Contents:
- Introduction
- Article 5 of the constitutions
- The “education received”
Continue reading “Egidio Viganò – The Past-Pupils of Don Bosco”
Michael Mendl – The dreams of Don Bosco
Michael Mendl presents us with his essay on the dreams of Don Bosco. His study is a corrective for those who expect to find extensive prophecies of the future in Don Bosco’s words. Nevertheless the dreams are an important element in the life and spirituality of Don Bosco.
Luigi Ricceri – Our responsibility in the light of the Acts of the XIXth General Chapter
Contents:
- 1. The new series of the “Acts of the Superior Council”
- 2. Consoling union of minds and hearts
- 3. Our responsibility in the light of the Acts of the XIXth General Chapter
Mary Greenan – Salesian mysticism: towards the ectasy of action
Reflecting on Salesian spirituality brings us to the writings of St. Francis de Sales along with modern spiritual concepts. Sr. Mary Greenan explores the “ecstasies” of St. Francis de Sales calling us to be “contemplatives in action.”
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Piera Cavaglià – La presenza di Maria tra normativa giuridica ed esperienza spirituale
“La presenza di Maria tra normativa giuridica ed esperienza spirituale” è una ricerca condotta da Piera Cavaglià, con rigore e sistematicità, sulle diverse edizioni delle Costituzioni e dei Regolamenti dell’istituto delle FMA. Di queste fonti vengono analizzati gli articoli relativi alla presenza di Maria nella vita e nella spiritualità dell’Istituto.
John Dickson – An introduction to Don Rua’s letters to England
Michael Rua (1837-1910) was a pupil, then the lifetime collaborator and finally, the first successor of St. John Bosco as Rector Major of the Salesian Society (1888-1910). During his Rectorate the Salesians grew from 1030 members in 64 houses to 4420 confreres scattered across the globe. Don Rua’s letters to England offer the reader a glimpse of the character of their writer and of the pastoral care he took of a small group of relatively insignificant Salesians in what was very often the inhospitable atmosphere of the British empire at the height of its power.
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Francis Desramaut – Contemporary spirituality of the salesian family
A noted Salesian scholar and author, Fr. Desramaut has recently undertaken a work of major proportions, a dictionary of Salesian spirituality. The title of the work is: Les cent mots-clefs de la spiritualite salesienne (One Hundred Keywords in Salesian Spirituality). It is being published in installments in Cahiers Salesiens, the journal of the Center of Salesian Studies in Lyons (France), over which Fr. Desramaut presides. The first installment of the work (containing entries from A to C) is prefaced by an introductory essay on Salesian spirituality. This is the essay which is given here in English as meticulously translated by Fr. Arthur J. Lenti.
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Giovanni Bosco – Exemplary biographies
The biographical profiles of Louis Comollo (in the 1854 edition), Dominic Savio, Michael Magone and Francis Besucco are among the spiritual and pedagogical documents which are most representative of Don Bosco’s outlook. From these stories comes a horizon of meaning, a way of thinking and acting thoroughly rooted in his cultural context. At the same time however, beyond historical contingencies, they highlight a range of elements which better illustrate the characteristic features of the saint’s spiritual pedagogy.
Giovanni Bosco – “Memoirs of the oratory”
Written over several occasions between 1873 and 1875, the manuscript of the Memoirs of the Oratory remained unpublished by Don Bosco’s explicit will. However Fr John Bonetti drew on it abundantly for his History of the Oratory of St Francis de Sales, (which found its way into English under a different title Don Bosco’s Early Apostolate) published as a series in the Salesian Bulletin between 1879 and1886. And Fr John Baptist Lemoyne included it in its entirety in the first volumes of the Biographical Memoirs, adding in other information and anecdotes drawn from other witnesses. The first complete edition of the Memoirs appeared in 1946. The decision to put the book in the public domain in its entirety was motivated by the universal dimension that the Saint has taken on, as Eugene Ceria wrote in the presentation: “Today Don Bosco has become part of history and also been listed among the saints.”
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Giovanni Bosco – Spiritual Testament
The sixth part contains most of what, in Salesian tradition, is known as the “Spiritual Testament”. It is a handwritten notebook entitled Memories from 1841 to 1884-5-6 by Fr John Bosco to his Salesian sons, where the saint, on different occasions, especially in the final years of his life, wrote exhortations and reminders for his disciples, friends, benefactors and Cooperators.
Giovanni Bosco – The marian dimension of salesian spirituality
Don Bosco, a tireless apostle of Marian devotion, emphasised the role of the Blessed Virgin for salvation of the individual in the Companion of Youth: she is the mediatrix of graces, defence against the assaults of evil, support in living a Christian life and on the way to holiness. These are things he draws from St Alphonsus Liguori: true devotion expressed through a life of virtue above all guarantees the most powerful patronage one could have in life and in death.
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Giovanni Bosco – Spiritual advice for friends, cooperators and benefactors
Don Bosco’s correspondence with the Cooperators and friends, lay and clerical, always contains detailed and substantial spiritual suggestions aimed at proposing a way of interior life along with devotion and spiritual fervour, the practice of virtue, charity, loving and faithful fulfilment of the duties of one’s state in life.
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