“Give me souls, take away the rest”
Motto of Saint John Bosco
(Feast: 31 January)
Who is this great saint?
Saint John Bosco was born in the hamlet of Becchi, near Turin, Italy, on 16 August 1815. His father died when he was very small, and his mother raised him in piety and the fear of God.
At the age of nine he understood through a remarkable dream that God was calling him to care for young people. He prepared for his mission by studying, but his family’s poverty forced him to work in order to continue his studies, so he learned many trades, which he later used in the service of the young.
He was ordained a priest on 5 June 1841, and on 8 December, the feast of the Immaculate Conception, he welcomed the first homeless boy; soon there were four hundred.
A few years later he founded a religious congregation wholly dedicated to working for the young, and called it the Salesian Society, after its patron, Saint Francis de Sales, bishop of Geneva, famous for his tenderness and gentleness.
For the same purpose, together with Saint Mary Domenica Mazzarello, he founded the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians, known as the Don Bosco Sisters or Salesian Sisters.
Both congregations grew and spread quickly, and in 1875 set out for South America.
He also thought of involving lay people in his mission, and in 1876 he founded the Association of Salesian Cooperators, lay people committed to various kinds of service to the young.
On 31 January 1888 he passed into eternal life in Turin, surrounded by grief and esteem. He had opened to the young people of the world horizons of dignity, self-confidence, hope and happiness, teaching them the path of holiness through joy and honest work.
The Church canonized him in 1934, while his sons and daughters, religious and cooperators, continued to spread throughout the world (today in more than 130 countries), where they have adapted and taken root, carrying on his mission, his zeal and his love for the young.
The great Salesian Family is today a wonderful living force in the Church, bearing witness to Christ’s love for humanity, and especially for the young, in the spirit of Don Bosco.
Don Bosco’s spirituality is built on his motto: “Give me souls, take away the rest.” It is an apostolic spirituality that seeks to imitate Christ the Good Shepherd, who knows his sheep and lays down his life for them. Just as Jesus was the sign of the Father’s love, Don Bosco showed young people how much God loves them through his service, a complete and tireless service: “I promised you that I would be yours to my last breath.”
To live out his motto, and drawing on his wide experience with young people, he developed a method of education he called the “Preventive System”, based on reason, religion and loving kindness. He said: “Religion alone is the source and the perfection of education.” His method joins education and religion deeply, because it is animated by a burning love of God; it aims at Christ and directs young people toward him, in an atmosphere of joy.
Prayer:
Father and teacher of youth, Saint John Bosco, you who did everything for the salvation of souls,
be our guide as we seek the good of our own souls and the salvation of our neighbour.
Help us to grow in the love of God and of our brothers and sisters, so that we may bravely overcome evil, whether within us or outside us.
Teach us to love our Lord Jesus, Mary Help of Christians and the Holy Father,
and obtain for us from God a good death, so that one day we may be with you in paradise. Amen.
