|
John
was born in Italy in the nineteenth century. He was the son
of a peasant farmer who died when John was two. At the age of
nine, he had a dream that made clear his destiny: to help poverty-stricken
urban youth. In his dream, he was surrounded by a gang of unruly
street urchins whom he tried to control with reason and then
with force. A mysterious lady appeared and said, 'Softly, softly
if you wish to win them! Take your shepherd's staff and lead
them to the pasture,” As she spoke, the children metamorphosed
from wild animals into lambs. He entered the seminary at the
age of sixteen, but was so destitute that members of his community,
including the mayor, donated clothing to him. He was made a
chaplain, and his first assignment was at a refuge for girls,
This left him enough time on Sundays to work with underprivileged
boys. But a matriarch who was a primary funder of the girls'
refuge gave him an ultimatum, demanding that he stop moonlighting.
So he quit the refuge and he and his mother, “Mamma Margaret,”
began to take in street kids and care for them. This effort
expanded into the Salesian Order, named after St. Francis de
Sales, which focused on educating and providing opportunities
for destitute boys. John was known to entertain the young men
by performing magic tricks and acrobatics, and he tried to instill
in them an appreciation for nature by taking them on field trips.
He eventually founded a similar order for girls called Daughters
of Our Lady, Help of Christians. John was renowned for his charisma
and ability to generate money for his continually-expanding
foundations. When he died in his early 7O's, after an exhausting
life of hard work and dedication, more than 40,000 people attended
his funeral Mass. John is also the patron of apprentices, boys,
laborers and magicians. His feast day is January 31. |
To
order
click on one of
the links below
|
 |
|
St.
John Bosco
Patron St. of
Magicians |
|
