Hajja Salesjana

The Apostle of Youth is Bedridden By mid-December 1887, Don Bosco’s health took a decisive turn for the worse and accommodations were made for his care. After 26 years in his regular bedroom, Don Bosco’s bed was moved to his secretary’s office in the adjacent room. He had become completely bedridden and therefore prone to bedsores. To avoid these sores, it was necessary to regularly shift Don Bosco’s position in bed. To this end,two beds, side by side, were necessary. His own bedroom was too narrow for this whereas the wider office was just right. At frequent intervals, four Salesians would each take one corner of the bedsheet on which Don Bosco was lying, lift him up, and transfer him to the adjacent bed, changing his position each time. Eternal light On January 31, 1888, at 4:35 a.m., Don Bosco breathed his last. The place where he died is honoured in the Museum by a sobre display of his clothing and personal effects. In the ceiling above this display is a “halo”, a circular window which allows natural light to flood in: the Eternal Light had called Don Bosco home, leaving us with precious artifacts that evoke his life and legacy. Vestiges of a life well lived Where Don Bosco’s head once lay on his pillow is his baretta , a symbol of his strong priestly identity. O, the tales that baretta could tell after so many years perched on Don Bosco’s head!How many thoughts, preoccupations, concerns, solutions and prayers filtered through it.It is well-worn and faded, just like Don Bosco had become. Dr. Combal of Marseille once told Don Bosco during a medical visit, “You have worn yourself out with excessive work. Your body is like a worn-out garment which you has been worn every day, on week days and holidays alike”. Nearby is his black scarf , most likely hand- knittedby Mamma Margaret using the traditional knot used by Piedmontese peasants of her time. His gloves are here too; not made of fancy Italian leather, just ordinary cotton, but tattered and mended. 22 hajja Fr. Mike Pace, SDB, Vice-Director, Casa Don Bosco Museum, Turin Views from Valdocco DON BOSCO PASSES FROM TIME TO ETERNITY After forty-two years at the Valdocco Oratory, God was preparing Don Bosco him for his final voyage home. The historical and pulsing heart of Museo Casa Don Bosco is the room in which the Apostle of the Young passed from time into eternity. Ottubru-Diċembru 2023