"Mary, Loving Foundress of the Salesian Family and Mission”
Reading: (Don Bosco’s Dream at the Age of 9)
I found myself in a very vast yard where many children were playing. Some of them were swearing. Upon hearing that I soon threw myself into their midst, screaming and hitting them to get them to be quiet. At that very moment, a majestic person who was richly dressed, appeared to me. He called me by name and said: “It isn’t by hitting, but by gentleness and charity that you must conquer these children and make them your friends.” I asked him who he was. “Ask your mother for my name.” At that very moment, next to him, I saw a majestic woman clothed in a mantle, resplendent like the sun. She took me by the hand and said: “Look!” And I perceived that the children had fled. In their place there was a great number of young goats, cats, bears, and other similar beasts. “Here is your field, she told me, be humble, courageous, and strong. What you see now happen to these animals, you will cause to happen to my children.” I then turned my head. And this is what I saw: where there had been these ferocious animals, there appeared as many lambs who were running and bleating around the man and this woman, as if they were celebrating. Then, she placed her hand on my head and said: “You will understand later!” This dream left a strong impression on me for my entire life.
The two people had given me some advice: “Not violence but gentleness, humility, and courage.” The lady had taken me by the hand “with kindness”; she had shown me her area of interest “with her children,” and she had told me: “you will understand later.” The dream renewed itself after I became a priest. The lady had become the shepherdess and the sheep her mindful flock. As I wrote in my book, Memories: "I understood the events as they happened. This dream I had when I wasw nine, had an effect on all my decisions.
Prayer:
Our Father…
Hail Mary…
Glory Be…
Mary Help of Christians, pray for us.