 Chapter 1 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 1 Birth and Early Childhood. This year, 1915, all the nations are doing honor to the memory of a man who was born a hundred years ago, August 16, 1815, in sunny Italy on the western slope of the Alps. They are keeping the centenary of his birth, some with magnificent celebrations. And who is this illustrious favorite of four continents, you will ask. See a great general who won famous victories? No, he never steeped his sword in the blood of his fellow men. Was he a renowned poet, a singer of songs to the heart of the people, the chanter of high epics, a great dramatist? Human histories do not so record him. Was he an extraordinary musician then, or a Titian or Raphael in art that the world so honors him? No, he was not a Napoleon, or a Mozart, nor a Raphael. Yet I dare to say he was all of these, but in a sublime and supernatural matter. And I think when we have studied him a little together, the generous hearts of my readers will be in accord with me. The name of Don Giovanni Bosco, the saintly parish priest of Turin, the apostle of youth, has gone forth into the whole world. The church has already set her seal of approval on his sanctity by proclaiming her priest venerable. And the apostle of youth he is rightly called, for he saved thousands, hundreds of thousands of children from moral destruction. In the far days of the past so far back that they seemed like a beautiful hallowed dream, I learned to know and love Don Bosco, then in the zenith of his great achievements, a living and powerful force for good. His name became a household word with us because of the profound appreciation of our mistress for his heroic character, his noble simplicity, and his astounding labors for the glory of God and the salvation of the poor little homeless boys roaming the streets of Italy. Wafes in her beautiful historic city, known to love them, to care for them, or educate them, but many alas to teach them crime and wickedness by word and example. Don Bosco had known the pangs of poverty, and his great heart, Christlike in its vast capacity of loving, took them all in, and they became his own children, his own far-reaching, virtuous and happy little world of souls. You are familiar with Joseph's prophetic dream, how he and his eleven brethren were all binding sheaves in the field when suddenly his sheaf arose and stood, and their sheaves all bowed down before it. How cruelly they'd hated him for that dream, selling him finally as a slave into Egypt, where the vision was realized when Joseph became ruler of the country and held their destinies in his hands. God often foreshadows the future to little children who were serving him with their whole heart and soul. What beautiful visions the little Joan of Arc had of her supernatural mission as savior of France. And perhaps some have read the story of the child, Juste de Bretinière, afterwards the heroic priest martyr of Korea, at twenty-eight years of age. In 1844, Ere Juste had completed his sixth year, he was one day playing with his brother in the garden, both digging, when suddenly Juste stopped and, looking into the hole, he cried, Look! I see the Chinese, I see the Chinese, come let us dig deeper and we shall reach them. While digging vigorously, he described their appearance and costumes and declared he could even hear their voices. They're calling me, he said to his mother, who had come to the spot, and I must go to save them. God favoured our little Joan Bosco with such a vision, though he told it as a dream to his mother and brothers at breakfast, here is his own version of it. I stood on a hillock and saw numberless wild beasts approaching me from the neighbouring wood. They terrified me as they advanced jumping, fighting each other, when a mysterious voice told me to bring them to pasture. Immediately I held a crook to them. They followed and, strange to say, I had then around me only a flock of gentle sheep. The mother treated the dream lightly, as an illusion, though in her heart she trembled with joy as she thought it might be a token that this beloved son was called to the priesthood. Anthony and Joseph pleasantly ridiculed it. One warned him not to become a bandit chief, the other prophesied that he would have a drove of pigs. Later in life at Barcelona he confessed that the mysterious voice was the blessed virgins. Disguised as a shepherdess, she gave him the crook saying that he would tame the animals and even indicated how this was to be accomplished. In a vision later he saw that some of the lambs became shepherds and assisted in guardian directing the flocks. In the whole world is witness of the miraculous manner in which this prophetic dream has been fulfilled in the stupendous moral transformations Don Bosco wrought during his long and active life of seventy-two years. Someone has said and truly if in creatures there is any spark of goodness it comes from an intimate participation of God's abundance. Adam brings to every Christian soul this abundance of God, since from the moment of the pouring of the waters he dwells there one God and the three divine persons as in his palace. His temple, filiant with the light invisible before which angels bow in reverence. But the soul must be active, must be trained to know its heavenly dignity, and to love the eternal Creator and Sovereign who is living there within it. Your little child, so helpless, so dependent, it grows and develops, and if there is no one to impart this divine knowledge in those early impressionable years, what a life long they would an eternal loss. What designs of God over that little creature are all frustrated? Now who is the being to whom this beautiful awe-inspiring mission is entrusted? Whose tender hand shall mold that little heart to good, who shall teach those little lips to murmur its first prayer, who shall instruct, console, strengthen it in virtue, even turn it holy to God from the beginning? And all your hearts is the answer, nature's own answer, the mother. In such a mission did John Bosco's mother accomplish upright, religious, a truly holy woman she participated in that abundance of God that I have told you of, and by continual prayer sweetened her hard life of toil and poverty. She must have married one very young, for at nineteen she was a widow with two children of her own, Joseph and John, Anna's stepson, Anthony. John the youngest was two years old when his father died. They had their little home on a slope of the Alps, their modest vineyard above and below a pasture for the cattle, while opposite was a deep wild forest, a lonely place you might think for our little John. But there he grew up, thoughtful, observant, and prayerful in the midst of grand and impressive scenery that was ever drawing his heart upward, while the poor invigorating mountain heirs were nourishing mind and body and helping to build up that strong, magnificent physique which later rendered him capable of such incredible labours and hardships. Margaret Bosco did not bring her sons up in softness or idleness. They rose with the sun in the summer and long before dawn in the winter. Dutiful children, they worked in the fields and helped in the house. Prayer, work, and play divided their day. Their meals were frugal and they took their night's rest on the floor. John was enoured early, you see, to penance. But under this regime he flourished, and was the delight of his mother's heart because of his tender piety, his purity of conscience, and his love for the poor. Margaret, though her prospect of education had been blighted by the repressive measures of the time, had a beautiful mind with rare force of character. She was something of a poet too, for from nature and from little daily happening she could draw analogies most sweetly spiritual, and these have often a lasting influence with children. The neighbors, near and from a distance, used to meet a Margaret's barn of a winter evening where she would relate Bible stories or traits from the lives of the saints. Little John was frequently called upon to report the Sunday sermon, for he had a prodigious memory, or read aloud or perform some juggling tricks. But these diversions, which he had learned at a fair, were generally enacted under a large old pear tree, his seance as beginning and ending with prayer or a hymn. Indeed his only end in these humorous entertainments was to gain a moral influence over his audience. Prayer and rosary, or no admittance, was his inflexible law to which all willingly submitted. He became a practiced acrobat, danced, turned somersaults, walked on his hands, his feet in the air, multiplied eggs, drew nuts from the noses of the spectators, and transferred watches to neighboring pockets, with other tricks, all enthusiastically applauded by his rural admirers. I have often thought that in his extraordinary genius for fun and humor we may find a partial explanation of the wonderful magnetism with which he attracted the boy nature of every class. CHAPTER II EDUCATION In April 1826, when John was eleven years old, a mission was given by some renowned preachers at Boutigliere, a small town in the Vicente, crowds from all the neighboring parishes attended, and among them the aged and saintly Curre Murialdo Don Coloso. As he was returning home one day, he observed a little boy walking along the road in deep reflection. What is your name, my child? he asked. John Bosco Patremio was the reply. And you come to hear the missionaries, questioned the Curre with a smile. Very likely your mother could give you a sermon better suited to your capacity. That's true, sir, said John, with glowing face, but I like to hear the missionaries, too. Now my little one, said Don Coloso, in a challenging voice, I will give you three pints if you will repeat four sentences of the last sermon. This had been one of the most forcible sermons of the mission, the danger of delay in conversion. John paused a moment as if to gather up the divisions of the discourse and put them in order. Then, clearly, and without embarrassment, he gave almost word for word the exhortium, the three points, and the conclusion. Don Coloso was surprised and delighted and asked him if he would not like to study. My brother Anthony says it is a useless waste of time for a peasant, but I would like to learn if I could. And have you ever thought of being a priest, my son, persisted Don Coloso? I think if I knew enough myself, John answered modestly, I should like to instruct poor and neglected children and preserve them from wickedness. The cry of his angelic soul was already mounting up to God. Damihi animas keteratole. The prayer of St. Francis of Sales, the beloved missionary bishop and doctor of the church. The prayer which was one day to be watched word of his great triple society of Salesians, engraved on their hearts and all their utterances, stamped on their documents and books, and carved in golden evidence over their world-wide homes. 11 years old. The mystic dream had already become an incentive, a hope, a great desire in that young heart, a desire that burned more ardently the more it was repressed. But God was on his side. Don Coloso was not long in arranging matters with Margaret, and he himself became the boy's teacher. John's brothers were strong in opposition, but Margaret declared stoutly, Divine Providence will assist us. Certainly John was never intended for the plow. John had begun to attend a public school at a distance walking several miles a day to and from the village. But the complaints of Anthony at last force him for the sake of peace to relinquish his studies and resume his daily labors on the farm. However, the charge of the cows and the other animals being left to him, his book was his inseparable companion while guarding them. John Coloso gave him lessons in the early morning after mass, and John, his daily labors at an end, studied and wrote his exercises at night. Poor boy! Is it a wonder that his whole heart went out in sympathy to all the neglected boys in this great wide world? The Saintly Curé laid a solid foundation of study and doctrine in his youthful disciple. But in two years he was summoned to his eternal reward, leaving John without a guide. This trial however did not last long. Anthony the step-brother coming of age, a division of the property was made, and Margaret and her two sons Joseph and John separated from him taking a smaller house. This gave John his liberty, and he joyfully resumed his regular studies making a specialty of Latin. In 1831 he entered the College of Chiari and pursued with ardor the courses of science, literature and art, but his favorite studies were history, oratory, and the sacred scriptures. A desire to enter a religious ardor now began to agitate the young student. He laid open the state of his soul to Don Caffasso, the Holy Director of the Ecclesiastical Institute of Turin, where he studied. Enlightened by the Holy Spirit, his wise guide, in admiration of the ways of God over this soul still in his baptismal innocence, after prayer and examination, answered decisively, My son, enter a seminary and finish your studies. I think you are called by God to be a good parish priest. John followed his counsel. He pursued his studies more earnestly than ever, especially philosophy and theology, and with phenomenal success for his soul was steeped in the abundance of God, and he learned more in Holy Communion where the divine light flooded his soul than he did from his professors and books. But the great day for which he had so long sighed and fervently prepared came at last, and John Bosco was ordained a priest of the most high, on June 5, 1841, the eve of Trinity Sunday, by the Archbishop of Turin, Monsignor Louis Franzoni. On Corpus Christi there was universal rejoicing in his native village of Castelnuevo, for there he celebrated that sacred feast, burying the blessed sacrament and solemn procession through its festive streets in the midst of an adoring multitude. Three excellent livings were offered to the newly ordained priest. Consulting Don Caffasso anew, he was answered, You should complete your course of moral theology and your preparation for the pulpit. Give up all thought of benefits for a while and come here. John Bosco obeyed and remained in the institute for two years, devoting himself to the higher studies and divinity. In intervals of intellectual labour he accompanied Don Caffasso to the prisons, where each new scene of crime and punishment was to him a tragic revelation. The number of the prisoners, their moral misery and more than all, the tender youth of many astounded him and wrung his heart with pity. When his children were orphans or the children of vicious parents many of the boys would end where on the scaffold. This terrible thought haunted Don Bosco day and night and strong and prevailing prayers went up to God and his holy mother for light and strength to help them, while to render his petitions more effectual he inflicted upon himself severe fasts and bodily penances. The venerable Don Cattoleno, one of Turin's most saintly apostles, met him one day and invited him to the great hospital for youth he had founded. Don Bosco was moved to the soul at the sight of the sufferers and spoke words of comfort on his way. As he was taking leave, the venerable Cattolengo, pressing the sleeve of his coat, said, Your coat is too thin. Let one of stronger stuff, for a time will come when you will be pulled about by a great many boys. Chapter 3 of the venerable Don Bosco, the Apostle of Youth. This is a LibriVox recording, while 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 3. Orthala Mule Gorelli, Foundation of the Oratory of St. Francis of Salis. God the Omnipotent takes strange ways, simple and sometimes even apparently foolish ways at the beginning of great and sublime work. On the Feast of the Immaculate Conception of Our Lady, December 8, 1841, Don Bosco was vesting for Mass when he heard the sacristan scolding a strange boy who entered the church for refusing to serve at the altar. But I don't know how, said the poor little fellow. Then be off with you, and the sacristan gave him a rough push. Don Bosco turned to him. Why do you ill treat the child? He said gently. Call him back. I want to speak to him. Quite ashamed, the sacristan obeyed, and Don Bosco told the boy to come to him after Mass. The sacred function concluded. He made the child sit down by him and began a series of questions. My name is Barthala Mule Gorelli, he answered to the first. And I want my readers to remember the name Barthala Mule Gorelli, because that little boy of 15, fatherless, motherless, homeless, began all the great, miraculous boy-saving works which have made Don Bosco great on earth and great in heaven. That boy of 15 could not read or write. He had not made his first communion, did not even know his prayers. Well, how Don Bosco's heart ached as he heard the pitiful story. So he sat there with his arm around the little lad and taught him to make the sign of the cross, explaining what it meant and giving him his first lesson on God his father. Then he dismissed him kindly, and the boy promised to return. In a day or two, Barthala Mule presented himself again, and with him were two other boys seeking instruction. In the seceding weeks the little band grew, and low in two months, February 2nd, 1842, Don Bosco had a class of twenty poor boys educating them and training them in virtue. He interested himself in their work, visited them in their homes if they had any, provided some with lodging and food and procured places for those out of work. On Sundays he took them to church and afterwards for recreation to some park or public place. So that all Turin soon became alive to the good he was doing. All this time he was pursuing the highest course of theological studies, deign the imperative to fit himself to cope with the difficult questions of the time, with doctrinal, social, philosophical and political problems that agitated individuals and nations. In fact, he was preparing himself for authorship and studying a style which he had not valued so much in his early days of flowery rhetoric, that style which would appeal most powerfully to the heart and conscience of the people. He sought to instruct, to convince, to persuade, and right here I may digress a little and tell you that he seceded, and later put forth burning doctrinal and moral treatises that ran up into the thousands and hundreds of thousands. He wrote about a hundred volumes in his own name and many others anonymously. His studies finished. Don Caffaso questioned him as to the future. I am ready to do whatever you appoint, replied the young priest, with the desolity of a child. Three appointments await your choice, said his director. A curacy at Asti, a professorship of moral theology here in the institute, or chaplaincy of the hospital near the refuge. Which do you prefer? Whichever you think best, Father, I have only one preference to dedicate myself to the young, but your decision will be to me the will of God. A few weeks of vacation and on Don Bosco's return to Toran, his guide had determined upon the chaplaincy, where he was to assist Don Orel in the management of an institute of 400 girls. His friends still urged him to accept a benefit offered by the Archbishop. But Don Bosco replied, and who will take care of my poor children? By this time they had increased to 300, and he had initiated the famous evening classes. The society was known as the Oratory of St. Francis of Sales, a saint whom Don Bosco chose above all others for their patron, because of his sweetness and charity. For these were the two chief virtues he required in dealing with the poor little children he so loved. Through Don Orel, two large rooms were allowed for the Oratory meetings, one serving as a chapel. But this limited space could not accommodate two-thirds of the boys. However, seven months of progress ensued with ever increasing numbers. The latter brought trouble for the authorities of the hospital grew suspicious of the little army. And eviction followed. The municipality in the meantime had become keenly interested in the evening classes. And through the influence of Archbishop Franzoni, they granted to Don Bosco the use of St. Martin's Church at state-at-hours for the little multitude. And afterward, St. Peter's, but 300 boys playing in the courtyard, and Don Bosco never repressed their fun, distracted and annoyed so many priests and parishioners that their destiny was soon settled. Ejected and at last homeless, did Don Bosco's courage fail or his hope in God's providence waver? Not for a moment. Calling his grieving children together, he said with his usual cheerfulness, My dear children, God's sky must be our roof. Our next meeting in the open air. But do not be troubled. In time I shall find a home for you. End of Chapter 3. Chapter 4 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 MS Pine, Chapter 4. A Typical Sunday, Opposition in Trial, Valdoco, Illness of Don Bosco. A personal relation by one of the actors in these Sunday dramas tells its own story of the happiness and the potent moral influence which these red-letter days brought into so many young lives. I am sure my readers will find it of interest. At the end of each meeting before separating, the Good Father always told us the excursion for the next Sunday, the road, program, and hour, gave advice as to our conduct, and asked us to be as numerous as possible. If you have any comrades, invite them for me, the more the merrier. The walk for the next Sunday was a topic of conversation during the week in our workshops and families. It exacted more attention, obedience, and application to duty so as not to incur the punishment of being kept at home. The chief walks, carefully varied, were the Montes Capucines, Notre-Dame des Champs, Pozo de Strada, and Notre-Dame des Lacs de Evigliano. Those happy days are engraved in our memories. The piety and joy reigned among us and influenced our future lives. Arrived at some church in the precincts of a town, Don Bosco asked leave to celebrate mass, a permission always granted. At his signal, the noisy band gathered together to attend with a celerity and a unanimity which amazed the bystanders. Catechism followed, then breakfast. The grass or the rocks supplied the place of tables. Borks were unnecessary. As for wine, the rivulets or fountains supplied what was needful. Those who had too much shared with less fortunate boys, and Don Bosco fed those who had none. It is true bread failed now and then, but catechism and a good appetite never. Continuing our walk, we stopped somewhere to chant vespers, the itinerant oratory already possessing a good choir. Time was heard a second time, the rosary was resided while walking, and at sunset we marched again to Turin, fatigued but with light consciences and contented hearts. A beautiful picture that might have been drawn by a hundred thousand boys and more since those early days of test and trial. Trial, yes, for God's works are built on a foundation of pain. It was in keeping with the divine plan that harsh and severe criticisms of Don Bosco and his work began to be circulated. The clergy of Turin complained. The civil authorities saw danger lurking in those large gatherings, persecution set in from all sides, and Don Bosco's friends at last said, Give up the boys. You can't fight against all this prejudice and opposition. No one will rent you a house for them. The authorities are against you. Even good people are down on you. Give it all up in the name of God. God's mercy has sent me these boys, answered Don Bosco heroically. I shall not give one up. If I cannot hire a house, I shall build one. And I tell you that one day with God's help and the protection of his blessed mother, these children and a great many more will have a house, workshops, a college, a church, and their own professors, and his eyes glowed with a supernatural light as he raised his hands toward heaven. No more was said, and his friends left him free, rather awed, at his sublime faith and hope, though many wise people thought him mad. Just then, when all seemed lost, a man named Pinardi offered Don Bosco a lease for some years of an old neglected house surrounded by a large field in Valdoco, a suburb of Turin. Valdoco is very celebrated in Silesian annals, for there Don Bosco settled on Easter Sunday, 1446, and began his permanent work. A poor, broken-down house indeed it was, but there were playgrounds and plenty of room to build for the five hundred children that had to be sheltered there. The government was still obstinate in its opposition. King Charles Albert, however, made investigations, became convinced of the good and lasting results of Don Bosco's work, and extended to him his approval and assistance. Among these orphans and wafes were found many with latent and extraordinary talents. These were educated to their capacity by the holy director himself, aided by the Abbe Burrell, his devoted friend, and other good priests who often went to help him in his arduous labours, and in their turn these boys became teachers of lower classes. God is jealous of his elect, and would have them like his son in suffering. From the bed of pain he holds long and serious and loving commune with the soul, and the light of his holy spirit shines in its secret places, uniting it more closely to the adorable trinity during this enforced solitude. Don Bosco was to be his victim for a while. He fell ill with bronchitis, accompanied with a violent cough and dangerous inflammation, and in eight days he was at death's door. With heavenly resignation he received the last sacraments amid the tears of his friends, and the indescribable grief of his boys of the oratory whose prayers and communions were fervently offered for his recovery. Some watched in prayer through the night. Others vowed to say the rosary daily some for a year, and not a few for their whole lives. Many fasted on bread and water, and promised to fast for months or years if our lady would help restore their beloved Don Bosco to health. Father Burrell was watching at midnight by his side, expecting at any moment to receive his last sigh, when suddenly he felt inspired to ask the dying man to pray for his recovery. Let us leave God to do his holy will, was Don Bosco's reply. Say at least, Lord, if it be thy will, let me recover. But Don Bosco was silent. Gret me this favour, pleaded his friend. Say only those words, and say them with your whole heart. Don Bosco yielded, and in a weak voice said, Yes, Lord, if it so please thee, let me recover. The prayer was heard, and the next morning the doctors to their astonishment found him not dead, but out of all danger. Joy flooded every heart, and the universal gladness was still more pronounced when Don Bosco was able, supported by a cane, to be among his dear children for the first time. A year of rest was prescribed. But after three months spent with his own family at Castle Nuovo, where the boys and those of the neighboring villages formed a new festive oratory every Sunday around him, his heart was moved by the entreaties and affectionate letters of his churin disciples, and he turned his steps again toward Valdoko, where he was to refrain from teaching, preaching, or hearing confessions. At first, he said years after, I certainly intended to obey and keep my promise, but when I saw that Abbe Borrell and the other fathers were unable to attend to all the boys, and that on feast days many of them were without confession or instruction, I could no longer remain idle. So I took up my wanted occupations again, and for upwards of twenty-five years I have had no further need of doctors or medicine. This has made me believe that, after all, methodical work does not injure bodily health. CHAPTER IV. Margaret Bosko in Valdoko, success of the oratory, attempts on the life of Don Bosko. We must not overlook those of the gentler sects who contributed to their means and labors to Don Bosko's work. The ladies who clothed such numbers of his poor children, made him mended their garments and nursed them when they were sick. But it was Margaret Bosko, his saintly mother who led the way. Poor Margaret! She was already fixed in the home of her son, Joseph, and loved and was beloved by his children. She seemed indeed settled in repose for the rest of her life, when one day during his convalescence at Bechi he seemed unusually serious as he sat down to talk with her. She noticed it and asked the cause. Matremia, he said caressingly. I need a mother for my poor boys, someone to care for them and love them, someone to manage my large household. Ah, if I could only bring the most precious treasure I have here in Bechi, my mother to Turin. Margaret started. The tears sprang to her eyes. A few words of grief at such a separation, final and complete, she saw it must be from her lifelong home. A little word of the great sacrifice demanded of her escaped her lips. But in a moment, calm and resolute, and brushing away the tears she said simply. My son Joseph and the children do not need me, but you do, and if you think such a step will be pleasing to our Lord, I am ready to go with you to Turin. And she went, the brave woman, and never flinched or failed Don Bosko during the ten years that she lived in dire poverty, in toils and sacrifices, the extent of which even Don Bosko's passionate love did not suspect. She was too skillful in hiding her sufferings. Five hundred children, think of it. Margaret washed and ironed for them, made and repaired their clothes, cooked, swept, and did the menial work of the house, besides cultivating a vegetable garden and keeping a poultry yard. She was never idle, and no religious was ever poor. Mama Margaret, as she was called, was so beloved that she had a host of little self-constituted helpers who took delight in relieving her. Other kind women, too, came to her assistance in the sewing and laundry work, or she would have fainted under her burden. And amid all these activities she was leading the most beautiful interior life of union with God, with the divine sufferer on Calvary, and with his blessed mother, her model from childhood. You will think I have said much in praise of this heroic mother, but the present Archbishop of Bologna, Monsignor Guzmini, lately raised to the Sacred College of Cardinals by his Holiness, Benedict XV, in his eloquent pastoral delivered to the salient cooperators at the celebration of the centenary of Don Bosko's birth, speaks of her as a holy and admirable woman who not only had a share in the individual life, but also in the social life of Don Bosko, and placing around Margaret the aerial of sanctity, he compares her to St. Teresa, St. Jane Francis de Chantal, and the blessed Sophie Barat. With his noble and self-sacrificing mother Margaret at the household helm, guiding and orting with all prudence of the valiant woman, Don Bosko was now able to give his whole attention to the development of his great ideal. The studies were carried on with such ardour and assiduity that soon the oratory of St. Francis of Sales had his own professors in the very scholastic departments, and wonderful vocations to the priesthood became evident, so that a college and seminary grew within the oratory. There were day schools for those who had leisure, and night schools for those who had to work. For Don Bosko would educate as far as possible every member of his society, and give him a better hope of success in life. Here might be in Savoyards, Swiss, Lombards, and several other nationalities, all living together in harmony and brotherhood, though they had their trained regiments and bands and fought many sham battles. All was activity but tempered and seasoned with rare and solid piety. They were taught to repress nature, to overcome their passions and bad inclinations, to be mutually considerate and helpful toward the neighbor, as well as to unite in prayer, to hear holy mass and approach the sacraments. Day by day the character was formed and strengthened by such loving guidance, perfect prudence, and divinely inspired watchfulness that good Christian citizens were being trained for society and pure-hearted Levites for God's church. A majority of the boys were engaged in employments of various kinds during the day, and the last two often under wicked masters or among vicious companions, so that to the keen, far-seen eyes of Don Bosko their future was full of peril, for the good wrought in their hearts by the restraining influences and pious practices of the oratory might even be neutralized by the evil atmosphere which surrounded them. Don Bosko considered deeply all phases of the psychical problem, so momentous for time and eternity, and prayed fervently for light. He visited and made gentle but forceful remonstrances to the masters, which were met only with hatred and threats of violence. Their enmity became so bitter indeed that his life was often in danger. He was shot at several times, twice while vesting for mass, but the bullet turned aside and left him unharmed. More than once he was brutally insulted, knocked down and roughly treated, once he was attacked with a butcher's knife by an apparent madman, but escaped almost by miracle. A friend of Don Bosko asked the assassin what motive had urged him to attempt the life of so good a man. I had none at all, he answered coolly, except that 80 Franks paid me to feign madness and stab him. 80 Franks to kill a man echoed Don Bosko's friend. Will if I give you one hundred and sixty not to injure him? Just double, said the bandit, then I promised to guard him. And he kept his word. Don Bosko was called one night to hear the confession of a dying woman. Margaret sent four pupils armed with sticks to escort him. No sooner was Don Bosko within the room of the supposed patient than a blow from a cudgel was dealt him on the shoulders. But his faithful boys, alert on the watch, rushed to his aid and rescued him from the would-be murderers. A touching story is told of one of Don Bosko's most devoted disciples, afterward Monser Bezetti, Inspector of the School of Arts and Sciences, that when a boy he imperiled his life for his kind benefactor, receiving into his right hand the ball leveled at his master. Part of the thumb and forefinger was torn away, and but for this Bezetti would have been a priest. You remember the bears that avenged the prophet Ileseos and the tame wolf of St. Francis of Assisi, so history connects the name of Don Bosko with a mysterious dog sent to be his protector during these most dangerous years of his life. A beautiful strong grey dog, named Grigio, the grey, sometimes returning from Torrin to Valdoco late at night. He pursued his way without a thought of danger, though the place was full of quagmires and thick hedges, safe hiding places for assassins. One night a vague fear assailed him when suddenly a huge dog approached, wagging his tail, turning he walked beside Don Bosko and escorted him to the oratory, but refused to enter. Afterward, whenever he was late, the dog was sure to appear on one side or other of the lonely road. Three times Grigio saved his life. One dark winter night Don Bosko took a shortcut home. He noticed two men who had a suspicious appearance and hurried his pace towards an inhabited house. In vain one of the men rushed forward and threw a cloak over his head, and his mouth was instantly gagged. All hope had left their victim's heart when suddenly a terrible howl was heard, more like the growl of a furiated bear. It was Grigio who sprang first on one, then on the other of them and biting, howling, and finally throwing one of the men down. Terrify they asked Don Bosko's pardon, adding, Call off your dog or we shall be torn in pieces. Don Bosko called Grigio and the cowardly wretches beat in a glorious retreat. An assassin once fired two shots at his face, but they missed, and Grigio put the men to flight. Once at midnight, passing through the Place Melan, he saw a man following him armed with a great cudgel and hastened his steps, hoping to reach the oratory in safety. He was at the top of the declivity when he had described a group of men who surrounded him with cudgels raised to strike, but suddenly the faithful Grigio appeared and sprang upon the men in such fury that they besought Don Bosko to quiet him. At his word the dog left them and they fled in the darkness, while the heaven sent deliverer accompanied Don Bosko to the oratory. Once Grigio assumed a different manner of guardianship, one night Don Bosko, sometime after his arrival at Valdoco, found he had forgotten an important commission in Turin. He was preparing to start back Margaret in the meantime using her best efforts to dissuade him. With reassuring words, however, he called some of the boys and went to the front door when, lo, there was Grigio stretched at full length on the threshold. Oh, this is good, said Don Bosko, a party will be the stronger. He called the dog, but Grigio would not stir. Twice he tried to go out, but Grigio made objections. Margaret laughed and teased him. The dog has more sense than you, my son. Do you obey him? And Don Bosko had to return to his room. A little later a neighbor came to warn him not to leave the house as evil-looking men were prowling about the road. Don Bosko was at supper one evening with his mother and some priest when Grigio walked into the boys' playground. Young Busetti cried out, This is Grigio, Don Bosko's dog. All surrounded him, lavishing caresses on the beloved guardian of their master. They led him to the refractory where he went joyously to Don Bosko, refusing any food. The dog resting his chin on the table looked at Don Bosko with deep affection. Then going away he disappeared, no one knowing once he came or wither he went. His mission was fulfilled. But 30 years later, Don Bosko, with one of his young priests, Don Durando, was passing through an unknown road, the rain falling in torrents. They lost their way and Don Bosko slipped into a quagmire. Ah, he cried, if my faithful Grigio were here. His wish was scarcely uttered when a huge dog appeared. Don Durando was frightened, but Don Bosko caressed the dog, who showed great joy. You say this is Grigio, inquired the young priest, and doubly was the answer, the same size, the same color, and he recognizes me. But are you really my old Grigio, he said affectionately to the dog? You will lead us out of this peril. The dog started off and Don Bosko followed. Soon the three arrived at the Bortiguera oratory. Don Bosko turned to thank Grigio, but he had vanished. How many conjectures have been offered as to the personality of this guide and guardian? I think that most persons concur in the opinion that it was Don Bosko's angel guardian. Some deem it to have been a special angel sent on that mission of deliverance. I know one who considers it the more plausible theory that one of Don Bosko's boys, for many died young, had come to be the protector of him who had saved his soul. The profound parting look of affection in Grigio's eyes seemed to support his theory. Or might it have been a soul from purgatory, Don Bosko's conquest from hell, that had been deputed to preserve the life of the holy apostle of Turin? That the dog was a supernatural protector seems to be the prevailing opinion. End of chapter 6. Chapter 7 of the Venerable Don Bosko, 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 Bosko, the Apostle of Youth by MS Pine. Chapter 7. Purchase of Valdocal Property. Church of St. Francis of Salis. The Collarer. It was not until 1851 that Don Bosko was enabled to purchase the Valdocal Property. The owner, Pinarthe, constantly requiring 80,000 francs, an exorbitant price. In February of that year he sought Don Bosko and agreed to accept 30,500, which was its real value. The offer was timely. This acquisition had been the object of the saintly apostle's desires for five years. And now, though his purse was empty, he concluded the contract with eyes fixed confidently on divine providence, assured that Mary, help of Christians, would be as ever his intercessor and treasurer. He had Pinarthe disappeared when Don Caffaso, his spiritual director, entered with a gift of 10,000 francs from the Countess Casasa. The next day a trust fund of 20,000 francs was placed at his disposal and a banker, his friend, supplied the lacking 500 francs. It was a joyous day for all when the contract was signed and the Valdocal Fields became the property of the oratory. Don Bosko saw that this was a golden moment for securing a public house nearby. The Giardinera, which had long been a source of fear and sorrow to him, on account of the danger to his boys from the proximity of vicious examples, hastened to make overtures to the proprietor, which were at once accepted and the necessary funds for the purchase poured in with promptitude. And now, Madrimia, he said to his chief and most cherished counselor, I'm going to erect a beautiful church on the site of the Giardinera and dedicate it to St. Francis of Salves. But where will the money come from, inquired practical Margaret? You know we have nothing but debts. Madrimia, would you contribute if you could? Certainly, you know I would, poverello mio. And do you think God is less liberal? You are always right, my son, we will pray with the innocent children God has entrusted to us. If we are imprudent, it is in his service. His heart full of gladness and hope began the enterprise. The cornerstone was laid July 21st, 1851, and on June 20th, 1852, the new church, Free of Debt, was consecrated under the title of St. Francis of Salves, a solemn and ever memorable day for the oratory, and for the gentle bishop of Geneva, an increase of devotion as the beloved patron of the institute. The evening after the sacred ceremony beheld him closeted anew with Madrimia and on fire with another project. His children must no longer live in such a ruined house. They must have a better and more commodious home. Margaret was alarmed, but he calmed her anxiety, declaring, money will not be wanting. The priest who spends liberally for God becomes the channel for the alms of the faithful. His hopes were more than realized, for from the king, Victor Emanuel, down to the most lowly, all were eager to contribute to the new building. In 1854, the cholera broke out in Italy, and its ravages were felt in many of the provinces. And Turin business was suspended. The rich fled to the mountains, and the victims of the scourge died daily without help, and were left unbearing. While Doko did not escape, whole families were cut off. Don Bosco adopted every possible sanitary measure to hinder its fatal inroads among his children. He offered himself to God for his flock. A more frequent and fervent prayer and greater purity of conscience became the law of the pupils. As the hospitals filled Don Bosco accepted the charge of one in Valdoco, and appealed to his young disciples for cooperation. Should any of you sacrifice your life in this noble charity, it will be for a martyrdom, with the certainty of obtaining the palm of everlasting victory. He concluded with solemn assurance. Large numbers of his devoted youths eagerly pressed forward to answer his call. But Don Bosco chose only 40 of the most robust among the volunteers for this duty of charity, so fraught with danger. For tragic months they labored heroically in the service of the sick and dying under the eye of their beloved master. Don Bosco was everywhere. He was confessored to open the gates of heaven to the departing souls to speed them on the way with the bread of life. He was physician and nurse, loving and skillful, not disdaining the most menial acts in his wide-soul devotedness. After the toils and hardships of the day, he sought repose still dressed, ready for any emergency, and was called more than once during the night to afford aid to the dying. In the oratory, all was activity, demands on Margaret's patience, time, and supplies were unceasing. She gave at last the table linen and even the altar linen for the relief of the suffering. But the dread ordeal came to an end. God's providence had watched over the father and his children, and the relentless herald of death had not been allowed to claim one victim. Cardinal Cagliero, the celebrated Silesian, now seventy-eight years of age, in a recent lecture in Rome, February 1916, on his apostolate in Patagonia and the Argentine, told the following thrilling experience of his own during this period. In the August of 1854 said the venerable prince of the church, the cholerae raged at Turin and I lay sick in the infirmary of the oratory. I was then sixteen years of age, and the physicians vowed I had come to the end of my life. In the house it was said I was reduced to the state, because I had committed the imprudence of accompanying Don Bosco on a visit to the Las Areto. Don Bosco was requested by the doctors to visit me, and to administer the last sacraments. He came to my bedside. I remember him yet, just as if I saw him here this moment. Which is better for you, he asked me, to get well or to go to paradise? To go to paradise, I replied. Very well, he added, but the Madonna wishes you to be pure this time. You will get well, you will be a priest, you will take your breviary and travel far, far, far. This dependant's vision then opened before the eyes of the father, drawing near to my bed. He was to recount it only after thirty-five years. He saw it surrounded by a savage people of tall stature and fierce aspect, of copper-colored skin and with thick black hair tied by a string at the forehead. He did not know then to what race these figures belonged, and only later on he opened in secret a manual of geography and found there that they belonged to the type of Patagonians. To the mind of the father there then opened out a vision of that immense region, which he foretold would be rich in minerals, in industries, in factories, in railways, blessed by the precious gift of the Christian faith, through the labors and the blood of his own spiritual family. I certainly got well. In that moment the fever left me, and I did not even receive the saccharines, because since I grew well suddenly it seemed to be better to do this one I should have risen. I must add that all these particulars Don Bosco revealed only after I had initiated the evangelization of Patagonia and was already its vicar apostolate. Because precisely through fear of being guided by his personal impression he never wished to take a leading part where I or my duties were concerned. But he rather left everything to be disposed by divine providence, that it might direct all things exactly as it had shown to the father in the glance into the future. CHAPTER VIII. THE EMACULATED CONCEPTION. A CATECHISM CLASS. SINUR ERBÈNE RETAZI. PRISONERS. December 8 of that eventful year 1854 was a day of high festivity at the oratory, the day on which the dogma of the immaculate conception of our lady was proclaimed by Pius IX. A solemn te deum was sung, and Don Bosco preached a sermon that was a model of eloquence and teeming with sound doctrine, every word of which was a flame that shot forth from the fire of love that consumed his heart for Mary, the immaculate mother of God. On one of the following Sundays Don Bosco was teaching catechism. To his explanation of dogma and morals he was accustomed to add remarks upon the history of the church. Suddenly one little boy rose to his feet and questioned the father. If Trajan was unjust in banishing Pope St. Clement, what must we think of our government exiling Archbishop Franzoni? There was a large congregation, no doubt strangers were there. Don Bosco never disconcerted, answered the question clearly and briefly, concluding with the words, Let us leave the problems of the present epic to the decision of the catechism class of a hundred years to come when we shall have passed into the domain of history. Let us be satisfied in respecting authority, whether civil or religious. The child persisted, but was adroitly silenced by the catechist. On leaving the chapel Don Bosco was accosted by a stranger of distinguished appearance, who congratulated him on the clear reply he had given to the boy's difficult question. You came to criticize? asked Don Bosco with a smile. Perhaps so was the answer. May I ask, sir, to whom do I have the honor of speaking? I am Urbane Rattasi, the prime minister. What? exclaimed Don Bosco in admiration. The great Rattasi? Yes, father. And in future you need not dread interference, though the Archbishop's acts do not meet with my approval, yet I am glad he was not banished during my administration. The interview lasted an hour. Rattasi visited the oratory and departed so well pleased that while he remained in power, Don Bosco had in him a faithful protector and advocate. These two men both renowned in Italy and beyond it met later in more than one friendly conference. For Rattasi esteemed Don Bosco and in his turn the Apostle of Turin hoped to induce the prime minister to adopt the methods of reform he had found so efficacious and introduced them into prisons and reformatories for boys. Let us try to prevent instead of repressing crime, he urged, a more humane and a far more economical method. Form Christians and you have good citizens, but alas, I know we can never attain to the realization of this ideal. If we could, judges, prisons, police and even a standing army might be suppressed. Rattasi was convinced and though his convictions never found practical execution, yet he showed publicly his confidence in the founder of the Salishan Society. I cannot forbear quoting one of many remarkable incidents of Don Bosco's after experience in which Rattasi's influence was the turning point. It inculcates to more than one great lesson and proclaims in a striking manner Don Bosco's supremacy in the domain of human hearts. In May 1855, Don Bosco preached a retreat of eight days to the prisoners of the chief jail of Turin, La Generala. His words were so luminous and effective, so filled with the spirit of God that nearly 400 of his hearers were moved to sincere contrition and approached the sacraments with great fervor and piety. The retreat over, Don Bosco's fertile mind and great heart invented a most astonishing mode of reward for his penitence. He went to the governor of the jail and asked a day's freedom for all who had attended the holy exercises. A day's freedom echoed the governor in consternation. We should have to send all the soldiers in the kingdom to recapture the criminals. Pardon me, Governor, you are mistaken, insisted Don Bosco gently. I shall appeal to honor, conscience. I do not want even one policeman. The governor frowned. He evidently thought Don Bosco mad. Honor, conscience, he questioned. The honor of thieves, the conscience of assassins. Nevertheless, he forwarded the petition and was astounded when it was returned, granted, and signed by Ritazi. He went to remonstrate with the prime minister but was quietly told, I wish the experiment tried. Don Bosco's proposal was hailed with joy by the prisoners. While waiting the permission, he talked to them in a fatherly manner, appealing to their honor and everyone gave his word not to try to escape. I cite a brief record of this strange holiday, this little oasis of happiness in the hard desert life of those unfortunate men. The next morning, a glorious day. Don Bosco, with his suite, started aftermath for the royal gardens of Stupenegi. Three or four hundred prisoners marching in perfect order, joyous and unguarded, through the streets of Turin, solely under Don Bosco's custody, was a strange sight. The way to the gardens was long, but the prisoners, though weakened by confinement, found it short, the air was sweet, the walk through the green fields delightful, a pleasure long unknown. Observing that Don Bosco seemed fatigued. They surrounded him and mounted him on the donkey, from which they unloaded the baskets of provisions to hoist them to their own shoulders. By turns they led the animal, chatting at their ease with a good father, to whom they owed this happy day. In the evening the Turin people amazed, saw them return in equal discipline, not one missing. Don Bosco, in duty bound, went to thank Ritazi and gave a report of the day. Indeed said the minister, you apostles of God have more power in your moral influence than we have in the material influence, which we command. You persuade and vanquish the heart, that we cannot do. It is a reserved department. Can any one conceive of a purely human leader in a procession like this? End of chapter eight, recording by John Brandon. Chapter nine 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. Death of Mama Margaret. Don Bosco's heart overflowed in thanksgiving to God, when in November 1856 his new boarding school was completed free from debt, and filled to its limit with his joyous children. But a cross was coming. The health of his beloved mother was visibly failing. A violent inflammation of the lungs had set in, and her sufferings were intense, born with the heroic patience which had characterized the whole life of this remarkable woman. The boys prayed fervently for her cure, writes Father Bonetti, for she was to all of us a second mother, and by her kindness and maternal care, made us forget that we had lost our own mother, or were far away from her. At almost every hour of the day, some were at the patient's room to inquire after her health. In the evening after prayers, all awaited with anxiety some news from Don Bosco. The sorrow was general when the last rites of Holy Church had been administered, for we knew that death was fast approaching. Margaret would not be removed to the new home. It is too splendid for this poor old woman, she said. Let me die poor as I have always lived poor. After giving her last advice to Joseph and his children, she spoke with affection and even authority to John, entering into minute confidential details. Despise plunder in your works. Have effective and real poverty as your object. Have confidence in your fellow laborers and the Lord's vineyard, but see that their aim is the glory of God. As your Institute gloriously increases, it should increase in humility and not esteem itself as superior to other religious houses. Each member should willingly be second to others in the wide road of charity, where there is abundant room for all. God will bless those who act thus. More than once, Margaret expressed her happiness at seeing the numbers of Don Bosco's children who now wore the Zutain. They are my children too, she would add with a smile. On the 25th of November, the end seemed near and the happiness of heaven beamed upon her face. In the evening, Don Bosco administered the last sacraments to his dying mother. His grief was excessive and affected Margaret to such a degree that after the ceremony was over and the last kissed and goodbye given, she said tenderly to this favorite son, now Giovanni meal, do not stay, you suffer and it frets me. He obeyed her and kneeling in his own room where he could hear the murmur of prayers around her bedside, poured out his grief and tears at the foot of the crucifix. At three in the morning, Joseph entered, Don Bosco arose. Joseph with streaming tears pointed upward and the saintly apostle knew that his mother's soul had gone to its rest in the bosom of its creator. He went at once, writes Father Bonetti, to celebrate holy mass in the chapel of Our Lady of Consolation, accompanied by young Joseph Bosetti. There after offering the holy sacrifice and suffrage for her soul, he stopped to pray for a long time before the image of Our Lady. Among other things he said to her, I and my children are now bereaved of our mother. O be thou for the time to come in a special manner, my mother and theirs also. The funeral was plain as Margaret had desired. Her beloved poverty was her attendant to the last and bent over her dead form with a smile for her only gown was on her in the coffin. Many ecclesiastics were present and all the members of the three Silesian houses of Turin followed their mother Margaret to the grave. Father Bonetti describes the scene. The funeral was modest but impressive. A solemn mass was celebrated in the church of the oratory and the boys offered a general communion for the repose of the soul of their great benefactors and mother. All then escorted the beer to the parish church and the singing of the misery was accompanied by the plaintive strains of our band. The courtage was so orderly and edifying that several affirmed they had never assisted at such an affecting funeral. Margaret Bosco's age was only 58. In 10 years she had fulfilled the sacred mission to which she had been called by the divine heart of Jesus. Suffer the little children to come unto me had met with an ardent and persevering response from her great heart. The stories told of her sweetness and charity and sacrifice are multitudinous all permeated with the deep affection of the narrators. Her prudence and management always forestalled the desires of Don Bosco and many were trained by her to the various employments of the house. As the society grew these places were filled by boys who not called to the priesthood yet would not leave Don Bosco but remained as co-agitor brethren to serve the others and supply the temporal wants of the great household. End of chapter nine. Chapter 10 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 John Brandon. The Venerable Don Bosco, The Apostle of Youth. By M. S. Pine. Chapter 10, Plan of Studies. Some remarkable pupils of Don Bosco. The following brief sketch of Don Bosco's plan of studies drawn by one of his pupils is of interest. On leaving the primary school, the boys attended a professional school of arts and trades or went through a secondary course of literary and scientific instruction in the solution institutions. Each pupil was guided to a choice of his studies in accordance with his inclinations. Don Bosco established agricultural schools in the country as well as industrial schools in towns. Thus his work was universal. He observed with particular care the aptitude of his pupils. The orphanages were like nurseries from which he yearly transplanted the best saplings to better ground. From the primary school, these pupils passed to a college or gymnasium of classical instruction. And again, when there were vacancies into the large seminaries, he endeavored to assist without forcing vocations, and he knew how to draw forth natural gifts. His observation and influence in this way were perhaps among the most remarkable of his faculties. The Educative System of Don Bosco writes the director of a government normal school is modeled upon the gentleness of St. Francis of Sales. The Presentative System. In every case, he endeavored to hinder the entrance of evil amongst the young by kindly treatment and constant watchfulness. Games, music, et cetera, or for him, efficacious means for securing good order, cultivating virtue and preserving health, by his marvelous natural gifts in the guidance of the young, by his perseverance, by the incredible practical results he obtained, he has become immortal and not without reason is he called a worldwide miraculous teacher. Among the pupils of Don Bosco, there were some who attained in their early years to remarkable sanctity. The biographies of several of these lovers of Jesus who died young were written by Don Bosco himself in picturesque and touching detail. There was Michael Magone, 13 years of age. Whom Don Bosco, while waiting an hour at Camagnola for the tour in train, had found ruling in the street as a general, a large band of boys. After a little friendly conversation with the apostle of youth, begun with a good deal of bravado, Magone confessed shame-facedly that he would like to be a priest. This was the boy for Don Bosco. In a few days he was installed in the oratory. From that day, diligent and serious, he made still more rapid strides in virtue than he did in his studies. His horror of sin was intense. And his burning love of the blessed sacrament led him to spend hours at the foot of the altar. If Magone had lived, he would have become one of the most eminent among the Italian clergy. A record of his dying moments from the pen of Don Bosco will move and instruct my readers as it has moved and instructed me. Suddenly he said, stay with me, Father. Be sure, I said, I shall not leave you until you are with our Savior in heaven. But as you are going to leave this world, would you not like to say farewell to your mother? I do not like to give her such pain. But you will send her a message, at least. Yes, Father, ask her to pardon all the sorrow and troubles I caused her during my life. Tell her I repent bitterly, that I love her very much, she must be brave, and I shall wait for her in heaven. At these words, those present could not restrain their tears. I suppressed mine as well as I could and asked him a few questions now and then. What shall I say to your companions? Tell them always to make good confessions. Which of the actions of your life gives you now most pleasure? The remembrance of even the little I have done in honor of the Blessed Virgin. O Mary, mother of God, how happy it is to die, your servant. Yet, Father, one thought troubles me. When my soul separates from my body and enters the eternal kingdom, what shall I do? Do not be afraid, I answered. The Blessed Virgin will accompany you before the sovereign judge. Leave all to her. But before you go, I will give you a message. Yes, Father, when you see the blessed mother of our Savior in paradise, present humble, respectful greetings from all here. Ask her to bless us and take us under her powerful protection, that not one of us, nor those whom providence will send to our orissories, may be lost. I will, Father. How simple and beautiful the faith of both. Little Camilus Gavio was with him only a few months when he was called to be a companion of the angels. Yet in that brief period, he left an ineffable memory of his holiness. So remarkable was his talent for painting and sculpture that the Turin government had decided that he should continue his artistic studies at the expense of the state. John Bosco gave exquisite sketches of several other young lives, which I hope will someday be done into choice English by one of their Silesian descendants, as the life of Dominic Savio has already been rendered. The little 15-year-old boy who was another St. Aloysius, among those are young Louis Camolo, some Silesian contemporaries, young Francis Besucco, or the little shepherd of the Alps, and Mary of the Angels, a Carmelite nun. Above them all, however, the holiness of young Dominic Savio shines like a star. He was born in Sherry, April 2nd, 1842, and died at Mondonio, March 9th, 1857. In October 1864, John Bosco first met him and seeing in a brief time the beauty of his soul, he took him to Turin as one of his chosen boys. Upon the definition of the dogma of the Immaculate Conception in 1854, he formed an association in honor of Mary Immaculate and drew up a rule for its members, the chief maxim of which was, serve ye the Lord with joy. Used to say, he who seeks before all things the will of God is on the road to sanctity. This innocent and zealous youth was favored with many supernatural communications from God. John Bosco describes a wonderful vision he had of the return of England to the Catholic faith. It was only a little later that Pius IX established the Catholic hierarchy in England. When heaven was spoken of, he would faint away in his companion's arms. After Dominic's death, many extraordinary favors were obtained through his prayers. Ten of these supernatural graces have been related by John Bosco. The cause of his beatification was introduced on February 11th, 1914. End of chapter 10, recording by John Brandon. Chapter 11 of the venerable John Bosco and 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 Tom Sensenbergs. The Venerable John Bosco and the Apostle of Youth by M. S. Pine, chapter 11. Interior life of John Bosco. His devotion to Mary, help of Christians. Would it were possible to supplement the large details of his life of stupendous activities for the glory of God with a companion picture of John Bosco's interior life? His ways of prayer, his gradual ascend to that continual and intimate union with God ever present in the soul, which alone can affect great works. Whence came John Bosco's marvelous achievements, people asked. Some of them sprung up like escalations. How did he bring about those profound and multitudinous transformations of souls from wise to rare and permanent virtue? And the prude miraculous effects of his prayers, the words of prophecy for which they saw the fulfillment with their own eyes. More than all, the heroic fortitude even joy with which he bore the most cruel persecutions and reverses from individuals of low and high degree, from ecclesiastics, from governments, coming out unscatched with supernatural winnings and human successes and victories more prodigious than ever. What was the secret, the mystery of it all? So close to the invisible world from childhood, the favorite disciple of Mary, see the wisdom who unfolded him secrets of the future. We may conjecture that God revealed himself to that chaste soul. The indwelling of the adorable Trinity was made manifest to his spiritual sight. The divine generation of the word, the procession of the Holy Ghost, that imminent life of an infinite being which is ever going on in the pure soul after baptism. Though alas, material things obscure the vision. His last patron, St. Francis of Sales, during the ceremonies of his consecration as bishop, beheld the most adorable Trinity imprinting inwardly on his soul to his marks which the bishops were making outwardly on his person. And how many saints have been privileged with the continual loving presence of the sacred humanity of our savior in the secret abysses of their soul to instruct, guide and illumine them in the intricate and lofty ways of perfection. Blessed Margaret Mary, the lowly visitation nun, beheld this interior vision continually. We may be sure that God granted these and other graces of sublime order to this faithful servant of his divine majesty, Don Bosco, so profoundly humble and so skillful in hiding the secrets of the King. The desire to be led into this wonderful wheeled world of his soul's life with God drew me to consult the salation fathers in the hope that they might furnish me either in print or in manuscript. Some records which is alter ego, Don Ruah, he's saintly successor in the government of the society and other disciples must have made during those hours of sacred intimacy which saints hold with one another and which help to make life an anticipated heaven. My reward was a beautiful and comprehensive letter, a molten Minparo, which casts such an illumination upon Don Bosco's life that it will edify and interest those who appreciate the work of grace in a soul. Dear sister, the interior life of our founder and all the booklets about him, as far as I can see, has not been touched upon because exterior deeds are what impress the world. Yet these marvelous feats of Don Bosco would absolutely have been unattainable had it not been for the divine fire that burned in his simple heart. Don Bosco is remarkable for three characteristics. First, his love for the Holy Eucharist and his constant endeavour to preach and write about frequent and even daily communion on the part of the children. In this he anticipated years before the decree of the late Pope Pius X on frequent and daily communion. The second ideal of Don Bosco was to go to Jesus through Mary, adhesum per marium, and thus Mary, help of Christians, became his polar star, his guide, his protectress, his inspiration, and his all help in all his trials and vicissitudes. In his dying words, he said to Don Rua, spread with all your might the devotion to our Lady, help of Christians. The third principle that guided all Don Bosco's steps was blind obedience to the sea of Rome, the Holy Father, the Vicar of Christ. He often said that we must accept all his utterances and commands coming from the lips of Jesus himself. Don Bosco knew the value of discipline, of authority, hence his submission all things to the Holy Father, and he was never done inculcating to his children love and gratitude to the Vicar of Christ. These are the three salient notes in Don Bosco's interior and exterior life. He was besides very jovial, witty, magnetic. He had an iron will, once he made up his mind to do something which was for the greater glory of God. I am simply giving a few hints, and I trust and pray that your lecture will be a success. Pray for me and believe me. Yours sincerely, Christ. Frederick Barney, S.S. F.S. Mary, help of Christians, is then the polar star of the children, of the great triple army of conquest, the salient fathers, the salient sisters, and the salient cooperators throughout the world. It was she who ushered Don Bosco into the world during the octave of her glorious assumption. To her he prayed as a child in the fields of Becky, and there she deigned to appear to her little elite and open to him the wheel of the future. From that moment, his faith in her protection and intercession was ever strong, constant, boundless, and to her he ascribed all his progress in virtue and the success of his works. Three events in church history have glorified this beautiful and deluring title of Mary. Its origin dates back to 1571, when Mohammedanism was turned away from its threatened invasion of all Christendom by Christian fleet in the Gulf of Lepanto under the banner Viva Maria. St. Pius V, who saw in spirit the astounding victory moved by a profound feeling of gratitude added to the litany of Our Lady, the invocation Auxilium Christianarum. Help of Christians pray for us. In 1683, Sobyshe, the heroic pole under the standard of Mary, again thrust back the Turkish horde and a second time saved the West to Christianity. The great comforternity of Our Lady, Help of Christians was the lasting memorial of thanks to Mary for his signal triumph. Finally, the renowned papal prisoner of Napoleon, Pius VII, having recovered his liberty and entered Rome and made rejoicings on May 24th, 1814, fulfilled the vow he had made to consecrate to Curl Lady, Help of Christians, the day of his restoration to the throne of Peter. End of chapter 11, recording by Tuums Hinsonbergs. Chapter 12 of the venerable Don Bosco, the Apostle of Youth by M.S. Pine. 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 Gordon S. Jones, Draper, Utah. The venerable Don Bosco, the Apostle of Youth by M.S. Pine. The new Basilica, Don Bosco, Atomaturgis. The devotion to Mary, Help of Christians had become a favorite one in Turin. Don Bosco, seeing that the Chapel of St. Francis de Sales at Valdoco could no longer accommodate the large congregations that flocked there, resolved to erect a noble Basilica to our Lady under this title. As usual, his design was pronounced foolish and impossible of execution. But when Pius IX sent the Apostle of Youth, his blessing and a purse of 500 francs as the first contribution to the stately shrine, the state of affairs changed. Generous offerings were made, especially by Prince Amadeus of Savoy, always a friend of the Salesians. He it was who laid the cornerstone of the new edifice on April 27, 1865. After Don Bosco had paid for the grounds, eight cents remained in his hands. Fearless of results, so magnanimous was his trust in God, he hired laborers and the work went on rapidly. But these poor men had to support their families and must have money. He remembered a sick lady who had declared her readiness to make any sacrifice to recover her health. He accordingly visited her and after the usual common places, she pressed him earnestly on the subject of her cure. Don Bosco ordered a novella to our Lady, Help of Christians, the Pater, Ave Maria, Gloria and Salve Regina in which he promised to unite. An offering to the new church was to be the willing testimony of her gratitude. On the eighth day, he again called with some anxiety upon the invalid. The servant on opening the door exclaimed, why, Father, have you not heard? Madam is cured, she has been out twice. The mistress came to Don Bosco at once, joyous and well, and handing him 1000 francs, just the sum he needed, she said smilingly, the first gift, but not the last. Don Bosco's reputation as a tomaturgus began to grow. Spiritual maladies of the most inveterate kind had yielded for years to the medicinal balm of his gentle treatment and now corporal cures are being effected at his word in answer to his prayer. The walls of his great basilica could tell a whole history of wonders that were wrought into all parts of the stately structure, mosaics of light, of charity, visible to Mary and the angels who watch around the sacred altar. Don Bosco, the humble, the lowly-hearted peasant, still more amid divine favors and caresses than amid the earthly honors often lavished upon him, regarded them as utterly beyond his merits and inflicted upon himself more severe penances, sought a more complete death to self and quartered humiliations with a deeper joy and a more solid conviction of his nothingness. One day he trembled from head to foot with emotion as he beheld a dumb and paralytic child, Josephine Longhi, brought to him by her mother, suddenly walk and talk at his bidding. Count Gilletta, formerly a deputy, now debating as to a religious vocation, was awaiting his turn to see Don Bosco. As the sorrowing mother bore the afflicted child into the priest's antechamber, he arose and, going to her, yielded up his place and took the lowest rank in the line of petitioners. Then he prayed, Oh, Mary, help of Christians, if thou healest this child, it shall be unto me a sign of God's will. The child came out from Don Bosco's presence, leaping and laughing. Don Bosco has cured me, she said, while all flocked around to caress her. Upon witnessing this extraordinary effect of sanctity, Count Gilletta no longer hesitated, but at once offered himself to Don Bosco and lived and died holily in the Silesian order and later Josephine became a devout Silesian sister. I must relate one more marvel among many which were wrought in bringing the new church to completion for it was three years in building. It happened on November 16, 1866. 4,000 francs were required that evening and Don Bosco had not one centime. Don Rua and others made a circuit of the country round in the morning. They returned with only 1,000 francs, declaring that to spend any more time in begging was useless. Nevermind, said Don Bosco, let us go to dinner. The repast over, he took his hat and started for a walk, pursuing his way somewhat at random. As he was passing a handsome mansion quite unfamiliar to him, a liveried servant appeared at the door and begged him to come in. Don Bosco complied and was conducted into the presence of a middle-aged man and apparent paralytic. Oh, father, said the invalid. I have been in bed three years and the physicians pronounce my case hopeless. If you will relieve me, your works will gain. Really? Why? That is admirable. My works are in urgent need this evening of 3,000 francs. If it were only 300, but 3,000 francs? Nevermind, let it go, answered the priest. And after a few casual remarks, he arose to depart. Father, I will try to get you 3,000 francs before the end of the year. At the end of the year, but I want the money tonight. I shall have to send to the bank. It requires formality. Go to the bank yourself, sir. You are joking, father. Haven't I told you that I have been lying in this bed for three years? Nothing is impossible to God. Let us appeal to Mary. And Don Bosco ordered that the whole household should be called 30 in number. Struck with wonder, they knelt around the bed and answered Don Bosco's prayers with unwanted fervor. Now, said the priest, as they rose from prayer, go and dress your master. Astounded and incredulous, the servants demurred. Don Bosco must be obeyed, commanded the sick man. The doctor now suddenly appeared upon the scene and forbade his patient to stir. But the sartorial work progressed rapidly. And soon the paralytic was walking across the room. My carriage at once, he demanded. And while waiting, he partook of a hearty meal. He then drove to the bank with Don Bosco, where he handed him the 3,000 francs with a gratitude he could not express. I am wholly recovered, he repeated, again and again. And his offering was followed by many of the contributions to Don Bosco's enterprises, especially to the Church of Our Lady. The solemn dedication of the Basilica to Mary, Help of Christians, took place on June 19, 1868. The festivities lasting a week as pious the 9th had granted a plenary indulgence to those who attended. Since that day, this plundered shrine has been a sanctuary of pilgrimage, and the walls are covered with votive offerings. End of Chapter 12. Chapter 13 of the Venerable Don Bosco, The Apostle of Youth by M.S. Pine. 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 Gordon S. Jones, Draper, Utah. The Venerable Don Bosco, The Apostle of Youth by M.S. Pine. Don Bosco's literary works, Printing Plant, The Silesian Bulletin. I have said that Don Bosco wrote over 100 books, no one ever believed more devoutly than he in The Apostle of the Press. The spoken word first in season and out of season. How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace was verified daily in his life, as well as in the lives of all his followers in the ways of St. Francis of Sales. But after that, and the cares, spiritual and temporal of his beloved family had been attended to, every leisure moment was given to writing or to thought and conversation preparatory to it. Oliver Wendell Holmes was one day talking with a few friends and an enchanted hour slipped by and listening to his oracles of wisdom and experience drawn from the study of his fellow men. One of his hearers said with regret, Dr. Holmes, would that all you have said to us were in print that it might benefit thousands? Perhaps it will be someday, answered the doctor, laughing. I have a way of roughing out my thoughts to my friends before they appear before the public eye. Don Bosco had a goodly share of that wisdom so that his leisure hours of converse as well as his hours of prayer contributed generously to his written page and swelled the number of his books almost to miracle. And besides, Don Bosco never wasted time. St. Liguri, whose voluminous works are the treasure of the church, made a vow which might well frighten the most saintly never to waste a minute of time. And I have often thought that vow was like the fiery chair of Elias which bore his soul up to heaven to witness the glories of divine love and then returning to earth, sped him over its vast spaces, scattering his pages. So many sparks of fire to kindle heavenly love in the hearts of men. I really believe if we could enter into the secret world of Don Bosco's life in God, we should find that vow or its equivalent there written in the heart of Jesus. For he too scattered his burning pages over the world in miraculous haste and number and spiritual variety. He did not aim at the world's admiration in his choice of word and phrase. He looked to God for the thought and the power and then wrote in simple, strong, concise language his gospel message to the young. For to them, his eyes were always directed. To create the temple of God in their souls was his one imperious and dominating motive. Don Bosco had the gift of genius which might have put him on a par with the finest prose writers of Italy had literature been his ambition. But all his beloved classics in collegiate days so profoundly studied, so carefully imitated were now disregarded, art for art's sake spurned before the world's crying need of instruction and his own powerful convictions fairly burning themselves into the paper. I am going to introduce a paragraph by one of his own devoted students which I think will lend a charm to the pleasant topic under discussion. How beautiful the picture of the saintly and learned theologian waiting on his mother's words for suggestion and correction in matters so weighty. Quote, I feel quite affected when I think of those happy years during which our beloved father often related the trouble he took in his youth to study the composition of flowery figurative rhetoric and his difficulties later, the struggle and effort to write in the plain simple style always faultless which makes his ideas and writings charming. I remember what he told us of his ecclesiastical history and his venerable mother who though endowed with great judgment was ignorant of literature wishing to make his history intelligible to all he got her to read it. Then he retouched it and corrected it according to her advice. Sometimes regardless of fatigue he rewrote entire chapters. His wish was without despising art in its sober beauty to be fully understood. His works may be classed under four heads, works of piety, works of religious discussion, narratives for youth and course of classics. Close quote. Chief among his writings are sacred history, ecclesiastical history just referred to of a luminous work of research full of charm and interest in 20 volumes from 100 to 250 pages each and his history of Italy comprising upwards of 500 pages a clear concise judicious statement of events. He assures the reader that he has not written one phrase without collating it with accredited historians. This book was highly praised by the renowned Tomaseo. The minister of public instruction found it so estimable that he adopted it in the public schools and rewarded the author with a thousand francs. The Catholic Church and the hierarchy, the Catholic in the world and many other volumes of a similar nature are replete with instruction convincing by their clear conclusive logic and practical in the extreme. Don Bosco's system in education was preventive rather than repressive or it would not have attained to such phenomenal success. Here is his secret laid down in his rule. Frequent confession, frequent communion, daily mass, these are the pillars which must support the whole edifice of education. The confessional was an educative power with Don Bosco which can hardly be conceived. He spent long hours of day and night in the church or at the end of the homely Valdoco Corridor one arm generally around the boy penitent to encourage him. Daily communion was with him the open door to every heavenly virtue and through it he led his disciples and made them saints. And the holy sacrifice of the mass, who that beheld his reverence, his absorption in God, his rapt countenance as he offered the divine victim for his little waste, all intent upon the sacred function could ever forget it. And therefore these three golden pillars formed the recurrent theme of his most ardent exhortations by the pen as by the spoken word. He inculcated these lessons by every form of literature by graphic pictures of the love of Jesus doing away with all fear and distrust. Arithmetic made easy is only one of many titles that have a pleasant sound for students ears for his pen was ever quote a scrivener that write his swiftly close quote and lovingly to ease their labors. With his stories for youth, his biographies and his religious and moral fiction, our readers have already made acquaintance. And he was no less expert in the dramatic art having published several excellent plays for public performance by his boys. From primer class to professor's diploma, religion was the spirit that dominated every study in Don Bosco's curricula. Popular treatises on science, which ignore the creator of all things and present purely material ideas to the young were superseded by carefully prepared works which elevated the mind and trained the heart while teaching the marvels of creation. Mythology he abhorred. Shame on mythology. These are his strong words. Nature in its beauty, life in its reality, history in its immortal pages supply an ample fund of examples and comparisons provided the professor takes some personal trouble. In making humanists or scholars, his principle was to make good Christians. He would have the day officius of St. Ambrose by the side of Cicero's day officius and St. Cyprian's rhetoric, a companion to Proarchia and Pro Marchello. All my life, he wrote in his late years, I have struggled against the error of bringing up young Christians as pagans. With this object, I have undertaken double publication, that of some of the profane classics most used in the schools revised and corrected and of Christian classics. Among the latter, I selected those written in concise, elegant style with pure holy doctrine which corrects and weakens the naturalism freely permeating the first. To restore Christian authors to their place, to make pagan authors as harmless as possible are the ends I have had in view in all the works I've undertaken. And Don Bosco encouraged literary talent wherever he found it so that from his schools emanated celebrities in the various departments of literature. His eminence, Cardinal Cagliaro, the apostle of Patagonia, Don Rua, Don Ceruti, Don Durando and numbers of other distinguished doctors have written on theological and moral subjects. And the other careers of life are similarly represented by authors of style and erudition. The need of economy in publishing his works became apparent and Voldoko early had an extensive printing plant of its own. From the manufacture of paper and types to the perfection of binding and gilding, everything necessary to the art of bookmaking was supplied and highly skilled works accomplished within its walls by the eager and indefatigable young mechanics and printers. Latin, French and Italian publications were brought out in exquisite taste under Don Bosco's eye and prudent direction and the printing industry became a lucrative source of income. Although for years Don Bosco had projected a Silesian periodical, he was unable to compass his desire until 1878 when the Silesian Bulletin, a monthly magazine was launched upon the world to be a mighty power for good. The annals of the society in pleasing detail are to be found within its pages of untold value for records of sanctity and heroic achievement in all parts of the world. The Silesian Bulletin, still issued from Voldoko, Turin, is now published monthly in nine languages. Italian, English, French, Spanish, German, Polish, Portuguese, Hungarian and Slavonic, comprising a total of 350,000 copies. Its illustrations are attractive and its emblems full of suggestiveness. Its simple cover of paper is the object of special care and design and drawing to the young Silesian artists of Turin and presents a beautiful religious study. Amid a multitude of details, Mary, help of Christians, Saint Francis of Siles and the venerable Don Bosco are prominent figures. And the soul cry of the order gleams upon its scroll through the emblems of study, art and labor. Dam ii animus, Catera toile, translated as give me souls, take away everything else. End of chapter 13. Chapter 14 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. The Silesian schools, Don Bosco persecuted, testimonials of government officials. In 1858, Don Bosco had visited Rome and laid all his projects for his oratory of Saint Francis of Siles before Pope Pius IX, who held him in heist esteem and willingly conferred upon him many privileges. The progress of the Silesian institutions of Turin had now become assured and Don Bosco was constantly in receipt of applications from bishops near and far. His great industrial schools, comprising all the trades and some of the arts, had obtained a national repute. They were found to be among his artisans, shoemakers, tailors, joiners, blacksmiths, plumbers and printers. The Silesian professional schools are veritable training grounds of conscience and character. And at the same time, excellent schools supplied with all that is best in modern inventions of tool and machinery. So that nothing may be wanting to the pupils in that progress of which modern industry is so justly proud. We have already described, although very imperfectly, Don Bosco's comprehensive system of education and his noble results. Artists, too, and architects were discovered among these waves. And their talents developed. Music, the first, the most beloved and the most universal of the arts, was one of the great factors of Don Bosco in the renewal and enlightenment of these young souls. Himself a musician with insupperable devotion to the sacred harmonies of the church. He made choral singing, from the first, a beautiful and attractive feature of the oratory. All were able to sing, and some superb voices were found among these minstrels of the South, so that with training they became leaders in the liturgical functions. Talent for instrumental music, too. The natural heritage of the Italian was fostered and a band was a sine qua non of every oratory. The war of 1859 caused Don Bosco much trouble and anxiety. Known to be a correspondent of Pius IX, whose answer to his own letter of condolence he had printed, and of Cardinal Antonelli and Archbishop Franzoni, he was denounced as a conspirator, and his institute condemned as a hotbed of reactionary politics. Subjected by the government to an insidious and insulting inspection of his schools, his dignity and firmness under the ordeal rose to admiration, and still more magnificent was his attitude when he appeared before the court de Corvure, president of the council, and Farini, minister of the interior, to repel the charges against him to hand over to them the hundreds of poor boys of his oratories to be burdened on the state. He openly censured the government agents, and his arguments in defense of the church, of the pope, and of his own line of conduct were unanswerable. Quote, I have lived twenty years in Turin, and have written, spoken, and acted openly. I defy anyone to quote a line, a word in action which deserves censure from the government. If otherwise, let proof be given. Then if guilty, I submit to punishment. But if innocent, let me be permitted to continue my labors without annoyance. Unquote. Count de Corvure, who had listened with respect, for he was friendly to Don Bosco, assured him in the end that his work would be left unmolested, but exhorted him to prudence in those trying times. And as the priest retired, both ministers rose and shook hands with him. Many orphans made by the battles of Magenta and Solferino found shelter in the oratory where they were received with open arms. The government deputy, Elera, writes, quote, scarcely any reading has so profoundly impressed me as that of the few notes left by Don Bosco on the subject of education. Notes which owe their immense value to the fact that their author was not an idealistic dreamer, but rather an idealist full of reality, the animating spirit of a marvelous human work which few thoroughly understood, and in regard to whom that impartial and generous spirit, Cesar Lombroso, had no hesitation in assigning one of the first places among the few who have attempted, initiated, and efficaciously evolved a national system of correction and rehabilitation, unquote. Another testimonial of profound appreciation is from the pen of Count Gunesta Biele and presents the apostolic father and teacher in all the charm of daily life, quote. One day when I went to visit Don Bosco, I found him at his desk reading a paper on which several names were written. Here, he remarked, are some of my little rogues whose conduct is not satisfactory. At that time I was but imperfectly acquainted with Don Bosco's methods, and I asked him if he had any punishment in reserve for these naughty boys. None at all, he replied, but this is what I'm going to do. This one, for instance, pointing to one of the names, is the worst little rascal, though he has an excellent heart. I will go to him during the time of recreation and ask after his health, and he doubtless will answer that it is excellent. Then you are quite satisfied with yourself, my boy, I shall say. At first he will be somewhat surprised. Then he will cast down his eyes and look ashamed. In an affectionate tone, I shall insist. But my child, something is wrong. If your body is in health, perhaps your mind is not at peace. Is it long since you were at confession? In a few minutes the boy will be ready to confess his fault, and I am almost sure I shall have no more complaints of him. I listened in silence, conquered by the charm and the sweetness of these apostolic words. I had discovered the secret of the great works this humble priest had successfully accomplished. Many times since, when the sight of the evils of our time filled my heart with bitter sadness, that priestly voice came back to me and gave me hope for the future of a society to whom God sends such reformers. End of chapter 14.