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DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20230131
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UID:10031-1675123200-1675209599@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Reading: St. John Bosco
DESCRIPTION:The Man and the Saint  3\nA Reading on St John Bosco \nPeople often said of Don Bosco: “Really\, he is quite an ordinary person.”\nThere was nothing about him that revealed his mission\, his profound spirituality or\nhis sanctity…Only his expression showed the fire that burnt in his heart. His clear\neyes looked right through you\, and their brightness was disturbing. \nHis confidence in God was extreme. He had the faith that moves mountains.\nHe never doubted as to the outcome of any undertaking. If he were only sure of his\nusefulness\, he was certain of its success. Obstacles might arise; he laughed at them\,\nwhile fighting against them or getting round them. Financial or other means might\nbe lacking; if they did not come in today\, he expected them tomorrow. “The main\nthing\,” he said\, relying upon a long experience\, “is to take the burden on one’s\nshoulders. As you go forward\, the load finds its balance and shakes down.” The\nhardest humiliations\, the bitterest disillusions\, the strongest opposition all left him\nsmiling. Whence came his serenity?… He abandoned himself in the arms of God\nwith the uttermost love. \nTo him\, the love of God was one with the love of souls. The second\ncommandment was like the first and greatest. Not only did this love of souls make\nhim relish all the miseries of the way\, but it also inspired him to pray with an almost\nwild boldness. At the beginning of his work he asked his heavenly Benefactress for\na thousand places in Paradise\, and he tells us he was given them. Later on\,\nconfronted with the unexpected growth of his enterprise\, he went further and asked\nfor ten thousand places. At last\, seeing his Houses all over the world\, he was still\nmore pressing\, and asked for a hundred thousand reserved seats for his Sons. And\nthis time\, too\, he was certain of having been granted them…His simple and calm\naudacity in expressing the deepest of his desires\, the salvation of souls\, enables us to\nsurmise the degree of intimacy he had reached in prayer. In truth\, such prayer was\nthe very life of his soul. One of those who knew him best said: “He seemed to live in\na state of permanent contemplation. He worked\, indeed\, upon the earth\, but his\nspirit was up yonder\, in heaven.” \n…Many\, we know\, have thought that prayer held but a small place in his\ntimetable. They are mistaken…Don Bosco was incessantly in union with Christ and\nHis Mother. There was no ecstasy\, no irradiation of countenance\, no uplifting from\nthe ground; but more certainly\, he used all forms of prayer\, vocal or mental\, and\nespecially\, that which suddenly elevates the soul till it confronts some divine truth\,\nembracing it in a single view and possessing it with rejoicing. \nThis humble and diffident priest never made any claim to be the founder of a\nmystical school; but had he started any system of asceticism\, he would probably\nhave based it on the old saying\, in its fullest and truest sense: “To work is to pray.”\nHis own work never was apart from God. It was done under God’s eyes and for Him\nonly. And the manifold occupations of his hustled days\, far from destroying his\nserenity\, only bound his heart more closely to its source of light and strength and\nlove – Jesus Christ and the Virgin Mary\, and their servant never ceased feeling\nthem at his side. \n…By the contrast between his humble appearance and the splendour of his\nsoul\, we are driven to acknowledge that this man makes a great figure in the train of\nsanctity. There are some Saints more impressive\, greater wonder-workers\, more\nworldwide in their sphere of influence\, to be found throughout the twenty centuries\nof Christianity; but there are few more striking and more taking personalities to be\nmet with in the history of the Church. \n3 A. Auffray\, S.D.B. Saint John Bosco. North Arcot – South India: Salesian House\, Tirupattur\, 1959. 370-371\, 380-382\, 388.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/reading-st-john-bosco/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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