Hajja Salesjana July September 2018

8 Don Bosco often spoke of his inclination to accompany youth. In 1844, Don Bosco told his spiritual guide Fr Cafasso, “I feel inclined to work for boys. (...) At this moment I seem to find myself in the midst of a crowd of boys asking me to help them.” [EMB II, 177.] This vision described here three years on from Don Bosco’s ordination was soon to become a reality. However, a few questions crop up: a) How did Don Bosco come to such a decision? b) How common was this vision for other priests during his time? c) To what extent did this decision change his life? A Radical Decision to Accompany Young People Don Bosco’s option to accompany young people could be described as quite a radical choice within the context of his time. In his day it was unheard of that a priest would place himself in such a position. However, as we have already seen in the previous chapters, Don Bosco’s personal experiences as a youth, as well as his ministerial experiences as a young priest in Turin, provided the basis for what he came to recognize as a divine call to devote his life to the service of disadvantaged young people. [Arthur Lenti, Don Bosco, History and Spirit , Vol III (Rome, LAS, 2010),136.] During his initial years of priesthood at the Convitto Ecclesiastico , Don Bosco gradually became the heart around which developed an ever increasing circle of boys and young workers. They were cared for by a small number of priests and adults who shared his vision and style. In the autumn of 1844, after leaving the Convitto Ecclesiastico , Don Bosco was given the post of chaplain at the St Philomena Hospice which was about to be opened in the following summer by Marchioness Barolo for sick babies and young girls. In the meantime, he continued the work with youngsters that he had met and worked with at the Convitto Ecclesiastico . During this time Don Bosco was able to give the Sunday meetings with his boys a more permanent character. He collaborated with other chaplains at the Barolo “Refuge,” and provided a protection service for girls at risk. From the Refuge was born the Oratory of St Francis de Sales, the patron saint of the future chapel of the Hospice, not yet built. Just fifteen years later Don Bosco would entrust his Salesian congregation to this inspirational saint’s patronage. The hospitality of the Marchioness of Barolo towards Don Bosco was not only his first chance to impart a minimum of organisation to the nascent oratory but also an opportunity to build upon an adequate environment for spiritual accompaniment. Activities at Don Bosco’s Method of Spiritual Accompaniment By Rev. Dr. Louis Grech sdb PhD in Spiritual Companionship with the Young