Getting to know Don Bosco (20). The colossal work
Fr Bruno FERRERO Don Bosco is presented within a spirituality of work which, in harmony with the magisterium...
Fr Bruno FERRERO
Encouragement
“I am reminded of Mrs Lee, my primary school teacher, who foresaw great things for...
Getting to know Don Bosco (19). For 14 years I was Don Bosco’s confessor
The seminary in Chieri, where Don Bosco studied The testimony of Fr. Giovanni Francesco...
Getting to know Don Bosco (18). Pietro Giuseppe Enria and his memoirs
Mr Pietro Giuseppe ENRIA, SDB, (20 June 1841–21 June 1898), nurse to Don Bosco ...
The two woodcutters
Two lumberjacks were working in the same forest felling trees. The logs were massive, solid...
Getting to know Don Bosco (17). Giuseppe Buzzetti
Joseph Buzzetti, a young bricklayer captivated by Don Bosco, was among the first and most...
Getting to know Don Bosco (16). Giovanni Cagliero
The story of John Cagliero begins in 1851 when, as a young boy, he asked...
The evidence
A priest was having a conversation about faith and religion with a friend who professed...
We get to know Don Bosco (15). The definitive choice for the poor
At the most critical moment of the origins of the Oratory, Don Bosco finds himself...
Let us get to know Don Bosco (14). The Marchioness of Barolo
Giulietta Colbert di Barolo, a French noblewoman marked by exile and by profound family trials,...
An old man
A 92-year-old man, neatly dressed and taking great care of his appearance, was moving into...
Getting to know Don Bosco (13). The theologian Giovanni Borel
Anonymous, Portrait of Don Giovanni Borel (1801–1873), late 19th century, tempera on copper, 37.5 ×...
Get to know Don Bosco (12). Saint Joseph Cafasso
Saint Joseph Cafasso, Piero Dalle Ceste (1938), above the altar dedicated to him in the...
The coffee lesson
A group of professors, all successful in their respective careers, met to visit their old...
We know Don Bosco (11). I saw the holiness and humanity of Don Bosco
Giovanni Battista Bertagna was born in Castelnuovo d’Asti on 26 October 1828. He graduated in...
Get to know Don Bosco (10). Don Bosco at the crossroads
The vocational discernment of John Bosco, initially attracted to the Franciscan religious life as a...
The Bank
There is a Bank that credits the sum of eighty-six thousand four hundred euro to...
Get to know Don Bosco (9). A loving father
Don Bosco was able to win over poor young people not only because of his...
The eagle and the falcon
A Sioux legend says that once, Brave Bull and Blue Cloud came holding hands to...
Getting to know Don Bosco (8). The spirit of Saint Francis de Sales
Between Don Bosco’s Oratory and Saint Francis de Sales, there was a bond that progressively...
Getting to know Don Bosco (7). Don Bosco’s eyes
The story of Don Bosco’s eyes reveals a surprising and deeply human trait of the...
Bread
After the First World War, in times of great famine, Professor Breitenbach, a famous doctor,...
Getting to know Don Bosco (6). A will of steel and a heart of gold
Don Bosco’s personality was the result of a blend between his impulsive, fiery nature and...
Getting to know Don Bosco (5). “I was always in his company” Giorgio Moglia, farmer
Cascina Moglia, where Giovanni Bosco lived for about two years. Giorgio Moglia testified at...
Getting to know Don Bosco (4). Black bread swapped for white bread
We present the testimony of Don Secondo Marchisio, a Salesian priest, which was gathered during...
Conversion
I get up one morning, I leave the house, there is a pothole in the...
Getting to know Don Bosco (3). Don Bosco’s brothers
Young Giovanni’s relationships with his two brothers were very different. Antonio, his difficult half-brother who...
Getting to know Don Bosco (2). Margherita, Christian Mother and Educator
The fountain of Mamma Margaret at the foot of Don Bosco Hill (1960s) Young...
The Child and the Old Man
The child: “Sometimes I drop my spoon.” The old man: “It often happens to me...
Getting to know Don Bosco (1). The family’s economic situation
We are launching a new column titled “Knowing Don Bosco”. Conceived by the Salesian Fr....
On the bus
A 24-year-old young man, looking through the bus window, shouted, “Dad, look, the trees are...
Interview with Fr Xavier ERNST, superior of the France – Southern Belgium Province
Fr. Xavier Ernst, born in Belgium in 1981, is the new superior of the France-Southern...
Why are you shouting?
One day the master asked his disciples the following question: “Why do people shout when...
Nostalgia
I am a medical oncologist with long years of professional work. I started attending the...
The jar
A professor arrived in class with a glass jar, the kind usually used to preserve...
Conversion
Conversation between a man recently converted to Christ and an unbelieving friend: “So you were...
Family Conversation
Son: “Have you heard what happened in Ukraine?” Father: “Bah!” Mother: “Is the soup salty...
The tree
A man had four children. He wanted his children to learn not to judge things...
The wise man
Emperor Cyrus the Great loved to converse amiably with a very wise friend named Akkad.One...
The cricket and the Coin
A wise man from India had a close friend who lived in Milan. They had...
The exegetes
A famous biblical scholar had invited a group of colleagues to his home. They sat...
The name
In the Faculty of Medicine at a major university, the professor of anatomy distributed a...
The perfume
One cold March morning, in a hospital, due to serious complications, a baby girl was...
I killed her for a piece of bread
A man who had not entered a church for twenty years hesitantly approached a confessional....
Remember the sermon
One Sunday, around noon, a young woman was washing salad in the kitchen, when she...
A truly blind man
An ancient Persian fable tells of a man who had only one thought: to possess...
A smile at dawn
A touching testimony by Raoul Follereau. He was in a leper colony on a Pacific...
The rose
The German poet Rilke lived for a time in Paris. To go to university, he...
The hands of God
A master was travelling with a disciple in charge of looking after the camel. One...
Being lovable like Don Bosco (2/2)
(continuation from previous article) 5) Being authenticIn the digital age, authentic people are very important....
Being lovable like Don Bosco (1/2)
Being lovable is a human quality that is cultivated, accepting the effort that it so...
Message at the end of the 42nd Salesian Spirituality Days
To my dearest Family My dearest sons and daughters, The dream that makes you dream....
The dream at 9 years of age. Genesis of a vocation
The 9-year-old’s dream presented in ten points, the genesis of a heavenly vocation, confirmed by...
The boat
One evening, two tourists who were at a campsite on the shores of a lake...
The train timetable
I knew a man who knew the railway timetable by heart, because the only thing...
Progress
An explorer was travelling through the immense forests of the Amazon in South America. He...
The miracle
This is the true story of an eight-year-old girl who knew that love can work...
Who doesn’t pray?
A farmer, on a market day, stopped to eat in a crowded restaurant where even...
The cleverest son
Long ago there was a man who had three sons whom he loved very much....