Don Bosco's System of Education, A Path to Holiness

The following video shares Don Bosco's System of Education, as a path to holiness. The following comes from the Biographical Memoirs of Saint John Bosco. DON BOSCO offers us his philosophy of life and education: I was a lively and attentive boy who, with Mom’s permission, went to the various festivals where there were acrobats and magicians. I always put myself in the front row, eyes fixed on their movements with which they tried to distract the audience. Little by little I could see their tricks; returning home, I repeated them for hours. But often the moves didn’t produce the desired effect. It wasn’t easy to walk on that blessed rope strung between two trees. How many tumbles, how many skinned knees! And how many times I was wanted to throw everything into the air! Then I’d start again, sweaty, tired, sometimes even disappointed. But, I was able to get it together; I could feel the soles of my bare feet clinging to the rope, which seemed to become one with my footsteps, and I then did as I wanted. That’s why, when I spoke to my boys in later years, I’d said to them: “Let’s hold on to easy things, but let’s do them with perseverance. ” There you have it: my down-to-earth pedagogy, the result of so many victories and as many defeats, with the stubbornness that was one of my most marked characteristics. That’s how my style came into being, to educate without using big words, without any great ideological schemes, without references to many famous authors. That’s how my pedagogy was born: I learned in the meadows of Becchi, later in the streets of Chieri, later still in prisons, in the streets, in the alleys of Valdocco. Mine is a pedagogy, an educational system, built in a courtyard. I dared to prove it a few years later when I went to Chieri to continue my studies and was accepted by the teacher, in front of the whole class, with a not very exciting sentence: “This fellow’s either a simpleton or a genius. ” I just am a poor young fellow who has the goodwill to do his work and get along in his studies. Then there was that blessed dream when I was nine or ten years old; the dream which was repeated many more times; which came to torment me, and the desire to become a priest for the boys became stronger. And then I did something that didn’t make a genius of me, but in fact, achieved a beautiful victory in my character, a real breakthrough; I stretched out my hand to ask for help, something just to realize my dream. I would admit much later to a Salesian: “You don’t know how much this begging cost me. ” With my proud temperament, it was certainly not easy to be humble enough to ask. My courage was empowered by a high level of trust in Providence; and also what I had learned from my mother. At her school I had learned one rule that guided me everywhere: “Whenever I am faced with difficulties, even grave ones, I do what a hiker does in finding his trail blocked. If I can’t shove the obstacle out of the way, I either go over it or around it. And I assure you: I found many large boulders on my path. I shall briefly mention some of them: The year 1860, for example, was typically difficult. Father Cafasso, my friend, confessor, and spiritual director had died. I missed his presence, his advice, and his financial help. Then, from the government side, I encountered serious difficulties, authentic “boulders”: targeted searches which were devastating to Valdocco, as if I were a criminal! I never gave up! I said to the boys: “The courage of the wicked depends on the fear in which others regard them. Be brave, and you’ll see how they wilt. He told them: “Be with God like the sparrow that feels the branch shake but still continues to sing, knowing that it has wings. ” It wasn’t just a poetic expression, but an act of courageous confidence in the Lord’s Providence, because he alone “is the master of our hearts. ” He told his boys: “Be men and not branches! Lift your head high, walk straight in the service of God, at home and outside, in the church and in the square. What is human respect? A papier-mâché monster that doesn’t bite. What are the impertinent words of the wicked? Soap bubbles that disappear in an instant. Nothing in the world must frighten us. So behave today so that tomorrow you’ll have nothing to be ashamed of. This page celebrates: Everything Catholic, Saints, Sacraments, Prayer and Catholic Culture. F O L L O W M E & S U B S C R I B E:    / @quovadis1   http://salesianity.blogspot.com/   / frstevesdb     / padresleake   To support this page please visit the site below! https://www.buymeacoffee.com/quovadis