Fr. Arthur Lenti, in a second article, invites us to enter the political and ecclesiastical world of Don Bosco through his letters never published before in English. The letters add insight to the always intriguing question of Don Bosco’s involvement in the naming of bishops.
With his well-known capacity for research, Arthur Lenti details the year of 1846, critical for Don
Bosco, which covers his establishment of the work in Valdocco. Don Bosco’ s commitment to young people is the heart of the article.
Fr. Michael Mendl, in his research has discovered “a long missing letter” that states Don Bosco’s refusal to send Salesians to New York in 1848. This letter completes Michael Mendl ‘s article in the Journal on founding Salesian work in New York. (Vol. XI, No. I, Spring 2000).
A different type of writing comes to us from Josephine Giorgi, the second cousin of St. Luigi Versiglia. Josephine lives in Springfield, Massachusetts. The excerpt from a biography of Bishop James Walsh of Maryknoll by Raymond Kerri son exemplifies the apostolic spirit of the two Salesian martyrs along with Bishop Walsh’s deep esteem for them.
Charles N. Bransom, Jr. has graciously offered his study of Salesian Bishops for our publication. This study of 196 Salesian bishops stands as a historical record of Salesian presence in the hierarchical Church.
In an article which appeared in an earlier issue of this Journal, I described some of Don Bosco’s concerns, as he expressed them in meetings of his council and in sessions of General Chapters held during the last decade of his life.
This study does not go into the long process that led to Don Bosco’s beatification, which took place on June 2, 1929. The topic concerns one small aspect: the sworn testimony of eyewitnesses concerning his life of “faith.”
The road traveled by John Bosco, as child and teenager, in his quest for an education, proved to be a bumpy one, marked by frequent twists and turns and occasionally stalled by unforeseen roadblocks. But despite occasional disheartening setbacks, John’s high hopes in his pursuit of an education would prevail over disconcerting frustrations.
My article on Don Bosco’s last years, which saw the light of day in this Journal, was based on chronicles and memoirs held in the Central Salesian Archive. Besides these chronicles and memoirs, there are other important documents to be found in the archive relating to Don Bosco’s last years.
In our essay we shall examine the meaning and application of “punishment” and “discipline” as found in Don Bosco’s educational writings. It was a subject to which he returned time and time again-and for good reason.
The present study aims, not at any new interpretation, but simply at describing some aspects of the actual circumstances of the origins on the basis of fresh documentation now available. In particular, restricting the field of inquiry, I will focus on the young people who were protagonists in Don Bosco’s work at its origin.
But if Marseilles was so close, why did “Paolino” Albera not come to Turin during those final days of January 1888? Why was he not at Don Bosco’s bedside? How did the death of his spiritual father and mentor impact on him?
The present essay has a rather modest aim. Steering clear of the complexities of a biographical reconstruction, it will simply describe Don Rosco’s last years, including his last illness and death, with focus on the person, and with emphasis on words and attitudes.
In retrospect, one can appreciate why Don Bosco had become so distraught by the message that was played out in his dream (reverie?) during his Roman sojourn of 1884. His old friends, Joseph Buzzelli and Ferdinando Valfre, had demonstrated all too realistically what he could expect when the educational principles of his Sistema Preventivo and the “love environment” he strove so hard to cultivate for 40 years at the Oratory had been allowed to dissipate.
In the first part of his study on the “Bosco-Gastaldi conflict”, Arthur Lenti drew attention to another figure similarly involved in a painful controversy with the Archbishop of Turin, namely Sr. Marie-Louise-Angelique Clarac, foundress of the Sisters of Charity of St. Mary, also known as the Sisters of Charity of Good Counsel.
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