DON BOSCO'S MADONNA #RESTING Mumbai AUGUST 2019 …donboscosmadonna.org/pdf/AUG2019.pdf · DON BOSCO'S MADONNA Mumbai AUGUST 2019 vol.20 No. 4 #RESTING It isn’t my habit to ‘lust’

2 3August 2019 Don Bosco’s Madonna Don Bosco’s MadonnaAugust 2019Fr. Ian Doulton sdb

From The Editor's Desk:# Resting..................................3

Love Bears All Things- Gianpaolo Dianin....................4

Before Starting a Fire - Maria Chiara Bregolin..........6

Youth On The Move: Looking Ahead, the Daily Choice - - Annalisa Arrigoni..................8

Salesian Saints: Joseph Calasanz and his 31 companions..........10

Witnesses In And For Our Times:St. Clare of Assisi.....................13

Lectio Divina: Possession and Grace - Ian Pinto, sdb....................16

Quietspaces:Mary Assumed into Heaven - Pope Francis.............18

Sonata in ‘A’ Minor- Pierluigi Menato....................20

Fioretti of Don Bosco - 6 - Michele Molineris......................24

Reflecting on Mary:1. Do Not Be Afraid to Be Afraid - Giorgio Chatrian...29

NewsBits......................................31

Monsignor O’Flaherty - John Gallagher................33

In a Cheerful Mood......................32The Devotion of

the Three Hail Marys.............34Loving Children to their

Loving Mother........................34They Are Grateful to

Our Lady & Don Bosco..........34

CONTENTSCONTENTSCONTENTSCONTENTSCONTENTS

DON BOSCO'S MADONNA Mumbai AUGUST 2019 vol.20 No. 4

#RESTINGIt isn’t my habit to ‘lust’ – for want of a better word – for what’s

happening around me, but I’ve heard that those of us who do arelikely to use a hashtag _#_ in a search box to look for the news. Peoplewho connect to friends or keep up with the news are likely to creativelyhave their needs met via various social media platforms. I thoughtthat radio and TV transformed societies, but the effect of the internetis far greater than both those technologies combined.

In trying to study these new trends in digital communication I haverealised that it is the individual who decides what to let the worldknow. This is what is changing the shape of media discourse gener-ally. Much of what was traditionally thought of as news was relevantto everyone but interesting to very few. Even literally ‘skimming’through the news it is hard to figure out how it affects me personally.In the age of social media, we might still hear about more universalnews, but it is surrounded by updates tailored to our personal inter-ests. For instance, it has even figured out that I have keen interest inPope Francis and alerts me whenever he hits the headlines.

While this is very convenient, there are drawbacks there becausethose who post the news take it upon themselves to filter out the moretruthful accounts (according to them) from the less truthful. As weincreasingly get our news from these social networks, we run the riskof being influenced by suspect sources. This is ‘fake news.’

But – I believe – a major problem that these networks pose is spiri-tual. They are entertaining, in a way that is addictive and so turn outto be a source of constant ‘noise’ generated by all this news.

In such a climate will the ancient wisdom of Sabbath become rel-evant again? It is perhaps the Commandment we keep the least care-fully, even though scientists increasingly extol the physical, psycho-logical and social benefits of rest. When we are distracted and harriedby the sea of news and updates, a day of rest, not just from work, butfrom the toil of keeping up with all the information might make a dif-ference in our lives.

In our society, we often think of rest as reward – something we giveourselves after we have completed our tasks. After the forty hours ofMonday to Friday, we think we have earned the weekend rest. But inthe Scriptures we notice this is turned on its head. The Jewish peoplemade Sabbath the first day of the week. Rest was not the last thing todo at the end of all the more important work. It was the first thing todo, the essential basis out of which good work could be done. If weturned our thinking about rest on its head, and put the ceaseless de-mands of the world aside for twenty-four hours, who knows how dif-ferently we would view the rest of the week? Social media trains us towant – lust - to always be in the know. God’s grace comforts us to ‘bestill and know that he is God’. Maybe it is time to popularise #resting.

Glorious thingsare spoken of you,

O Mary,who today

was exalted abovethe choirsof Angels

intoeternal triumph

with Christ.The Entrance Antiphon

for the Solemnity ofthe Assumption of Our Lady

4 5August 2019 Don Bosco’s Madonna Don Bosco’s MadonnaAugust 2019

LOVE BEARS ALL THINGSLOVE BEARS ALL THINGSLOVE BEARS ALL THINGSLOVE BEARS ALL THINGSLOVE BEARS ALL THINGSby Gianpaolo Dianin

REFLECTIONS ON AMORIS LAETITIAREFLECTIONS ON AMORIS LAETITIAREFLECTIONS ON AMORIS LAETITIAREFLECTIONS ON AMORIS LAETITIAREFLECTIONS ON AMORIS LAETITIA

“Love coexists with imperfec tion. It ‘bears all things’ and

can hold its peace before the limi-tations of the loved one.” Thesewords of Pope Francis summa-rize well numbers 111-113 ofAmoris Letitita as it reflects onthe last verses of the hymn ofcharity (1 Cor. 13) when Paulsays “love bears all things, be-lieves all things, hopes all thingsand endures all things.”

First of all, it affects “every-thing,” emphasizing the incred-ible but not naïve power of lovethat is capable of coping with allkinds of adversity and ready to

Marriage is a pair of two imperfect beings deciding to unite their livesin order to love and support each other so as to help them become better

persons. Love doesn’t shut its eyes, it opens them even more.

face any threat. Let us try to ex-plain the profound meaning ofPaul’s statement as he reflects onconjugal love.

In the marriage bond the twospouses “welcome” each otherin the totality of their persons.They welcome their present stateto being involved in each other’slives but they also welcome thepast of each other which was re-vealed to them during the timeof their engagement and the fu-ture – full of unknowns, butwhich is also nurtured by theirpromise to be loyal to one an-other in joy and in pain. The rite

of marriage highlights thischoice well.

No one is perfect and couplesgetting married know well thateach of them is a collection ofbeautiful and attractive traits butalso fraught with limitations andweaknesses. Marriage is a bond-ing of two imperfect beings whodecide to unite their lives in or-der to love, support and helpeach other to become better per-sons. In Christian terms we maysay that the other has been en-trusted to me by God so that Imay seek his/her good and his/her fulfilment.

When Paul says that love“bears all things” that doesn’tmean that love turns a blind eyeto the problem areas of the other,it means that your loved one islarger than his/her faults, limi-tations, defects or imperfections.Love is not blind; love also seeswhat the other is unable to seebecause they live together. Theysee the beautiful and the not-so-beautiful but they don’t stopthere, they are able to see this inthe context of the larger pictureof the other.

Two imperfect people cametogether to love, to choose lifeand to take care of one another.Francis writes: “Love does nothave to be perfect for us to valueit. The other person loves me asbest they can, with all their lim-its, but the fact that love is im-perfect does not mean that it isuntrue or unreal; it is real, albeitlimited and earthly” (113). Thisawareness is so important, espe-cially today in a context of astrong idealization of the lovebond. Lovers seem sometimes a

bit fascinated by a real fever oflove, a sort of “delirium of lov-ing omnipotence” in the sensethat they demand perfect lovewhich means living in total sin-cerity, availability and patience.Sometimes a partner asks forwhat it’s only fair to ask God for.But the other is not God only apoor human being who is limited,earthly, who lives in a way thats/he can with his/her inevitableambivalences and fragility.

In the light of this awarenesswe can better focus on Paul’s“bears all things.” I can bear ev-erything because I know you arenot as perfect as I think you are.I can bear everything becauseyou are bigger than your faultsand limitations. Excusing meansalways looking for excuses forwhat you did and trusting andbelieving that you didn’t do it onpurpose. Those who truly lovecan say, “I’m sorry you forgotthat thing; but I understandyou’re so tired these days.” Thisis love; it doesn’t deny the mis-take but always wants to save theone loved.

Marriage is also a commitmentnot to judge, not to speak ill of theother, not to hurt the other withone’s tongue or comments,pointed jokes or sarcasm. Justbecause we know each other sowell, if we really want to hurt theother we know exactly where toplant the knife. And it is reallypainful when this happens in thepresence of others as if wantingto increase the humiliation. “Be-ing willing to speak ill of anotherperson is a way of asserting our-selves, venting resentment andenvy without concern for theharm we do” (112)


STSTSTSTSTAAAAAYING YING YING YING YING TTTTTOGETHEROGETHEROGETHEROGETHEROGETHER

The Pope also recalls the valueof silence; “bearing all things”can also mean keeping silenceabout the negative. This doesn’tmean keeping it all in; that couldbe dangerous because it accumu-lates anger and bitterness and

then there’s bound to be an explo-sion. It’s all about finding the righttime to correct the other, knowingthat in the context of love to cor-rect is always to share one’s ownfragility.

As I write this, I find myself instate of heightened anger. I’ve

just had a quarrel with a colleagueat work. Being responsible for al-locating schedules and tasks ofquite a few, I happen to incur mis-understandings and some ‘gripes.’

But in this case, as I will recount,it was quite different.

It all began with a request for achange of shift which, taken ininsolation seems to have a goodchance being ‘feasible…”

Unfortunately, more than a re-quest, I experienced it as a per-sonal attack because it had al-ready come to the notice of thehigher-ups in the company andthey began questioning my workethic and leadership skills.

I got so angry, that for a fewminutes I had a strong urge forrevenge. I admit that I realizedhow bad that was. I had thoughtof some of the worst shifts for thiscolleague in the coming weeks; tomake it really ‘difficult’ for her.

Fortunately, I did not take anydecision at that time. I gave my-self half a day to reflect on the re-quest and see what could be done(let’s say, I didn’t berate the col-league, so much for my self-con-trol, but at least I refrained fromstoking the fire.)

In my head there were hypoth-

eses of conspiracy that even theFBI couldn’t have put there. Whiledriving home from work I imag-ined having to deploy all my en-ergy to resist launching the attack,the details of my reaction werealready in place. I could use myauthority to respond to the tempta-tion by annihilating my adversary.

Can you imagine? I thought ofthe words of St. Paul: charity“bears all things, believes allthings, hopes all things and en-dures all things.” Like the seawhen the surf is especially highthose words resurfaced in myhead insistently. My anger sub-sided and my mind became a bitmore lucid.

And I believed that I had toshare with you my small-mindedness, my pettiness, whichyou might say unites us all, so asto tell you that this ‘Love’ thatChrist pours into our heartsthrough the Holy Spirit can bedeclined not only at home withthe children and with one’sspouse but in the several situa-tions that act as a corollary tofamily life; even with colleagues!

This love that bears all thingsand believes all things makes megive this colleague the benefit ofthe doubt: maybe it was not anattack on me but a need that I was

not able to listen to. St. Paul is tell-ing me that I can give credit to thegood in people in the hope thatthey will do what they think isright and so that I can excusethem if they sometimes hurt meand overstep their limits.

But today these words alsospeak of the ‘Love’ that we de-serve to give to ourselves. In theeyes of our Creator we are moreprecious than any treasure and yetwe are not quite so loving, accom-modating and considerate to our-selves. We struggle to forgive our-selves, we brood over our mis-takes and more often than not, we

BEFORE STARTING A FIREby Maria Chiara Bregolin

suffer badly.I want to be a person like this:

always able to give hope, to for-give, to be able to appreciate andto know how to empathize; mefirst, my family and then others.Because this love wants the goodof all, obstinately, even thosewho do not love us and this canbring about miracles.

The road to this objective, al-beit long overdue, will surely befun and it begins with me: witha whatsapp apology and an ap-pointment to clarify the reasonsfor the “shift change” request…and I’m already smiling a little!

In a certain art gallery a smallpicture was hanging in the hall-

way, close to the main door. How-ever, most visitors passed by withscarcely a glance in its direction,as they hurried on to the paintingswhich made the museum a meccafor art lovers. The curator of themuseum was very disappointed.He thought very highly of thelittle painting. So he decided tocarry out a small experiment.

One night he took the pictureand hung it in a very crookedmanner. And what happened?Next day one out of every twovisitors stopped to look at it.

‘The following night the curatordecided to take his experiment astep further. He removed thepainting altogether, leaving onlythe empty frame hanging there.And what happened? Everybodywithout exception stopped beforethe empty frame. And severalwent to the curator and asked,“What happened to the lovely littlepainting that used to hang there?”

Some people (children, for ex-

THE FORGOTTEN PICTUREby Flor McCarthy

ample) may have to do somethingdesperate to be noticed and to getattention. Others may have to diebefore they are missed and theircontribution is recognised. Every-one comes out of the woodworkto praise them now that they aregone. We never appreciate thevalue of another person’s serviceuntil we need it ourselves.

One day in Jerusalem Jesus wassitting on the steps in front of theTemple. A collection box wasstanding near by. Along came apoor widow and put a small offer-ing into the box. Nobody paid anyattention to her except Jesus. Henoticed her offering and praised it.It’s nice to know that even such asmall deed of love does not escapehis attention.

How good are we at recognisingwhat others do and affirmingthem? Sadly, the truth may bethat we are so preoccupied withourselves that we don’t notice,and don’t care.Prayer: Lord, give us eyes to seeas you saw, and a heart to respondas you respond to the goodness ofothers.


LOOKING AHEAD...THE DAILY CHOICELOOKING AHEAD...THE DAILY CHOICELOOKING AHEAD...THE DAILY CHOICELOOKING AHEAD...THE DAILY CHOICELOOKING AHEAD...THE DAILY CHOICEby Annalisa Arrigoni

I’ve been living in Brazil for thepast five years, working in our

mission among an extraordinarygroup of people. Among the manythings that I’m learning from thepeople is their ability to look aheadwithout allowing my problems tostop me. Yes, the Brazilians are apeople of great faith who knowhow to read the past recognizingthe faithful presence of God andso know how to look to the futurewith hope and courage. This re-minds me of an expression verydear to us sisters: “For all that’sbeen, thanks and for all that willbe ‘yes’” (Dag Hammarskjöld).

That quote holds one of thegreat secrets of life: to look for-ward – with hope and courage –while learning to look back withfaith and gratitude. Haven’t youalready noticed that when youwalk you’ve got to put one footforward while one is at the back?And both “look ahead”… interest-ing? Yet, “looking ahead” is notsomething automatic! It is a choicethat you’re called upon to makeevery day. And it is a choice thathas many alternatives, for in-stance: Looking “back”: You can

choose to spend your busy lifeworrying about what happened inthe past; the possible mistakes

you’ve made, your missed oppor-tunities, dreams that haven’tcome true, the many “buts” “ifs”while everyone’s lives are full. Toyou Jesus repeats what he oncetold a young man who wanted tofollow him: “No one who puts hishand to the plow and then turnsback is fit for the kingdom of God”(Lk 9:57-62). He would invite youto trust that your whole history,however scarred by difficulty, isthe history of salvation which hehimself wrote “straight on ourcrooked lines.”Looking “around”: You can

choose to spend your life lookingfor someone to tell you what to do;waiting for word from someoneaffirming you and telling you howwonderful and loved you are, and

you think that will solve the prob-lems you think you face, that willsave you from difficulties and re-move the obstacles that alwaysspring up on your path. To you tooJesus would say what he said oneday to the paralyzed man lying atthe pool of Bethsaida, to the ques-tion of Jesus: “Do you want to getwell?” He replied: “I have no oneto put me into the pool…” To himJesus said: “Stand up, take up yourmat and go home” (Jn. 5:1-9). Andto you too he would invite you toencounter his presence in yourself,the fount of life and the ability toovercome even your own limita-tions and weaknesses, withoutusing your friends as “crutches.”Looking “up”: You can choose

to spend your life waiting for amiracle that will change the di-rection of your life; waiting for theLord’s clear and evident sign thatwill make your doubts vanish andfree you from the need to look fur-ther and maybe avoid any furthermistakes. To you Jesus repeatswhat he said to the apostles: “Noteveryone who says to me ‘Lord,Lord’ will enter the kingdom ofheaven, but the one who does thewill of my Father in heaven” (Mt7:21-29). And he will invite you togo with him to seek out the path,accepting even the mis-takes you may makewhile teaching you tobe humble and wise. L o o k i n g

“down” or “shut-ting your eyes”;You can choose tospend your life notfeeling ‘up to it;’preferring not totake responsibility,which means, notchasing your dreams;

not letting yourself be provoked byreality or doing the minimum. Toyou Jesus repeats what he said toPeter on the Lake of Genneseret:“Put out into the deep” (Lk 5: 1-11) and he invites you to take risksto reach high ideals. I am listen-ing to a beautiful Brazilian songwhich says: through the cries thatcome from people His voice is call-ing you to be an instrument of Hislove to many.

But what is the choice that JesusHimself has made and which Heproposes to you today?

LOOK AHEAD!Choose to spend your life letting

yourself be challenged and pro-voked by what happens everyday; learning to listen to yourheart – where the Lord sows theseed of His word every day. Andlooking ahead of you, you’ll findthat you are walking behind Jesusthe Master who repeats to you, ashe stares into your eyes with love:“Come, follow me!” (Mk 10:17-31).

ANOTHER STEP ON THE WAYStop for a moment and reflect:

How do you see life? Do you rec-ognize yourself in one of the waysdescribed above? If so, take theBible and allow yourself to be

questioned by the passageof the corresponding

Gospel.What attitude do

you need to be ableto “look ahead”?Ask the HolySpirit to feed youwith them.

L o o k i n g“ahead” are there

some realities thatyou perceive are call-

ing out to you?


SALESIANSALESIANSALESIANSALESIANSALESIANSAINTSSAINTSSAINTSSAINTSSAINTS

JOSEPHJOSEPHJOSEPHJOSEPHJOSEPHCALASANZCALASANZCALASANZCALASANZCALASANZ

and his 31and his 31and his 31and his 31and his 31companionscompanionscompanionscompanionscompanions

On July 17, 1936, the civil warin Spain broke out (1936-

1939) between the pro-fascistnationalists and the communistrepublicans. From the first daysof the war a real religious perse-cution against the Church wasinitiated. Churches were burneddown, monasteries and conventsdestroyed, the bodies of the deadand relics desecrated; no reli-gious ceremonies were permittedand several bishops, priests, re-ligious and laity died for theirfaith.

In 1964, after consulting theSpanish episcopate, Pope SaintPaul VI decided to suspend theprocess of the beatification of allthe martyrs of the civil war aboveall to avoid political exploitation.On the other hand, in 1983 PopeSaint John Paul II, consideringthe time ripe, reintroduced theprocesses in the various dioceseswhich were completed in a shorttime. On the occasion of the cel-ebration of the Jubilee Year 2000,John Paul II urged that a cata-logue of Christian martyrs of thetwentieth century be prepared.Spain also collaborated with there-elaboration of the lists sent infrom the different dioceses forthe ecumenical celebration thatwould take place at the Coliseumin March 2000. However, even at

that time, Monsignor VicenteCarcel Orti, a priest and histo-rian began to speak of the figureexceeding 10,000 Spanish martyrswho were put to death during thisperiod. The data could be brokendown as follows: twelve bishops,an apostolic administrator, aboutseven thousand priests and aboutthree thousand lay people most ofwho were members of the Catho-lic Action. The executions werecarried out in towns and villagesfar from the front lines where thefighting was taking place, oftenwithout a trial or merely a show-trial.

Within this immense tragedywhich devastated the nation andthe Spanish Church, there wasalso a small but very painful trag-edy of the sons and daughters ofDon Bosco. In a nation and in amartyred church, 95 members ofthe Salesian Family are recog-nized as martyrs and beatified.

JOSEPH CALASANZMARQUÉS, PRIEST ANDTHREE CONFRERES,MARTYRS

As for their identity: 16 werepriests; 7 lay brothers; 6 clerics;2 Daughters of Mary Help ofChristians; 1 lay collaborator.The year of their death: 30 werekilled in 1936 and 2 in 1938.

The Valencia Group: 11 martyrsDawn of July 21, 1936: The

Salesian house of Valencia, afterhaving come under incessantgunfire throughout the night isinvaded by the militia. The re-treat is in progress, preached bythe provincial Fr. JosephCalasanz, one of the firstSalesians in Spain who met DonBosco in Sarrià in 1886. ASalesian who survived deposedunder oath: “The militiamenwho burst in found all of usSalesians lined up along the cen-tral staircase. They pointed theirrifles at us and a moment laterone of them came up and scoldedhis comrades: “Why didn’t youshoot? Didn’t we agree that wekill everyone? […] Father Cala-sanz gave us the absolution.”From there they were transferredto prison where they remaineduntil 29th of the same monthwhen they were unexpectedlyreleased. It was from that mo-ment that various storiesemerged about how theyreached the supreme hour oftheir martyrdom.

The House of Valencia JosephCalasanz Marqués, priest

He was the head of the groupof martyrs because he was thenthe provincial superior of theSalesian Province of Tarracon-ense which included 14 housesand 249 confreres.

He was born at Azanuy (in theprovince of Huesca) into a peas-ant family on November 23,1872. He was baptized that sameday. He received the sacramentof Confirmation on June7, 1874when he became an orphan andwas taken care of by his sisterwho was a ‘maid’ to theFontcuberta family. It was thisfamily that supported the boyand encouraged him to enter theSalesian College at Sarrià in 1884there he had the good fortune tomeet St. John Bosco in 1886. Itwas an encounter that wouldmake a great impression on him.

He entered the Salesian Con-gregation as a novice on Septem-ber 10, 1889 and received the cas-sock from Blessed Philip Rinaldi.He made his perpetual profes-sion in September 1890 and wasordained a priest on December21, 1895. He was the firstSalesian to become a priest. Af-ter having exercised his priestlyministry for 20 years in Spain, in1916 he was sent to Cuba withthe task of organizing theSalesian houses in the WestIndies. After six years he wasappointed provincial for Peruand Bolivia. In 1925 he was re-called to Spain and appointedprovincial of the province ofTarraconense: an office he helduntil his death.

Father Joseph Calasanz em-bodied in himself to an eminentdegree the Salesian spirit, a spirit


ST. CLARE OF ASSISI (1194-1253)FOLLOWING THE POOR CHRIST

(AUGUST 9)by Mario Scudu

PROFILES

of gentleness for which he wasimmensely loved by everyone.His way of governing was ablend of firmness and paternitywhich made him like “anotherDon Bosco.” He possessed a verykind heart and was extremelydelicate in his dealings with oth-ers.

He was preaching the spiritualretreat to the confreres ofValencia when he was arrestedand imprisoned with the wholecommunity on the night be-tween 20 and 21 July 1936. Aweek later everyone was re-leased. After giving everyonewhatever was necessary heurged them to trust in Provi-

dence. On July 29, 1936 he wasstopped and taken to the head-quarters of the RevolutionaryCommittee with two otherconfreres. In his suitcase the mi-litia found his cassock. “They arepriests,” they exclaimed, “Andwe must kill them.” In fact whenhe was asked if he was a priest,he replied: “Yes, I am a Salesianpriest.” The detainees were re-portedly forced onto a truck andtaken to the prison in Valencia.

On the journey, one of the mi-litiamen who had a gun simplylevelled it at him and shot him atpoint-blank range. Father Cala-sanz whispered: “My God!” andfell lifeless in a pool of blood.

Anthony Maria Martín Hernández, Priest

Recaredo de los Ríos Fabregat, Priest

Julian Rodríguez Sánchez, PriestJoseph Giménez López, PriestAugust García Calvo, Lay BrotherJohn Martorell Soria, PriestJames Buch Canal, Lay BrotherPeter Mesonero Rodríguez, Cleric

House of AlcoyJoseph Otín Aquilué, PriestAlvaro Sanjuán Canet, Priest

Group of Barcelona, 21 MartyrsHouse of SarriáFrancis Bandrés Sánchez, PriestSergo Cid Pazo, PriestJoseph Batalla Parramó, PriestJoseph R Bentanachs, Lay BrotherGil Rodicio Rodicio, Lay BrotherAngelo Ramos, Lay BrotherPhilip Hernández Martínez, ClericZachary Abadía Buesa, ClericJames Ortiz Alzueta, Lay Brother

We are unable at this time to put down the biographies of each of themartyrs but here are their names and the houses to which they belonged

Xavier Bordas Piferrer, ClericFelix Vivel Trabal, ClericMichael Domingo Cendra, Cleric

House of TibidaboJoseph Caselles Moncho, PriestJoseph Castell Camps, Priest

House of Via RocafortJoseph Bonet Nadal, PriestJames Bonet Nadal, Priest

House of Sant Vicenc dels HortsAlexander Planas Saurí, Lay CollaboratorEliseus García García, Lay Brother

House of GironaJulius Junyer Padern, Priest

Daughters of Mary Help ofChristians of the College ofBarcelona, SarriáMaria Carmen Moreno BenítezMaría Amparo Carbonell Muñoz

In March 1999 Pope John PaulII decided to initiate the pro-

cess of the beatification ofMother Teresa of Kolkata noteven two years after her death.It came as a great surprise. Whysuch a hurry? Someone musthave thought. The Church al-ready has so many women andmen saints: let some time elapse(in any case the Church pro-cesses by definition, are very longdrawn).

This “holy haste” of John PaulII is understandable consideringhe knew her so well and admiredher very much.

Still ‘worse’ was the case ofClare of Assisi. She died in 1253and just two years later she wasproclaimed a saint by PopeAlexander IV and proposed tothe whole Church for veneration.

Clare was born in Assisi in1194, not only because she wasfrom the same town as St. Francisbut her life was greatly influ-enced by him. But let’s not thinkshe was completely overshad-owed by Francis. She too had a

strong personality and she dem-onstrated it by carrying out herdecision to consecrate herself toChrist despite many obstacles.

Clare possessed all the ingredi-ents to live a happy and luxuri-ous life. She was beautiful and


came from a well-to-do noblefamily. She could aspire tomarry well but she would havenone of this.

At the age of 18 she fled herhome to fulfil her dream of con-secrating herself to Christ. Wasit a sudden decision, the result ofthoughtless adolescent haste orearly spiritual enlightenment?No, she knew well what she wasdoing.

Her mother Ortolana, a goodand god-fearing woman hadbrought her daughter up well inthe faith. But the deciding ex-ample was the choice thatFrancis had made to sell all hepossessed in order to follow thepoor Christ. Clare endorsed thisgesture of her compatriot andwaited for the right moment toimitate him. I remember a verybrief conversation between thetwo in the famous film by F.Zeffirelli, Brother Sun, SisterMoon. After the radical decisionto follow Christ he told her:“People did not understand me.Now everyone thinks I’ve gonemad.” And Clare replies: “Forme you were crazy then, notnow.”

On Palm Sunday in the year1212 Clare fled her home andwent to the Portiuncola, toFrancis and his friends. Probablyshe too had recently sold herproperty, and left her familywhich was why she faced muchhostility from her relatives.

Francis welcomed her and af-ter having cut her hair and dress-ing her in a habit, to symbolizeher new state of life, he led herto a Benedictine monastery.Here her relatives made another

attempt to bring her home byforce. Clare resisted and a shorttime later she was joined by someof her friends and by her sisterAgnes who also fled from home.Later another sister Beatrice ar-rived and finally, a few yearslater, her mother. Everyone wasfascinated by the preaching andthe example of Francis and hisfriars and the courageous deci-sion of Clare.

The little community was nowin a safe place, close to thechurch of San Damiano in Assisi.That was why they were calledDamianites by the people, PoorLadies by Francis and laterClarists. Clare and her friendsdid not “flee from the world,”they were never far from thedaily difficulties of the people.They wanted to live secludedlives, yes, but supported by theirwork, they immersed themselvesin prayer for themselves and re-mained at the service of theChurch interceding before Godfor the salvation of all.

The safe and stable establish-ment at San Damiano becamefor Clare the beginning of the sec-ond stage of her life. After theperiod of “conversio ad Deum,”a turning to God, the secondstage began: that of “conversatiocum Deo,” that is, the stage of“dialogue with God” throughthe religious life.

Following Christ the PoorThe spirit of Francis reigned in

San Damiano, but it was Clarewho gave her community its de-cisive identity. She courageously

‘resisted’ the pressures of PopeGregory IX who insisted that shepossess some property by pro-posing a dispensation from thevow of poverty. She herself de-cisively told him: “Holy Father,with no covenant never! I wouldwish to be dispensed from fol-lowing Christ forever.”

Clare’s Christ was the poorone; to be followed totally evenas she herself wrote to Agnes ofPrague that “we don’t have abronze body neither are we asstrong as granite.” Eventuallythe Pope gave her the “privilegeof poverty.” This came twoyears after the death of the greatFrancis.

Clare had great trust and de-votion to Jesus in the Eucharist.Confined to her bed for manyyears due to an illness, she spenther time doing fine embroiderywith fine craftsmanship to adornthe altars of churches in andaround Assisi.

Clare stops the SaracensA famous episode from that

time is narrated by a witness re-garding the rout of the Saracensfrom the monastery. When theinvaders arrived they calledClare. She went to the door of therefectory and had the box con-taining the Eucharist brought.She bowed in worship and weptsaying: “Lord, look on these yourservants, because I cannot take

care of them.” There was a verygentle voice that said: “I will pro-tect you.” Then Clare imploredthat same grace for the city andthe gentle voice replied: “The citywill suffer many perils but it willbe protected.” The Saracens left.

Clare died on August 11, 1253after nineteen years of illness,two days later her rule was ap-proved. The Pope and seniormembers of the Papal Curia at-tended her funeral as a sign oftheir great esteem and admira-tion.

Two years later her name wasalready entered in the register ofthe saints with the papal bull:“Clara claris praeclaris meritis.”In it she is defined as anenamoured and unyielding fol-lower of poverty.” Poverty forthe sake of the gospel is thereforethe first and determining virtuefor a canonization.

One final note: Few know thatin 1958 Pope Pius XII pro-claimed her ‘Patron of Televi-sion.’ This is to recall the miraclein which she was involved. Itwas Christmas Eve, and beingsick in bed, she could not attendthe evocative liturgy of that HolyNight. However, she miracu-lously followed the celebrationthat took place a great distanceas if she were present. The nextday she told her sisters that shehad seen everything live!

“We become what we love and who we love shapeswhat we become.”

“Love that cannot suffer is not worthy of that name.”“Love Him totally, who gave Himself totally for your love.”

(St. Clare of Assisi)


POSSESSION AND GRACE:The Gerasene Story in our Times

by Ian Pinto, sdb

Facing our Demons“They arrived at the other side

of the lake, in the region of theGerasenes. No sooner did Jesusleave the boat than he was met bya man with evil spirits, who hadcome from the tombs. He livedamong the tombs” (Mk 5:1-3).

It is natural for us to conceiveof a person with demons to be-have in abnormal and scary ways.Films and serials have repeatedlyshown us such scenes. While demo-niac possession is indeed a horrify-ing event and experience for every-one who witnesses it, there are alsoother subtle forms of possession.Once again, films and serials haveshown us plenty of such cases butwe might have not been aware of itsince they never label it so.

The fact of life is that we all haveour demons. Let me clarify, whatI mean by demons is not necessar-ily evil spirits. I’m not suggestingthat all of us are going aroundpossessed by evil spirits; I’mthinking of demons as our per-sonal shortcomings, failures, ad-dictions, inabilities, sufferings,

fears and sins. No one can denythe fact that all these ‘demons’ arepart and parcel of life. While onthe one hand, these demons shapeour lives and make us the peoplewe are, on the other hand, theyprevent us from fully trusting inGod and embracing the gifts ofgrace He offers to us.

When Jesus asked the demon itsname it declared, “Legion is myname, for we are many” (Mk 5:9).Thinking of ourselves and our de-mons, I suppose we too wouldhave to admit that the similar de-mon possesses us—Legion, for ourdemons are many too. They tor-ment us night and day and forceus away from ourselves, othersand God. The demoniac of theGospel lived among the tombs.Obviously, the cemetery is noplace for a person to live and yetthat is where the demons con-strained the person to. Our de-mons love to wallow in self-pity,pride, jealousy, anger, hatred, lustand disregard for God. All theseare the tombs where they con-strain us. The demoniac couldn’t

leave the cemetery for the demonswouldn’t allow him. Our demonsbehave in the same way. Theywon’t let us go very easily. Theybind us, and prey on our weak-ness: “Night and day he stayedamong the tombs on the hillsides,and was continually screaming,and beating himself with stones”(Mk 5:5).

Breaking our ChainsOn our own, we cannot free our-

selves from their torment butJesus certainly can! It’s interestingthat the first person Jesus encoun-tered after crossing the lake was ademoniac. It wasn’t like Jesussought him out, it was he who“saw Jesus from afar, he ran andfell at his feet” (Mk 5:6). Fromwhat the media has taught us, thedemons are mortally afraid ofGod and anything religious, buthow come here the demons leadthe man to Jesus? It’s because theyrecognized him as the Son of Godand paid homage to him. St. Paulwrote that “at the name of Jesusevery knee should bend, in heavenand on earth and under the earth,and every tongue should confessthat Jesus Christ is Lord” (Phil 2:10-11). Even the demons are ableto recognize their Lord and Sav-iour, why can’t we?

Of course, the demons have cho-sen not to accept Jesus as theirLord and Saviour and thus havecondemned themselves to live inthe agony that results from sepa-ration with God. We still have anoption. Would we like to chooseJesus and thus ensure our eternalhappiness or would we want toreject him and face eternal dam-nation? Our demons recognize thepower of Jesus but they will notallow us to accept his healing. We

see in the Gospel how the demonpleaded with Jesus not to force itto leave the person: “For God’ssake, I beg you, do not torment me!(Mk 5:7). In a like manner, ourdemons too will try various stuntsto cling on to us. Are we willing tolet them go once and for all? I’mtalking about giving up our addic-tions to alcohol, cigarettes, drugs,pornography etc., our fears, anxi-eties, anger, hatred, lust, jealousy,pride, our inadequacies, failures,rejections, setbacks and so on.

When you come to think aboutit you begin to realize the magni-tude of the question. It’s not sim-ply giving up an idea, it’s makinga radical change of lifestyle. Sayfor an alcoholic father, it meansnot wasting his income on drinkswhich leads him to abuse his wifeand kids or spend time away fromthem but rather to spend thatsame money in a more construc-tive way and spend more timewith his family, thereby creating asafe and secure environment. For awoman given to jealousy and gos-sip, it means becoming conscious ofthe feelings of jealousy andchannelizing them in constructiveways, thus avoiding the temptationto gossip. For a young teen experi-menting with pornography, itmeans seeking adequate helpfrom concerned individuals toovercome the problem.

You see how it is; it’s easier saidthan done. These lifestyle changestake a lot of time, effort, supportand prayer. Each of us can achievethem. The grace of God is alwaysready to assist and fill us. We needto show willingness to receive itand cooperate with it. The chainsof possession will not fall awayunless and until we break themwith the power of God’s grace.


MARY ASSUMED INTO HEAVENMARY ASSUMED INTO HEAVENMARY ASSUMED INTO HEAVENMARY ASSUMED INTO HEAVENMARY ASSUMED INTO HEAVENPope Francis homily at Castel Gandolfo on 15 August 2013

Dear Brothers and Sisters!At the end of its Constitution on the Church, the Second Vatican

Council left us a very beautiful meditation on Mary Most Holy. Letme just recall the words referring to the mystery we celebrate today:“The Immaculate Virgin preserved free from all stain of originalsin, was taken up body and soul into heavenly glory, when herearthly life was over, and exalted by the Lord as Queen over allthings” (no. 59). Then towards the end, there is: “The Mother of Jesusin the glory which she possesses in body and soul in heaven is theimage and the beginning of the church as it is to be perfected in theworld to come. Likewise, she shines forth on earth, until the day ofthe Lord shall come” (no. 68). In the light of this most beautiful im-age of our Mother, we are able to see the message of the biblicalreadings that we have just heard. We can focus on three key words:struggle, resurrection, hope.

The passage from Revelation presents the vision of the strugglebetween the woman and the dragon. The figure of the woman, rep-resenting the Church, is, on the one hand, glorious and triumphantand yet, on the other, still in travail. And the Church is like that: if inheaven she is already associated in some way with the glory of herLord, in history she continually lives through the trials and chal-lenges which the conflict between God and the evil one, the peren-nial enemy, brings. And in the struggle which the disciples mustconfront – all of us, all the disciples of Jesus, we must face thisstruggle - Mary does not leave them alone: the Mother of Christ andof the Church is always with us. She walks with us always, she iswith us. And in a way, Mary shares this dual condition. She has ofcourse already entered, once and for all, into heavenly glory. Butthis does not mean that she is distant or detached from us; ratherMary accompanies us, struggles with us, sustains Christians in theirfight against the forces of evil. Pray with Mary, especially the ro-sary – but listen carefully: the Rosary. Do you pray the Rosary everyday? But I’m not sure you do [the people shout “Yes!”]… Really?Well, prayer with Mary, especially the Rosary, has this “suffering”dimension, that is of struggle, a sustaining prayer in the battle againstthe evil one and his accomplices. The Rosary also sustains us in thebattle.

The second reading speaks to us of resurrection. The Apostle Paul,writing to the Corinthians, insists that being Christian means be-lieving that Christ is truly risen from the dead. Our whole faith isbased upon this fundamental truth which is not an idea but an event.

Even the mystery of Mary’s Assumption body and soul is fully in-scribed in the resurrection of Christ. The Mother’s humanity is “at-tracted” by the Son in his own passage from death to life. Once andfor all, Jesus entered into eternal life with all the humanity he haddrawn from Mary; and she, the Mother, who followed him faith-fully throughout her life, followed him with her heart, and enteredwith him into eternal life which we also call heaven, paradise, theFather’s house.

Mary also experienced the martyrdom of the Cross: the martyr-dom of her heart, the martyrdom of her soul. She lived her Son’sPassion to the depths of her soul. She was fully united to him in hisdeath, and so she was given the gift of resurrection. Christ is thefirst fruits from the dead and Mary is the first of the redeemed, thefirst of “those who are in Christ”. She is our Mother, but we can alsosay that she is our representative, our sister, our eldest sister, she isthe first of the redeemed, who has arrived in heaven.

The Gospel suggests to us the third word: hope. Hope is the virtueof those who, experiencing conflict – the struggle between life anddeath, good and evil – believe in the resurrection of Christ, in thevictory of love. We heard the Song of Mary, the Magnificat: it is thesong of hope, it is the song of the People of God walking throughhistory. It is the song many saints, men and women, some famous,and very many others unknown to us but known to God: mums,dads, catechists, missionaries, priests, sisters, young people, evenchildren and grandparents: these have faced the struggle of life whilecarrying in their heart the hope of the little and the humble. Marysays: “My souls glorifies the Lord” – today, the Church too sings thisin every part of the world. This song is particularly strong in placeswhere the Body of Christ is suffering the Passion. For us Christians,wherever the Cross is, there is hope, always. If there is no hope, weare not Christian. That is why I like to say: do not allow yourselvesto be robbed of hope. May we not be robbed of hope, because thisstrength is a grace, a gift from God which carries us forward withour eyes fixed on heaven. And Mary is always there, near those com-munities, our brothers and sisters, she accompanies them, sufferswith them, and sings the Magnificat of hope with them.

Dear Brothers and Sisters, with all our heart let us too unite our-selves to this song of patience and victory, of struggle and joy, thatunites the triumphant Church with the pilgrim one, earth withheaven, and that joins our lives to the eternity towards which wejourney. Amen. © Copyright - Libreria Editrice Vaticana


SONATA IN ‘A’ MINORSONATA IN ‘A’ MINORSONATA IN ‘A’ MINORSONATA IN ‘A’ MINORSONATA IN ‘A’ MINORPierluigi Menato - translated by Ian Doulton sdb

The last chord died away beneath the nervous fingers of

Stephen More and there he re-mained, motionless, his eyesfixed on the keys. A cold sweatbeaded his forehead borderedwith black, wavy hair, unusuallyhandsome. Absolutely, that mu-sic was his; it had sprung fromhis mind and heart as a happyinspiration. The “Sonata in Aminor” composed with feverishenthusiasm; it had truly been abeautiful work, original, withouta hint of the familiar. And sincehe was a formidable self-critic,never satisfied with himself; hewas always meticulous to thepoint of intolerable exaggeration.

Finally, a wave of calm seemedto appear on the melancholyface of the poor artist, a little fe-verish, perhaps tired after thelong rendition. Of course, hecould have chosen a more reli-able and lucrative profession;taking a degree in accounting orarchitecture perhaps. Thatwould have earned him a lotmore and much quicker… Butthe arts, that luminous octopushad grabbed him with its manybeautiful tentacles and he didn’thave the energy to extricate him-self from its grasp. Music sang inhis soul from the time he was achild. With his tiny inexperi-enced stubby but eager fingers hesearched the piano keys for thenotes of a lullaby that he lovedso much.

And neither his father nor hismother tried to discourage him.Did he want to become a musicmaestro? Well he should also fol-

low his vocation: he was an onlychild and could not be denied thepath he most loved…theyweren’t really well off, but hewouldn’t die. His father Anthonyworked at a manufacturing firmand even stayed overtime. Bar-bara, his mother took on embroi-dery jobs to bring in a little extraso Stephen would be able to at-tend the music conservatory.

In fact, he graduated with abrilliant score and immediatelyfound work with a few studentseager to learn the piano. He alsoput his hand to composingwhich was fuelled by the inspi-ration that blossomed like a mys-terious flower in his soul.

“The Sonata in ‘A’ minor.”Three movements: three states ofthe soul, three songs of uncon-trolled passion... Once againwhen he began playing felt him-self moaning passionately like acry that came from his achingheart. His eyes were closed, hisforehead held high as he pen-etrated all the harmony withsuch sweetness and yet so pro-found. His tutor, who was veryfond of him, not only praisedhim but took him that very nightto the home of Sir Bernard Rat-ting, a rich industrialist knownto patronize the arts and artiststoo. Only that for the peer theharp or the tympani sounded thesame and so the judge in thesematters was his daughter Anna,a casual, freckled and talkativegirl who eagerly prompted herdad: “This painter is wonderful;that singer is worthless; or thatactress should be encouraged.”

The magnanimous gentlemanbought the paintings of the tal-ented painter and shut the doorsto the singer who was good-for-nothing and sent baskets of flow-ers to the actress who was en-couraged when he bought wholerows of seats at the theatre, giv-ing them away to friends whowould applaud this sixteen yearold diva....

The appointment that eveningat the house of Sir Bernard; ifStephen More succeeded, hewouldn’t need to give piano tu-itions and his mother and fatherwouldn’t have to work so hard.

* * *

The young man rose from thepiano, his hands still tremblinga little because his music hadtaken hold of his very soul mak-ing him weep like a child some-times for joy and sometimes forloss. He went looking for hismother. He found her in thekitchen carefully ironing thelaundry. Seeing him she smiled:“I heard you from here, youknow? The more you play yourmusic the more I enjoy it…andeveryone will enjoy it.”

The young man hugged her:“God willing, mum!” he repliedfirmly. “If it goes well at the Rat-ting house I’ll become as famousas Dorsey…”

“But Dorsey is worthless!” hismother laughed, “His paintingsare so boring!”

“It’s true, but they liked theyoung man and he’s made it big.And there’s no house in town thatdoesn’t have one of Dorsey’spaintings…”

“...and there won’t be a pianothat doesn’t sing the “Sonata inA minor” by Stephen More.”

They both laughed, looking ateach other with moist eyes. Hopeand fear made them look pale.Then the lady said: “You shouldget yourself something nice towear... I’ve made this silk shirtand a matching kerchief…veryhigh street…”

* * *Sir Ratting was a huge, fat man

with a ruddy complexion whoreceived his guests clutchingtheir hands rather tight so theymight have screamed in pain.According to him, gripping hisguests’ hands tight was his obvi-ous way of expressing his cordi-ality. But the guests happily al-lowed their fingers to be crippledin view of the several advantagesthat accrued therefrom: unforget-table refreshments, exotic cigarsand some probable favour whis-pered in a low voice and grantedwith formidable boldness: “Ofcourse, be sure, leave it to me!”Even a deaf man a mile awaywould have heard him.

Anna, dressed all in lemon yel-


low with an amber necklace thatreached her waist acted like theperfect hostess in the opulenthall, while her mother, a tiny,insignificant woman stood in thecorner of the room dressed all inblack as if she were afraid of be-ing noticed...

When Stephen More enteredwith his tutor maestro JulianPhipps, Anna immediately tookthe guests under her wing andannounced: “This evening mae-stro More will give us the plea-sure of hearing his own compo-sition…”

She said this with an air of con-fidence that her father did notmind but maestro Julian whoknew his pupil, smirked a bit.

“They will hear him, they willhear him,” he said rather cyni-cally, “He’s truly an artist...”

Sir Bernard Ratting steppedforward and grabbed the youngman’s hand and squeezed it al-most brutally, shouting, “Bravo,

bravo! I’m so very happy!” Hedidn’t even realize it and so itwas that his daughter gave himan admonishing stare at whichhe stiffened ever so slightly andsquinted a but…not knowinghow to proceed. But Anna playedher part very deftly.

“If you don’t mind maestro,you may begin,” almost pushinghim towards the shiny grand pi-ano while Julian Phipps with afurious frown raised his eye-brows and thought:

“ And yes, just as well thehassle is over…if I had broughtin a film actor he would havehugged me immediately…”

He almost regretted bringingStephen More with him. He ad-mired the young man very muchand appreciated his musical tal-ent… and knowing his financiallimitations he wanted him topursue further qualificationsthat would open a way to some-thing better… And to get this, itwas inevitable that he bring him

to the house of the famous SirBernard Ratting…all the little la-dies who were wanderingthrough the rich and brightly litrooms around little Anna andwithin the city’s planetary sys-tem would turn to the youngteacher to learn music byChopin, Beethoven andBerlioz…because the youngmaestro looked so handsome.

Stephen More, a little hesitant,sat down at the piano and afterhaving turned his gaze on thegathering of people … refinedand cultured waiting to listen tohim. Gentlemen all dressed up,ladies in light chiffon, men sol-emnly dressed in dark suits withwhite kerchiefs sticking out oftheir breast pockets – all perhapssitting meekly, as if playing a roleout of compunction for Lord Rat-ting and out of deference fortheir host tonight.

“The Sonata in A minor” wasperformed with what seemedlike a gold ribbon beneath theagile and quivering fingers of theyoung maestro; a cascade ofclear notes, passionate yet simpleand so profound that it madepeople quiver with emotion.Stephen More who performed itfor the first time on that magnifi-cent grand piano, a superb in-strument which was so differentfrom the modest instrument hepossessed, it seemed infinitelymore beautiful and his own.Playing and sighing, as if everyphrase were a teardrop filledwith joy and sorrow. Little bylittle his cheeks began toshine…truly, his music was re-ally beautiful, very sensitive andexpressive…it was impossiblenot to like it, and he couldn’t say

“something.”He could not see the audience;

only his mother and father com-ing home and relaxing after hislong hours of work; a little senseof contentment that seemed tosettle on that humble homewhere so many sacrifices weremade…and the bright visionthat made his lips rise in an im-perceptible smile.

He played with force and gen-tly like he had never played be-fore. But already the little ladiesseemed to have boredom writtenlarge across their painted facesand Sir Ratting kept lookingdown at his shoes mutteringfrom time to time, just putting onairs, “Bravo! Wonderful…whata nice phrase…” but he under-stood nothing.

Among all the guests only alittle brunette, modestly dressedfollowed the recital with visibleinterest following “The Sonata inA Minor” that was unravelingwith such passion and hope. Atthe end of the adagio, her sereneeyes held almost a suspiciousglow… And she never took hereyes off Stephen More’s facewhich seemed to look inspired.When the last notes of the sonatafaded out, as everyone agreedlike the last moments of a fare-well to a lifetime, she looked atthe pale hands of the young mae-stro, she went down on herknees…

Little miss Anna stood up andcame to him: “Very well, mae-stro,” she said coolly, “but nowyou must play something morecheerful…haven’t you com-posed some dance music?”


FIORETTIFIORETTIFIORETTIFIORETTIFIORETTIOF DON BOSCO - 6OF DON BOSCO - 6OF DON BOSCO - 6OF DON BOSCO - 6OF DON BOSCO - 6

by Michele Molineris

A strong Constitution (Contd)But the story of the “strong

manner” does not end there. Afew years ago a certain JosephGasca, a gentleman from Turinand a boy from the Salesian Ora-tory of “Edoardo Agnelli” cameto Becchi to narrate this kind ofintervention by Don Bosco.Gasca had been invited by DonBosco, who had appeared to himin a dream, to drink withoutfear, because that apparent blun-der was linked to his healing. Infact, he drank it and was in-stantly healed. He came to thankhis “doctor” because the otherhad abandoned him to his fate.What he then reported in 1951appeared in the “Salesian Bulle-tin.”

In 1951, Signor Gasca Giu-seppe of Turin, a Salesian PastPupil had three severe attacks ofbronchial pneumonia. He wasgiven the recommended antibi-otics: penicillin, streptomycinand auromycin but to no avail.All hope was abandoned. OnFebruary 5, seeing that his endwas near, a Salesian from the“Agnelli” Oratory administeredthe anointing of the sick and allthey could do was wait for theinevitable.

On 6 February, around noon,the patient with a fever at over41 degrees is dozing; but after ashort time he wakes up and tellsthe assistant nun that hedreamed that while he was on apilgrimage to the Becchi, DonBosco, met behind the parishchurch of Buttigliera, had said to

him: -Se ‘t veuli beivi ne buta ‘dbarbera: if you want to be healedyou have to drink a bottle ofbarbera.

The nursing sister and the wifeof the sick man believing that hewas delirious hesitated but sincehe was insistent they gave himtwo glasses of wine but did notdare to go further since the pa-tient had only taken just a littlewater with ice for the last sev-eral days and was already show-ing the first symptoms of slip-ping into a coma.

At that moment a Philippinopriest, a friend of the family,who came to visit the sick man,became aware of the situationand seeing the pressing insis-tence of the patient urged themto grant his wish just to pleasehim.

Signor Gasca admits thatshortly after he had emptied thebottle, his body shuddered andhe felt a new lease of life. Prof.Robino the doctor was calledand he witnessed the rapid im-provement and the total healing(Salesian Bulletin, April 1951).

19. The wedding, the deathand…resurrection (1840)

In 1840 Don Bosco as a sub-deacon went to Bardella with hispastor to be subdeacon at thechurch services in honour of thePatron Saint. A wedding ban-quet had also been scheduled onthat occasion and was attendedby the pastor and the chairmanof the festivities. John held trueto his resolution and returnedhome. At the end of the banquetwhich, as usual, was rather gayand noisy, the chairman of the

festivities invited the pastor tohis own home, and both left. Sud-denly the bride reeled over,struck by a heart attack. Con-sternation replaced the generalmerrymaking. All treatmentproved useless and the womanwas pronounced dead. Two dayslater [as was prescribed by law],her body was placed inside a cof-fin and taken to the church. ARequiem Mass was sung and thefuneral procession set out onfoot for the nearby cemetery. Asthey approached its gates, one ofthe pallbearers remarked to thepastor: “It sounds as though thedead woman were beatingagainst the sides of the coffin.”

“When you’ll be dead, youwon’t be able to do that,” thepriest answered. Everyonelaughed, thinking it had been atrick of the imagination. The cof-fin was laid in the centre of St.Rocco’s chapel and the finalexequies were sung. Then every-body left except the undertakerand his attendants. As the cof-fin was about to be lowered intothe grave, the undertaker hearddistinctly some knocks from in-side the coffin. Terrified, heseized a crowbar to pry the cof-fin open, but suddenly he stayedhis hand, paralyzed at thethought that it was against thelaw to open a coffin without au-thorization. So he ran to the vil-lage and told the mayor; themayor called the doctor and allthree hurried to the cemetery.

When the coffin was opened,the doctor found that thewoman’s body was still warmand that her pulse was still beat-ing. He then made an incision inher veins and blood flowed

freely. He had her brought backto the village right away but theunfortunate woman never re-gained consciousness and died afew hours later. John who hadheard about it had gone back,was a witness to this event.Whenever he talked about it, hewould conclude his account byreminding his hearers that trulyin this world “Even in laughterthe heart may be sad and the endof joy may be sorrow” (Prov. 14,13). (EBM 1,371-372)

20. The Power of Prayer (1840)On the eve of his final exams

for his admission to Orders, thecleric Bosco came to know whattreatise he would have to takefor his examination even thoughhe had not seen it, he believed itwas not part of the curriculum.This news embarrassed him alittle. Then, instead of being dis-turbed he remembered thesewords of St. Aloysius Gonzaga:“You see clearly that it is not aboutencouraging my laziness, butavoiding the hassles that may ariseout of an involuntary forgetful-ness.”

After this he went to bed andthe following morning he pre-sented himself to the examiningcommittee in front of whom, fora long time, he answered all theirquestions and objections withconsiderable precision.

Meanwhile, between answershis face constantly bore a smilewhich he tried hard to conceal.One of the examiners noticedthis and asked him the reason forhis smile.

“I am smiling” replied thecleric, “Because so far they have


done nothing but question meabout a treatise that I had invol-untarily omitted to study, somuch so that the pages of mybook have not even been cutopen.

So saying, he took from hispocket the still brand new vol-ume and presented it to the ex-aminer. Then he narrated wordfor word all that had happenednot even omitting the quote ofSt. Aloysius and he concluded byapologizing to the committee.

Instead of reprimanding him,the examiner amiably said:

- My dear, I offer you only ourbest wishes at what has just tran-spired. Continue to pray withthis confidence in the holy voca-tion you are about to enter. Andif at this time you have per-formed so well, it will be a dayof great joy for the Church whenshe numbers you among herministers. You will do greatthings for souls. The excellentpriest certainly did not believe itwas true (D’Espiney, Don Bosco,128).

21. You will live to ninety (1840)A few months before the end

of the scholastic year, youngGeorge Moglia arrived at theseminary on an errand from hisfather, who wished John to bethe godfather of the Moglia’snewborn son. The godmotherwas to have been the Moglia’sown daughter, but she had re-fused because was bashful toappear in church alongside of aseminarian. She finally submit-ted to her father’s stern insis-tence. John accepted, but whenhe arrived at the church he

heard from Mr. Moglia who thegodmother was to be, he said:“That’s not necessary. I broughtthe godmother with me fromChieri.”

“So I may excuse my daughterthen?” asked Moglia.

“Indeed, you may.” Thedaughter, who had come theremost unwillingly, swiftly disap-peared from the scene.

“And who will be the god-mother?” Moglia asked.

“Our Lady and the Church,”John exclaimed, “and that’smore than enough!” The new-born baby was named John.

After the baptismal ceremonyand a little party, before leaving,John went to pay his respects tothe lady of the house, Mrs. Dor-othy. She complained of alwaysfeeling exhausted and expressedconcern over never again recov-ering her former strength. “Keepup your spirits,” John said toher, “and don’t worry. You’lllive to be ninety.”

As a matter of fact, she did re-cover and trusted John’s prom-ise so firmly that a few timeslater on, even when she fell seri-ously ill, she refused to take theprescribed medicines, declaring:“Don Bosco told me I shall liveto be ninety!” In fact, she sur-vived Don Bosco himself, anddied at the age of 91. After DonBosco’s death she recommendedherself daily to his intercession,firmly convinced that in Heavenhe would listen to her prayers.(EBM 1, 359-360)

22. Don Bosco…the rider (1841)Don Bosco learned to ride as a

young man by riding the horseof his parish priest Fr. Dassano.

He worked him hard and firmly,but he also rode him and whenhe became a priest he alreadyknew how to ride with a saddleand without one. It was as if hehad reached his ordination witha riding degree. He had to imme-diately put this skill to the test.It was already in October (per-haps the 24th) of 1841 a fewmonths after his ordination thathe had to mount a horse thatwould take him to Lavriano, afair distance from Castelnuovo.He had to preach a sermon onthe feast day of St. Benignus. Inorder to reach there on time hewould have to ride there onhorseback but before that he had

to celebrate Mass for the parish-ioners. He had already coveredhalf the distance trotting andgalloping when he reached thevalley of Casal Borgone, be-tween Cinzano and Bersano.

It was autumn and the maizefields were facing the road inthem were flocks of birds. Thesound of a stone was enough todisturb them and make themtake flight like a cloud. Think ofwhat could have happened withthe sound of a horse runningdownhill being prodded bysomeone racing against time notto miss an appointment. Thosebirds all shot up from a nearbymaize field like thieves caughtwith their hands in the bag, anddarted with a huge rustlingsound that shattered the pro-found silence. The horse believ-ing that it was the object of anambush quickly lost control. Theyoung priest John Bosco tryingto stay in the saddle realizedthat the straps were slipping andwhen they suddenly dislodged,the horse hurled him into the airand he fell head first on a heapof crushed stones. They had beenwere piled up there in prepara-tion for the ‘asphalting’ the roadbefore winter. The rains, thepassers-by and especially wag-ons would level them down butfor now there were just two deepfurrows like the railway tracks.

The piles were placed there bythe municipality at regular inter-vals waiting to be spread out. Itwas on one of these piles thatJohn Bosco struck his head andhe was unable to move. Thehorse trotted down on its waywith its saddle askew, manifest-ing its protest and disappoint-ment.

Right from his youth John was verypractical, and had good businesssense. During the holidays, inexchange for the Latin lessonswhich the parish priest ofCastelnuovo gave him, John wouldlook after the priest’s horse. Hereis the stable in the priest’s yard,where John would groom the horse.


1 - DO NOT BE AFRAID TO BE AFRAID1 - DO NOT BE AFRAID TO BE AFRAID1 - DO NOT BE AFRAID TO BE AFRAID1 - DO NOT BE AFRAID TO BE AFRAID1 - DO NOT BE AFRAID TO BE AFRAIDby don Giorgio Chatrian

Fortunately the scene did notescape some peasants who saw itall from a nearby farmhouse andto John’s great good fortune theydid not hesitate to run down theroad to see the disaster and whothe unfortunate victim was. Thehead of the expedition was calledJohn Cafasso. He lived at thefarmstead called the “Brina.” Herequested a family member to setout on the trail of the unbridledhorse and he himself, like a GoodSamaritan, took care of the injuredunfortunate and sent for the doc-tor.

But why such concern for astranger? Because a similar, ifnot identical situation occurredto Cafasso while he was return-ing from the fair in Asti as hecrossed the valley of Morialdo.At that time a young cleric hadcome down from his little houseat Becchi and saved him from asimilar situation, at preciselysuch a time as this. It could havebeen fatal for both man andbeast. That cleric wouldn’t hearwords of thanks but dismissedhim with the prospect that hewould one day be in need of thesame solicitude. That day hadcome and with tears of gratitudehe had reaped his reward.

Don Bosco had willingly ac-cepted to go to Lavriano also be-cause “that was the hometown ofhis friend and colleague FatherJohn Grassino.” This was whatDon Bosco wrote in his Memoirs.At that time he was probablystaying at the house of his brotherDominic and would have beenhappy to welcome John Bosco.Fate did not favour him at thattime, but it was more benign laterwhen Don Bosco needed him atthe Oratory of the Guardian An-

gels at Vanchiglia where he ap-pointed him as Rector after FatherViola and before Father Murialdo.

Later, at Valdocco he helpedDon Bosco with the discipline andadministration of the house andusually took his place for a fewyears (1849-1852) when the sainthad been called away by visits orpreaching assignments. We findthis in a letter that Don Boscowrote to Count Pio Galleanid’Agliano in 1857. He mentionedthat Father John Grassino was rec-tor of the Collegno asylum andwas a “zealous priest of impec-cable conduct.” Still later he wentas assistant pastor to Cavaller-maggiore and that’s where DonBosco suggested that he be the rec-tor of the seminary at Giaveno.

In fact, the curia of Turin haddecided to entrust the seminary toDon Bosco at any cost so that itmight be repopulated with semi-narians rather than have it takenaway by the municipality underthe pretext that it was under-uti-lized. Father Grassino at first re-luctantly accepted it fearing thathe would be a disaster, but when,thanks to Don Bosco, who gavehim the staff he needed and thestudents from Turin, he saw him-self on the crest of a wave. Whenhe thought he could go it alone, hebegan to ignore the directives thatcame from Valdocco. That deser-tion proved fatal because he wasforced to resign not favourably,while the college was once morerepopulated. In 1873 when DonBosco wrote his Memoirs at theorders of Pius IX, Father Grassinowas parish priest of Scalenghe (cf.M.B., II, 19).

After the angel’s greeting Mary“was troubled and wondered

what this greeting could mean”(Lk 1, 29).

At the announcement of theAngel, Mary said: “How is thispossible since I have no hus-band?” (Lk 1, 34)

Won’t you be disturbed, shockedor even frightened when strangergreets you? However, there’s noshock if no one asks us (or someoneelse) questions on the meaning of life,or whether God is dead. Would thatbe a problem?

More concretely, today, who ques-tions us about who we are? Wheredo you come from? Where are yougoing?

Then, there are questions aboutaffectivity... questions not about howwe discover and experience and livea journey of ever deepening relation-ships, but about how we play aroundwith our bodies and Mary teaches usto believe without being afraid of thedoubts that bombard our minds with“whys” of life.

On the contrary, it is only by ask-ing ourselves profound questionsthat we will be able to find answers

in Christ the Truth. She, Mary pre-cedes us and accompanies us on thisjourney.

I was not afraid of those whocame around visiting and greetedme: my mother Anna had taughtme always to respond to a greet-ing: that was hospitality alright.And then a stranger with a calmreassuring face came in. But fromthe way he greeted me, calling me“full of grace” and then addingthat the Lord was with me, I putmy hands to my temples, closingmy eyes tight and shaking myhead. I wondered what sensethose words made.

I recognize that you, Father,have been with me so often, in mythoughts and in the heart of thisgirl. I discovered in all that I sawaround me the things that madelife so wonderful that it made mesing and live for you.

You have taught me Lord, but Ihad never heard this before now:being called “full of grace;” thatdefinitely affected me because Iwanted to understand, to graspthe deep meaning of those words.

The angel told me that I would


NEWSBITSsoon become the mother of achild, how was this going to bepossible? I had already committedmyself to marry Joseph, the car-penter who had a shop down thestreet and who sang while heworked. At home, I hummed thetunes he liked while preparing mytrousseau and waiting for the daythey would accompany me in a bigwedding procession to his houseto be his wife forever. And Idreamed and dreamed becausethere was still so much time stillleft before that big day.

Was I to have a child right now?No, it was not possible. Lord, Iloved my husband so much and Iwould let nothing hurt our jour-ney of love. Would it have to besomeone else’s child? The possibil-ity never even occurred to me. Imust admit that in the whirlwindof these thoughts I felt a hot flashon my face...I was certainly turn-ing red.

But when I began to realize thatmy son seemed to have all the fea-tures of the son foretold in Isaiah;born of a virgin, just like I am, myheart worked up a storm!

Was it possible that the impos-sible secret dream of every youngJewess would take place in me?All of us young girls loved speak-ing about the promised Messiah.Would the Son of God Most High,descendant of David to grow inmy womb, feed at my breast andcall me mommy? Was I to watchhim grow up and – according tothe words of the prophets – hearhim preach, heal the sick, givesight to the blind, set prisoners freeand overcome the powers of dark-ness?

Lord, this seemed too much forme. I remember that I bowed myhead, wrung my hands; I could not

bridle my thoughts. I had alwaystried to follow the law, to ac-knowledge your gifts with prayerand by sharing them with othersthrough the little ways in which Iserved them as best I could.

That day I desired to follow yourplans but I was so confused andmy heart was about to burst.

So you, O Father, you made meunderstand that your ways werenot my ways and your paths werenot the ones I preferred, the quietand safe paths to travel some-times, between two walls whichreflected the warmth of the sun onmy face or the refreshing shade oftrees. You chose a direct route, apath that would immediately linkheaven with our land.

The Holy Spirit would cover mewith its shadow and behold thedream would become a reality!You also left me a concrete sign ofhow you work: Elizabeth, mycousin who has been sterile for-ever, she was expecting a childand she was already in her sixthmonth!

Before her, other sterilewomen also gave birth: Sarah,the mother of Jacob, Hannah, themother of Samuel.

Truly, nothing is impossiblefor you, my Lord.

Even a virgin, even I can con-ceive: you and only you canmake this possible, the God oflife and history! And after me,other virgins will demonstratewith all their strength or rather,your strength, and face martyr-dom fearlessly and they re-mained faithful to your Son:Cecilia, Lucy, Agnes, during theRoman persecutions, MariaGoretti at the beginning of thelast century. Thank you O Fa-ther!

VATICAN CITY

In a continent marked by “bless-ings and atrocious injustices,” theCatholic Church has the responsi-bility and mandate to “proclaim aGod of justice,” ordering the mis-sion of the Church under theMagisterium of Pope Francis, asnew president of the Federation ofBishops’ Conferences of Asia(FABC), Charles Maung Bo reflectson the role and mission of theChurch in the “continent of conti-nents”.

Your Eminence, what is the currentcondition of the Catholic Churchin Asia?

“The Church is at the crossroadsof history: in a cultural climate thatchallenges Christ’s message withideologies and technologies, theAsian Churches seek their ownway to proclaim the Gospel.Catholics in Asia are altogetherabout 143 million, or 3.2% of theglobal population of the continent,which amounts to about 4.4 billionpeople. I firmly believe that we areliving in the millennium of Asia.In the Synodal ExhortationEcclesia in Asia, John Paul II re-calls that in the first millenniumthe Cross was planted on the soilof Europe, in the second it touchedthe Americas and Africa, while inthe third millennium a great har-

vest of faith will flourish in thisvast and vital continent. This isan indispensable vocation forus.”

Are there particular traits thatdefine the way of evangelizationin Asia?

“Asia is a continent that showsblessings and atrocious injustices.Our God is a God of justice. I be-lieve that the mission of theChurch in Asia should be refo-cused on the theme of justice. Inparticular, it can be noted that asubstantial part of Catholics inmany Asian countries are indig-enous peoples. From the coasts ofsouthern China to the central ar-eas of India, there is an enormousgeographical area where the in-digenous people have lived forcenturies in harmony with na-ture, until the market economyhas created turbulence and hard-ship.

How do you see the future of theChurch in Asia?

“I see it full of challenges thatwe always put in the hands ofGod, fully aware that every chal-lenge is an opportunity, a kairòs,that is, a favorable moment toproclaim the Gospel. At a deeperlevel, a promising future can beseen in the values and virtues ofcompassion, goodness and justicepresent in the great religious tra-ditions and cultures of Asia. To-day our journey continues, withthe desire that Christ the Lordtruly becomes the way, the truthand the life, for the Catholic com-munities scattered in Asia.”

La Stampa - Paolo Affatato


IN A CHEERFUL MOODSense of DirectionAn impatient dowager fumedbecause the hotel elevator didnot arrive immediately whenshe pushed the button.“Where have you been?” Shesnapped at the operator.Came the sensible reply: “Wherecan you go in an elevator?”

Written Off“Does the club you belog to haveany death benefits?”“It certainly does, when you dieyou don’t have to pay any moredues.”

Matter of Cuisine“Shall I boil the missionary?”asked the cannibal cook. The can-nibal chief was horrified. “Boilhim!” he exclaimed. “Don’t besilly; that’s a friar.”

Proper Place“Why is it important not to loseyour head in an attack?” askedthe sergeant. And the recruit an-swered: “Because it would leaveno place to put your helmet.”

Material Choice“And see this bear on the floor,”said the garrulous explorer. “Ishot it in Alaska. It was a case ofme or him.”“Well,” yawned the weary lis-tener, “the bear certainly makesa better rug.”

Quite a BargainThe lads at the corner store wereexchanging stories about theirexperiences with the opposite

sex. “Aw,” sniffed one, “Girls area dime a dozen.”“Gee,” sighed a younger lad whohad remained silent until now,“and all this time we’ve beenbuying jelly beans.”

Dead RightMistress: “Did your husband gethurt badly when he was hit bythe car?”Liza: “Yassum, he suffered fromconclusion of the brain.”Mistress: “You mean, concus-sion of the brain, don’t you,Liza.”Liza: “No’m, I mean conclusion- he’s dead!”

Timely TruthThe prospective tenant was be-ing particular as the ownershowed him an available apart-ment.“Does the water always comethrough the roof like that?” heinquired.“No,” replied the landlord,“only when it rains.”

Eager AssistanceA blushing young womanhanded the telegraph clerk atelegram containing only aname, address and one word,“Yes.”Wishing to be helpful, the clerksaid: “You know, you can sendten words for the same price.”“I know I can,” replied theyoung woman, “But I don’tthink I’d look too eager, if I saidit ten times?”

MONSIGNOR O’FLAHERTYMONSIGNOR O’FLAHERTYMONSIGNOR O’FLAHERTYMONSIGNOR O’FLAHERTYMONSIGNOR O’FLAHERTYThe Vatican Pimpernel

John Gallagher

Hugh O’Flaherty was born in1898 in Killamey, Co. Keny

and following his education at hisparish school he studied for thepriesthood at the seminary in thetown. He was sent to Rome tostudy and it was there in 1925 hewas ondained. Father O’Flahertystayed on in Rome where he wasappointed to the diplomatic officefor the Holy See in the Vatican.Postings to Egypt, Haiti and Cze-choslovakia followed. Shortly be-fore the start of World War II, nowMonsignor O’Flaherty, he re-turned to the Vatican to serve asa senior member of staff in the dip-lomatic service.

During the years of World WarII when Rome was occupied byGerman forces Monsi-gnor O’Flaherty playeda major role in helpingescaped British prison-ers-of-war, Italian re-sistance fighters andJews being hunted downby German military per-sonnel. He organisedsafe houses which in-cluded farms and con-vents, arranged for con-ducted escape routes tofreedom resulting inover 4,000 refugees andescapees achieving lib-erty as a result of themonsignor’s actions. The Ger-mans were swift in discoveringMonsignor O’Flaherty’s involve-ment in the rescue operation butbecause the Vatican State wasneutral territory they were un-able to arrest him. Often he couldbe seen speaking to escape agents

on the stairs of St. Peter’s Basilicabut the German SS were power-less to intervene. However whenO’Flaherty the monsignor left thesafety of the Vatican as he oftendid, they still could not capturehim. This was simply due to thefact that he skilfully disguisedhimself as a city worker such as apostman, railway porter or roadsweeper. It was no wonder he wasgiven the title of the Pimpernel ofthe Vatican.The SS could assassinate him

Colonel Kappler head of theGerman SS in Rome was in-formed by his intelligence staffthat Monsignor O’Flaherty wasindeed the Pimpernel. He pursuedthis information by making a

point of meeting withthe monsignor at everyopportunity duringvarious official busi-ness meetings held inthe Vatican and on ev-ery occasion pointedout that the SS wouldarrest him should heever leave the protec-tion of the Vatican. Itwas common knowl-edge that the SS wouldassassinate him at thefirst opportunity. Un-daunted MonsignorO’Flaherty carried on

with his clandestine activities tothe fury of Kappler. When the Al-lies took control of Rome in June1944, Colonel Kappler was impris-oned and two years later he wastried as a war criminal by an Ital-ian military tribunal who sen-

continued on pg.35

Mons. O’Flaherty


LOVING CHILDREN TOTHEIR LOVING MOTHER

THEY ARE GRATEFUL TOOUR LADY AND DON BOSCO

APOSTLESHIP OF PRAYERAUGUST 2019

Evangelization: That families, through their life of prayer andlove, become ever more clearly “schools of true human growth.”

My heartfelt thanks to Jesus, Mother Mary, St. JohnBosco, St. Dominic Savio, St. Joseph of Cupertinoand all the saints for all the blessings over the yearsand for granting me success in my CA Finalexaminations. I will ever be grateful and do continueto bless and protect us always. Vanessa, UdupiMy sincere thanks to Mother Mary, Don Bosco andSt. Dominic Savio for helping my daughter securea good job with a good company and also for allthe favours received. Continue to shower yourblessings on my family. Natty CorreiaI am happy to say that a skin infection on my anklewas healed after a long time as I prayed to St.

Dominic Savio. Thank you dear saint. Iris Rodricks, MumbaiThank you Jesus, Mother Mary, Don Bosco and Dominic Savio for grantingmy daughter a suitable life partner and for all the blessings received.

A DevoteeOur sincere thanks to Jesus Christ, the Blessed Virgin Mary, St. DominicSavio and all the saints for the safe and normal delivery of a healthy babygirl to our family. Rajesh and Joan D’Souza,GoaThank you dear Mother Mary and St. Dominic Savio for the gift of agrandchild after six years of my child’s marriage. Mr. & Mrs. D’Souza

THANKS TO DEARST. DOMINIC SAVIO

My grateful thanks thanks to dearest Mother Mary for her motherlyprotection over my life and for the many favours obtained for me throughher powerful intercession with her Son, Jesus. Iris Rodricks, MumbaiThank you dear Jesus and Mother Mary for my mom’s successful heartoperation. Carol R.My sincere thanks to Jesus and Mother Mary for an admission to asuitable college for fine arts and for success in my exams. Wenona Fernandes, MumbaiOur sincere and heartfelt thanks to Jesus, Mother Mary and all the saintsfor granting us 40 years of married life and also for the many favoursreceived. Victor and Afra FonsecaThank you Most Holy Trinity and Mother Mary for giving our daughterLeanne a safe, healthy and normal delivery of a healthy baby boy.

Mr. & Mrs. Brian D’Souza, Mira Road

Thank you dear Sacred Heart of Jesus, Mother Mary and all the saintsfor the gift of a healthy baby boy to Justin and Annie after 8 years ofmarriage and also for the numerous favours received through theirintercession. Sara Peter

THE DEVOTION OF THE THREE HAIL MARYS

The devotion of the THREE HAIL MARYS isa very simple yet most efficacious devotion. Everyday,recite Three Hail Marys, adding the invocation: "OMary, My Mother, keep me from mortal sin." Manypeople recite the Three Hail Marys as part of theirmorning and night prayers. To practise this devotionin time of danger, stress, special need or temptation,is a sure means to obtain Our Lady's help.

My sincere thanks to Jesus and Mother Mary, throughthe recitation of the three Hail Marys I received manyblessings. Thank you for curing my daughterand pleasecontinue to bless us. Sandra, Goa

Thank you Jesus, Mother Mary, St.Joseph, St. John Bosco and St. DominicSavio for granting my granddaughter her OCI in the UK. Fila Dias

tenced him to life imprisonment.Kappler was found guilty of atro-cities and arranging for thedeportation of over tenthousand Jews to concen-tration camps. DuringKappler’s detention he wasvisited most weeks by Monsi-gnor O’Flaherty. In 1959Kappler converted to Catholi-cism. Almost twenty years later,suffering from terminal cancer,Kappler was hospitalised at aRome clinic. His wife visited himdaily and in 1977 with the help ofsome sympathetic guards she man-aged to have him smuggled out ofthe clinic and back to Soltau, Ger-many. The Italian government de-manded his return to Rome but theGerman authorities refused due tohis rapidly declining health.Kappler died in 1978 aged seventy.

At the end of World War II Mon-

signor O’Flaherty was acclaimedfor his courage and the respect he

showed to all regardless oftheir creed or nationality.He received the CBE, one ofBritain’s top awards, the USMedal of Freedom andItaly’s Medal of Honouralong with a lifetimepension which inci-dentally he declined.In 1960 ill-healthforced him to retire to

Cahirciveen where hestayed with his sister. He died

in 1963 and was buried in theCemetery of the Daniel O’Con-nell Memorial Church in Cahir-civeen. In his memory a grove oftrees was planted in the Kil-larney National Park as also onewas planted in his honour in YadVashem, Jerusalem by the Israeligovernment. The Vatican Pim-pernel is forever remembered.

continued from pg.33

36August 2019 Don Bosco’s Madonna

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posted at Mumbai Patrika Channel Sorting Officeon 1st & 2nd of every month

Date of Publication: 1st of every monthSubs: (one copy Rs. 20/-); Inland Rs. 200p.a; Airmail: Rs 500 p.a.

MARY WAS THERE

Don Bosco's Madonna, has developed to its present form from a folder published in 1937,by late Fr Aurelius Maschio, on behalf of the Salesians of Don Bosco, Bombay.

The magazine is sent to all who ask for it, even though there is a fixed subscription(Rs 200/- India & Rs 400/- Airmail)). We trust in the generosity of our readers/benefactors.Whatever you send us will help cover the expenses of printing and mailing; the surplus ifany, is devoted to the support of orphans and poor boys in our schools and apostolic

centres.To help a poor lad to reach the priesthood, is a privilege

You can help by establishing a Perpetual Burse with:Rs 5000/-, 10,000/-, 15,000/- for a boy studying for the priesthood;But any amount, however small, will be gratefully received.

Send your offerings by Payee cheque or Draft on Mumbai banks;MO/PO/INTL MO/BPO/Bequests, Wills, Perpetual Burses, all favouring Don Bosco'sMadonna or Bombay Salesian Society or Rev. Fr. Edwin D'Souza, (Trustee).Please address all correspondence to:

Rev. Fr. Edwin D'Souza, sdb.,SHRINE OF DON BOSCO'S MADONNA,Matunga - MUMBAI - 400 019 - INDIA

Phone/Fax: 91-22- 2414 6320, email: [email protected]

A very big thank you to Jesus and theBlessed Mary, Mother of Jesus. It wasJanuary 13th 2019 and we were trav-elling from Ernakulam to Guru-vayoor with our newly-wedded sonand daughter-in-law. We were in ahurry to reach our destination. Myhusband tried to overtake a buswhich suddenly halted at a bus-stop.In the meanwhile another car camefrom the opposite direction and therewas a headon collision but Mary wasby our side and all of us escaped un-hurt with just a few bruises. All alongthe journey I was holding the rosaryin my hand and I am sure my motherwould never let me down. ‘Jesus heldus in his arms and protected us froma huge disaster.’ Praise and thanks toyou Jesus and our Blessed MotherMary. Daisy Peter, Ernakulam

DON BOSCO'S MADONNA #RESTING Mumbai AUGUST 2019 …donboscosmadonna.org/pdf/AUG2019.pdf · DON BOSCO'S MADONNA Mumbai AUGUST 2019 vol.20 No. 4 #RESTING It isn’t my habit to ‘lust’

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