he never humiliated anyone
except in the case of public scandals when public reparation was necessary,
hence the trust and confidence of almost all the boys in their superior. Thus
his friendly advice never dishonored anyone but would bring about good and was
lasting effects. As the Book of Proverbs says: 'As an ear-ring of gold and a
bright pearl, so is he that reproveth the wise and the obedient ear' (Prov
25:12)
These were some his
most common requests:
-Will you as a nosegay
for me in honor of our Lady study your lessons a little better?
-Jesus is waiting for
you in the Church; he wants you to make a short visit
-Get rid of the habit
of catching hold of others.
-Did you make a good
confession?
-Why do you not go
oftener to Holy Communion?
-Those companions!
-Be of good heart
-Ask Our Lady and she
will help you.
-If you could see the
state of your soul!
-Carry on as you are
doing; Our Lady is pleased with you.
-Remember, God sees
you.
-Death rather than sin.
-Become good in order
that we may meet other in heaven.
-Make sure to make a
good confession and you will be happy.
-Qui faciunt peccata
hostes sunt animae suae (He who sins is an enemy of his soul).
-Recite five "Our
Fathers" In honor of the wounds of Jesus in order to obtain the grace that
none of those who die today will go to hell.
-Help me to save your
soul.
-Cheer up! One day we
shall be together with Our Lord.
-Ask Our Lady for the
grace of never falling into sin
-Be obedient and you
will be holy.
-Will
you be able to sleep tranquilly tonight?
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