John Bosco

Who they were

John Bosco was born on 16 August 1815 to a peasant family at Becchi, near Castelnuovo d'Asti in Piedmont; his father died when he was two. At nine he dreamed that Jesus and then Our Lady told him to win over a gang of swearing boys 'not with blows but with gentleness and charity'. Driven from home by his half-brother's hostility to his studies, he worked as a farmhand, and later as a tailor, waiter, stable-boy, carpenter, shoemaker and smith to pay for school. Guided by St Joseph Cafasso, he was ordained priest on 5 June 1841.

In Turin he gathered the poorest boys from the streets, building sites and prisons. On 8 December 1844 he founded the Oratory of St Francis de Sales, later settled at Valdocco, then the Salesian Congregation for the young, and in 1872, with St Mary Domenica Mazzarello, the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians for girls. His educational method was preventive, never repressive. He died on 31 January 1888. St John Paul II called him 'father and teacher of youth'.

The miracles

The miracles examined for his beatification and canonisation are not described in the sources we have used. Among his pupils was St Dominic Savio.

Why that counted as sanctity

His motto was 'Da mihi animas, cetera tolle' - give me souls, take the rest. Don Bosco gave his life to getting as many young people as possible to heaven, forming 'honest citizens and good Christians' by a method that prevents rather than punishes. He taught them that being good does not mean never failing, but always wanting to do better.

Connected on this site

• Margherita Occhiena Saint Mother, Parent
  “Margherita Occhiena Bosco (1 April 1788 – 25 November 1856) was the mother of John Bosco and worked with the poor and the less fortunate.” — Wikipedia
• Callisto Caravario Saint
  “Their deaths were seen as fulfilling St John Bosco's dream of a chalice filled with blood, after which, he said, the Salesian work would spread wonderfully among the Chinese people.” — this site's research
• Dominic Savio Saint
  “Dominic Savio (Italian: Domenico Savio; 2 April 1842 – 9 March 1857) was a 19th-century Italian teenager who was a student of John Bosco and became a Catholic saint.” — Wikipedia
• Francis de Sales Saint
  “As a follower of the spirituality and philosophy of Francis de Sales, Bosco was an ardent devotee of the Virgin Mary under the title Mary Help of Christians.” — Wikipedia
• John Paul II Saint
  “St John Paul II called him 'father and teacher of youth'.” — this site's research
• Joseph Cafasso Saint
  “Guided by St Joseph Cafasso, he was ordained priest on 5 June 1841.” — this site's research
• Maria Mazzarello Saint
  “In October 1867 she and other young women formed a community, which in 1872 moved to the college at Mornese given them by St John Bosco; there they began the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians for the education of poor girls.” — this site's research
• Aloisius Variara Blessed
  “His father entrusted him to St John Bosco at Valdocco in 1887, and he became a Salesian, ordained on 24 April 1898.” — this site's research
• Bronisław Markiewicz Blessed
  “Markiewicz established the Congregation of Saint Michael the Archangel that devoted itself to the principles and teachings of John Bosco under the patronage of Saint Michael the Archangel.” — Wikipedia
• Edoardo Giuseppe Rosaz Blessed
  “He was appointed a bishop at the suggestion of John Bosco.” — Wikipedia
• Edvige Carboni Blessed
  “She recorded an extensive spiritual journal in which she recorded appearances from Jesus Christ as well as saints such as Gemma Galgani and John Bosco.” — Wikipedia
• Jakob von Ghazir Blessed
  “Presidents honored him with various awards, while the populace compared him to Vincent de Paul and John Bosco.” — Wikipedia