The shepherdess, the sheep and lambs (1867)
St John Bosco In the following passage, Don Bosco, founder of the Valdocco Oratory, recounts a dream he...
Salesian charism
Don Bosco with his Salesians
P. Natale CERRATO If Don Bosco happily joked with his boys to see them cheerful and serene, he...
Cardinal Augustus Hlond
Ángel Card. FERNÁNDEZ ARTIME The second of 11 children, his father was a railway worker. Having received a simple...
Don Jose-Luis Carreno, Salesian missionary
BSOL Editor Fr. José Luis Carreño (1905-1986) was described by historian Joseph Thekkedath as “the most beloved...
The festive oratory at Valdocco
Fr Francesco MOTTO In 1935, following the canonisation of Don Bosco in 1934, the Salesians took care to...
Nobody frightened the hens (1876)
Set in January 1876, the piece features one of Don Bosco’s most evocative “dreams,” his...
Salesian House of Castel Gandolfo
Amidst the green hills of the Castelli Romani and the tranquil waters of Lake Albano...
Don Bosco and the Church of the Holy Shroud
The Holy Shroud of Turin, one of Christianity’s most revered relics, has a thousand-year history...
The Tenth Hill (1864)
Don Bosco’s dream of the “Tenth Hill”, recounted in October 1864, is one of the...
Female education with Saint Francis de Sales
P. Wirth MORAND The educational thinking of Saint Francis de Sales reveals a profound and innovative vision of...
Joseph Augustus Arribat: Righteous Among the Nations
1. Biographical Profile The Venerable Joseph Augustus Arribat was born on 17 December 1879 in...
Venerable Ottavio Ortiz Arrieta Coya, Bishop
Octavio Ortiz Arrieta Coya, born in Lima, Peru, on 19 April 1878, was the first...
Missionary volunteering changes the lives of young people in Mexico
Missionary volunteering is an experience that profoundly transforms the lives of young people. In Mexico,...
The Little Lambs and the Summer Storm (1878)
The dreamlike tale that follows, recounted by Don Bosco on the evening of 24 October...
Visiting Rome with Don Bosco. Chronicle of his first trip to Rome
The first time Don Bosco went to Rome was in 1858, from February 18 to...
Visit to the Basilica of the Sacred Heart of Jesus in Rome (also in 3D)
The Basilica of the Sacred Heart of Jesus in Rome is a prominent church for...
The Syndrome of Philip and the Syndrome of Andrew
P. Fabio ATTARD In the Gospel account of John, chapter 6, verses 4-14, which recounts the multiplication of...
Don Bosco’s devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus
Don Bosco’s devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus originated from the revelations to Saint...
Don Bosco attends a devils meeting (1884)
The following pages take us into the heart of Saint John Bosco’s mystical experience, through...
Educating the Human Heart with Saint Francis de Sales
St. Francis de Sales places the heart at the centre of human formation, as the...
Don Bosco and the Sacred Heart. Protect, atone, love
In 1886, on the eve of the consecration of the new Basilica of the Sacred...
The Venerable Father Carlo Crespi “witness and pilgrim of hope”
ather Carlo Crespi, a Salesian missionary in Ecuador, lived his life dedicated to faith and...
Patagonia: “The greatest enterprise of our Congregation”
Upon arriving in Patagonia, the Salesians—led by Don Bosco—aimed to establish an Apostolic Vicariate to...
The Evangelical Radicality of Blessed Stefano Sándor
Fr Pierluigi CAMERONI Stefano Sándor (Szolnok 1914 – Budapest 1953) was a Salesian coadjutor martyr. A cheerful and...
St Francis de Sales instructs him. Future of vocations (1879)
In the prophetic dream Don Bosco recounted on 9 May 1879, Saint Francis de Sales...
Educating Beyond Weaknesses
The encounter between Jesus and Peter sheds a special light on our mission as evangelizers...
From CGS20 to GC29. The “interior” journey of the Salesians: between fidelity to God and response to the young
At the conclusion of the 29th General Chapter of the Salesians, we invited Don Pascual...
With Nino Baglieri, Pilgrim of Hope, on the Journey of the Jubilee
The path of the 2025 Jubilee, dedicated to Hope, finds a shining witness in the...
Fr. Peter Ricaldone is Reborn in Mirabello Monferrato
Fr. Peter Ricaldone (Mirabello Monferrato, 27 April 1870 – Rome, 25 November 1951) was the...
Novena to Mary Help of Christians 2025
This 2025 Novena to Mary Help of Christians invites us to rediscover ourselves as children...
Finally in Patagonia!
Between 1877 and 1880, the Salesian missionary shift towards Patagonia took place. After the offer...
Young people’s gifts to Mary (1865)
In a dream recounted by Don Bosco in the Chronicle of the Oratory, dated May...
St Dominic Savio. The places of his childhood
Saint Dominic Savio, the “little great saint,” lived his brief but intense childhood among the...
Father Crespi and the Jubilee of 1925
In 1925, in anticipation of the Holy Year, Father Carlo Crespi promoted an international missionary...
When the Lord Knocks
A confrere told me, “Father, we only need your closeness, your listening, your prayer. This...
Salesians in Ukraine (video)
The Salesian Vice-Province of Mary Help of Christians of the Byzantine Rite (UKR) has reshaped...
The way to hell paved with feeble resolutions (1873)
San Giovanni Bosco recounts in a “good night” the result of a long plea to...
Don Bosco promoter of “divine mercy”
As a very young priest, Don Bosco published a booklet, in tiny format, entitled “Exercise...
Educating our emotions with Saint Francis de Sales
Modern psychology has demonstrated the importance and influence of emotions in the life of the...
Purity and ways it can be safeguarded (1884)
In this dream of Don Bosco, a heavenly garden appears: a green slope, festooned trees,...
Final Address of the Rector Major at the conclusion of the General Chapter 29
Dear confreres, We have come to the end of this experience of the 29th General...
If Patagonia must wait… let’s go to Asia
The expansion of Salesian missionaries in Argentina during the second half of the 19th century...
Venerable Francesco (Francis) Convertini, pastor according to the Heart of Jesus
The venerable Father Francesco Convertini, a Salesian missionary in India, emerges as a shepherd after...
Don Bosco International
Don Bosco International (DBI) is a non-governmental organisation based in Brussels, representing the Salesians of...
Social inclusion according to Don Bosco
Don Bosco’s far-sighted proposal for the ‘unaccompanied minors’ of Rome. The history of the church...
With Don Bosco. Always
P. Stefano MARTOGLIO It makes a difference whether or not a General Chapter is held in one place...
The dream of the 22 moons (1854)
In March 1854 on a feast day, after evening prayer Don Bosco gathered all the...
The Vicar of the Rector Major. Don Stefano Martoglio
We have the joy of announcing that Don Stefano Martoglio has been re-elected as Vicar...
New Rector Major: Fabius Attard
We are pleased to announce that Fr. Fabius Attard is the new Rector Major, the...
Rectors Major of the Salesian Congregation
The Salesian Congregation, founded in 1859 by Saint John Bosco, has had at its head...
Election of the first Rector Major
During the eleventh General Chapter of the Salesian Congregation, the first Rector Major, Fr. Paolo...
The Cemetery Boys
The ordeal of abandoned young people continues to resonate in the contemporary world. Statistics speak...
150th anniversary of the first missionary expedition. Missionary Day
The Mission Sector of the Salesian Congregation prepared the usual materials for Salesian Mission Day...
Leaving for the missions… trusting in dreams
Don Bosco’s missionary dreams, without anticipating the course of future events, had the flavour of...
A Mysterious and Prophetic Wheel (1861)
The wise man’s heart,” we read in Holy Scripture, “knows times and judgments; for there...
We are Don Bosco, today
“You will complete the work I am starting; I will make the sketch, you will...
Our guest: Father Alphonse Owoudou, Chapter Moderator
On Sunday, February 16th, 2025, at Valdocco, Turin, the twenty-ninth General Chapter of the Salesian...
The history of the Salesian missions (1/5)
The 150th anniversary of the Salesian missions will be held on November 11, 2025. We...
The handkerchief of purity (1861)
On June 16, Don Bosco gave the boys the spiritual nosegay to pray for...
In Memoriam. Cardinal Angelo Amato, SDB
The universal Church and the Salesian Family bid farewell for the last time on December...
Hiking to Heaven (1861)
We shall now narrate another inspiring dream of Don Bosco which occurred on the nights...
Good, trustworthy and courageous slaves
In this Jubilee year, in this difficult world, we are invited to stand up, restart,...
Faith, our shield and our victory (1876)
“When I devoted myself to this part of the sacred ministry, I intended to consecrate...
Basilicata – Calabria Missionary Project
Within the “Project Europe,” Italy South has launched a new missionary project in the regions...
Salesian Holiness 2024
Every year, the postulator for the causes of saints of the Salesian Congregation, Don Pierluigi...
Blessed Luigi Variara: 150th Anniversary of His Birth
This year marks the 150th anniversary of the birth of Blessed Luigi Variara, an extraordinary...
Cardinal Angelo Amato S.D.B.: a cultured theologian between the West and the East
Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, SDB, had the opportunity to know the late Cardinal Angelo Amato very...
Marian Devotion from Don Bosco’s Perspective
Saint John Bosco had a deep devotion to Mary Help of Christians, a devotion that...
The Days of Salesian Spirituality
This year, the XLIII Days of Salesian Spirituality will take place from January 16 to...
Strenna 2025. Anchored in hope, pilgrims with young people
INTRODUCTION. ANCHORED IN HOPE, PILGRIMS WITH YOUNG PEOPLE1. ENCOUNTERING CHRIST OUR HOPE TO RENEW DON...
The “Good Night”
One evening, saddened by a certain general indiscipline noticed at the Valdocco Oratory among...
Community of the Mission of Don Bosco, a story of “family” and “prophecy”
The Salesian Family, born from Don Bosco’s intuition, has continued to grow over time...
Fifth missionary dream: Peking (1886)
During the night of April 9th, Don Bosco had a new missionary dream, which he...
What a gift, time!
The start of a new year in our liturgy, is enlightened by the ancient blessing...
Profiles of families wounded in the history of Salesian holiness
Prof. Lodovica Maria ZANET 1. Stories of wounded families We are used to imagining the family as a harmonious...
Andrew Beltrami virtuous profile (2/2)
(continuation from previous article) 3. Story of a soul3.1. Loving and suffering Fr Barberis sketches...
Wonders of the Mother of God invoked under the title of Mary Help of Christians (13/13)
(continuation from previous article) Graces obtained through the intercession of Mary Help of Christians. I....
Missionary Appeal 2025
Dear confreres, A fraternal and warm greeting from the “Sacro Cuore” in Rome. Today, 18...
Andrew Beltrami virtuous profile (1/2)
The Venerable Fr Andrea Beltrami (1870-1897) is an emblematic expression of a constitutive dimension...
Fr Rinaldi at the Becchi
Blessed Don Filippo Rinaldi, the third successor of Don Bosco, is remembered as an extraordinary...
Fourth Missionary Dream in Africa and China (1885)
From time to time, Divine Providence would reveal the future before the very eyes of...
A heart as big as the shores of the sea
A new time is given to us: from the Heart of God to the heart...
Life according to the Spirit in Mamma Margaret (2/2)
(continuation from previous article) 4. Exodus to her son’s priesthood From the dream at the...
Wonders of the Mother of God invoked under the title of Mary Help of Christians (12/13)
(continuation from previous article) A memento of the ceremony for the laying of the cornerstone...
Saint Francis, promoter of culture
As the pastor of a diocese the vast majority of which was made up of...
“Corso respire” 2024. Salesian missionary renewal course
The Mission Sector of the Salesian Congregation, with its headquarters in Rome, organised a Missionary...
Don Bosco and music
For the education of his youngsters Don Bosco made much use of music. Even...
Blessed Michael Rua.The Consecration of our Pious Society to the Sacred Heart of Jesus
On 24 October last, the Holy Father wished to renew devotion to the Sacred Heart...
Life according to the Spirit in Mamma Margaret (1/2)
Fr Lemoyne leaves us a truly outstanding portrait in his preface to the life...
Great saint, great manager
It is not easy to choose, from the hundreds of unpublished letters of Don...
Third missionary dream: air travel (1885)
Don Bosco’s dream on the eve of the missionaries’ departure for America is an event...
The Salesian presence in Ethiopia and Eritrea
The Salesian mission in Ethiopia and Eritrea had its beginnings in 1975, when the first...
The Servant of God Andrej Majcen: a Salesian completely dedicated to the young
This year marks the 25th anniversary of the passing into eternity of the Servant of...
The path of roses
“‘Oh, how Don Bosco always walks on roses! He goes forward calmly; all things go...
The safe tradition of Blessed Michael Rua (2/2)
(continuation from previous article) 2. Some traits of the theological virtues in Fr Rua2.1. Fr...
Wonders of the Mother of God invoked under the title of Mary Help of Christians (11/13)
(continuation from previous article) Appendix I. Ancient custom of consecrating churches Once a church has...
The second missionary dream: across America (1883)
Don Bosco told this dream on September 4, at the morning session of the...
The safe tradition of Blessed Michael Rua (1/2)
“Be good, trust in God and paradise will be yours” (Blessed Michael RUA) Blessed...
John Lee Tae Seok (1962-2010), a Salesian who will be spoken of again
John Lee Tae Seok, also known as ‘Fr. Jolly’, was a Korean Salesian who dedicated...
The new rooms of the Salesian General Postulation
On 4 June 2024, the new rooms of the Salesian General Postulation located at the...