St. John Bosco: Father and Teacher of Young People
Quick answer
St. John Bosco (1815–1888), known as Don Bosco, was an Italian priest who devoted his life to poor and neglected boys in industrial Turin. He gave them a home, schooling, trades and the faith, using a method of kindness he called the preventive system. He founded the Salesians and, with St. Mary Mazzarello, the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians. His feast is January 31.
Key takeaways
- He grew up poor on a farm near Turin and lost his father at two.
- A dream at nine showed him that he would win boys over with gentleness, not blows.
- His Oratory in Turin became home, school and workshop for hundreds of boys.
- His preventive system rested on reason, religion and loving kindness.
Turin in the 1840s was full of boys who had come from the countryside looking for work. Many slept on the streets and ended up in prison. A young priest named John Bosco decided to become their father.
A Poor Boy and a Dream
John Bosco was born on August 16, 1815, near Castelnuovo, in the Piedmont region of Italy. His father died when he was two, and his mother, Mamma Margherita, raised her sons in poverty and deep faith.
At about nine, John had a dream that stayed with him all his life. He saw a crowd of rough boys fighting and cursing, and he tried to stop them with his fists. A majestic man told him he must win them not with blows but with gentleness and love. A Lady showed him the boys turned into wild animals, then into lambs.
As a boy he learned juggling, acrobatics and magic tricks. He would put on shows for other children, but first he made them pray the Rosary.
The Oratory
After years of hard work to pay for his studies, John was ordained in 1841. In Turin he visited the prisons and was shaken by the young boys he found there. He began gathering boys on Sundays for Mass, games and lessons. This was the Oratory. After years of moving from place to place, it settled in the Valdocco neighborhood, where Don Bosco and his mother took in boys to live. He opened workshops to teach trades, a school and a church dedicated to Mary Help of Christians.
The Preventive System
Don Bosco said his method rested on reason, religion and loving kindness. Rather than punishing boys after they did wrong, his educators stayed among them, in the classroom and the playground, so that the boys felt loved and wanted to do right. He wrote that it is not enough to love young people; they must know that they are loved.
The Salesians
To carry on the work, he founded the Society of St. Francis de Sales, the Salesians, approved in 1874, and with St. Mary Mazzarello, the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians for girls. Among his students was the boy saint St. Dominic Savio.
Don Bosco died in Turin on January 31, 1888, and was canonized in 1934.
A Prayer for Young People (Original Prayer)
St. John Bosco, father of the young, pray for my children and grandchildren and for every young person who is lost or alone. Help me to love them with patience and joy, and lead them to Jesus and Mary. Amen.
Continue Reading
Read about St. Aloysius Gonzaga, a patron of youth, St. Maria Goretti, or St. John Vianney.
Frequently asked questions
When is the feast of St. John Bosco?
January 31.
What is St. John Bosco the patron saint of?
Young people, students, apprentices, editors and magicians. As a boy he used juggling and tricks to draw other children to prayer.
Who are the Salesians?
The religious family Don Bosco founded and named after St. Francis de Sales. Today they run schools, parishes and youth centers in over a hundred countries.
Sources
- St. John Bosco, Memoirs of the Oratory
- St. John Bosco, Letter from Rome (1884) on the preventive system
- Pope St. John Paul II, Iuvenum Patris (1988)
