Prevention, not repression
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5. Congenial saintsThe priests at the Oratory kept the spiritual tradition of St Philip Neri alive, both in Turin and in Piedmont. He was widely known through a biography written during the 17th century by one of his confreres, Pier Giacomo Bacci (1575 circa-1856): The life of St Philip Neri, the apostle of Rome and the founder of the Congregation of the Oratory506 and by a collection of Thoughts for Youth. In the seminary in Chieri, the feast of St Philip Neri was one of three great feasts of the year: The Immaculate Conception, which the Rules considered to be the greatest of all solemnities of the seminary,507 the feast days of St Francis de Sales and St Aloysius Gonzaga. The seminary chapel was dedicated to the Immaculate Conception; two chapels in the public church nearby were dedicated to St Francis de Sales and to St Philip Neri. May 26, the feast of St Philip, was celebrated solemnly with a Mass, sermon and, in the evening, Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament.508 Don Bosco, the student-seminarian, became familiar with the Founder of the Oratory and his special pastoral ministry involving cheerful piety, serene chastity and devotion to the Blessed Sacrament, all to be shared with young people. Don Bosco made it so clearly evident in a well-known sermon, delivered at Alba on May 26, 1868509 and in the pages on the Preventive System in 1877. In a pamphlet written in 1858, A Vade Mecum for Christians, Don Bosco included a short series of words of advice for youth written by St Philip Neri.510 In his Church History, Don Bosco clearly indicated many similarities between his own preventive style and the one used by another Piedmontese, a member of the Oratory of St Philip, Blessed Sebastian Valfrè: “It is hard to express the extent of the zeal that he showed for the salvation of souls.511 In his Practical guide for Christians Don Bosco also introduced Bl. Valfrè’s General Advice for a Father of a Family by Bl. Valfrè, and Advice Given by Bl. Sebastian Valfrè in Two Letters to Two Mothers.512 The other saint Don Bosco came to know during his days at the seminary was St Francis de Sales from Savoy. (1567-1622). He came into contact with this saint, once again, through the influence of the Marchioness di Barolo and at the beginning of the Oratory. In Piedmont there was a biography of the Bishop of Savoy which was widely circulated. It had been written by the chaplain to the Monastery of the Visitation in Turin, Father Piergiacinto Gallizia, and it was published in Venice in 1720 and reprinted several times. St Francis de Sales was better known in the urban areas than in the countryside and mainly through his book The Introduction to the Devout Life and The Treatise on the Love of God. Don Bosco probably read the first of these books at some time in his life; it is unlikely that he read the latter one. During the 19th century in Piedmont, Don Bosco, and before him Lanteri, the Marchioness di Barolo, Father J. Cafasso, knew the saint from Savoy as a “model of gentleness and pastoral zeal”; more so for Don Bosco, for those who worked for young people and for the poor.513 This, was the most likely impression that St Francis de Sales had made on Don Bosco during his seminary studies.
The following was the schedule for the feast of St Francis de Sales: In the morning, at a convenient hour, there will be a solemn Mass; a panegyric delivered by the vice rector of the chapel; the day will then go on as usual, with study and tutorial review lessons.514 During the 1870s, while writing his Memoirs of the Oratory, Don Bosco justified the dedication of the first small chapel, the Pinardi shed, to St Francis de Sales, for these reasons:
During the same period Don Bosco was able to acquire a particular knowledge of St Vincent de Paul (1581-1660). The Vincentians and the Sisters of Charity were well known in Piedmont. The former were known especially because of the Parish Missions they preached, for their retreats and for the formation of the clergy, The latter were known for the care they had for the poor, for the sick and for the soldiers located in military hospitals. The House of Divine Providence had been founded by Father John Baptist Cottolengo, under the protection of St Vincent de Paul and was inspired by St Paul’s words: Caritas Christi urgent nos (The Love of God urges us on.) His message, according to a scholar who had studied his life, could be summed up in this formula: The spirit and mystery of charity.516 Don Bosco made his retreat, prior to his priestly ordination, in the house of the Priests of the Mission in Turin, from March 26 to July 4, 1841.517 Here is what Don Bosco wrote about St Vincent de Paul in his Church History: Animated by a true spirit of Charity there was no calamity of any kind that he did not attend to. Everyone felt the effects of St Vincent’s fatherly Charity. 518 The proof for the existence of the perfect harmony between Don Bosco and the saint of the effective and affective love, is given in the book, The Christian Guided toward Virtue and Civility According to the Spirit of St Vincent de Paul. This book was prepared by Don Bosco himself and edited by the French Benedictine Joseph Ansart (1723-1790).519
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