Salesian Sources
SALESIAN HISTORICAL INSTITUTE
SALESIAN SOURCES
1.
DON BOSCO
AND HIS WORK
Collected works
LAS - Rome
Presentation by the Rector Major
As we approach the Bicentenary of Don Bosco's birth and the conclusion of my service as Rector Major, I am particularly happy to see the publication of this work which is so necessary and so much desired. It is the first volume of Salesian Sources, with the title “Don Bosco and his work. Collected works”.
In the task requested of the entire Congregation to “start afresh from Don Bosco”, the 26th General Chapter asked the Rector Major to see to “translation and publication of a collection of principle Salesian sources.” Now, with this publication, we have a further tool allowing us to explore our Salesian charismatic identity at greater depth. Indeed we cannot reinterpret Don Bosco for today, update his insights and pastoral and educational choices, or live his spiritual experience unless we are familiar with the sources where he speaks directly.
Two years ago I entrusted the task of carrying out this request of the General Chapter to the Istituto Storico Salesiano (the Salesian Historical Institute), whose statutes list the publishing of our sources in critical editions as being amongst its tasks. I am very grateful to the members of the Historical Institute, who have worked carefully and constantly under the coordination of its director, Fr José Manuel Prellezo, to bring this work to conclusion within the established time period.
This volume of historical sources is divided into a number of parts: writings and documents on the history of Don Bosco and his work; writings and testimonies of Don Bosco concerning education and schooling; writings and testimonies of Don Bosco on spiritual life. As we have learned over the three years of preparation for the Bicentenary, this is the threefold way of approaching Don Bosco and his work, his pedagogy and his spirituality both directly and in historical terms. The fourth part of this volume instead brings together writings of a biographical and autobiographical nature, where the aforesaid historical, pedagogical and spiritual dimensions often overlay and enrich one another to the point where it is difficult to make distinctions between them.
In the planning process of the Historical Institute this is the first volume of “Salesian Sources”, precisely in reference to Don Bosco and his Work. So we will have to wait for further publication of other volumes of sources which could possibly follow on chronologically through the lives of Don Bosco's Successors. We will be especially faithful to this ongoing work.
This first volume, in Italian and the languages it will be translated into, is entrusted to every Salesian. Each of us, beginning from our initial formation, should have a personal copy of it. It should be like a “vademecum” or handbook essential for knowledge of Don Bosco and thus for loving, imitating, and calling upon our dear Father. Without love there is no desire to get to know him, but without this knowledge we will not grow in love. It is my special wish that there be a serious and systematic study of these Salesian sources during our initial formation.
I should note and with no little satisfaction, that our historical sense has grown in the Congregation over recent years; a culture of history and the desire to improve our historical understanding. Contributing to this have been the 150th anniversary of the founding of the Congregation, the centenary of Fr Rua's death, and the three year preparation for the Bicentenary. Also providing impetus to this process have been the dissemination of historical studies translated into various languages, the renewal of Salesian studies in initial formation, various initiatives at regional level, the work of the Salesian Historical Institute itself and qualifications in Salesian studies pursued by the Spirituality Institute at the Faculty of Theology, UPS. It is my fond hope that the Provinces become more involved in preparing researchers in Salesianity.
This volume of Salesian sources based on Don Bosco and his work is also entrusted to the Salesian Family, friends of Don Bosco, those who admire Salesian work, young people, lay people involved in Don Bosco's spirit and mission, families; everyone can draw from these fresh springs of the Salesian charism, a gift of the Spirit for us and for the entire Church. Everyone can be inspired by Don Bosco's pedagogy and spirituality. With a collection like this it will certainly be much easier, too, for scholars to cite and refer to a single source text.
May God reward all those who have put their hand to this enterprise; the best results of such work will be growth in gratitude and admiration for Don Bosco, inspiration drawn from his evangelising commitment to young people, a desire for holiness, apostolic vocations to the Salesian Family. It is my wish, therefore, that this volume and its translations into various languages can have widespread dissemination around the world.
May Mary Help of Christians and Don Bosco bless this work. Let us entrust to their intercession all those abundant fruits we so much desire and hope for.
Fr Pascual Chávez Villanueva
Rector Major
Rome, August 16, 2013
Don Bosco's Birthday
INTRODUCTION
by
Francesco Motto - José Manuel Prellezo - Aldo Giraudo
Saint John Bosco (1815-1888) continues to interest so many people around the world 125 years after his death. His stature as a Christian educator, holy priest, founder and shrewd organiser is considered to be significant at an international level, both within and beyond the Salesian Family, thanks to the presence and apostolic activity of his disciples and those who have continued his work.
This publication responds to an explicit request of the 26th General Chapter of the Salesian Society (2008) to the then Rector Major, Fr Pascual Chávez Villanueva, to place the principle sources for getting to know the Saint at the disposal of all members of the Salesian Family.
The editors of this volume felt constrained to make a broad selection in three relevant areas—history, pedagogy and spirituality—of works which Don Bosco printed (collected in 37 volumes[1]) and critical editions, given the huge amount of material preserved in the archives.
It should be recalled that Don Bosco's writings are not the only tool for understanding him and his work. Because of the way they were written and the intentions their author had in mind on each occasion, the historical circumstances and mental frameworks they reflect, they are insufficient on their own for offering a profound understanding of who he was and what he did. These limitations can be overcome by accompanying the documents with a study of Don Bosco as an individual, along with his educational and pastoral experience at the Oratory in Valdocco. Fortunately we can also benefit from a rich legacy of testimonies from outside for all this. His writings reveal the Saint's thinking and throw light on his life as it was, but will this alone allow us to correctly interpret the beginnings?
Not only this. A life like Don Bosco's, made up of so many different factors, common events, charismatic and even exceptional features, a life of faith lived under the banner of conservatism and modernity, tradition and renewal, historically based but also prophetic, can only be adequately grasped if considered in all its complexity and its many historical facets. If we extrapolate just one or even a handful of aspects and think this is enough to give us a complete profile, we falsify or at least limit the understanding of such a rich and profound figure, and a teaching and praxis that has seen so many historical results. Hence, scholars have leaned towards providing the broadest possible collection of sources and have insisted on studying their reliability and contextual significance.
To understand Don Bosco's being, his thinking and activity, the very first effort must be to locate him within classic coordinates of space and time; the historical, pedagogical and religious context (but also geographical, political, cultural, economic, ecclesial …) within which he lived. In this broad spectrum his person acquires its correct distinctiveness, reveals its characteristic features, allows us to glimpse the many implications, lights and shades which it manifests or which distinguish him from other individuals his time.
It is from his time that he inherited ideas, habits, historical legacies and aspirations of various kinds, but in turn he left his own mark on it, his own achievements and dreams. Turin, Piedmont, Italy of the late 19th and early 20th centuries would have been different without the active presence of the Salesian work which arose in Valdocco; but this too would have certainly presented a different face to the world had it arisen in another geographical and historical context.
Let us briefly present the three main contexts in which we can best locate and understand Don Bosco's writings that follow.
1. Don Bosco in the historical context of his time2
Firstly we consider it useful to offer a brief profile of the Piedmontese educator in the historical scenario of the 19th century.[2]Born the year of the Congress of Vienna (1815), an event that signalled the beginning of the Restoration and an attempt to re-establish the social and political system that prevailed prior to the French Revolution, Don Bosco died towards the end of the century (1888) in an Italy that had been unified for some thirty years at that point, even though many of its problems had yet to find resolution.
a. His formative years (1815-1844)
John Bosco's formation begins with his early upbringing at home, in the municipality of Castelnuovo d’Asti (1815-1830), covered the decade of his secondary studies (1831-1835) and his time at the seminary (1835-1841) spent in Chieri, and concluded in Turin with his three years of further studies in theology and ministry at the Pastoral Institute (Convitto Ecclesiastico 1841-1844). These were the years of the Restoration. Following a first rigid attempt in Piedmont to regain the old order, which failed with the revolutionary movements in 1821, there was a focus on gradual reform in structural, administrative, commercial, military and legal areas under the government of King Charles Felix (1821-1831). Thus a cultural climate matured and under King Charles Albert in 1848 it would lead to a turning point with the introduction of a constitutionally-based parliament. The key players in this transformation were young aristocrats formed in a European spirit, like brothers Massimo and Roberto d’Azeglio, Camillo Cavour, along with a middle class élite of entrepreneurs with liberal ideas fundamentally hostile to the regime of privilege enjoyed by religious institutions and favourable to the movement for national unification.
The economic recovery, thanks to the reforms of Charles Felix and hopes aroused by patriotic and liberal groups since Charles Albert came to the throne, saved Piedmont from a second wave of uprisings which involved other Italian states between 1830 and 1831 (The Kingdom of Sicily, the Duchy of Modena, the Papal States). They were strongly repressed. Secret Societies flourished in this climate. In 1831 Giovane Italia founded by Giuseppe Mazzini (1805-1873) came into being. He was a political activist with Republican leanings, and from exile had proposed the abolition of the monarchy and national unity with Rome as the capital. Nurtured by such principles any number of patriots organised other revolutionary movements (Savona and Genoa, 1834), all of which failed. Many were forced into exile, such as Giuseppe Garibaldi. There were new attempts at uprisings in the following years in Calabria, Sardinia and the Roman areas but they were immediately and forcibly squashed[3].
The young Don Bosco, it seems, had not picked up the scent of these events, occupied as he was with his studies. In autumn 1835 he entered the fervent and demanding environment of the seminary in Chieri. This institution, founded seven years previously by Archbishop Colombano Chiaveroti (1754-1831), was governed by a model inspired by the post-tridentine formation tradition[4].
Don Bosco discovered these ideals when he entered the Pastoral Institute in Turin after his ordination (1841) for his three year specialisation course. Here, in addition to his studies, he was introduced to pastoral ministry in parishes and schools in poor suburbs, and to the prisons and charitable institutions. Thanks to this ministry he became aware of the problems of a city in rapid demographic growth. He was especially touched by how young people were abandoning school and decided to dedicate himself to them. Sunday catechetical instruction, which he started up in the first months with a group of young workers, gained momentum.
In 1844, when Don Bosco accepted the role of chaplain at the Barolo works in the outlying suburb of Valdocco, his activities increased and so did the number of young people. With the help of college chaplains, other clergy and lay people he added a range of educational and pastoral initiatives to the catechetics that gave more solid shape to his work. The Oratory of St Francis de Sales came into being and took a firmer shape once it had a stable location at the Pinardi house (1846), and Don Bosco decided to abandon any other commitment so he could dedicate himself to it exclusively. The work established itself for its preventive and re-educational effectiveness and its original approach in a setting marked by social and juvenile problems which the authorities were struggling to control. Don Bosco gathered and helped “poor and abandoned” children, formed them and equipped them to fit into society in a dignified and orderly way. To do this he wrote appropriate instructional, educational and devotional texts, organised a home to take in those who were bereft of most things they needed and opened a second Oratory named after St Aloysius Gonzaga in Porta Nuova (1847). He found the support of public opinion which, little by little, was taking notice of his work, and gained the trust of administrators, government and the Royal family.
b. Two years of upheaval (1848-1849)
Just prior to 1848, while the industrial revolution in England was going ahead at great human cost, the economy in France and the Austro-Hungarian Empire was more prosperous, while in Italy the patriotic and national ideal and a longing for the political unification of the various states was growing amongst the populace. Priest and philosopher Vincenzo Gioberti (1801-1852) proposed a formula for confederation, under the honorary presidency of the (neoguelphian) Pope. While Catholics and moderates looked favourably on the idea, others inspired by republican ideals or a more compact national view rejected it. The reformist and liberal openings of Pius IX, elected in 1846, attracted a lot of sympathy. Under pressure from revolutionary movements which had broken out all over Europe, King Charles Albert, who had suppressed censorship in 1847, promulgated the Statutes (March 4, 1848), the basic law of a state inspired by French and Belgian models. Pius IX too, granted a Constitution (March 14, 1848) and set up two legislative chambers, opening up a political and administrative career for lay people. The Pope's choices fed liberal expectations[5]. Other Italian sovereigns put reforms in place, while in France, where the monarchy had collapsed, Louis Napoleon Bonaparte was elected President of the Republic (December 1848). The Austrian Empire, in 1848, was also shaken by revolts put down forcibly by the army. Chancellor Metternich resigned and Emperor Ferdinand I abdicated in favour of the younger Franz Josef (1830-1916).
Given the wave of movements which broke out on March 17 and 18 in Venice and Milan, his councillors convinced Charles Albert to declare war on Austria (March 23, 1848). After initial successes the Piedmontese army was obliged to sign an armistice (August 5) abandoning Milan to the imperial army. Pius IX, who did not consider it appropriate to join in the fighting (his address on April 29), was accused by patriots of being a traitor to the national cause. The idea of a confederation collapsed ad public opinion of the Pontiff split into two opposing views: a radical liberal hostile one and a conservative Catholic one. The war against Austria resumed at Novara (March 23, 1849) but Piedmont suffered a heavy defeat. Charles Albert abdicated in favour of his son Victor Emmanuel II who signed a humiliating peace agreement with the Austrians. Meanwhile, due to serious uprisings Pius IX was forced to flee to Gaeta (Kingdom of the Two Sicilies) while a Republic was proclaimed in Rome (February 9, 1849), but it was short-lived; it came to an end on July 3 following French military intervention and the Papal States were restored.
In these difficult two years Don Bosco in Turin was involved in consolidating the oratories at Valdocco and Porta Nuova, adding the Guardian Angel oratory on the outskirts of Vanchiglia whose founder, Giovanni Cocchi was forced to abandon it. He also started a Mutual Aid Society amongst the oratory boys, underwrote “work contracts” for young workers and founded a newspaper called L’Amico della gioventù (The Friend of Youth), which only lasted a few months (1848-1849). Despite financial difficulties due to the war, he found funds to buy the Pinardi house and surrounding land, and decided to set up oratory activities which would tackle the growing moral and economic poverty.