St. Giovanni Melchior Bosco 1815 – 1888 (St. John Bosco or Don Bosco)

Feastday 31st January

Born 1815

Died 1888

John's father died when the boy was 2 years old, and as soon as he was old enough to do odd jobs, he did so for extra money for his family. Bosco would go to circuses, fairs and carnivals, practice the tricks he saw magicians perform, and then present one-boy shows. After his performance, while he still had an audience of boys, he would repeat the homily he had heard earlier in church. Worked as a tailor, baker, shoemaker, and carpenter while attending college and the seminary. Ordained in 1841. Teacher. Worked with youth, finding places where they could meet, play and pray, teaching catechism to orphans and apprentices. Chaplain in a hospice for girls. Wrote short treatises aimed at explaining the faith to children, and then taught children how to print them. Founded the Salesians of Don Bosco (SDB) in 1859, priests who work with and educate boys, under the protection of Our Lady, Help of Chistians, and Saint Francis de Sales. Founded the Daughters of Mary, Help of Christians in 1872, and Union of Cooperator Salesians in 1875. ¹

1. Taken from the Patron Saints Index at http://www.catholic-forum.com/saints/saintj14.htm

---

1. The Chastisement

Taken from Rev R. Gerald. Culleton The Prophets and Our Times (Tan Books and Publishers 1941) p 207 -212

“War comes from the South, peace from the North. French laws no longer recognize the Creator, but the Creator will make Himself recognized and will visit her thrice with the rod of His wrath. In the first visit he breaks her pride by conquest, plundering ruined harvest and butchery of men and beasts…”

“In the second visit the great prostitute of Babylon, which makes decent people sigh and call the Brothel of Europe, will be left without a leader and will be the victim of disorder”

“Paris…Paris! Instead of arming yourself in the name of the Lord you fortify yourself with Houses of Immorality. They will be destroyed by you yourself. Your idol The Pantheon will be burnt to ashes in order that this may come true ‘violence uttereth lies to me’ Your enemies will reduce you to want, to hunger, to fear and will make you the abomination of the nations. Ah, woe to you, if you do not recognize the hand that strikes you! I want to punish immorality, the despising of, and the contempt of my Law, says the Lord.”

“In the third visit you will fall into the hands of foreigners. Your enemies standing afar off will behold your palaces in flames. Your homes will become a heap of ruins bathed with the blood of your heroes who are no more” Rev R. Gerald. Culleton

“But there will come a great warrior from the North carrying a banner and on the right hand that supports it is written “The Irresistible Hand of the Lord” At that very moment there went out to meet him the Venerable Old Man of Lazio, holding aloft a brilliantly glowing torch. The banner then increased in size and turned from black to snow white. In the middle of the banner, in letters of gold, there was written the name of Him who is able to do all things”

“The warrior with his men bowed and shook the hands with the Venerable Old Man”

“Now heaven’s voice is addressed to the Shepherd of shepherds. You are now in conference with your advisors. The enemy of the good does not stand idle one moment. He studies and practices all his arts against you. He will sow discord amongst your consultors; He will raise up enemies amongst my children. The powers of the world will belch forth fire, and they would that the words be suffocated in the throats and custodians of my law. That will not happen. They will do harm-harm to themselves. You must hurry. If you cannot untie the knots, cut them. If you find yourself hard pressed, do not give up but continue until the head of the hydra is cut off. This stroke will make the world and Hell beneath it tremble, but the world will be safe and all the good will rejoice. Keep your consultors always with you even if only two. Wherever you go continue and bring to an end the work entrusted to you. The days fly by, your years will reach the destined number; but the great Queen (Mary) will ever be your help and as in times past so in the future . She will always be the exceeding great fortress of the Church”

“Ah but you, Italy, land of Blessings! Who has steeped you in desolation? Blame not your enemies, but rather your friends. Can you not hear your children asking for the bread of faith and find only those who smash it to pieces.? What shall I do? I shall strike the shepherds, I shall disperse the flock, until those sitting on the throne of Moses search for good pastures and the flock listens attentively and is fed”

“Over the flock and over the shepherds My hand will weigh heavy. Famine, pestilences and war will be such that mothers will have to cry on account of the blood of their sons and of their martyrs dead in a hostile country”

“And to you Rome, what will happen? Ungrateful Rome, effeminate Rome, proud Rome! You have reached such a height that you search no further. You admire nothing else in your sovereign except luxury, forgetting that you and your glory stands upon Golgotha. Now he is old, defenceless and despoiled and yet at his word, the word of one who was in bondage, the whole world trembles”

“Rome! To you I will come four times! “The first time, I shall strike your lands and the inhabitants thereof. The second time, I shall bring the massacre and the slaughter even to your very walls. And will you not yet open your eyes? I shall come a third time and I shall beat down to the ground your defences and the defenders and at the command of the Father, the reign of Terror, of dreadful fear and of desolation shall enter into your city”

“But my wise men have now fled and My law is even now trampled under foot. Therefore I will make a fourth visit. Woe to you if my Law shall still be considered as empty words. There will be deceit and falsehood amongst both the learned and the ignorant. Your blood and that of your children will wash away your stains upon God’s law. War, pestilence, famine are the rods to scourge men’s pride and wickedness. O wealthy men, where is your glory now, your estates, your palaces? They are the rubble on the highways and byways”

“And you priests , why have you not run to ‘cry between the vestibule and the altar’ begging God to end these scourges? Why have you not, with the shield of faith, gone upon the housetops into the houses along the highways and byways, into every accessible corner to carry the seed of my word? Know you not that this is the terrible two-edged sword that cuts down my enemies and that breaks the Anger of God and of men?”

“These things must come one after another. They are inexorable. Things are happening too slowly. But the august Queen of Heaven is present. The power of the Lord is in His hands. He scatters His enemies as a cloud. The Venerable Old man attires himself in all his ancient raiment. There will come again a violent hurricane. Iniquity is consummated. Sin will have its end. And before two full moons of the month of the flowers will have run their course, the rainbow of peace will rise above the earth. The Great Minister will see the bride of his King arrayed in a festive fashion. Throughout the world the sun will appear so luminous that the likes of which never has been seen since the tongues of fire descended on the Cenacle until this day, nor will such a sun ever be seen again until the very last of days.”

“It was a dark night. Men could no longer tell which way to take in order to return to their homes. Of a sudden there appeared in the heavens a very bright light that illuminated the steps of the travellers as though it were midday. At that moment there was seen a host of men and women, of young and old, of nuns, monks and priests with the Holy Father at the head. They were going out from the Vatican and were arranging themselves in line for a procession. Then came a furious storm which clouded that light somewhat and made it appear that light and darkness were engaged in a battle. In the meantime they arrived at a little square covered with dead and wounded, some of whom cried aloud and asked for help. Very many were dropping out of the line of procession. After having walked for a time that would correspond to two hundred risings of the sun (200 days) they all realized that they were no longer in Rome. Struck with fear they all ran to the Holy Father to defend him personally and to attend to his wants. Instantly two angels were seen carrying a banner, going they presented it to the Holy Father and said ‘Receive the banner of He who fights and scatters the strongest armies of the world. Your enemies are dispersed. Your children with tears and sighs beg you to return. Looking at the banner one could see written on one side ‘Queen conceived without sin’; and other the other side ‘Help of Christians’. The Holy Father joyfully took the banner, but looking closely at the small number of those who remained with him, he became very sad. The two angels added ‘Go quickly to console your children. Write your brothers dispersed throughout the world that there must be a reform in the morals of men. That cannot be obtained except by distributing to the people the bread of the Divine Word. Catechise the children. Preach the detaching of the heart from the things that are of the earth. ‘The time has come’ concluded the two angels ‘when the poor shall evangelise the people. Vocations will come from among those working with the spade, the axe and the hammer to the end that they fulfil the words of David: God has raised up the poor from the land in order to place them on the thrones of the princes of His people. Having heard that the Holy Father began the march. The father he went the greater did the procession behind increase. When finally he set foot in the Holy City, he wept bitter tears for the distress in which he found the people and the large number now missing. As he entered St Peter’s he intoned the ‘Te Deum’ to which a choir of angels replied singing: ‘Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace to men of good will’. With the ending of the hymn there came an end to the thick darkness and the sun shone with a brightness all its own. The cities, towns and villages were thinly populated. The land had been levelled down as if by a hurricane, by a tempest and a hail storm. People went from one to another saying in tones of great emotion: ‘There is a God in Israel.’ From the beginning of the exile until the singing of the ‘Te-Deum’ the sun rose in the East two hundred times (200 days). The time that passed for the fulfilling of those things (all spoken above) corresponds to four hundred risings of the sun”

“After the World War there will follow another European War with great battles taking place on August 15^th and September 15^th. The pope will die and live again (Pius XI and Pius XII?) Belgium will undergo sufferings, but will rise again to become stronger than ever. Poland will get back her rights”

2. Vision of Pope and Ship

Taken from E. M. Brown, Ed., Dreams, Visions and Prophecies of Don Bosco, (Don Bosco Publications, New Rochelle, 1986); Sexton, Dominic Savio, Schoolboy Saint.

On 30 May 1862 Don Bosco at his 'Good Night' talk told his boys, and the young clerics he was training, about a dream he had dreamt a few nights previously: he actually described it as a parable or allegory. Strictly speaking a parable is a general story with a deeper meaning, but one in which the points of the story may not all be significant, while in an allegory every detail is important and meaningful. In the case of Don Bosco's dream it is difficult to know just how significant each point is. After some preliminary remarks he went on to describe what he had seen:

“Try to picture yourselves with me on the seashore, or, better still, on an outlying cliff with no other land in sight. The vast expanse of water is covered with a formidable array of ships in battle formation, prows fitted with sharp spear-like beaks capable of breaking through any defence. All are heavily armed with cannons, incendiary bombs, and firearms of all sorts - even books - and are heading toward one stately ship, mightier than them all. As they try to close in, they try to ram it, set it afire, and cripple it as much as possible…”

“This stately vessel is shielded by a flotilla escort. Winds and waves are with the enemy. In this midst of this endless sea, two solid columns, a short distance apart, soar high into the sky: one is surmounted by a statue of the Immaculate Virgin at whose feet a large inscription reads: Help of Christians; the other, far loftier and sturdier, supports a [Communion] Host of proportionate size and bears beneath it the inscription Salvation of believers…”

“The flagship commander - the Roman Pontiff [the Pope]- seeing the enemy's fury and his auxiliary ships very grave predicament, summons his captains to a conference. However, as they discuss their strategy, a furious storm breaks out and they must return to their ships. When the storm abates, the Pope again summons his captains as the flagship keeps on its course. But the storm rages again. Standing at the helm, the Pope strains every muscle to steer his ship between the two columns from whose summits hang many anchors and strong hooks linked to chains…”

“The entire enemy fleet closes in to intercept and sink the flagship at all costs. They bombard it with everything they have: books and pamphlets, incendiary bombs, firearms, cannons. The battle rages ever more furious. Beaked prows ram the flagship again and again, but to no avail, as, unscathed and undaunted, it keeps on its course. At times a formidable ram splinters a gaping hole into its hull, but, immediately, a breeze from the two columns instantly seals the gash…”

“Meanwhile, enemy cannons blow up, firearms and beaks fall to pieces, ships crack up and sink to the bottom. In blind fury the enemy takes to hand-to-hand combat, cursing and blaspheming. Suddenly the Pope falls, seriously wounded. He is instantly helped up but, struck down a second time, dies. A shout of victory rises from the enemy and wild rejoicing sweeps their ships. But no sooner is the Pope dead than another takes his place. The captains of the auxiliary ships elected him so quickly that the news of the Pope's death coincides with that of his successor's election. The enemy's self-assurance wanes…”

“Breaking through all resistance, the new Pope steers his ship safely between the two columns and moors it to the two columns; first to the one surmounted by the Host, and then to the other, topped by the statue of the Virgin. At this point something unexpected happens. The enemy ships panic and disperse, colliding with and scuttling each other. Some auxiliary ships which had gallantly fought alongside their flagship are the first to tie up at the two columns…”

“Many others, which had fearfully kept far away from the fight, stand still, cautiously waiting until the wrecked enemy ships vanish under the waves. Then, they too head for the two columns, tie up at the swinging hooks, and ride safe and tranquil beside their flagship. A great calm now covers the sea…”

At this point Don Bosco asked one of the priests present for his views. He replied that he thought that the flagship symbolised the Church headed by the Pope, with the ships representing mankind and the sea as an image of the world. The ships defending the flagship he equated with the laity and the attackers with those trying to destroy the Church, while the two columns represented devotion to Mary and the Eucharist.

He did not mention the death of the Pope and neither did Don Bosco in his reply, in which he agreed with what the priest had said, while adding that the enemy ships symbolised persecutions: “Very grave trials await the Church. What we have suffered so far is almost nothing compared to what is going to happen. The enemies of the Church are symbolised by the ships which strive their utmost to sink the flagship. Only two things can save us in such a grave hour: devotion to Mary and frequent Communion. Let us do our very best to use these two means and have others use them everywhere.”

Not surprisingly this contents of this dream amazed all those listening, and four of those present wrote down what they had heard. Two wrote the next day, 31 May and two some time later, but all four narratives agree substantially. Such small differences as were found can be explained on the basis that it is impossible to get every detail when remembering and writing a spoken narrative.

One point that did cause some argument amongst those who had been present was over whether there had been two popes as commander of the flagship as in the above account, or, as some thought, three. This point was made clearer in 1886 when one of those who had heard the dream recounted in 1862 returned to the Oratory.

At dinner with Don Bosco he began to narrate the dream and was quite certain that two popes had fallen, since he was sure that after the first was struck down the captains of the other ships had said, 'Let's hurry, We can quickly replace him'; on the second occasion he maintained that they had said nothing. Don Bosco seemed to back up this version of events by calling attention to what was being said, and so its probable that we are dealing with three popes in the account.

Those who had written down the dream were convinced that it was a genuine vision and prophecy, although Don Bosco's immediate aim was probably to encourage his boys to pray more fervently for the Church and the Pope, as well as to indicate the importance of devotion to Mary and the Blessed Sacrament.

We may be living part way through Don Bosco's vision, but as in all genuine prophecy before its fulfilment, there is quite a degree of uncertainty and ambiguity, and it would be foolish to attempt to come to definite conclusions at this stage. The important point is the way in which the end of the vision points to what would seem to be the world-wide triumph of the Church, a triumph which will be recognised by all, but one which is only gained after much suffering.

The emphasis on the role of Mary, Help of Christians, and the Blessed Sacrament, are also significant especially with regard to the message given at Fatima when Mary promised a period of peace for the world following troubled times, paralleled by the 'great calm' of Don Bosco's dream.

3. The Vatican II disaster…

“There will be an Ecumenical Council in the next century, after which there will be chaos in the Church. Tranquillity will not return until the Pope succeeds in anchoring the boat of Peter between the twin pillars of Eucharistic Devotion and Devotion to Our Lady. This will come about one year before the end of the century…” ¹

References

1. St Don Bosco Prediction of 1862

.