January 31

Saint John Bosco, Priest

Memorial

Saint John Bosco was the youngest son to Piedmontese peasants. He studied theology at Turin. After ordination, he served the dislocated people who came from the countryside and found themselves adrift in a setting of heavy urbanization and industrialization. In 1854, in a very anti-clerical setting, he founded the Salesian Order, named after St. Francis de Sales. It focused on creating solutions for displaced youth. He developed vocational training programs with evening classes and apprenticeships. Eventually, these grew to include schools. To help staff them, he collaborated in the founding of Daughters of Mary Help of Christians and organized an active group of lay “co-operators.” St. John Bosco was canonized in 1934.[1][2]

Written by Sarah Ciotti

Reviewed by Fr. Hugh Feiss, OSB, STD

[1] F.L. Cross and E.A. Livingstone, The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church (London: Oxford University Press, 1974), 190.

[2] Fr. Hugh Feiss, OSB, The Martyrology of the Monastery of the Ascension, 2008.

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