With great simplicity, quietly and in total continuity, remaining in my service as Vicar over the next few months I will support the Rector Major by leading the Congregation to a General Chapter, the 29th, in February 2025.

            Dear readers of the Salesian Bulletin, I am writing these lines with trepidation because, having been a reader of the Salesian Bulletin since I was a child in my family, I now find myself on a different page having to write the first article, the one reserved for the Rector Major.
I do so gladly, because this honour allows me to give thanks to God for our Fr Ángel, now Cardinal of the Holy Roman Church, who has just finished 10 years of valuable service to the Congregation and the Salesian Family, following his election at the 27th General Chapter in 2014.
            10 years after that day, he is now fully at the service of the Holy Father for everything Pope Francis will entrust him with. We carry him in our hearts and accompany him with grateful prayer, for the good he has done for us, because time does not diminish but strengthens gratitude. His personal story is an historic event for him, but also for all of us.
His leaving, in canonical terms, for an even greater service to the Church, is a remaining always with us and among us.

In total continuity
            And now as a Congregation, and by extension as the Salesian Family, how do we move forward?
            Very simply, quietly and in total continuity. The Vicar of the Rector Major, according to the Salesian Constitutions, also has the task of substituting for the Rector Major in case of need. And it will be thus until the next General Chapter.
            The Salesian Constitutions put it in a more comprehensive and articulate way, but the fundamental concept is this: remaining in my service as Vicar in the coming months I will deputise for the Rector Major by taking the Congregation to General Chapter, the 29th in February 2025.
            This is a demanding task for which I immediately ask for your prayers and invocation to the Holy Spirit to be faithful to the Lord Jesus Christ, with the heart of Don Bosco.

My name is Stefano (Stephen)
            Before moving on to the important things, a few words to introduce myself: my name is Stefano, I was born in Turin to a family typical of our part of the world: the son of a Salesian past pupil father, who wanted to send me to the same school where he had been in his day, and of a mother, a teacher, also a past pupil of a Catholic school. From them I received life and the life of a simple and concrete faith. That is how my sister and I grew up. There are just two of us.
            My parents are already in heaven, in God’s hands, and they will be smiling broadly when they see the things that happen to their son… they will surely comment: dun Bosch tenje nà man sla testa! (Don Bosco keep a hand on his head!) Keep him steady!
            In Salesian terms I have always been part of the Salesian Province of Piedmont-Valle d’Aosta, until I was asked at GC27 to coordinate the Mediterranean Region (all the Salesian places around the Mediterranean Sea, on the three continents bordering it… but also including Portugal and some areas of Eastern Europe). A wonderful Salesian experience which transformed me, making me international in the way I see and feel things. GC28 took the second step, asking me to become Vicar of the Rector Major, and here we are! 10 years at Fr Ángel’s side, learning during these years to feel the heart of the world, for a Congregation that is truly spread all over the earth.

The near future
            The service of these coming months, until February 2025, is therefore to accompany the Congregation to the next General Chapter to be held in Turin Valdocco from 16 February 2025.
            Dear friends, the General Chapter is the highest and most important moment in the life of the Congregation, when the representatives of all the Provinces of the Congregation gather together (we are talking about more than 250 confreres) essentially for three things: to get to know each other, to pray and to reflect in order to “think about the present and the future of the Congregation” and to elect the next Rector Major and his entire Council. A very important moment, therefore, which our Fr Ángel addressed in his reflection on the theme “Passionate about Jesus Christ and dedicated to the young”. This theme that the Rector Major has chosen for the Congregation will be articulated in three different and complementary aspects: the centrality of Christ in our personal life, religious consecration; the dimension of our community vocation, in the fraternity and shared responsibility with the laity to whom the mission is entrusted; the institutional aspects of our Congregation, the evaluation of animation and governance in accompanying the Congregation. Three aspects for a single generative theme.
            Our Congregation is in great need of this General Chapter, which comes after so many events that have touched us all. It is enough to recall that the last General Chapter was celebrated close to the Pandemic.

Building Hope
            To celebrate a General Chapter is to celebrate Hope, to build Hope through the institutional and personal decisions that allow Don Bosco’s “dream” to continue, to give it a present and a future. Each person is called to be a dream, in the heart of God, a dream that is realised.
            In the Salesian tradition there are those beautiful words that Don Bosco said to Fr Rua, called back to Valdocco to act in Don Bosco’s stead:
            “You were Don Bosco at Mirabello. Now you will be so here, at the Oratory.”
            This is what really counts: “Being Don Bosco today” and it is the greatest gift we can give to this world.

From 1 to 7 August 2024 a Conference on Communication, entitled “Shaping Tomorrow”, will be held at the Pontifical Salesian University (UPS) in Rome. The organisers are the Salesian Congregation’s Communication Sector and the Faculty of Social Communication Sciences of the Pontifical Salesian University. The aim is to point out new ways in social communication, to ‘shape tomorrow’. We present the organisers’ vision.

             “When you pray for rain, mud is to be reckoned with”. So said Denzel Washington, recalling his father’s words.  In the context of media and communication, the rain is represented by the new technological tools and opportunities of the 21st century, such as artificial intelligence, high-speed Internet, social media, computers, laptops, smartphones and tablets. The mud is represented by fake news, cyberbullying and hate speech, the disappearance of social and communication skills, filters and information bubbles, digital exclusion, among others.

            Shaping Tomorrow is the slogan of the Communication 2024 conference, which will be held in Rome from 1 to 7 August 2024. In social communication, it is not a protective umbrella against the downpour; after all, we wait for rain, just as we wish for good communication. Rather, it is about building roads, pavements, manholes and bridges, avoiding and reducing mud in the city called social communication, the Internet or social media. In the context of new forms of communication, this means developing the technological possibilities while being aware of the downsides and challenges.

            Shaping Tomorrow, as the age of communication changes, is like opening the right door without being naive about the fact that there is someone waiting behind every door. Naivety in the world of modern technology is like sharing your emotions with artificial intelligence and believing that it will show boundless empathy. A modern smartphone is not human, a laptop is not human, a server is not human. Yet we sometimes behave naively, as if hardware and software replace our mother, our father, our family, our community and the emotions we experience, the desires we want to fulfil and the needs we need to satisfy. We look for a human being where there is none. What we get instead is a caricatured substitute for humanity, interpersonal relationships and the much desired love: the need to love others and the need to be loved by others. Shaping Tomorrow, on the other hand, means building communication based on a sound Christian anthropology – without a caricature of humanity and with respect for human dignity.

            The development of communication technology in recent decades has made our society a global village, where information travels at the speed of light. Sometimes the power of a small piece of news is equal to that of a hurricane that the whole world talks about. In a world where communication is becoming not only about transmitting information, but also about building relationships and influencing society, Shaping Tomorrow is an invitation to actively participate in shaping the world yet to come. It places the human being and his dignity at the centre, in line with the personalist norm of John Paul II.

Shaping Tomorrow
            – we understand it as a call to shape the future of Salesian communication through responsible and effective communication;
            – it means putting the human being and human dignity at the centre;
            – it is to promote the Church’s teaching on social communication;
            – is about ethics in social communication based on a sound anthropology;
            – it seeks to generate and promote solutions in the field of communication, conducting research and providing analysis, especially from a Salesian perspective;
            – is to gather expertise and information to generate new ideas, results and recommendations in the field of social communication;
            – in the midst of the digital revolution this requires the formation of media professionals.
            – it is to actively participate in the public debate and seek solutions to the problems of social communication;
            – it is to act internationally and influence decision-making processes by providing recommendations and solutions.

Topics that will be covered at the conference

1. Epochal change: digital culture and Artificial Intelligence – Fabio Pasqualetti, sdb
2. Epochal changes in communication – Fabio Bolzetta
3. Creators of new languages and paradigms for evangelisation, especially in the digital environment – Sr. Xiskya Valladares
4. Communication with migrants and refugees – Maurizio di Schino
5. Good practices of evangelisation on social media – Sr. Xiskya Valladares
6. The Church in the digital world and the approach to new technologies in Church communication – Fabio Bolzetta
7. Communication with the new generations, in particular with Generation Z and Alpha. How does communication with the new generations look like in the 21st century, both face-to-face and in the digital environment? – Mark McCrindle
8. Internal and external communication in the Church – the three popes – Valentina Alazraki
9. Crisis communication – Valentina Alazraki
10. Engaging young audiences – 10 tips for addressing Gen Z audiences – Laura Wagner-Meyer
11. Mobile journalism – Simone Ferretti
12. Content creators – Simone Ferretti
13. Migrants and refugees – in the context of communicating with the younger generation through social media – Laura Wagner-Meyer
14. How can the work of the Catholic Church better understand the digital transformations taking place in the modern world? – Andy Stalman
15. How can brand strategy change Salesian work in the world for the better? – Andy Stalman
16. Communication with migrants and refugees – Donatella Parisi

Details of the conference on the dedicated website, https://www.shapingtomorrowsdb.org

No one can save themselves from the fury of the waters in great floods. Everyone needs a rescuer to take them in their boat. Those who do not get into the boat risk being swept away by the raging waters. Don Bosco understood a deeper meaning in his dream, the life-saving raft, and he passed it on to his young people.

            At the “Good Night” on Monday, January 1, 1866, Don Bosco spoke thus:

I seemed to be near a village that looked like Castelnuovo d’ Asti, but was not. You boys were joyfully playing about in a vast, open prairie, when suddenly water surged from the far end of the plain and we found ourselves surrounded by a flood that grew more threatening as it kept rushing toward us. The Po River had overflowed and was spawning raging torrents.

Very much frightened, we ran as fast as we could toward a thick-walled, isolated grist mill and did not stop until we got to its courtyard. The surging flood, however, soon reached us, forcing us to seek safety in the upper floors, wherefrom we could gauge the wide sweep of the disaster. The whole Po valley from the Superga hills to the Alps had become an immense lake engulfing meadows, fields, orchards, woods, hamlets, villages and towns.

The water kept rising and so we had to climb to the top floor. Realizing that our situation was desperate, I urged you to put all your trust in God and in Our Blessed Mother. As the water neared the top floor and chilled our hearts with terror, a huge raft suddenly materialized in front of us. It was our only chance for safety. Breathless with fear, everyone wanted to jump on it, but no one dared because d wall jutting out of the water kept the raft away from the building. The only way to get across the water was by treading a long, narrow tree trunk connecting the raft with the mill. But this was risky because one end of the trunk rested on the raft and kept bobbing up and down. Bracing myself, I was the first to cross over. To make it easier for you and encourage you, I appointed priests and clerics to help you at both ends of the makeshift bridge. Oddly enough, they tired very fast and became so exhausted that they had to lie down and rest. The same happened to those who relieved them. Wondering what the matter might be, I tried it myself. In no time I too felt exhausted.

Meanwhile, many boys were growing impatient. Spotting a long, wide plank floating by, they seized it and maneuvered it into position to use as a gangplank to the raft. Then, either out of panic or recklessness, they rushed onto it without waiting for help.

“Wait, wait!” I shouted. They paid no attention to me. Bumping into each other or otherwise losing their balance, many fell off and were swallowed up by the murky, putrid waters. Eventually, the unsteady catwalk overturned. All in all, one-fourth of you boys were lost.

Up to this point I had been steadying my end of the tree trunk while you were crossing. Noticing that the water level was now above the wall, I managed to push the raft flush against the mill where Father Cagliero, one foot on a windowsill, the other on the raft’s edge, helped the still stranded boys safely aboard. Some, however, had climbed up to the roof and were huddled on the ridge. The ever-rising flood, meanwhile, had submerged the eaves and part of the rafters, but had also raised the raft. Seeing those boys in their predicament, I shouted to them to pray with all their hearts and not to panic. Then I told them to link their arms and step down to the raft which was now poised at the eaves’ level. They followed my instructions and with their companions’ help boarded the raft. On it a very generous quantity of bread was safely stored in many baskets. When all of you were safely aboard I took command, though still jittery. “Mary is the Star of the Sea,” I said. “She never forsakes those who trust in Her, so let us get under Her protecting mantle. She will lead us out of danger and guide us safely to port.””

Then we let the raft go to the mercy of the waves, and it began to float away. The wind-swept waters propelled it so swiftly that we had to hold fast to each other for dear life and form one body, lest we be swept away.

In no time we had travelled a great distance. but abruptly the raft came to a stop and then spun round and round with such speed that we thought we were surely being sucked into a whirlpool. Fortunately, a mighty gust of wind pulled us out of it in the nick of time. We then sailed on at a more moderate speed. We had to contend with a few more small whirlpools, but finally we came to a full stop near a beautiful, vast shore, perfectly dry, sloping upward like a hill rising from the middle of the sea. Enticed by it, many of you immediately shouted that God had placed man on land and not on water, and, urging others to follow, jumped ashore without permission.

Alas, their joy was short-lived! A sudden storm again swelled the waters and dashed them against the bank. Submerged to the waist and screaming in terror, those boys were finally swallowed up by the waves. “How true indeed,” I exclaimed brokenheartedly, “hat he who clings to his own way pays with his own coin!” The raft too, tossed by the billows, threatened to sink. As you all turned to me pale and trembling, I tried to bolster you up.

“Take courage, sons,” I shouted. “Mary will not forsake us!”” Then, one in heart and voice, we recited the acts of faith, hope, charity and contrition, several Our Fathers and Hail Marys and the Hail, Holy Queen. Finally, still kneeling and holding one another by the hand, we said a few more prayers privately.

Some foolish fellows however, ignoring the danger, stood up and began walking about as if nothing had happened, loudly laughing among themselves and almost making fun of their praying companions. Abruptly the raft stopped and swiftly spun round and round, while a furious wind swept all thirty of them into the deep, slimy water. In no time they disappeared. At this sight, more fervently than ever we invoked the protection of the Star of the Sea by singing the Salve, Regina. Soon the storm abated, but the raft kept going as if self-propelled-whither we did not know.

Meanwhile relentless rescue activity was going on, both to prevent boys from accidentally falling into the water and to pull them out promptly. Indeed, there were some who foolishly leaned over and lost their balance; then there were others who cruelly and unashamedly enticed companions to the raft’s edge and pushed them over. For this reason, several priests were busy readying sturdy fishing poles and giving them out, while others were already at their rescue stations. As soon as a boy fell in, a pole would be lowered and the poor fellow would either grasp it or get hooked by his clothes and rescued. But even among the rescuers there were some who were more of a hindrance than a help. The young clerics meanwhile were kept busy holding back the boys, who, thank God, were still a great multitude.

I stood at the foot of a lofty mast in the center of the raft, surrounded by very many boys, clerics and priests ready to carry out my orders. As long as they followed my instructions, everything went on smoothly and we felt tranquilly happy and safe. But soon several began to complain that the raft was uncomfortable and the voyage too long, arduous and dangerous. Others argued about our destination or the means of escaping from the flood. Still others deceived themselves into thinking that the land was not far off or were afraid that soon food would run out. The upshot was that they wrangled among themselves and refused to obey. I tried to reason with them but in vain.

At this moment, other rafts came into sight. apparently on a course different from ours. Fallowing their own whims, the dissenters decided to leave me. They threw some planks into the water and, jumping on them and on others even wider which were floating nearby, they steered toward the other rafts. I can’t tell you how greatly pained I was to see these unfortunate sons of mine rush headlong to their ruin. The wind blew and the waves kept rising. Some boys were swallowed up by the raging billows, others were caught in whirlpools, and still others rammed into floating debris and sadly drowned. A few managed to board the rafts, but, soon after, the rafts broke apart. As night fell, we could hear the victims’ heart-rending cries. At this spectacle, these words came to my mind: In mare mundi submergentur omnes illi quos non suscipit navis ista. [In the sea of this world all shall perish who are not aboard this ship-Our Lady’s ship.] The number of my dear boys was now considerably reduced, but we kept up our trust in Our Heavenly Mother as we moved on throughout the dark night. At daybreak, our raft entered a very narrow strait between two muddy banks lined with brush, boulders, rocks, logs, branches, broken planks, masts and oars. Our raft was surrounded by tarantulas, toads, snakes, dragons, crocodiles, sharks, vipers and other hideous animals. Overhanging willows harbored strange-looking, oversized cats which devoured human flesh, while huge monkeys, swinging from the branches, attempted to snatch boys who in their fear squatted low to escape their clutches.

Here, to our surprise and horror, we saw again those unfortunate boys who had drowned. The waves had finally cast them up to this shore, shattered to pieces upon the rocks or partially buried in mud; hair, arms, torsos and heads were visible here and there. A few corpses were also floating about. Suddenly a boy cried out from the raft: “Look! A monster is devouring so-and-so!” Repeatedly calling the lad by name, he pointed him out to his terrified companions. Something worse yet-a mammoth blazing furnace with people in it-was coming into view not too far from where we stood. Feet, legs, arms, hands and heads were bubbling up and down like beans in a boiling pot. With dismay we recognized many of our pupils. The lid over the furnace bore a large inscription: “Sixth and Seventh Commandments.”

Nearby rose a lofty hill dotted here and there with trees. A large number of boys who had fallen off the raft or left it of their own accord wandered about on it. Heedless of danger, I jumped off the raft and dashed up to them. As I got close, I noticed that their eyes, ears and hair and even their hearts were covered with vermin that most viciously gnawed at them. One lad seemed to be in greater pain than the rest. I tried to get closer to him, but he ran away and hid behind a clump of trees. I saw others loosening their clothes to get some relief, exposing at the same time their waists girded with snakes or vipers clinging to their chests. To all I pointed out a gushing mineral spring. Whoever washed in its cool waters was instantly cured and could return to the raft. Most of the boys followed my suggestion, but some refused. Delaying no further, I beckoned to those who had been cured to follow me, and they did so without fear because the monsters had now vanished.

As soon as we were aboard the raft, the wind rose again and out we glided through the rest of the strait into the limitless ocean. Sorrowing over the sad lot of those left behind, but grateful for Our Lady’s protection, we thanked Her by singing Lodate Maria, o lingue fedeli [O Praise Her! 0 Bless Her]. Instantly, as if by Mary’s command, the wind abated and the raft began to glide rapidly and smoothly, as though propelled by the playful, backward push of the boys’ hands on the water.

Then a rainbow appeared in the sky, more marvellous and colorful than the northern lights. Inscribed on it was a mysterious word “MEDOUM.” Though we had no idea what it meant, it seemed to me that its letters could stand for Mater Et Domina Omnis Universi Maria [Mary, Mother and Mistress of the Whole Universe].

After a long time we sighted land, and as we drew nearer, we felt an inexpressible thrill in our hearts. Before our eyes was the delightful sight of enchanting meadows dotted with trees of every kind, radiant with light as if the sun were rising behind the background of hills-a light whose soft brilliance, like that of a glorious summer evening, instilled a feeling of rest and peace.

Our raft finally came to shore, slid on the and stopped at the foot of a luscious vineyard. Of this raft we may well say, “O God, You gave us a bridge to enable us to cross the ground-swells of this world and to reach Your safe harbor.” You were all very anxious to get into the vineyard, and a few of you, more eager than the rest, jumped off at once. But after only a few steps, remembering what had happened to their companions when the raft was going through the strait, those boys quickly ran back. All eyes were turned on me with the silent question: “May we?”

“Yes,” I said after a moment’s reflection. “It’s safe.”

Shouting with joy, you all ran out into those neatly arranged rows of vines and trees. From the vines hung clusters of grapes like those of the Promised Land, and the trees were laden with the choicest and most delicious fruit.

In the center of that very vast vineyard stood an imposing castle that was encircled by a most beautiful garden enclosed within massive walls. We headed for it and were allowed in. Tired and hungry, we reached a large, richly decorated dining hall. A long table held all kinds of food we could eat to our hearts’ content. Toward the end of our meal, a richly clad, indescribably handsome young man came into the hall and warmly greeted each of us by name. Noticing our bewilderment and wonder at his beauty and the many splendid things we had seen, he remarked, “Friends, this is nothing! Come and see!”

We followed him. From the balconies he showed us the gardens, telling us that they were for our recreation. He then led us on a tour of the whole building and through halls ever more breath-taking for their architectural beauty. Finally, opening a door leading into a church, he invited us to step in. The church looked small from outside, but as soon as we walked in, we realized how wrong we were. It was so vast that we could hardly see the other end. The floor, the walls and the ceiling were exquisitely ornamented with marble, silver, gold, and precious stones. “How heavenly!” I exclaimed, bewildered. “I wouldn’t mind staying here forever!”

At the center of this majestic temple, on a rich pedestal, stood a huge, magnificent statue of Mary, Help of Christians. By now many of you had scattered about to admire the church’s beauty. Calling you together, I asked you to gather in front of Our Lady to thank Her for the many favors She had bestowed on us. I realized then how vast the church was! There were thousands of you, but it looked as if you were but a small group.

While we stood admiring the statue’s heavenly beauty, to our great wonderment it suddenly seemed to come alive and smile.

“Her eyes are moving!” several cried out. Clearly, Our Lady was turning Her eyes with unspeakable motherly affection on all of you.

“Our Lady is moving Her hands!” you all exclaimed moments later. Indeed She was slowly opening Her arms and spreading Her mantle to gather us all under it. Tears of emotion ran down our cheeks.

“Her lips are moving,” whispered a few. A profound silence fell over us.

“If you will be loving children to Me, I will be a loving mother to you!” Our Lady spoke.

At these words we all fell to our knees and broke into the song, “O Praise Her! 0 Bless Her!”

The singing was so heartfelt and sweet that I awoke, overwhelmed by it.

As you see, my dear children, we can recognize in this dream the stormy sea of this world. If you will readily obey me instead of listening to evil counselors, at the end of our lives, after struggling to do good and to avoid evil by overcoming our bad inclinations, we shall reach safe harbor. There we shall be met by Our Lady’s messenger who, in God’s name, will usher us into His most consoling presence to rest from our toils. But if you disregard my advice and follow your own whims, you will be miserably shipwrecked.

Later on, privately, Don Bosco gave more detailed explanations of this dream, which seemingly concerned not only the Oratory but the Salesian Congregation as well:

The prairie is the world. The all-engulfing flood is its vices, irreligious maxims and persecution of the faithful. The grist mill, set apart in peace but equally threatened, is the House of Bread, the Catholic Church. The bread in the baskets is the Holy Eucharist, the food for the voyagers. The raft is the Oratory. The tree trunk linking the mill to the raft is the Cross, symbolizing one’s immolation to God through Christian mortification. The plank, placed by the boys as an easier bridge to the raft, is the transgression of the rule. Many boarded the raft for selfish, base motives: self-advancement, money, honors, comfort, higher status and so on. These were the ones who did not pray and even mocked those who did. The priests and clerics symbolize obedience and show the wonders of salvation that may be achieved by it. The whirlpools represent frightful past and future persecutions. The boys who set foot on the island that was flooded soon after are those who, despising their vocation, leave the Oratory to go back to the world.

The same must be said of those who sought refuge on other rafts. Those who fell into the water, but held out their hands to their companions on the raft and, with their help, scrambled on it again, are the boys who, on unfortunately falling into sin, regain God’s grace through sincere sorrow. The strait, the big cats, monkeys and other monsters signify the disturbances, enticements and allurements of sin. The vermin on the eyes, tongue, and heart symbolize immodest looks, foul talk and disorderly affections. The spring of healing water stands for confession and Communion. The miry swamp and the fire signify places of sin and damnation.

This does not mean, though, that all those who fell into the mud or into the fiery furnace are destined for hell. God forbid! It means that at that time they were in the state of mortal sin, and had they died then and there, they would certainly have been eternally lost. The verdant island and the church represent the Salesian Society solidly established and triumphant.

The handsome youth welcoming the boys and leading them on a tour of the palace and of the church seemingly is a deceased pupil already in heaven-perhaps Dominic Savio.
(MB VIII, 275-283)

(continuation from previous article)

Chapter XV. Devotion and plans for a church to Mary Help in Turin.

            Before speaking of the church built in Turin in honour of Mary Help of Christians, it is worth noting that the devotion of the people of Turin to this heavenly Benefactress goes back to the earliest days of Christianity. St Maximus, the first bishop of this city, speaks of it as a public and ancient fact.
            The shrine of the Consolata is a wonderful monument to what we are saying. But after the victory at Lepanto, the people in Turin were the first to invoke Mary under the special title of Help of Christians. Cardinal Maurice, Prince of Savoy greatly promoted this devotion, and at the beginning of the 10th century he had a chapel built in the church of St Francis di Paola with an altar and a beautiful statue dedicated to Mary Help of Christians, made of precious and elegant marble. The Virgin is presented holding the Divine Child in her hand.
            This prince was a fervent devotee of Mary Help of Christians, and as he often made an offering of his heart to his heavenly Mother during his lifetime, so when he died he left in his will that his heart, as the dearest pledge of himself, be placed in a casket and placed in the wall to the right of the altar.[1]
            Time having worn and rendered this chapel somewhat shabby, King Victor Emmanuel II ordered everything to be restored at his own expense.
            Thus the floor, the predella, and the altar itself were as new.
            Observing the people’s recourse to Mary Help of Christians to be a very effective means of obtaining extraordinary graces, they began to join the Confraternity in Munich, Bavaria, but because of the overwhelming number of members, a Confraternity was established in this same church. It received the apostolic approval of Pope Pius VI, who granted many indulgences with other spiritual favours by rescript of 9 February 1798.
            Thus, the devotion of the people of Turin to the august Mother of the Saviour was becoming ever more widespread, and its most salutary effects were felt when the plan for a church to be dedicated to Mary Help of Christians was conceived in Valdocco, a densely populated district of the city. Many thousands of citizens lived here without a church of any kind other than the one in Borgo Dora, which however could not hold more than 1,500 people.[2]
            There were the small churches of the Little House of Divine Providence and the Oratory of St Francis de Sales in this district, but both were barely sufficient to serve their respective communities.
            In the fervent desire, therefore, to provide for the urgent needs of the inhabitants of Valdocco, and of the many young people who come to the Oratory on Sundays from various parts of the city, and who can no longer be contained in the present little church, it was decided to attempt to build a church with enough capacity for this double purpose. But a very special reason for the construction of this church was a commonly felt need to give a public sign of veneration to the B. Virgin Mary, who, with the heart of a truly merciful Mother, had protected our towns and saved us from the evils to which so many others had succumbed.
            Two things lay ahead to get the pious undertaking off the ground: the location of the building and the title under which it was to be consecrated. So that the designs of Divine Providence could be fulfilled, this church had to be built on Cottolengo Street in a spacious, free site in the centre of that large population. An area was therefore chosen between Cottolengo Street and the Oratory of St Francis de Sales.
            While deliberations were in progress regarding the title under which the new building was to be erected, one incident removed all doubt. The reigning Supreme Pontiff Pius IX, to whom nothing escapes the notice of what can be advantageous to Religion, having been informed of the need for a church in the above-mentioned place, sent his first gracious offering of 500 francs, making it known that Mary Help of Christians would certainly be a title pleasing to the august Queen of Heaven. He then accompanied the charitable offering with a special blessing to the donors adding these words: “May this small offering have more powerful and generous donors who will cooperate in promoting the glory of the august Mother of God on earth, and thus increase the number of those who will one day make her glorious crown in heaven.”
            Having thus established the place and the name of the building, a well-deserving engineer, Antonio Spezia, came up with the design and developed it in the form of a Latin cross over an area of 1,200 square metres. During this time there were many difficulties but the Blessed Virgin, who wanted this building for her greater glory, dispelled, or better still, removed all the obstacles that were present at the time, and ones that would become more serious in the future. Therefore, it merely remained to begin the longed-for building.

Chapter XVI. Initial works and the laying of the foundation stone.

            Once the excavations had been made to the usual depth, we were about to lay the first stones and the first lime, when we realised that the foundations were resting on top of alluvial soil and therefore unable to support the foundations of a building of that size. Therefore, the excavations had to be further deepened and a strong and wide piling made corresponding to the periphery of the planned building.
            The piling and digging to a considerable depth was a cause of greater expense, both for the increase in work and for the increased amount of materials and timbers that had to be placed underground. Nevertheless, the work continued apace, and on 27 April 1865 the foundations could be blessed and the cornerstone laid.
            In order to understand the meaning of this event, it should be noted that it is the discipline of the Catholic Church that no one should begin the construction of a sacred building without the express permission of the bishop, under whose jurisdiction the land to be used for this purpose is found. Aedificare ecclesiam nemo potest, nisi auctoritate dioecesani.[3]
            After the Bishop has seen the need for the Church and determined its location, he goes to lay the cornerstone, either in person or through one of his delegates. This stone is Jesus Christ, who is called in the sacred books the cornerstone, that is, the foundation of all authority, of all holiness. By this act, the Bishop shows that he derives his authority from Jesus Christ, to whom this building belongs and on whom every religious practice that will take place in this Church in the future must depend, while the Bishop, by laying the cornerstone, takes spiritual possession of it.
            The faithful of the early Church, when they wished to build any church, first marked the site with a cross to denote that the site, having been destined for the worship of the true God, could no longer be for secular use.
            The blessing is then made by the bishop as the patriarch Jacob did when in a desert he raised a stone over which he made a sacrifice to the Lord: Lapis iste, quem erexi in titulum, vocabitur domus Dei.
            It is good here to note that every church, and every worship exercised in it, is always addressed to God, to whom every act, every word, every sign is dedicated and consecrated. This religious act is called Latria, or supreme worship, or service par excellence that is rendered to God alone. Churches are also dedicated to the saints with a second form of veneration called Dulia, which means service rendered to the Lord’s servants.
            When the veneration is addressed to the Blessed Virgin, it is called Hyperdulia, that is, service above and beyond that which is rendered to the saints.  But the glory and honour given to the saints and the B. Virgin do not remain in them, but pass through them to God, who is the goal of our prayers and actions. Hence the churches are all consecrated first to God Optimus Maximus, then to the B. Virgin Mary; then to some saint at the will of the faithful. Thus we read that St Mark the Evangelist in Alexandria consecrated a church to God and to his master St Peter the Apostle.[4]
            It is also worth noting with regard to these ceremonies that sometimes the bishop blesses the cornerstone and some distinguished personage lays it in its place, and puts the first lime on it. Thus we have from history that the Supreme Pontiff Innocent X in the year 1652 blessed the cornerstone of the church of St Agnes in Piazza Navona, while Prince Pamfili Duke of Carpinete laid it down in the foundations.
            Thus in our case Bishop Odone of happy memory, bishop of Susa, was in charge of conducting the religious service while Prince Amadeus of Savoy placed the cornerstone in its place and put the first lime on it.
            Therefore on 27 April 1865, the religious service began at two o’clock in the afernoon. The weather was clear, there were many people, the aristocracy of Turin and also others from outside Turin attended. The boys from the house at Mirabello on that occasion had come to form a kind of army with the boys in Turin.
            After the prescribed prayers and psalms, the venerable Prelate sprinkled holy water on the foundations of the building, then went to the pillar of the dome on the Gospel side, which was already at the level of the current floor. Here a record was made of what was done, and it was read aloud as follows:
The year of the Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-five, the twenty-seventh day of April, two o’clock in the afternoon; the tenth year of the Pontificate of Pius IX, of the Count and Countess Mastai Ferretti happily reigning; the tenth year of the reign of Victor Emmanuel II; the archiepiscopal See of Turin being vacant due to the death of Archbishop Luigi dei Marchesi Franzoni, the Chapter Vicar  Collegiate Father Giuseppe Zappata; Parish Priest of the Parish of Borgo Dora Father Cattino Cav. Agostino; director of the Oratory of St. Francis, Father Bosco Giovanni; in the presence of HRH Prince Amadeus of Savoy, Duke of Aosta; Count Costantino Radicati Prefect of Turin; the Municipal Council represented by the Mayor of this city Lucerna di Rorà Marquis Emanuele, and the Commission promoting this church[5] to be dedicated to God Optimus Maximus and Mary Help of Christians, Bishop Odone G. Antonio bishop of Susa, having received the appropriate faculty from the Ordinary of this Archdiocese, proceeded to bless the foundations of this church and placed the cornerstone of the same in the large pillar of the dome on the Gospel side of the high altar. Enclosed in this stone were a number of coins of different metal and value, some medals bearing the effigy of the Supreme Pontiff Pius IX and our Sovereign, and an inscription in Latin recalling the object of this sacred ceremony The well-deserving engineer architect Cav. Spezia Antonio, who conceived the design and with a Christian spirit lent and still lends his services in the management of the work.
            The form of the church is that of a Latin cross, with a surface area of one thousand two hundred metres; the reason for this construction is the lack of churches among the faithful of Valdocco, and to give a public attestation of gratitude to the great Mother of God for the great benefices received, for those that are expected in greater numbers from this heavenly Benefactress. The work was begun, and it is hoped that it will be brought to a happy conclusion with the charity of the devout.
            The inhabitants of Valdocco, the people of Turin and other faithful benefited by Mary, now gathered in this blessed enclosure, unanimously send to the Lord God, to the Virgin Mary, Help of Christians, a fervent prayer to obtain from heaven abundant blessings on the people of Turin, on Christians throughout the world, and especially on the Supreme Head of the Catholic Church, the promoter and distinguished benefactor of this sacred edifice, on all the ecclesiastical authorities, on our august Sovereign, and on the entire Royal Family, and especially on H. R. H. Prince Amedeo, the Supreme Commander of the Catholic Church, the promoter and distinguished benefactor of this sacred edifice, on all the ecclesiastical authorities, on our august Sovereign, and on the entire Royal Family, and especially on H. R. H. the Most Excellent Prince of the Order of Malta. HRH Prince Amadeus, who by accepting the humble invitation gave a sign of veneration to the great Mother of God. May the august Queen of Heaven assure a place in eternal beatitude to all those who have given or will give work to complete this sacred edifice, or in some other way contribute to increasing the worship and glory of Her above the earth.”
            Having read and approved this report, it was signed by all those named above and by the most illustrious persons present. It was then folded and wrapped with the design of the church and some other writing, and placed in a specially prepared glass vase. It was hermetically, sealed and placed in the hollow made in the middle of the foundation stone. Blessed by the bishop, more stone was placed on top, and Prince Amadeus placed the first lime on it. Afterwards, the masons continued their work up to the height of over a metre.
            After the other religious rites were completed, the aforementioned personalities visited the establishment, then attended a performance by the young people themselves. Various        poems written for the occasion were read to them, various pieces of vocal and instrumental music were performed, with a dialogue, in which a historical account of the solemnity of the day was given.[6]
            At the end of the pleasant entertainment the day ended with a devout thanksgiving to the Lord with Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament. H.R.H. and his entourage left the Oratory at 5 30 p.m., each one showing himself fully satisfied.
Among other tokens of appreciation, the Augustus Prince offered the gracious sum of Fr. 500 from his special box, and gave his gymnastics equipment to the young people of this establishment. Shortly afterwards, the engineer was decorated with the cross of Saints Maurice and Lazarus.

(continued)

---

[1] Upon the death of that prince, Count Tesauro made the following epigraph, which was carved into the floor of the altar.
D. O. M.
SERENISSIMIS PRINCEPS MAURITIUS SABAUDIAE
MELIOREM SUI PARTEM
COR
QUOD VIVENS
SUMMAE REGINAE COELORUM LITAVERAT
MORIENS CONSECRAVIT
HICQUE AD MINIMOS QUOS CORDE DILIGERAT
APPONI VOLUIT
CLAUSIT ULTIMUM DIEM
QUINTO NONAS OCTOBRIS MDCLVII.

[2] This district is called Valdocco from the initials Val. Oc. Vallis Occisorum or valley of the slain, because it was watered with the blood of Saints Adventor and Octavius, who brought the palm of martyrdom here.

From the parish church of Borgo Dora, if you draw a line to the church of the Consolata and the one in Borgo s.. Donato; then across to the Royal Forge (cannons) as far as the river Dora, you have an area covered with houses, where more than 35,000 inhabitants lived, for whom there was no public church.

[3] Council Aurelian. dist. l, De consacr.

[4] See Moroni, article Churches.

[5] Members of the commission promoting the lottery for this church.

LUCERNA DI RORA’ March. Emanuele Mayor of the City of Turin Honorary President

SCARAMPI DI PRUNEY March. LODOVICO President

FASSATI March. DOMENICO V. President

MORIS Comm. GIUSEPPE Municipal Councillor V. Chairman

GRIBAUDI Mr GIOVANNI Doctor of Medicine and Surgery. Secretary

OREGLIA DI S. STEFANO Cav. FEDERICO Secretary

COTTA Commendatore GIUSEPPE Senator of the Kingdom Cashier

ANZINO Theolog. Can. VALERIO Chaplain to His Majesty

BERTONE DI SAMBUY Count ERNESTO Exhibition Director

BOGGIO Bar. GIUSEPPE Exhibition Director

BOSCO DI RUFFINO Cav. ALERAMO

BONA COMRNEN. Director-General of Southern Railways

BOSCO sac. GIOVANNI Director of the Oratories

CAYS OF GILEITA Count CARLO Exhibition Director

DUPRA’ Cav. GIO. Batt. Accountant to the Chamber of Accounts

DUPRÈ Cav. GIUSEPPE Municipal Councillor

FENOGLIO Commendatore PIETRO General Bursar

FERRARI OF CASTELNUOVO March. EVASIO

GIRIODI Cav. CARLO Exhibition Director

MINELLA sac. VINCENZO Exhibition Director

PERNATI DI MOMO Cav. Comm. Minister of State, Senator of the Kingdom

PATERI Cav. ILARIO Prof. and Municipal Councillor

PROVANA OF COLLEGNO Count and lawyer ALESSANDRO

RADICATI Count COSTANTINO Prefect

REBAUDENGO Comm. Gio. Secretary General of the Minister of the Royal Household

SCARAMPI DI VILLANUOVA Cav. CLEMENTE Exhibition Director

SOLARO DELLA MARGHERITA Count ALBERTO

SPERINO Comm. CASIMIRO Doctor of Medicine

UCCELLETTI Mr CARLO Exhibition Director

VOGLIOTTI Cav. ALESSANDRO Can. Pro-Vicar General

VILLA DI MOMPASCALE Count GIUSEPPE Exhibition Director

VIRETTI Mr MAURIZIO Lawyer Exhibition Director

[6] One of the poems with the dialogue and inscription can be read in the Appendix at the end of the booklet.

            In September 1594, Francis de Sales, provost of the cathedral, arrived, accompanied by his cousin, at Thonon in the Chablais, a province located south of Lake Geneva and close to Geneva, to explore the territory with the aim of possibly reconquering that province, which had been Protestant for sixty years, to Catholicism. Thus began an acute phase of confrontation with the rebellious children of the holy Church, which would mark his entire life as a man of the Church. Until his death in 1622, he would employ all the resources of an art that is also characteristic of the educator when faced with “rebellious children”.

Winning back souls
            At the time of Francis de Sales, those who felt that heretics should be ‘subjected’ by force were numerous. His father, Monsieur de Boisy, was of the opinion that it was necessary to speak to these people “through the mouth of a cannon”. While the political and military strength available to the Duke of Savoy in the Chablais had enabled him to conquer “the body” of the inhabitants, what was more important to Francis de Sales, and constituted his main objective, was to conquer souls. In another word he told Philothea that “he who conquers the heart of man conquers the whole man”.
            The first thing to do was to know exactly where the opponents stood. How to argue with Protestants if one has not read Calvin’s Institutes of the Christian Religion? The young provost wrote as early as 1595 to his former spiritual director, Father Possevino:

I no longer dare in any way attack Calvin or Beza, […] without everyone wanting to know exactly where what I say stands. For this, I have already suffered two affronts, which would not have touched me, had I not trusted the quotations from books that misled me. […] In a word, in these bailiwicks, everyone always has the ‘Institutes’ in hand; I find myself in a country where everyone knows their ‘Institutes’ by heart.

            We have a list containing more than sixty forbidden books, the use of which was permitted to Francis de Sales by the Congregation of the Inquisition. It contains not only works by Calvin, Beza and various Protestant authors, but also translations of the Bible into French, Protestant catechisms, books on Calvinist controversies, treatises on Protestant theology and evangelical life, pamphlets against the pope or simply books by Catholics that were put on the index.
            After science, the mission required special moral and spiritual qualities, starting with total selflessness. His friend and disciple, Bishop Jean-Pierre Camus, emphasised this attitude of detachment that was to characterise the entire life of Francis de Sales: “Although those of Geneva withheld from him all the income earmarked for ordinaries of a diocese and the proceeds of his Chapter, I never heard him complain about such withholdings.” On the other hand, according to Francis de Sales, one should not worry too much about ecclesiastical goods, because, he said, “the fate of the Church’s goods is like that of the beard: the more one shaves it, the more robust and thicker it grows.”
            His goal was purely pastoral: “He yearned for nothing else but to convert rebellious souls to the light of truth, which shines only in the true Church.” When he spoke about Geneva, “whom he called his poor or beloved (terms of compassion and love), despite her rebellion”, he would sometimes sigh: “Da mihi animas, caetera tolle tibi.” understood in its literal sense, which is that of the book of Genesis (cf. Gen 14:21), such a request made to Abraham by the king of Sodom after the victory that had allowed him to recover the prisoners of war and the goods taken from the enemy, and that simply meant “Give me the people and keep all the rest”, that is, the booty. But on the lips of Francis de Sales, these words became the prayer that the missionary addressed to God to ask him for “souls”, completely renouncing material rewards and personal interests.
            He himself, lacking resources (his father had cut him off during the mission in the Chablais to convince him to renounce it), wanted to earn a living from his work. He said:

When I preached the faith in the Chablais, I often ardently wished that I knew how to do something to imitate Saint Paul, who fed himself through the work of [his] hands; but I am good at nothing, except to mend my clothes in some way; it is however true that God has given me the grace not to be a burden to anyone in the Chablais; when I had nothing to feed myself, my good mother sent me linen and money in secret from Sales.

            The Protestant rebellion had been caused in large part by the sins of the clergy, which is why their conversion demanded three things above all from the missionaries: prayer, charity and the spirit of sacrifice. He wrote to his friend Antoine Favre in November 1594: “Prayer, almsgiving and fasting are the three parts that make up the rope that the enemy will find to difficult to break; with divine grace, we will try to tie up this adversary with it.”

The Salesian method
            The first thing to do was to put himself on the same intellectual ground as his adversaries. The least that could be said of them in this regard was that they were absolutely against philosophical and theological arguments inherited from medieval scholasticism. An important point, this, which was made by Pierre Magnin:

With all his might he avoided launching into the disputes and quarrels of scholasticism, since this was done to no avail and, for the people, the one with the loudest voice always seems to be the one who is more right. Instead, he devoted himself primarily to proposing clearly and articulately the mysteries of our holy faith and to defending the Catholic Church against the vain beliefs of its enemies. To this end, he did not burden himself with many books, because for about ten years he used only the Bible, St Thomas’s “Summa” and the Cardinal Bellarmine’s  “Controversies”.

            Indeed, while St Thomas provided him with the Catholic point of reference and “the eminent theologian” Bellarmine  gave him an arsenal of evidence against the Protestants, the only basis for possible discussion was the Bible. And in this he agreed with the heretics:

Christian faith is founded on the word of God; this is what gives it the highest degree of security, because it has such eternal and infallible truth as its guarantor. Faith that rests elsewhere is not Christian. Therefore, the Word of God is the true rule of good faith, since being the foundation and rule in this field is the same thing.

            Francis de Sales was very severe towards the authors and spreaders of errors, especially towards the “heresiarchs” Calvin and the Protestant ministers, towards whom, for him, no tolerance was conceivable. But he showed limitless patience to all those he considered to be the victims of their theories. Again Pierre Magnin assures us that Francis listened patiently to their difficulties without ever getting angry and without uttering insulting words against them, despite the fact that these heretics were heated in their disputes and usually made use of insults, mockery or calumny; instead, he showed them warm love, to convince them that he was animated by no other interest than the glory of God and the salvation of souls.
            In a section of his book entitled Dell’accomodamento, J.-P. Camus pointed out a number of features of the Salesian model which differentiated him from other missionaries in the Chablais (probably Capuchins) with their long robes and austere and rough appearance, who described the people with terms like “uncircumcised hearts, rebels against the light, stubborn, race of vipers, corrupt members, sparks of hell, children of the devil and of darkness”. So as not to frighten the population, Francis and his collaborators had decided to “set out dressed in short cloaks and boots, convinced that in this way they would gain easier access to people’s homes and not give people an eyeful by wearing long robes that were new to them.”
            Again according to Camus, he was denounced to the bishop because he called heretics “brothers”, even though they were always “errant” brothers, whom he invited to reconciliation and reunification. In the eyes of Francis, fraternity with Protestants was justified on three grounds:

They, in fact, are our brothers by virtue of baptism, which is valid in their Church; they are, moreover, our flesh and blood brothers because we and they are Adam’s offspring. Again, we are fellow-citizens and therefore subjects of the same prince; is this not capable of constituting some fraternity? In addition, I considered them as children of the Church as to their disposition, because they allow themselves to be instructed, and as my brothers in the hope of the same call to salvation; and it is precisely [by the name of brothers] that the catechumens were called in ancient times before they were baptised.

            Lost brothers, rebellious brothers, but still brothers. The “loud” missionaries criticised him, then, because he “spoiled everything thinking he was doing good, because he pandered to the pride so natural to heresy, because he put those people to sleep in their error, accommodating their pillow under their elbow; when instead it was better to correct them using mercy and justice, without anointing their heads with the oil of flattery.” For his part, Francis treated people with respect, indeed with compassion, and “while others aimed to make themselves feared, he wished to make himself loved and to enter into spirits through the door of complacency.”
            Although Camus seems to force the features by opposing the two methods, it is certain that the Salesian method had its own characteristics. The tactic employed with a Calvinist such as Jean-Gaspard Deprez proves this clearly: at their first meeting, he recounts, “he approached me and asked me how the little world was going, that is, the heart, and whether I believed I could be saved in my religion and how I served God in it.” During secret talks he had in Geneva with Theodore of Beza, Calvin’s successor, he used the same method based on respect for his interlocutor and polite dialogue. The only one who got angry was Beza, who uttered “words unworthy of a philosopher”.
            According to Georges Rolland, who often saw Francis at work with the Protestants, “he never pushed them […] to the point of making them indignant and feel covered with shame and confusion”; but “with his ordinary gentleness he answered them judiciously, slowly, without bitterness and contempt, and by this means he won their hearts and their goodwill”. He also adds that he was “often criticised by the Catholics who followed him to these conferences, because he treated his opponents too gently. It was said to him that he should make them ashamed of their impertinent replies; to which, he replied that to use insulting and contemptuous words would only discourage and impede these poor misguided people, whereas it was necessary to try to save them and not confuse them. And from the pulpit, speaking of them, he would say “Our gentlemen adversaries” and he would avoid the name heretic or Huguenot as much as possible.
            In the long run, this method proved effective. The initial hostility of the people of the Chablais, who were familiar with the insulting terms “papist”, “magician”, “sorcerer”, “idolater” and “squint-eye”, gradually gave way to respect, admiration and friendship. Comparing this method with that of other missionaries, Camus wrote that Francis “caught more flies with a spoonful of honey so familiar to him, than all of them with their barrels of vinegar.” According to Claude Marin, the first who dared to approach him were children; “he would give them a caress accompanied by a kind word.” A newly converted individuals tempted to go back would say “You have regained my soul.”

In search of a new form of communication
            At the beginning of his mission in the Chablais, Francis de Sales soon came up against a wall. The leaders of the Protestant party had decided to ban their co-religionists from attending the sermons of the papist priest. What to do under such conditions? Since the people of Thonon did not want to go to him, he would go to them. How? The new form of communication would consist of periodically drafting and distributing leaflets, easy to read at will in their homes.
            The venture began in January 1595. He drafted the first articles, copied by hand, while waiting for the services of a printing house, and distributed them little by little. He then sent a new flyer to Chambéry every week to be printed, which he then had distributed in the houses in Thonon and in the countryside. Addressing the “lords of Thonon”, Francis de Sales explained to them the whys and hows of this initiative:

Having spent some time preaching the word of God in your town, without having been heard by you except rarely, little by little and secretly, so as to leave no stone unturned on my part I began to put in writing some principal reasons, which I chose mostly in my sermons and treated previously viva voce in defence of the faith of the Church.

            Distributed periodically in homes, the leaflets appeared as a kind of weekly magazine. What advantage did you think you would gain from this new form of communication? In addressing the “lords of Thonon”, Francis de Sales highlighted the four “conveniences” of written communication:

            l. It brings information home. 2. It facilitates public debate and discussion of opinions with the adversary. 3. It is true that “words spoken with the mouth are alive, while written on paper they are dead”; however, writing “can be handled, offers more time for reflection than the voice, and allows one to think about it more deeply”. 4. Written communication is an effective means of combating misinformation because it makes the author’s thoughts known precisely and makes it possible to verify whether or not a character’s thoughts correspond to the doctrine he claims to defend. This made him say, “I say nothing to Thonon except what I want to be known in Annecy and Rome, should the need arise.”
            In fact, he considered that his first duty was to fight against the deformations of Church doctrine by Protestant authors. J.-P. Camus explains this precisely:

One of their greatest evils lies in the fact that their ministers falsify our beliefs, so that their presentation turns out to be something quite different from what it actually is: for example, that we give no importance to Holy Scripture; that we worship the Pope; that we regard the saints as gods; that we give more importance to the Blessed Virgin than to Jesus Christ; that we worship images with adoration due only to God and attribute a divine aura to them; that the souls in purgatory are in the same state and in the same despair as those in hell; that we worship the bread of the Eucharist; that we deprive the people from partaking of the blood of Jesus Christ; that we disregard the merits of Jesus Christ, attributing salvation solely to the merits of our good deeds; that auricular confession is a torment of the spirit; and similar invectives, which make our religion hateful and discredited among these people, who are thus misinformed and deceived.

            Two attitudes characterise the personal procedure of Francis de Sales as a “journalist”: on the one hand, the duty to inform his readers accurately, explaining to them the reasons for the Catholic position, in short, to be useful to them; on the other, a great desire to show them his affection. Addressing his readers, he immediately declared “You will never read a piece of writing directed to you from a man as keen on your spiritual good as I am.”
            Alongside written communication, he incidentally used other forms of communication, notably theatre. On the occasion of the great Catholic event in Annemasse in September 1597, which was attended by a crowd of several thousand people, a biblical drama entitled The Sacrifice of Abraham was performed, in which the provost impersonated God the Father. The text composed in verse was not his own work; it was, however, he who suggested the theme to his cousin, Canon de Sales, and his brother Louis, who was considered to be “exceedingly well versed in human letters”.

Truth and Charity
            The author of The Spirit of Blessed Francis de Sales captured the heart of the Salesian message in its definitive form well, it seems, when he entitled the beginning of his work: Of True Charity, quoting this “precious and remarkable sentence” of his hero: “Truth that is not charitable springs from charity that is not true.”
            For Francis de Sales, Camus explains, any correction must have for its purpose the good of the one to be corrected (which may cause momentary suffering) and must be done with gentleness and patience. What is more, the one who corrects must be ready to suffer injustice and ingratitude on the part of the one receiving the correction.
            We can recall, regarding Francis de Sales’ experience in the Chablais, that the indispensable alliance of truth with charity is not always easy to put into practice, that there are many ways of putting it into practice, but that it is indispensable for those who are animated by a genuine concern for the correction and education of “rebellious children”.

Dialogue between past, present and future: temporary exhibition for the 200th anniversary of Don Bosco’s dream. Don Bosco House Museum

To speak of Don Bosco’s life without mentioning the world of dreams is to suppress an important aspect of his identity. The saint’s life was marked by the supernatural, by visions and dreams that God sent him from childhood, when between the ages of nine and ten John Bosco had his first dream, which marked him deeply and accompanied him throughout his life.

The dream was considered prophetic because it shed light on his life project, both in his choice of the clerical state and in his total dedication to poor and abandoned youth. Indeed, in a certain sense it marked his path, since it began in the meadows of the Becchi, his home town, came to fruition in Turin when he settled in the Valdocco district and was commemorated in the church of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, at the Castro Pretorio in Rome, a year before his death. At the same time, from 1875, with the Salesian missions, he embraced several continents of the world, until today, where the Salesian presence works to keep the founder’s dream alive.

Two centuries later, aware that Don Bosco’s dream is still alive, the museum at the mother house in Valdocco, Turin, the Museo Casa Don Bosco, opened a temporary exhibition on 22 May that will remain open until 22 September 2024.

The exhibition, the result of previous research, is divided into several sections that explore the narrative, history and iconography of the dream in the arts and the resonance of the dream today, two hundred years later.

The selection of historical and artistic items on different media helps one discover different moments in Salesian history that recall this crucial event in the life of the saint. Together with the historical photographs, objects from the period between the beatification (1929) and canonisation (1934), when the representation of the Dream in the arts began: illustrations in books, postcards, commemorative coins, oil and paper paintings, etc.

The exhibition presents an important selection of original prints. Corrado Mezzana (1890-1952), Guido Grilli (1905-1967), Cosimo [Nino] Musio (1933-2017) and Alarico Gattia (1927-2022) are just some of the artists. Comics by Grilli, Musio and Gattia were commissioned by the Libreria della Dottrina Cristiana (1941), founded by Don Bosco’s fourth successor, Fr Peter Ricaldone (1870-1951). These works, which have been distributed in various publications, media, formats and languages throughout the world, are preserved by the current publishing house Elledici.

The exhibition is completed by seventeen photographs which won the international photography competition held since January 2024 and are promoted by the museum house with the aim of highlighting the artistic and creative talent of the entire Salesian world. The photos are described by their creators in the original language and come from Italy, Mexico, Panama, Slovakia, Spain and Venezuela.

These images involve the past, present and future and make us reflect on how, two centuries later, Don Bosco’s Dream has become a reality in Salesian presences around the world.

In addition, the Youth Ministry Sector of the Salesian Congregation is promoting the celebration of the Salesian Youth Synod around the world and, on the occasion of the bicentenary of the dream, has collected more than 200 dreams of young people from all over the world in a publication called Hidden Diamonds, some of which are displayed in the exhibition.

Photo: Guido Grilli (1905-1967), Giovannino’s Dream, 16.6 x 23 cm, 1952, film D15, picture no. 4. Historical Archive Editrice Elledici.

dr. Ana MARTÍN GARCÍA
Art historian, cultural heritage conservator and European PhD (Doctor Europaus) in visual arts for the University of Bologna. Former pupil of the Salesians in Estrecho (Madrid, Spain). Since 2023 she has been working as General Coordinator managing the Casa Don Bosco Museum in Valdocco, Turin.

Accompanied by a local Salesian, we get to know a significant educational presence in Oceania.

            The presence of Don Bosco has reached every continent in the world. We can say that only Antarctica is missing, and even in the islands of Oceania the Salesian charism, which is well adapted to the different cultures and traditions, is spreading.
            For almost 30 years, the Salesians have also been working in the Solomon Islands, a country in the southwest Pacific comprising more than 900 islands. They arrived on 27 October 1995, at the request of Archbishop Emeritus Adrian Smith, and started work with three confreres from Japan, the first Salesian pioneers in the country. Initially they moved to Tetere, in the parish of Christ the King on the outskirts of the capital Honiara on the island of Guadalcanal, and later opened another presence in Honiara in the Henderson area. There are fewer than ten Salesians working in the country and they come from different countries in Asia and Oceania: Philippines, India, Korea, Vietnam, Papua New Guinea and Solomon Islands.

            Solomon Islands has an estimated population of about 750,000 people, and the majority are young people. The population is predominantly Melanesian, with some Micronesian, Polynesian and other peoples. The majority of the population is Christian, but there are also other faiths such as the Bahai Faith and Islam that are gradually making their way into the country. The paradisical seascapes and the rich biodiversity make these islands a fascinating and fragile place at the same time. Thomas tells us that the young people are generally docile and dream of a better future. However, with the increase in population and the lack of services and even a space to get a higher education, it seems that today’s youth are generally frustrated with the government and many young people resort to crime, such as dealing illegal drugs, drinking, pickpocketing, stealing and so on, especially in the city, just to earn an income. In this not easy situation, the Salesians roll up their sleeves to offer hope for the future.

            In the Tetere community, the work is concentrated in the school, a vocational training centre offering agricultural courses, and in the parish of Christ the King. In addition to the formal education courses, there are playgrounds in the school for students, young people attending the parish and communities living in the same area, and the oratory is open at weekends. The challenge the community faces is the distance from Honiara and the lack of resources to help the school meet the welfare of the students. As far as the parish is concerned, the poor condition of the roads leading to the villages is a major concern, which often contributes to vehicle problems and therefore makes transportation more difficult.

However, due to the lack of facilities, not everyone can be accommodated at the centre, despite the efforts of the entire community. Following Don Bosco’s Preventive System, the Salesians not only offer educational opportunities, but also take care of the spiritual aspect of the students through various programmes and religious activities, to form them to be ‘good Christians and upright citizens’. Through its programmes, the Salesian school conveys positive messages to the children and educates them in discipline and balance, to prevent them from falling into the problems of drug and alcohol abuse, which are widespread among young people. One challenge the Salesian community faces in providing quality education is the training of staff, so that they are always professional and at the same time share Salesian charismatic values, in a spirit of educational co-responsibility. The school needs lay missionaries and volunteers who are committed to helping young people realise their dreams and become a better version of themselves.
Although the current situation in the country is likely to be more difficult in the years to come, Thomas tells us, “ believe that the young people of Solomon Islands want and hope for a better future, they want people who inspire them to dream, who accompany them, who listen to them and guide them to hope and to look beyond the challenges and problems they continually experience every day, especially when they migrate to the city.”

            But how can a vocation to Salesian consecrated life be born in Solomon Islands?
Thomas Bwagaaro is one of only two Salesians from Solomon Islands. “It is a privilege for me to work for young people in my country. As a local, dealing with young people and listening to the struggles they sometimes face gives me strength and courage to be a good Salesian.” The educational work and personal testimony of life can be a source of inspiration for other young people who want to join the Salesian congregation and continue Don Bosco’s dream of helping young people in this region, as happened in Thomas’ story. His journey to become a Salesian began as a student at Don Bosco Tetere in 2011. Inspired by the way the Salesians interacted with the students, he was captivated and remembers his two years there as the best student experience, which gave him hope and the chance to dream of a bright future, despite the difficult situation and lack of opportunities. The vocational journey in the community began with participation in the Salesians’ morning and evening prayer times, with a gradual and growing sense of sharing. Thus, in 2013, Thomas entered the Salesian Savio Haus aspirantate in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea, attending boarding school for four years with other companions. The clearly international Salesian formation continued in the Philippines, in Cebu, with the pre-novitiate and subsequent novitiate, at the end of which Thomas made his first vows as a Salesian at the Shrine of Mary Help of Christians in Port Moresby on the solemnity of Mary Help of Christians, 24 May 2019. He then returned to the Philippines to study philosophy and finally returned to the PGS Vice-Province that includes Papua New Guinea and Solomon Islands. “As a local Salesian, I am very grateful to my family who supported me wholeheartedly and to the brothers who set a good example and accompanied me on my journey as a young Salesian.” Religious life, alongside young people together with many exemplary lay people, is still as relevant today as it was in the past. “Looking to the future, I can confidently say that the Solomon Islands will continue to have many young people and the need for Salesians, Salesian volunteers and lay missionary partners to continue this wonderful apostolate of helping young people to be good Christians and upright citizens will be very relevant.”

Marco Fulgaro

We asked Fr Philippe BAUZIERE, the new Provicial of Brazil Manaus (BMA) to answer a few questions for readers of the OnLine Salesian Bulletin.

Fr Philippe Bauzière was born in Tournai, Belgium, on 2 February 1968. He did his Salesian novitiate at the house in Woluwe-Saint-Lambert (Brussels) and made his first profession, also in Brussels, on 9 September 1989. In 1994 he arrived in Brazil for the first time, in Manaus, where he made his perpetual profession on 5 August the following year.
He was ordained a deacon in Ananindeua on 15 November 1997, and a year later, on 28 June 1998, he was ordained a priest in the cathedral of his home town, Tournai.
His first years as a priest were spent at the Salesian presence in Manaus Alvorada (1998-2003). From 2004 to 2008, he then lived in Porto Velho, first as parish priest and then as Rector (2007-2008). In the following years, he lived in Belém, São Gabriel de Cachoeira and Ananindeua. From 2013-2018 he was in Manicoré as Parish Priest and Rector. Back in Manaus, he lived in the houses in Alvorada, Domingos Savio and Aleixo until 2022. This year, 2023, he is in Ananindeua, where he accompanies the Salesian School of Work. Since 2019, he has been a member of the Provincial Council, where he has held various positions of responsibility: since 2021, he has been Vice-Provincial and also Provincial Delegate for the Salesian Family and for Formation.
Fr Bauzière succeeds Fr Jefferson Luís da Silva Santos who has completed his six-year term as Superior of the Province of Brazil-Manaus.

Can you present yourself?
            I am Philippe Bauzière, a Salesian of Don Bosco, a missionary for thirty years in Brazil and a priest for twenty-six. I understood my vocation, the Lord’s call, especially through the missionary aspect. A great influence was the parish priest of my village in Belgium: he was an Oblate of Mary Immaculate who had lived for many years in Sri Lanka and Haiti, who shared his missionary experience… So, at the age of eighteen, after discernment, I realised that the Lord was calling me to religious life and the priesthood.
            A curiosity: I am the eldest of my two brothers, and at the time they were attending a Salesian school; I was attending a diocesan school… Yet it was I who discovered the Salesians! And it was the Salesian spirit that won me over.
            In September 1989 I made my first religious profession, asking to go to the missions. The Councillor for the Missions at the time, Fr Luciano Odorico, sent me to the Amazon Province (Manaus, Brazil), where I arrived on 30 June 1994.
            The first challenges were those of adaptation: a new language, the equatorial climate, different mentalities… But everything was counterbalanced by a beautiful surprise, that of the welcome I received from my confreres and the people.
            After my ordination, I was sent to work in social works and parishes, where I had the opportunity to meet many young people and simple people. As a Salesian, I am very happy about this contact, to be able to serve the Lord together with young people and families. I feel small before the Lord’s action in so many young people, and also the Lord’s action in myself.

What are the greatest difficulties you have encountered?
            Today we Salesians in Amazonia feel the powerful challenges that young people face: the lack of opportunities, training and work; the burden of drug trafficking, addictions and violence; many young people who do not feel loved in their homes or families (they feel more at home in our Salesian works, than in their own homes…); the major mental health problems (depression, anxiety, alcoholism, suicide, etc.); the lack of a sense of life among young people; the lack of guidelines for the proper use of new technologies.
We also feel the challenge of ensuring that ethnic groups in Brazil do not lose their cultural identity, especially young people. Faced with this picture, we understand that our life must be given to the Lord, at the service of defending the LIFE of so many people, especially the young. May the Lord enlighten us! May Don Bosco intercede for us!

What are the most urgent local needs?
            Times are changing rapidly – as you can understand – and we must respond appropriately to these new times. Our works need a lot of financial resources (especially since our location in Amazonia entails very high costs, due to the great distances involved), as well as adequate and renewed training for our human resources (Salesians and lay people). The demands are many: we need more Salesians! It would be a great good if we had vocations, even indigenous ones.

What place does Mary Help of Christians occupy in your life?
            I believe that, as in Don Bosco’s life, Our Lady is our Help of Christians; she is present and helps us.

We asked Fr Francisco LEZAMA, the new Provincial of Uruguay (URU), a few questions for the readers of the Salesian Bulletin OnLine.

Fr Francisco Lezama was born in the city of Montevideo on 11 September 1979. He got to know the Salesians in the Salesian work of Las Piedras, where he took part in youth groups and parish activities.
His parents Luis Carlos Lezama and Graciela Pérez currently live in the city of Las Piedras.
He did all his initial formation in the city of Montevideo. He made his perpetual profession on 31 January 2006 in Montevideo. He was ordained priest on 11 October 2008 in Las Piedras (Uruguay). His first years as a priest were spent in the Salesian presence of the Colegio Juan XXIII in the city of Montevideo. From 2012 to 2015 he studied Sacred Scripture at the Pontifical Biblical Institute in Rome.
From 2018-2020 he was rector and parish priest of the Colegio Pio IX in Villa Colón, a member of the formation team and in charge of vocations ministry. In the year 2021 he takes up the service of Provincial Vicar and Provincial Delegate for Youth Ministry until October 2022 when he was appointed Provincial Economer.
Fr Lezama succeeds Fr Alfonso Bauer as Provincial of URU, who finished his six-year term in January 2024.

Can you introduce yourself?
I am Francisco Lezama, a Salesian priest. I am 44 years old… I am passionate about educating young people, I feel at home among them. I come from a family that has taught me the value of justice and concern for others. Life has given me friends with whom I can share who I am and who help me to grow all the time. I dream of a world in which everyone has a place, and I work to the best of my ability to make this a reality.

What is the story of your vocation?
Since I was a child I felt called to put my life at the service of others. I looked in many places: I became involved in political and social activism, I thought of dedicating myself professionally to education as a teacher… As a teenager I approached the parish because of my desire to help others. There, participating in the oratory, I discovered that this was the environment in which I could be myself, in which I could develop my deepest self… and in this context, a Salesian suggested that I discern a consecrated vocation. I had never consciously considered it, but at the time I felt a light in my heart that told me it was that way.

Since then, in the Salesian vocation, I have been developing my life, and even with the thorns among the roses I have been discovering that Jesus’ calls have been marking my path: my profession as a religious, my university studies in education, my ordination to the priesthood, my specialisation in Sacred Scripture, and above all each mission, each young person with whom God has given me the gift of meeting, allow me to continue to be grateful and to unfold my vocation.

Why a Salesian?
I am passionate about education, I feel called to fulfil my vocation there, and I also believe that it is an instrument to change the world, to change lives. I have also discovered that as a Salesian I can give my whole life, “until my last breath”, and that makes me very happy.

How did your family react?
They have always accompanied me and my siblings, so that everyone can find their own way to happiness. In my father’s family I have an uncle and an aunt who have also been called to the consecrated life, but above all I have in my family many examples of faithful and generous love, starting with my parents, and lately I see it in the love of my sister and my brother-in-law for their children, who have given me the vocation of an uncle, and help me to discover new facets of the same love, which comes from God.

Who first told you the story of Jesus?
I remember my grandmother and my godfather who encouraged me a lot to get to know Jesus… then in the catechesis of my parish, I began to follow the path that allowed me to grow in his friendship… Finally, with the Salesians, I discovered that Jesus is close to me, makes himself present in everyday life and encourages me to grow in his friendship.

You studied Sacred Scripture at the Pontifical Biblical Institute in Rome. Are young people today interested in the Bible? How can you bring them closer to it?
I have discovered that young people are very interested in the Bible; even in a university youth centre in Montevideo, a group of young people asked me for Greek classes so that they could study the text in depth! The reality is that the biblical text shows us the Word of God always in dialogue with cultures, with the challenges of the times, and young people are very sensitive to these realities.

What have been the greatest challenges you have faced?
There is no doubt that the injustices and inequalities that our societies experience are very great challenges, because for us they are not figures or statistics, but they have a name and a face, in which the suffering face of Christ is reflected.

What have been your greatest satisfactions?
For me, it is an immense joy to see God at work: in the hearts of young people, in the communities that listen to his voice, in the people who bet on love even in the face of difficulties.
On the other hand, it is a great joy to share the charism with the Salesian brothers and with so many lay people who make it possible today to develop the Salesian work in Uruguay. We have taken very significant steps towards synodality, sharing life and mission, in a style that enriches us and allows us to work from the depths of our identity.

What are the most significant works in your area?
There are many works that have great significance in Uruguay. Some have a high impact on society, such as the Tacurú Movement on the outskirts of Montevideo, which is undoubtedly the most relevant social project in Uruguayan society as a whole. There are other works with great significance in their area, such as the Paiva Institute in the department of Durazno, which allows adolescents from rural areas to access secondary education (which would not be possible for them otherwise) and to open up new horizons in their lives. Or Obra Don Bosco, in the city of Salto, which in addition to various projects that accompany them from birth to 17 years of age, has a specific project for adolescents in conflict with the law, accompanying them in various aspects of their lives.

Do you have any project that particularly interests you?
The last project we started is a home for children that the state has taken under its guardianship, because their rights were being violated, and entrusted them to us, the Salesians. Significantly, we have called it “Casa Valdocco”, and there the children are accompanied while at the same time we look for a way for them to rejoin a family reality that can help them in their development.

What place does Mary Help of Christians occupy in your life?
In Uruguay we have many churches and works dedicated to Mary Help of Christians. In fact, it is in our province that the tradition of the monthly commemoration, every 24th, was born. But there are two places that are significant to me: one is the National Shrine, in Villa Colón, the mother house of the Salesians in Uruguay, from where missionaries later went out to all America. The other place, in the north of the country, is Corralito, in Salto. There, devotion to Mary Help of Christians arrived before the Salesians did, thanks to former students who spread their devotion. I believe that this is a sign of the vitality of our Family, and also of how she is always present, using means and ways that always surprise and amaze us.

(continuation from previous article)

Beginning of a new stage
            From this moment on, everything would happen quickly. Francis became a new man: “At first he was perplexed, restless, melancholic” according to A. Ravier, “but now makes decisions without delay, he no longer drags out his undertakings, he throws himself into them headlong.”
            Immediately, on 10 May, he put on his ecclesiastical habit. The next day, he presented himself to the vicar of the diocese. On 12 May, he took up his position in the cathedral of Annecy and visited the bishop, Bishop Claude de Granier. On 13 May, he presided at the Divine Office in the cathedral for the first time. He then settled his temporal affairs: he gave up the title of Lord of Villaroget and his rights as first-born son; he renounced the magistracy to which his father had destined him. From 18 May to 7 June, he retired with his friend and confessor, Amé Bouvard, to the Château de Sales to prepare for holy orders. For one last time he was assailed by doubts and temptations; he emerged victorious, convinced that God had manifested himself to him as “very merciful” during these spiritual exercises. He then prepared for the canonical examination for admission to orders.
            Invited for the first time by the bishop to preach on the day of Pentecost, which that year fell on 6 June, he very carefully prepared his first sermon for a feast on which “not only the elderly but also the young should preach”; but the unexpected arrival of another preacher prevented him from delivering it. On 9 June, Bishop de Granier conferred the four minor orders on him and two days later promoted him to sub-deacon.
            An intense pastoral activity then began for him. On 24 June, the feast day of St John the Baptist, he preached in public for the first time with great courage, but not without first feeling a certain trembling which forced him to lie down on his bed for a few moments before climbing into the pulpit. From then on, the sermons would multiply.
            A daring initiative for a sub-deacon was the foundation in Annecy of an association intended to bring together not only clergymen, but above all laymen, men and women, under the title of “Confraternity of the Penitents of the Holy Cross”. He himself drew up its statutes, which the bishop confirmed and approved. Established on 1 September 1593, it began its activities on the 14th of the same month. From the beginning, the membership was numerous and, among the first members, Francis had the joy of counting his father and, some time later, his brother Louis. The statutes provided not only for celebrations, prayers and processions, but also for visits to the sick and prisoners. At first there was some dissatisfaction especially among the religious, but it was soon realised that the testimony of the members was convincing.
Francis was ordained deacon on 18 September and a priest three months later, on 18 December 1593. After three days of spiritual preparation, he celebrated his first mass on 21 December and preached at Christmas. Some time later, he had the joy of baptising his little sister Jeanne, the last born of Mme de Boisy. His official installation in the cathedral took place at the end of December.
            His “harangue” in Latin made a great impression on the bishop and the other members of the chapter, all the more profound as the topic he addressed was a burning one: recovering the ancient see of the diocese, which was Geneva. Everyone agreed: Geneva, the city of Calvin that had outlawed Catholicism, had to be regained. Yes! But how? With what weapons? And first of all, what was the cause of this deplorable situation? The provost’s answer would not have pleased everyone: “It is the examples of perverse priests, the actions, the words, in essence, the iniquity of everyone, but particularly of the clergy.” Following the example of the prophets, Francis de Sales no longer analysed the political, social or ideological causes of the Protestant reform; he no longer preached war against heretics, but the conversion of all. The end of exile could only be achieved through penance and prayer, in a word, through charity:

It is by charity that we must dismantle the walls of Geneva, by charity invade it, by charity recover it. […] I propose to you neither iron, nor that dust, the smell and taste of which recall the infernal furnace […]. It is with hunger and thirst suffered by us and not by our adversaries that we must defeat the enemy.

            Charles-Auguste states that, at the end of this address Francis “came down from his ambo amid the applause of the whole assembly” but one can assume that certain canons were irritated by the harangue of this young provost.
            He could have contented himself with “enforcing the discipline of the canons and the exact observance of the statutes”, and instead launched into ever more intense pastoral work: confessions, preaching in Annecy and in the villages, visits to the sick and prisoners. When needed, he employed his legal knowledge for the benefit of others, settled disputes and argued with the Huguenots. From January 1594 until the beginning of his mission in Chablais in September, his work as a preacher must have had a promising start. As the numerous quotations show, his sources were the Bible, the Fathers and theologians, and also pagan authors such as Aristotle, Pliny and Virgil, whose famous Jovis omnia plena he was not afraid to quote. His father was not used to such overwhelming zeal and such frequent preaching. “One day” Francis told his friend Jean-Pierre Camus, “he took me aside and said:

Provost, you preach too often. I even hear the bell ringing on weekdays for the sermon and they tell me: It’s the provost! The provost! In my time it wasn’t like that, sermons were much rarer; but what sermons! God knows, they were scholarly, well-researched; they were full of wonderful stories, a single sermon contained more quotations in Latin and Greek than ten of yours: everyone was happy and edified, people rushed to hear them; you would have heard that they went to collect manna. Now you make this practice so common that we no longer pay attention to it and no longer hold you in such esteem.”

            Francis was not of this opinion: for him, “to blame a worker or a vine-dresser because he cultivates his land too well was to praise him.”

The beginnings of his friendship with Antoine Favre
            The humanists had a taste for friendship, a favourable space for epistolary exchange in which one could express one’s affection with appropriate expressions drawn from classical antiquity. Francis de Sales had certainly read Cicero’s De amicitia. The expression with which Horace called Virgil “the half of my soul”  (Et serves animae dimidium meae) came to mind.
            Perhaps he also recalled the friendship that united Montaigne and Étienne de La Boétie: “We were in all respects each other’s halves” wrote the author of the Essays, “being one soul in two bodies, according to Aristotle’s felicitous definition”; “if I am asked to explain why I loved him, I find that this cannot be expressed except by answering: Because he was him and because I was me.” A true friend is a treasure, says the proverb, and Francis de Sales was able to experience that it was true at the moment his life took a definitive turn, thanks to his friendship with Antoine Favre.
            We possess the first letter Favre addressed to him on 30 July 1593 from Chambéry. With allusions to the “divine Plato” and in elegant and refined Latin, he expressed his desire: that, he wrote, “not only to love and honour you, but also to contract a binding bond forever.” Favre was then thirty-five years old, had been a senator for five years, and Francis was ten years younger. They already knew each other by hearsay, and François had even attempted to make contact with him. On receiving the letter, the young provost of Sales rejoiced:

I have received, most illustrious man and upright Senator, your letter, most precious pledge of your benevolence towards me, which, also because it was not expected, has filled me with so much joy and admiration, that I cannot express my feelings.

            Beyond the obvious rhetoric, aided by the use of Latin, this was the beginning of a friendship that lasted until his death. To the “provocation” of the “most illustrious and upright senator” that resembled a challenge to a duel, Francis replied with expressions suited to the case: if the friend was the first to enter the peaceful arena of friendship, it will be seen who will be the last to remain there, because I – Francis said – am “fighter who, by nature, is most ardent in this kind of struggle.” This first exchange of correspondence would give rise to a desire to meet: in fact, he writes, “that admiration arouses the desire to know, is a maxim that one learns from the very first pages of philosophy.” The letters quickly followed one another.
            At the end of October 1593, Francis replied to him to thank him for procuring another friendship, that of François Girard. He had read and re-read Favre’s letters “more than ten times.” The following 30th November, Favre insisted that he accept the dignity of senator, but on this ground he would not be followed. At the beginning of December, François announced to him that his “dearest mother” had given birth to her thirteenth child. Towards the end of December, he informed him of his forthcoming ordination to the priesthood, a “distinguished honour and excellent good”, which would make him a different man, despite the feelings of fear within him. On Christmas Eve 1593, a meeting took place in Annecy, where Favre probably attended the young provost’s installation a few days later. At the beginning of 1594, a fever forced Francis to take to his bed, and his friend comforted him to such an extent that he said that your fever had become “our” fever. In March 1594, he began to call him “brother” while Favre’s bride was to be “my sweetest sister” to Francis.
            This friendship turned out to be fruitful and fruitful, because on 29 May 1594, Favre in turn founded the Confraternity of the Holy Cross in Chambéry; and on Whit Tuesday, the two friends organised a large common pilgrimage to Aix. In June, Favre with his wife, called “my sweetest sister, your most illustrious and beloved bride” by Francis, and their “noble children” were eagerly awaited in Annecy. Antoine Favre then had five sons and one daughter. In August, he wrote a letter to Favre’s children to thank them for their writing, to encourage them to follow their father’s examples and to beg them to pass on his feelings of “filial piety” to their mother. On 2 September 1594, in a hastily written note, Favre announced his next visit “as soon as possible” and ended with repeated greetings not only to his “beloved brother”’, but also to “hose of Sales and all Salesians”.
            There were those who did not refrain from criticising these rather magniloquent letters, full of exaggerated compliments and over-cherished Latin periods. Like his correspondent, the provost of Sales, interspersing his Latin with references to the Bible and the Fathers of the Church, was especially busy quoting authors of classical antiquity. The Ciceronian model and epistolary art never escaped him, and, moreover, his friend Favre qualifies Francis’ letters not only as “Ciceronian”, but as “Athenian”. It is not surprising that one of his own letters to Antoine Favre contains the famous quote from Terence: “Nothing human is foreign to us”, an adage that has become a profession of faith among humanists.
            In conclusion, Francis considered this friendship as a gift from heaven, describing it as a “fraternal friendship that divine Goodness, the forger of nature, wove so vividly and perfectly between him and me, even though we were different in birth and vocation, and unequal in gifts and graces that I possessed only in him.” During the difficult years that were to come, Antoine Favre would always be his confidant and his best support.

A dangerous mission
            In 1594, the Duke of Savoy, Charles Emmanuel I (1580-1630), had just recaptured Chablais, a region close to Geneva, south of Lake Geneva, which had long been disputed between neighbours. The political-religious history of Chablais was complicated, as shown by a letter written in rough Italian in February 1596 and addressed to the nuncio in Turin:

A part of this diocese of Geneva was occupied by the Bernese, sixty years ago, [and] remained heretical; which being reduced to the full power of His Serene Highness these past years, by the war, [and reunited with] its ancient patrimony, many of the [inhabitants,] moved rather by the rumbling of the arquebuses than by the sermons that were being preached there by order of the Bishop, were reduced to the faith in the bosom of holy mother Church. But then, those lands being infested by the incursions of the Genevans and the French, they returned to the mire.

            The duke, intending to bring that population of some twenty-five thousand souls back to Catholicism, turned to the bishop to do what needed to be done. Already in 1589, he had sent fifty parish priests to regain possession of the parishes, but they were soon driven back by the Calvinists. This time it was necessary to proceed differently, namely to send two or three highly educated missionaries who were able to cope with the storm that would not fail to hit the “papists”. At an assembly of the clergy, the bishop outlined the plan and called for volunteers. No one breathed a word. When he turned his eyes towards the provost of Sales, the latter said to him: “Bishop, if you think I am capable and if you command me, I am ready to obey and I will go willingly.”
            He knew well what awaited him and that he would be received with “insults on the lips or stones in the hand.” For Francis, his father’s opposition to such a mission (detrimental to his life and even more to his family’s honour) no longer appeared to be an obstacle, because he recognised a higher will in the bishop’s order. To his father’s objections concerning the very real dangers of the mission, he replied proudly:

God, my Father, will provide: it is he who helps the strong; one only needs courage. […] And what if we were sent to India or England? Should one not go there? […] True, it is a laborious undertaking, and no one would dare deny it; but why do we wear these clothes if we shy away from carrying the burden?

            He prepared himself for the mission to Sales Castle at the beginning of September 1594, in a difficult situation: “His father did not want to see him, because he was totally opposed to his son’s apostolic commitment and had hindered him with all imaginable efforts, without having been able to undermine his generous decision. On the last evening, he said goodbye in secret to his virtuous mother.”
            On 14 September 1594, he arrived in Chablais in the company of his cousin Louis de Sales. Four days later his father sent a servant to tell him to return, “but the saintly young man [in reply] sent back his valet Georges Rolland and his own horse, and persuaded his cousin to return as well to reassure the family. The cousin obeyed him, though he later returned to see him. And our saint recounted […] that in all his life he had never felt such great interior consolation, nor so much courage in the service of God and souls, as on that 18th September 1594, when he found himself without companion, without valet, without crew, and forced to wander hither and thither, alone, poor and on foot, engaged in preaching the Kingdom of God.”
            To dissuade him from such a risky mission, his father cut him off. According to Pierre Magnin, “Francis’s father, as I learned from the lips of the holy man, did not want to assist him with the abundance that would have been necessary, wishing to divert him from such an undertaking initiated by his son against his advice, well aware of the obvious danger to which he was exposing his life. And once he let him leave Sales to return to Thonon with only a shield, so that [Francis] was forced […] to make the journey on foot, often ill-fitting and ill-clad, exposed to a severe cold, wind, rain and snow unbearable in this country.”
            After an assault he suffered with Georges Rolland, the Lord of Boisy tried again to dissuade him from the venture, but again without success. Francis tried to rattle the strings of his fatherly pride by commendably writing him these lines:

If Rolland were your son, while he is but your valet, he would not have had so little courage as to back down for such a modest fight as the one that has befallen him, and he would not speak of it as a great battle. No one can doubt the ill-will of our adversaries; but you do us a wrong when you doubt our courage. […] I beseech you therefore, my Father, not to attribute my perseverance to disobedience and to always consider me as your most respectful son.

            An enlightening remark handed down to us by Albert de Genève helps us better understand what eventually convinced the father to cease opposing his son. The grandfather of this witness at the process of beatification, a friend of Monsieur de Boisy, had told Francis’ father one day that he must feel “very fortunate to have a son so dear to God, and that he considered him too wise and God-fearing to oppose [his son’s] holy will, which was aimed at realising a plan in which the holy name of God would be greatly glorified, the Church exalted and the House of Sales would receive greater glory than all other titles, however illustrious they might be.”

The time of responsibilities
            Provost of the cathedral in 1593 at the age of only twenty-five, head of the mission in the Chablais the following year, Francis de Sales could count on an exceptionally rich and harmonious education: a well-groomed family upbringing, a high quality moral and religious formation, and high-level literary, philosophical, theological, scientific and legal studies. True, he had benefited from possibilities forbidden to most of his contemporaries, but beyond the ordinary in him were personal effort, generous response to the appeals he received and the tenacity he showed in pursuing his vocation, not to mention the marked spirituality that inspired his behaviour.
            By now he was to become a public man, with increasingly broader responsibilities, enabling him to put his gifts of nature and grace to good use for others. Already in line to become coadjutor bishop of Geneva as early as 1596, appointed bishop in 1599, he became Bishop of Geneva upon the death of his predecessor in 1602. A man of the Church above all, but very much immersed in the life of society, we will see him concerned not only with the administration of the diocese, but also with the formation of the people entrusted to his pastoral ministry.