 Chapter 27 of the Venerable Don Bosco, the Apostle of Youth. The Venerable Don Bosco's Last Will and Testament, addressed to the Silesian cooperators. My generous benefactors. I feel that the end of my life is now near at hand, and that at no distant day I shall have to pay that tribute to death which is common to us all, and go down into the grave. But before uttering my last farewell to you upon this earth, I meant just to discharge a debt of my own towards you, that I may so satisfy a need which I truly feel at heart. The debt which I have contracted towards you is one of gratitude. You in fact have efficiently assisted me in giving a Christian education to a multitude of poor children, and in placing them in the path of virtue and honorable toil, enabling them to become a consolation to their families, to be useful to themselves and to society at large, and above all to attain to eternal happiness by saving their souls. For me without your help nothing of all this would have been possible. Your charity, blessed by the grace of God, has dried up many a fountain of tears, and saved a great number of souls. In the many homes which we have established through your charity thousands of orphans have found a shelter. They have gone forth from their uncared-for state, rescued from the danger of losing their faith and their virtue. They have by means of a good education, by application to study, or by apprenticeship to a trade become good Christians and useful members of society. The missions which by your generosity have been established reach to the uttermost corners of the earth, through the hundreds of apostolic laborers whom you have sent forth into the distant regions of Patagonia and Tierra de Vuego, in order to cultivate and enlarge the vineyard of the Lord. Printing establishments have, by your charity, been founded in several towns and different lands, whereby many millions of books and publications of various kinds, all of them consecrated to the work of defending truth, of kindling a spirit of piety, and of encouraging the practice of virtue, have been circulated amongst the people. And lastly, your charity has raised up a goodly number of churches and chapels, which through ages to come, if not even to the end of the world, will daily re-echo the praises of God and of the blessed Virgin, and in them will salvation be found by an innumerable multitude of souls. Convinced as I am that after God this your charity has affected the immense amount of good mentioned above, and also other still greater things I feel the need of openly expressing to you my deepest gratitude for it all. This I wish to do before the number of my days is accomplished, and today I return you my thanks for all, with the greatest affection of my heart. But in the name of that persevering generosity itself, wherewith you have come to my assistance, I beseech you to continue the same helpful support to my successor after my death. The charitable works which with your co-operation I have commenced need me no more, but have still need of you, and of all others besides, who like yourselves desire to promote upon earth that which is good. To you I now confide them and commend them to your care. For your own encouragement, and for the comfort of your souls, I prescribe it as a duty for my successor to include all our benefactors, without exception, in the public and private prayers, which are or shall be offered up at any time in the house of the Silesian congregation. The intention which it will then be his duty, always to make, is this, that God may vouchsafe unto them, even in this life, for all their charitable gifts a hundredfold, together with the blessing of health, peace and concord in their families, success in their agricultural and commercial affairs, their deliverance and protection from every kind of evil. I would also further say that in order to obtain the forgiveness of sins, and to secure eternal life, the work that is most efficacious thereto is the charity shown towards poor children, in the ex-minimus, to the very least of them all, the poorest and the most friendless of the poor, as Jesus our Divine Master in Lord has himself assured us. I pray you moreover to remember yet furthermore, that in these latter times in presence of the great dearth of means and pecuniary resources for the education, either by personal superintendents or the instrumentality of others, the poor neglected children in the true faith, and in Christian virtue, the most holy virgin has by unmistakable signs constituted herself in a special way, their patroness and protectress, and that in virtue of that office, she obtains for those who are their benefactors here numerous and extraordinary favors, not only spiritual, but temporal as well. Many who is now writing to you, and all the salegions as well, can bear witness that many of our benefactors, whose means hitherto were very limited, have found their circumstances gradually improve, when they set themselves with a generous charity to sucker with their alms our orphan children, in so much that instructed by their own experience, there are many amongst them who in one way or another have often times expressed themselves to me to the following effect. I do not wish you to thank me when I give an alms to your poor children. It is I who ought to thank you for coming to ask me for it, since the day on which I first began to assist your orphans, my fortune has become double what it was before. Another of our benefactors, Major Cotta, who frequently brought us an offering, would often say, The more money I bring you for your works of charity, the more I prosper in my own affairs. I find by experience that the Lord returns me, even in this world, the hundredfolded that which I give you for his sake. This excellent Christian was one of our foremost benefactors, until at the age of eighty-six God called him to eternal life to bestow upon him the joys of heaven and recompense for his charity here below. Feeble, and exhausted though I am, I feel I could never see speaking to you and commending to your care these poor children of mine, whom I shall soon have to leave. But I must bring my words to a close and lay my pen aside. Farewell, my generous benefactors, my dear co-operators, farewell. Amongst you there are many whom in this life I have never been able to see. Let such find their consolation in the thought that in paradise we shall all of us know each other, and that throughout all eternity we shall rejoice together over the good which with the assistance of God's grace we have been able to accomplish in this world, in behalf more especially of poor children. If through the merits of Jesus Christ and the protection of Mary, help of Christians, God and his divine mercy shall deem me worthy of being admitted hereafter into paradise, I will always pray for you. I will pray for the members of your families. I will pray for all those who are dear to you, that so the day may come when we shall all unite in praising the majesty of the Creator, in rejoicing in His glory, and in celebrating His infinite mercies and triumphant songs of joy for all eternity. Amen. Ever your most grateful servant, John Bosco. End of Chapter 27 Chapter 28 of the Venerable Don Bosco, the Apostle of Youth. This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org. Recording by Larry Wilson The Venerable Don Bosco, the Apostle of Youth, by M. S. Pine. A retrospect, Don Michael Rua, Superior General. The Venerable Don Bosco, as he lay dying in the oratory of Althoco on January 31, 1888, was the father and superior general of 250 houses of the Silesian society in all parts of the world. In these beneficent institutions, 130,000 children were being educated and trained, and annually there went forth 18,000 finished apprentices, ready to enter upon the career of life with self-reliance, fitted mentally and physically for their self-chosen art or trade, and of deeper import to society, their characters molded to the highest ideals of morality and religion. During the marvelous years of development from that memorable December 8, 1841, on which Don Bosco, newly ordained, had providentially met and saved the little wave Bartholomew Garelli. He had given 6,000 priests to the Church of God, learned, fervent, and saintly apostles, of whom 1,200, faithful to the traditions of their childhood, had clung with filial love to their guardian, and devoted themselves, heart and soul, to the heroic labours for the young which he had initiated in the Society of Saint Francis of Sales, and thousands of students had achieved success in other honourable walks of life, where they reflected credit upon the Society and its venerable founder. What beautiful young virgin souls he had consecrated to God in the Society of Mary, help of Christians whose mission went hand in hand with that of the Silesian Fathers everywhere. What husbands and wives, what fathers and mothers had been sent forth, equipped to carry on his work, to implant the teachings of Christ in the souls of future generations, to ennoble and elevate the family and society, and who could count the multitude of blessed souls, saved through him, that came in glorious procession to meet him on his entrance into the heavenly land. Don Bosco left the mantle of his sanctity, as well as of his authority upon the shoulders of his beloved Don Michael Rua, who had been his assistant from the foundation of the Silesian Society, whom he had brought up at Valdocco from early childhood in the ways of God, and whom he regarded with veneration as a saint. Don Bosco had sometimes in a playful manner in Don Rua's presence held up two fingers significantly toward him. One day the latter ventured to ask the founder the meaning of the gesture. It means that you are to do half of my work, Don Bosco answered with cheerful satisfaction, and in his last moments the venerable superior general reiterated solemnly to his successor what he had often predicted relative to the expansion of the society after his departure to another life. He bade Don Rua look forward to the future with confidence and hope, but to prepare for far greater things than even the remarkable achievements which had made his own life so eventful. The inherent vitality of the society, indeed, was not even yet realized by those who had watched its progress and taken an active part in it from its inception. Its possibilities were yet to be revealed to them, for the passing of the founder which seemed to crush every hope of a great future only gave a new impetus to his apostolic works in all directions, and it was manifest that his power as a heavenly protector and intercessor for the cherished companions and children's left on life's highway was not less effective in his supernatural aid from on high than his actual presence and living inspiration had been on earth. As I reflect upon the band of apostles that filed out under Don Bosco's Silesian banner, my heart is thrilled as it is in contemplating the heroism of the first Christians. Don Bosco endowed with the skill, sweetness and magnetism of a heavily director had formed saints and heroes to perpetuate his work, for none others could do it. And Mary Mozzarella, whose cause of beatification is already opened in Rome, had no less left her spirit of supreme self-denial as a heritage to her Silesian sisters. What venerable names radiant with light loom up before the eyes as memory traces the pages of the Silesian annals during these three score years. How many of these humble and heroic pioneers may not our holy mother the church in the fullness of her heart yet raised to her altars, a crown of stars around the head of their venerable founder. Sitting aside the countries of their own Europe cast glance upon South America, from the Republic of Columbia down the long stretch of mountain, plains, cities, and wilderness to Tierra del Fuego, from Rio de Janeiro across the interior savage regions of Brazil to the coasts of Chile and Ecuador the continent is netted with Silesian churches and institutes and missions. True, the fathers met with a paternal welcome from the noble Inzales prelates were received even with civic honors at times by the rulers of the republics and greeted with joyous acclamations by the people as messengers sent by God for their salvation and religious comfort. But nonetheless they had to take their lives in their hands, prepared to sacrifice them at any moment. Through long suffering and hardships and tremendous perils they won savage tribes to Christianity and civilization. Their courage did not fail before the army of the poor afflicted lepers. Thousands of them. In the Las Orratos of Columbia. There's is a story written large in every department of the history of South America, and the Silesian annals merit an honor place in the literature of the world. In other foreign missions, in Palestine, in Alexandria Egypt, in Algiers and Cape Town, Africa, in Macau, China, in Tanshore, in Calcutta, India, the same exalted ideals of sanctity, of self-sacrifice dominate the Silesian. His mission is everywhere founded on the meekness and humility of the sacred heart of Jesus, the fullness of the interior life passing into outer activities of zeal, to win hearts and bow minds to the sweet yoke of Christ. As a confirmation of my remarks touching the expansion of the society, I will quote from one of the annual letters of Don Rua, the superior general to the Society of Cooperators, descriptive of the work accomplished by the Silesians in 1904, the sixteenth year after Don Bosco's happy death. It's rich in the blessings of the Heavenly Queen. He declares it to have been, during this jubilee year of the definition of the dogma of her immaculate conception. He names no less than twenty-four new foundations in the different countries of festive oratories, seminaries, theological institutions, schools of agriculture and institutes of arts and trades. While the daughters of Mary, help of Christians, have been called to establish fourteen new houses of their order in Italy, Spain, Belgium and South America, urging upon his readers the duty as well as the glory of sustaining the Silesian missions. He states, over one hundred and fifty missionaries left ports of Europe during last October and November for the various parts of Africa, Asia and the republics of South America. Don Rua calls his co-workers' attention also to four large churches which our society entirely at its own cost has at present under construction, besides many others of smaller dimensions. The venerated Don Rua, even on his deathbed, was never wary of manifesting his gratitude to the Silesian co-operators. I desire, he humbly requested, that you would tell them that I am full of gratitude for the help they have given our works. If Don Bosco said that without them he could have done nothing, how much less could I have done, who am but a poor creature? I am therefore obliged to remember them in a special manner. I will pray for them, for their families and friends, that the Lord may reward them in this life and in the next. And when in nineteen ten on the death of the saintly Don Rua, the supreme direction of the Silesian societies was committed to the very reverend Paul Albert, his grateful heart overflowed once upon his magnanimous co-operators. After having imparted to them the special blessing of the Holy Father, he made known his sentiments in a long and beautiful letter from which we present a brief excerpt. I seize this opportunity to assure you that recognizing my littleness in comparison with that giant of charity and virtue are lamented Don Rua. I have still the holy ambition of not being inferior to him, in the affection and gratitude I profess toward our co-operators. End of Chapter 28 This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org. The Venerable Don Bosco, the Apostle of Youth, by M. S. Pine, Chapter 29. After Death Don Rua, the successor of Don Bosco, thus attests in his deposition for the cause of beatification, the general devotion that immediately followed upon the death of his departed father. Although in life, Don Bosco had attracted a multitude of persons to him by the fame of his sanctity, yet after his death, there was a great increase of devotion. The learned and noble ecclesiastics especially were those who evinced most confidence in his intercession and not only from Turin but from all parts of Italy, from France, Spain, Austria, etc., and from across the ocean. The United States, Canada, and all the other countries of America came to me letters imploring for prayers to Don Bosco. I can certainly say that these came by hundreds every week. There were many manifestations of the potency of his prayers. Among numerous cases reported by the pen of Father Lemoine, I choose only three for the edification of my readers. The parish priest of Nice, France tell us that one day speaking to Don Bosco, of a well-known scientist of his parish who had neglected for several years the practice of his religion, Don Bosco considered for a moment and then said, Do not lose hope. Let us both pray to Mary, help of Christians, and she will obtain his conversion. Two years elapsed and there was no sign of it. On the morning of January 31st, 1888 continues the priest. As I was sitting in my room, I looked up and to my surprise beheld Don Bosco standing before me. You hear Don Bosco, I exclaimed. Yes, he replied, I have come to tell you that our lady has granted your request. I am very grateful to her and you, I said. But why did you come without letting me know? I should have wished to, but here I stopped for Don Bosco had disappeared and I was left alone. At first I thought I must have been dreaming, but on the same morning I heard of Don Bosco's death and I concluded that he had come to visit me before going to paradise. A few days afterwards, the gentleman whose conversion I had prayed for made a good confession and ever after led a most exemplary life. Toward the end of 1887, Sister Adele Marchesa experienced an utter loss of sight. After several specialists had pronounced her case hopeless, she pleaded to be taken to Don Bosco. But he being then in his last illness, the doctors were not permitted. When she heard of Don Bosco's death on January 31st, she entreated more earnestly than ever to be carried to the church where his body lay. Thither she was born on the 1st of February, but the crowd was so great that her party could not find entrance. They returned early the next day and Sister Adele kneeling by Don Bosco took his hand and with it touched her eyes. Immediately her sight was restored. I see Don Bosco she cried aloud twice. I see you Don Bosco has cured me. Her sight was perfect ever after. One of the boys at the oratory became seriously ill. Through the kindness of the superiors, his mother was allowed to nurse him there. On February 1st, being at the point of death, he suddenly looked up and his eyes became fixed on some object at the door. Mother, he said, turning to her. Did you see him? Who questioned the mother? Don Bosco, he replied. Certainly not. Don Bosco is dead and his body is lying in the church. While I saw him, insisted the boy, he came to tell me that in three days he will come to take me with him to heaven. No, you will not die yet. You must get better and come home with me. What for, mother? Is it not better to go to heaven? This news afflicted the sick child. Why must I leave the oratory he lamented? I want to die under the mantle of Mary. The mother was broken hearted and resolved to take him away from the oratory. Though it was snowing heavily, the mother was inflexible. On his arrival at the hospital, he said to the sister of charity, I wish to receive the Holy Communion tomorrow. Then you must be one of Don Bosco's boys, said the sister. They are all alike. They ask at once for confession and communion. I am to die very soon, sister. Tomorrow Don Bosco will come for me. No, no, protested his mother. Do not believe him. He is under a delusion. The morning hour came and brought the little supper of his beloved Lord in the Holy Communion. His joy and calm were inexpressible. All the day the poor mother sat by his side while he was in a sweet sleep. At five o'clock in the afternoon, he awoke from his slumber and raising his eyes to one in front of him, exclaimed, Here he is, here he is. O come quickly. A smile of joy on his face, his pure soul sped forth with his beloved Don Bosco to his early achieved blessedness. The apostles' reputation for sanctity so widely established with miracles and prophecies and so great number attributed to him, there was ere long a general petition of clergy and laity that his cause might be introduced into the Roman court. The petition was granted by Pope Leo XIII. The process ordinary, the first inquiry into the virtues and miracles of Don Bosco was solemnly opened in Turing on June 4, 1890 and ended on April 1, 1897, after 562 meetings. These acts were all conveyed to Rome and committed for further scrutiny and consideration to the sacred congregation of rites. Countless, we might almost say, were the wonders made known during this first process, they would fill volumes, tributes to Don Bosco's sanctity from all parts of the world, extraordinary cures of soul and body, supernatural conversions, marvelous prophecies fulfilled, wrongs righted, reconciliations brought about, reckless sons or daughters led back to duty, divine vocations especially to the salation orders in which the finger of God was openly manifest. The tomb of Don Bosco, their beloved benefactor and wonder worker, became to the people of Turing a sacred place. There might be seen individuals and groups of fervent pilgrims confiding to him as in life the secrets of their grief, their present needs or their future hopes, and they built on solid raw, secure that he whose heart was a fountain of love, of pity, of refreshment for all the weak and inagent, when our nurse, whose prevailing prayer ever brought heaven sent resources to his redeeming work, was now a still more powerful and loving etiquette, his soul immersed in the splendors of the heart of Jesus, the divine furnace of charity, their confidence was super abundantly rewarded, faith and enthusiasm grew as the story of cures and temperal and spiritual prodigies was noise abroad and little pilgrimages came from the various provinces of Italy, from France, from all Europe and even from America to obtain healing and light at the tomb of Don Bosco. At the close of the salation international conquests held at the oratory of St Francis of Sal's Turing, the Cardinals, Prelates and other dignitaries with cooperators from all parts went in solemn procession to venerate the mortal remains of the apostle to pay their tribute of praise and remembrance to him and to uplift their souls to greater deeds in his silent presence. End of Chapter 29 Recording by Susan Moran, Sabatis, Maine This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org. Recording by Michael Curran The Venerable Don Bosco, The Apostle of Youth, by M. S. Pine Chapter 30 Don Bosco is declared venerable In 1907, the Sacred Congregation of Rites set the seal on Don Bosco's sanctity by declaring that his cause of beatification could be introduced. Accordingly, by a decree of his holiness, the Lake Pope Pius X, dated July 24, 1907, the servant of God, Don Giovanni Bosco, The Apostle of Youth, was declared venerable. From that day, the fame of his sanctity took on a wonderful augmentation. There was a universal rejoicing over the exultation of one so beloved and venerated, not only in the societies he had founded, but wherever his name was known. The welcome news of the introduction of the cause for the beatification and canonization of Our Holy Founder, records the slashing bulletin, passed round the globe as a message of joy. At Turin, the initiative was taken by the circle of past pupils, the Don Bosco Club, who organized September 29th on a large scale, a pilgrimage to the Tomb of the Venerable at Val-Selice on the outskirts of the city. The spacious courtyard of the missionary seminary presented a magnificent picture, the porticoes lending themselves to a wealth of artistic decoration. The central arches in front of the tomb were handsomely draped, the terrace above bearing thirty banners representing the Catholic associations of the city. The church itself, with its many mementos, was the object of pious admiration, forming as it does a mausoleum befitting the respectful gratitude of the apostles' sons and cooperators. At three o'clock some four thousand persons had gathered about the tomb, that being the hour fixed for the commemorative service. In the seats for the presidents were his grace, the Archbishop of Sabaste, Monsignor Cagliero, Monsignor Spandre, the very reverend Don Rua with his chapter, Monsignor Catalinotto, and representatives of cooperators together with the chief members of the Turin clergy and laity. The band of the Valdoco Oratory had the honor of commencing the function. Monsignor Spandre then addressed the gathering, his natural gift of eloquence displaying itself in a brilliant piece of oratory that touched a chord in every heart in a eulogy of Mondambasco, the indefatigable apostle of youth, the benefactor of humanity. An autographed letter from Pius X was read, the teideum was sung by all present, and benediction of the blessed sacrament was given. Other distinguished speakers then addressed the assembly, and letters and telegrams of congratulation were read. A message of thanks to the Holy Father was then proposed, and our rector-major Don Rua congratulated the great gathering, and thanked them for the tribute offered to the memory of our Holy Founder and to himself on the feast of his patron saint. He then called on his grace Archbishop Cagliero to give the blessing sent by the Supreme Pontiff, which was then followed by cheers for the Pope, Don Bosco, and Don Rua. These joyous festivals in Turin had an echo everywhere. In Rome in the Church of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, Cardinal Rampolla intoned the teideum, he being the Cardinal Protector of the Society of St. Francis of Sales, and in the adjacent hospice during a commemoration of a literary order were present a multitude of prelates, bishops, and archbishops, among whom were their eminences, Cardinal Stettoli, Cassetta, Vivesituto, potent of the cause of beatification, and Cagiano de Azevedo. In many other cities, Cardinals and bishops expressed a desire to pontificate in the sacred ceremonies of thanksgiving. From Cataluna Spain came an album with 10,000 signatures to give thanks to the Cardinal potent of the cause. Quoting the Bulletin again, apparently not far behind our demonstrations must be ranked the Thanksgiving service in another great center of Salesian work, the capital of the Argentine Republic, Buenos Aires. The Argentine feels its supreme debt to Don Bosco, and its gratitude was hearty and spontaneous in the noble display by which it celebrated the distinction lately conferred upon him. The homage was chiefly embodied in the special service held in the vast metropolitan cathedral. Ranks of children from the Salesian schools connected with their day or boarding schools or festive oratories to the number of 4,000 occupied the side aisles of the immense edifice, while the nave was crowded with people of all ranks and conditions. The solemn high mass was celebrated by Father Grote, redemptorist, the music being given by combined choirs of 500 voices. His grace, the archbishop, surrounded by the metropolitan chapter, intoned the Tedeum, which was then taken up alternately by choir and people. Souvenirs, medals and pictures, were distributed to all who had taken part. The afternoon of the same day saw a great and memorable gathering at the College of Pies the 9th. A gymnastic display was given first, the boys of the rival College of Leo the 13th, distinguishing themselves in it. Four bands from the Salesian schools then gave a musical concert, which was followed by the discourse of the occasion by his lordship, the Bishop of La Plata. El Collegio Pio Mono, referred to, was the scene of the early labors of the Second Salesian Bishop, the lamented Monsignor Lasagna, who gave to it a high standard of mental and moral culture, so that it has played a distinguished part in the intellectual life of the state. Celebrations of a similar character were held in all the Salesian institutes in honor of the venerable. Far surpassing in splendor all that had preceded, however, was the solemn triduum held in the oratory of Turin at the first commemoration of the anniversary of the venerable Don Bosco, the 20th after his happy death, January 31, 1908. Cardinal Raquelmi of Turin and Cardinal Mafia Pisa presided amid a concourse of prelates, clergy, and distinguished laity. The solemn functions of the church were carried out with the magnificence worthy of the occasion. Eloquent pentagirics of St. Francis of Sales and the venerable Don Bosco were followed by musical performances of a high order, the opening one being a musical setting of a poem for the day by Father Lemoine, the biographer of Don Bosco. Mass choirs with orchestra gave classical selections and addresses were made in the various languages representing the lands in which Don Bosco's work flourishes. These poetic or prose gems were read in Italian, English, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Bohemian, German, Polish, Russian, Slavonic, Hungarian, Romanian, Crotaz, Arabic, and Indian, all effusions of grateful hearts and cultured and appreciative minds. End of Chapter 30. Chapter 31 of the venerable Don Bosco, the Apostle of Youth. This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org. Recording by Michael Curran. The Venerable Don Bosco, the Apostle of Youth by M.S. Pine. Chapter 31. The Historia of Don Bosco, Don Lemoine. Dearly beloved children in Christ, the Lord in His inscrutable and loving dispensation on the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross, September 14th at 6.40 p.m., called to heaven our beloved Don Giovanni Battista Lemoine, emeritus and honorary secretary of the Superior Chapter and biographer of our venerable father Don Bosco at the age of 77 years, seven months, and 13 days. This announcement of the Superior General Don Paul Albera precedes the brief but touching biographical notice of the saintly disciple and historian of the venerable. The departure from this life, he says, of one who lived for so many years with Don Bosco in the most cordial intimacy, gathering up all the pulsations of his paternal heart in order to make them known to future ages with biblical sincerity, cannot but be to us all a severe trial, but may the holy and adorable will of God be done now and forever. My readers will be moved and uplifted as I have been by some excerpts from his life, pleasing to God and man. John Baptist Lemoine was born in Genoa, February 2nd, 1839, of Luigi Lemoine, the royal physician, and the Countess Prasca, a model of virtue for all Christian mothers. Brought up in the innocence of a Stannislaus, the youth chose the ecclesiastical career, and after pursuing his studies with the most splendid success, he was ordained priest on June 14th, 1862. The religious life, however, strongly attracted him, and divine providence, who loves to guide lowly and docile hearts, pointed out clearly the path he was to follow. In the process for the cause of beatification of Don Bosco, he declared in these terms his Silesian vocation. In 1864 I had already been a secular priest for two years. Meanwhile, I had heard much about Don Bosco, who was reputed as saint, but I did not know that he was the founder of a religious society. In the month of July I visited Turin for the purpose of seeing him. He was absent from the city, however, and I returned to Genoa. On the last Sunday of September, being at Belfort, a small village near Ovada, I prayed in the chapel of Our Lady to know the will of God in my regard. The following morning, on awakening, I heard a distinct voice at my ear which said to me, Go to Lerma, a small village one hour's distance from Belfort, and you will find Don Bosco. It must be noted that I was quite unaware Don Bosco ever visited this region. Accordingly, I offered the holy mass absorbed in the thought of what had happened. Yet fearing it might be the effect of imagination, I imparted my dream to young Marquise Carlo Cataneo, who answered, Dream or no dream, let us go to Lerma and question the pastor. This we did, and to our great astonishment learned that Don Bosco was already expected there in a few days. Sure enough, Don Bosco came. I had a conference with him, and at his invitation, I entered the oratory of Valdoco a few days later, and in his institute I lived with Don Bosco from that day until his death. There was a wonderful congeniality between these two souls. Don Lemoine was drawn to his guide with so intense an affection and admiration that from the day he set foot in the oratory, comprehending in all its grandeur the mission of Don Bosco, he began at once to write down every action of saying of his worthy of remembrance. His eyes ever fixed on his director, he imbibed his spirit in governing and guiding the young, and his prudence in the conduct of business affairs. Having pronounced his perpetual vows before Don Bosco, November 10th, 1865, he was elected director of the College of Lanzo, where he shone in every salacean virtue. All under his charge, conferees, young clerics, students, and the youthful artisans, felt his perfect and universal spirit of love and devotedness, for he had an art all his own in guiding souls. The past pupils from every social class set no bounds in their manifestations of gratitude and appreciation of his great and heavenly virtues. The same testimony was rendered in the other institutes which he governed during his long and active life, Mornice and especially Manferrato, where the venerable in order to imbue with his spirit the newborn institute of the daughters of our Lady Help of Christians entrusted its direction to Don Lemoine, confident of the most happy success. And yet all these busy years his pen never ceased its labor of love in portraying the heroic virtues, the daily sacrifices, the great and the lowly deeds, the lofty teachings, the miracles and the prophecies of his beloved founder. He had questioned the cherished Mama Marguerite and the childhood years of her favorite John are painted with simple beauty and minute detail. On and on through the saintly career he dogs the steps of his revered hero. Nothing escapes his keen eye and loving heart. God so approved of the beautiful task to which he had set himself that his providence often brought the dear chronicler, apparently by chance, into the presence of Don Bosco when he wrought some of his greatest miracles or uttered some of his most striking prophecies. The continual recurrence of the personal element on almost every page, the precious contact with the saint every day and hour for such lengthened periods. A father limed for us in such entrancing heavenly colors by love's brush, give the wonderful memory biographie di Don Bosco a charm most poignant in its penetrating beauty that one finds simply inexpressible. In 1883 Don Bosco summoned him to the Valdoco Oratory to be the secretary of the superior chapter and editor of the Silesian Bulletin, which he directed for nearly ten years. God so disposed circumstances that he should become the most intimate companion of the venerable during the last five years of his precious existence and should hear from his own mouth the relation of the many wonders that divine providence was affecting through him. And during these active years he gave to the world many charming volumes of piety, books of poems and hymns, with numerous dramas for the boys and girls of the Silesian Oratory. On the death of the venerable Don Bosco, to him was committed the great work of gathering and publishing the biographical memoirs. In this work the dear dead, I am citing the revered Don Albera, consumed the last thirty-three years of his existence. With the patience of a Carthusian monk, he collected first of all the most precious documents and then began his work of writing. In 1898 he presented to us the first volume of the memory biographie di Don Bosco, and after that one at a time eight other volumes followed. The ninth volume, which is now in process of publication, was revised by the dear author himself. For the remainder of the life of Don Bosco, eighteen more years, he left the written material all prepared. The world owes an immense depth of gratitude to the gifted Silesian. His great unfinished work is still in the original Italian, and the volumes are limited to the possession of the Silesian houses until the church shall have pronounced definitively on the marvels related therein. When that moment comes we trust the gifted pen will present us with an English translation worthy of the great author. Don Lemoine's death was like his life, calm and serene. His soul sweetly united with God under the protecting mantle of Mary, help of Christians, during those last solemn hours on the cross with his crucified master. On the morning of the Feast of the Exaltation, the Holy Viaticum was brought to him solemnly, and he received for the last time with fervent recollection the dear Jesus he had so ardently loved and made others love. At his bedside was his eminence Cardinal Cagliaro suggesting pious aspirations, and surrounding him in prayer were his superiors and brethren who held him in their hearts' affections as the dearest relic of their departed founder, the beloved Don Bosco. Extreme unction was administered, and the papal blessing given. His agony lasted until 6.40 p.m., when his soul passed peacefully to its eternal rest. And now his blessed body reposes in the cemetery with those of our many other brethren who have preceded us to the grave. We shall no more behold his sweet and loving figure, but his memory will always live with us, and we shall remember the luminous examples he has given us of prudence, amiability, profound piety, and ardent love of labor and retirement. The venerable Don Bosco, the Apostle of Youth, by M. S. Pine, Chapter 32 Don Paul Albera, the present status of the Society. Don Michael Rua died in the odor of sanctity in 1910 in his 73rd year, and his mortal remains lie in the same tomb at Valsalice with those of his father and model, the venerable Don Bosco. His successor, the very Reverend Paul Albera, was also one of the saintly founder's early children, and emulated his master and his companions in the strife after perfection, so that in France they called him another Don Bosco, and was frequently deputed to visit as his representative the various houses of the institute. I have before me a record of his arrival and splendid reception at the great Silesian house, Battersea, London, after his journeys in America nearly three years' duration, journeys which extended over every point of the Silesian missions, from the frosty shores of Tijera del Fuego, up to the lazaretos of Colombia, where he gave missions to the poor lepers. Through Central America and Mexico on to California, and then by way of Chicago, to New York, they were leisurely visits. Timmy would consolation and help to his brethren, while to himself they brought not only consolation in spite of weariness and frequent suffering, but that wisdom brought by experience. There comes from loving and sympathetic appreciation of the virtues, the hardships and struggles of one's brethren. On his return to Turin, he chose to represent America at a great Silesian Congress, where three cardinals, eight archbishops and fifty bishops were present. I might add that like his zealous predecessor, Don Albera, has frequently visited the Silesian Institute in London, which by its phenomenal progress has amply fulfilled the prophecy of Don Bosco that Battersea would become one of the largest and most important houses of the congregation. Not long ago I heard that he had made a similar prediction concerning an extensive and populous city of our own country, where, however, the Silesian ship has not yet cast anchor. It may be in place here to give a few statistics which will tend to show the present status of the congregation. The church numbers over 4,500 of these harvesters of God, of this army Europe claims 3,000, the Americas 1,500, 50 of whom carry on Don Bosco's work in the United States, Asia 85 and Africa 25. The prelates of Australia and Canada have long been desirous of Silesian foundations, but only to the lack of members the superior general has been forced regretfully to decline their liberal offers. The daughters of Mary, help of Christians, organized by Don Bosco are somewhat less in number, but they are accomplishing the same work for girls that the Silesian fathers are achieving in their various establishments for boys, and are generally found, as we have said, co-workers with them side by side. The church has manifested her affection and esteem for the society of St. Francis of Siles by choosing from its rank many able prelates. The first Silesian bishop is now a prince of the sacred college, the venerable Cardinal Cagliero, Apostle of Patagonia, the second bishop, the saintly and eloquent speaker and writer, Monsignor Louis Lesagna, after incredible missionary labors in South America, was killed in a train wreck in Brazil, November 6, 1895. Other Silesian missionaries whose labors in the vineyard have been crowned with a mitre and crocheter are the most reverent Felix Ambrose Guerra, Archbishop of Santiago de Cuba, the right reverend John Moreno, Bishop of Massa Carrara, Italy, the right reverend Francis de Aquino Correa, auxiliary bishop of Cuiaba, the right reverend James Costamagna, titular bishop of Colonia, the right reverend Louis Olivares, bishop of Nepi and Sutre, Italy, the right reverend Anthony Milan, titular bishop at Arniso, and the lamented prefect apostolic of Southern Patagonia, the right reverend Joseph Fognano, whose virtues in saintly death, September 18, 1916, I have briefly recorded on a preceding page. In the field of science, among many names that have brought renown to the society may be mentioned, Father Ubalde, founder and director of Diras a Leion, a magazine devoted to research in the works of the Fathers of the Church, Father Mezucasa, the first priest to receive the degree of Doctor in Sacred Scripture at the new Institute of Biblical Studies, founded by the late Pius X, Father Pisetta in Theology, Father Munerate in Canon Law, and Father Carmagnola as a sacred orator and author of many esthetical works. In the arts, Father Vespinani has become celebrated as the architect of Don Bosco's tomb, and many beautiful churches and schools in Italy and South America. Father Grosso is an authority in Gregorian chant, and Father Pagela is held in honor by sacred musicians over the world as a composer of polyphonic music and writer of theoretical works. In the industrial arts, trades, and agriculture, the Silesian Fathers are initiating a series of textbooks based on their long years of experience which they hope to present ere long as models in this new department of pedagogy. End of Chapter 32 Chapter 33 of The Venerable Don Bosco, The Apostle of Youth This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org The Venerable Don Bosco, The Apostle of Youth by M. S. Pine Chapter 33 The Silesian Order in the United States Eulogy of Don Bosco by His Excellency the Apostolic Delegate It was under the saintly superior general Don Rua that the first Silesian band of missionaries was organized for the United States. The late Archbishop Riordan had appealed to Don Rua for priests to minister to the needs of the constantly growing numbers of Italians in his Archdiocese of San Francisco, California. In March 11, 1897, the Society of St. Francis of Salles was introduced into the city of the Golden Gate by the Reverend R. M. Piperney and his associates, who received charge of the Church of Saints Peter and Paul. The next year an Irish Silesian, the Reverend B. C. Reddahan, was sent to assist them in their increasing field of labor. The Archbishop soon realized that another church was necessary in the southern portion of San Francisco. Accordingly, the Church of Corpus Christi was erected and entrusted to the sons of Don Bosco, the Reverend Father Cassini being its first rector. In 1902, his grace deeply appreciative of the good wrought by the Silesian Fathers petitioned the superior general for another band. Accordingly, Don Rua placed the Reverend Fathers Bergarete and Pavan at the disposal of the Archbishop, who gave them charge of St. Joseph's Church in the Portuguese settlement at Oakland. A new and magnificent Church of Saints Peter and Paul is in course of erection in San Francisco by the Silesian Fathers. The Golden Coast receives a monthly record of Silesian events in the Don Bosco Messenger published at their institute. Archbishop Corrigan emulating the zeal of his brother Prelate sought help from the Society of St. Francis of Siles for his large Italian flock. In November 1898 the very Reverend Ernest Coppel, who is now provincial of the Society in the United States with the Reverend Frederick Barney and others, received charge of the Italians settled in and around St. Bridget's Parish, New York. Later his grace entrusted to the Silesians the Church of the Transfiguration, one of the oldest Catholic Churches in the United States, and the Church of Mary, help of Christians. Both parishes have flourishing schools and festive oratories. The first Silesian College was opened in our country in 1903 under the auspices of Archbishop, now Cardinal, Farley, its principal aim being to foster vocations to the holy priesthood. The Fathers found a temporary home for their students in the old provincial seminary at Troy, New York, but at a later period they were transferred to their present beautiful and healthy location at Hawthorne in the outskirts of New York City where flourishes also the Columbus Institute. At the present time, 1916, there are about 30 priests carrying on the labors of the ministry in different parts of the United States who made their studies either in Troy or Hawthorne with the sons of Don Bosco. In 1909 the Silesians opened a new parish church, St. Anthony, in the city of Patterson, New Jersey. Here the Silesian sisters are also established. In 1912 the Church of Our Lady of the Rosary at Port Chester, New York, was entrusted to the Fathers, their congregation consisting mainly of Italians and Poles. On their arrival they found that 178 Italian families were separated from the church by a half hour's distance and a few adults or children remained practical Catholics. The Methodists, discerning their advantage, had rented a house and were carrying on a propaganda with success among the children. The Fathers, after much thought and counsel with zealous members of the congregation, proposed the erection of a chapel to be built in the midst of the half hour away colony. The Pius Thought soon became a beautiful little stone reality at a cost of five thousand dollars. And now the little edifice is overcrowded every Sunday with a fervent congregation while the Methodist rooms bear a familiar sign to let. At the desire of the zealous Archbishop Pendergast of Philadelphia, the Silesian Fathers opened a Don Bosco Institute in that city on August 15, 1914. This house composed of three brick buildings of three stories each was formally the Drexborn. But the owners, the Honorable and Mrs. Edward Morell, prominent in the Catholic life of Philadelphia for their charities, generously bestowed it upon the Silesian Fathers for their social work in which they followed the broad lines so wisely laid down by Don Bosco for winning in training the young. A printing school has been in progress for over a year, and from its pressis the Don Bosco Messenger is issued monthly. A chronicle of events of interest in the Silesian world and many others of import in the larger world at the small sum of fifty cents a year. A delightful charitable offering since it helps to feed and clothe the poor little ones of Christ. The Reverend Peter Catori, formally identified with the Don Bosco Institute in Italy and later director of Columbus Institute, Hawthorne, New York, is the guiding spirit of the Silesian works in Philadelphia. Early in 1915 another Don Bosco Institute was inaugurated at Ramsey, New Jersey for Polish boys. A high school also has been established, especially for those desiring to study for the priesthood. The Silesian missions in the United States have advanced with the years through the indefatigable labors of the Fathers, hampered though they had been in their zealous efforts to carry out to the full the noble projects of Don Bosco by the lack of pecuniary resources. Our people have not yet learned the advantages spiritual and temporal to be derived from union with the society of St. Francis of Siles as co-operators. Or we should not see these religious priests destined for such extensive boy-saving enterprises scattered as they are in a few parishes without even a novitiate to shelter aspirants to the saint-forming rule of Don Bosco, without a house of studies where their youthful clerics may pursue amid the quiet scenes of nature their final course of philosophy and theology, urged on daily more and more to the attainment of heroic virtue by the holy examples of their predecessors. This is a consummation devoutly to be wished. Can we not compass it for the glory of God and for the coming generation? So shall the sons of Don Bosco train their thousands of knights of Christ and upright citizens of our great republic. Many earnest applications are made to the Silesian fathers for foundations in the United States, and if the personnel were not wanting, few of our large cities would be without a Don Bosco institute. My readers will appreciate a personal letter which speaks with the power of which I am incapable. Continue, therefore, in your apostolic task. Spread might in Maine the knowledge of Don Bosco's life. Let the American public open their eyes to this wonderful pedagogue, writer, preacher, missionary, statesman, miracle worker of the nineteenth century. Let the people living in these irreligious days see what a poor, helpless priest accomplished with the help of the Most High and of Mary, help of Christians. Would to God there were a Don Bosco in every large city throughout the world at the present time? Would an amazing transformation we should then see? Would to God we could quickly get the means to have a good novitiate here in the United States? We need help from the public in every possible way, but if we could launch out and appeal, we would appeal just for missionaries. Men, men, men, behold the need, behold the solution or the problem. How shall we save the children? How shall we restore the families to Christian principles and practice? Let us daily implore Almighty God to send laborers into His immense vineyard. And now I close this imperfect study of a great apostle with the words of His Excellency, our apostolic delegate, to the very Reverend Ernest Coppo on the occasion of the centenary of the venerable Don Bosco. Since four continents have felt the good effects of the beneficent influence of Don Bosco, it is perfectly right that his memory should be solemnly recorded in all places and languages. The confines of his native Piedmont in Italy were too narrow for the full play of his activity, and hence his ardent and suave zeal urged him to seek the salvation of souls beyond the mountains and across the seas. Legions of priests and sisters, his spiritual sons and daughters, animated by his zeal and example, have spread out over the world, multiplying his miracles of charity in villages as well as in cities in Africa and Patagonia no less than in civilized countries. Churches, colleges, agricultural and industrial schools, homes for the poor, and missions for the conversion of the pagans have constituted their wide field of labor. It would be next to impossible to recount all the works of charity brought by the venerable Don Bosco and his spiritual children. Indeed, they cannot be explained unless we recognize in them the hand of God and a singular protection of the Blessed Virgin Mary, who was his cherished patroness under the title of Mary, Help of Christians. Both church and state are indebted to him beyond measure, while history should engrave on his memory that famous epitaph, No eulogy is equal to his name. End of chapter 33. End of the venerable Don Bosco, the Apostle of Youth,