Don Bosco’s Last Years, His Last Illness and Saintly Death from Eyewitness Accounts

Don Boscos Last Years: His Last Illness and Saintly Death

Introduction
Part I: Chronicles and Memoirs
I-Carlo Maria Viglietti: His Chronicles and Memoirs
(1)Viglietti, Don Bosco’s Secretary
(2)Viglietti’s Chronicles and Memoirs
[i] Original Chronicle
[ii] Transcribed and Edited Chronicle 1884-1888
[iii] Short Autobiographical Memoir
[iv] Diary
[v] Additional Chronicle 1884-85
[vi] Scrapbook-Style Collection 1886-1896
[vii] Partial Calligraphic Chronicle 1884-1885
II-Pietro Giuseppe Enria and His Memoirs
(1)Enria, Don Bosco’s Sick-Room Attendant
(2)Enria’s Memoir
III-Antonio Sala and His Memoir
(1)A Word about the Man
(2)Sala’s Memoir
IV-Francesco Cerruti and His Memoir
V-Father Michael Rua’s Reports
VI-Dr. Giovanni Albertotti and His Biography of Don Bosco
Part II: Don Bosco’s Bouts with Illness and the Years of His Decline
I-Antecedent Medical History
II-The Crises of 1884
(1)February 1884
(2)Journey to France and Dr. P.-M Combal’s Diagnosis
(3)September 1884
III-The Period of Quasi-Retirement and Decline (1885-1887)
(1)The Trip to Southern France in Early 1885
(2)Summer and Autumn of 1885
(3)Don Bosco’s trip to Spain (Barcelona) in Early 1886
[i] Passing through Southern France
[ii] Barcelona
(4)Back in Turin in the Latter Half of 1886
(5)Don Bosco in Early 1887
(6)The Last Journey—to Rome
(7)Summer and Autumn of 1887
(8)Foreboding of the End: December 1-20, 1887
Part III: Don Bosco’s Last Illness and Saintly Death
Introductory Comment of the Nature of Don Bosco’s Last Illness
I-The First Crisis: December 20-31, 1887
II-Period of Illusory Recovery: January 1-20, 1888
III-The Final Crisis and Don Bosco’s Saintly Death: January 21-31, 1888
(1)Sudden and Inexorable Relapse: January 21-28, 1888
(2)Hope No More: January 29, 1888
Conclusion

The Bosco-Gastaldi Conflict (1872-82), Part II

The Bosco Gastaldi Conflict Part II

Introduction: Establishing a Framework
Part I. The Bosco-Gastaldi Conflict from the Approval of the Salesian Constitutions to Archbishop
Fissore’s Failed Mediation (May 1874 – February 1875)
Recalling the Issues in Context
Initial Action by the Protagonists: Renewed Recourse To Rome
The Planned Spiritual Retreat for School Teachers
An Incident Regarding the Giving of the Clerical Habit
Don Bosco’s Acceptance of Diocesan Seminarians and
New Appeals to Rome
Further Episodes and Don Bosco’s Appeals to Rome
Archbishop Fissore’s Mediation
Part II. Developments and Episodes in the Years 1875-77 Leading to the Break
Don Bosco’s Petition for More Extended Privileges
The Work of Mary Help of Christians (Sons of Mary) and the Salesian Cooperators-and Gastaldi’s
Opposition
Don Bosco’s Supposed “Suspension”
Gastaldi’s Threatened Resignation
Don Bosco’s Publication of Graces of Mary Help of Christians
Archbishop Federico Aneiros’ Visit
Former Diocesan Seminarian Father Angelo Maria Rocca
Father Giovanni Perenchio and Father Giuseppe Lazzero
Part III. The Final Phase Of The Bosco-Gastaldi Connict (1878-1882)
The Five Anonymous Anti-Gastaldi Pamphlets
The Bonetti-Gastaldi Confrontation: Origin and Early Development to Father Bonetti’s Suspension (1878-1879)
Development of the Bonetti-Gastaldi Controversy with Don Bosco’s Involvement (1879-1880)
The Bosco-Gastaldi Conflict after the Appearance of the Defamatory Pamphlets to the Conclusion of the Bonetti Affair and the Concordia (1880-1882)
Concluding Comments on the Final Phase of the Conflict
General Concluding Comments and Evaluation
Bibliographical Note

The Bosco-Gastaldi Conflict (1872-82), Part I

The Bosco Gastaldi Conflict (1872 82) Part I

General Introduction
Nature and Serious Character of the Conflict
Length and Complexity of the Conflict
Method Employed in the Present Study
SECTION ONE: LAWRENCE GASTALDI-A BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH
Introduction
Lawrence Gastaldi’s Early Life to His Appointment as Bishop of Saluzzo (1815-1867)
Family, Education, and Priesthood
Rosmini’s Institute of Charity and Missionary Activity in England
Pre-Episcopal Period in the Turin Archdiocese
Five Years of Activity as Preacher and Writer
Father Gastaldi and Don Bosco
Lawrence Gastaldi, Bishop of Saluzzo (1867-1871)
The Man and the Priest
Gastaldi’s Ministry as Bishop of Saluzzo
The Setting
The Pastoral Visitation
The First Vatican Council
New Pastoral Goals and Illness
Lawrence Gastaldi, Archbishop of Turin (1871-1883)
Appointment
Facing a Difficult Situation
The Struggle for the Exequatur
Gastaldi the Reformer-Pastor Bishop
Rosminian Influence
Gastaldi’s Conception of Episcopal Office
Gastaldi’s Personality and Character
Gastaldi’s Collaborators
Reform of the Clergy and Church Life: Synods
Assessment of Church Life
Synod of 1873
Synod of 1874
Synod of 1878
liturgical Calendars
Reform of Structures for the Education and Formation of the Clergy
The School of Theology and the Theological Faculty
Reform of Diocesan Seminaries
Reform of the Convitto Ecclesiastico and of the Teaching of Moral Theology
Archbishop Gastaldi’s Pastoral Activity among the People
New Parishes
Preaching and Religious Instruction
Doctrinal Teaching
Pastoral Visitation
The Social Question and the Catholic Lay Movement
Archbishop Gastaldi’s Relationships with Religious
Marie-Louise-Angelique Clarac
Francesco Faa di Bruno
Archbishop Gastaldi’s Death
SECTION TWO: FIRST PHASE OF THE CONFRONTATION: ARCHBISHOP GASTALDl’S CLASH WITH DON BOSCO OVER THE SPIRIT OF THE SALESIAN SOCIETY AND THE APPROVAL OF ITS CONSTITUTIONS
Antecedents
Initial Phases in the Development of the Salesian Constitutions and the Decretum Laudis
New Move for Approval and Archbishop Riccardi’ s Opposition
Approval of the Society Not of the Constitutions
Lawrence Gastaldi Archbishop-Initial Estrangement
Hardening of Gastaldi’s Position
Process for the Definitive Approval of the Constitutions Begun
Gastaldi’s “Declaration of Intent”
Clash over the Approval of the Constitutions (1873-1874)
Gastaldi’s Conditions for His Support
Gas taldi s Brief Presented in Rome: Objections and Demands
Trials and Tribulations of the Approval: The First Unsuccessful Presentation
Petition for Definitive Approval
Further Incidents in a Deteriorating Situation
The Bianchi-Vitelleschi Thirty-Eight I Twenty-Eight Animadversiones (Critical Observations) on the Text of 1873
Don Bosco’s Response to the Animadversiones (Critical Observations)
Don Bosco’s Second Petition, Further Revisions, and Definitive Approval
Conclusion

The Convitto Ecclesiastico – “Where One Learnt to be a Priest”

The Convitto Ecclesiastico: Where One Learnt to Be a Priest

Introduction
Historical Context: Trends in Theology and Ecclesiology
The Jesuits and Their Activity
The ‘Amicizie’
The Congregation of the Oblates of the Virgin Mary
Projects for the Convitto
The Convitto Established at St. Francis of Assisi
Life and Spirit at the Convitto
The Convitto’s Holy Patrons
The Preamble: “Reasons”
Chapter I: “Daily Time Table”
Chapter II: “Rules”
The Additional Paragraphs
Academic Activity at the Convitto
Practical Pastoral Experiences of the Convitto Students
The Convitto’s Survival and Growth: The Guala Rectorate (1817-1848)
The Convitto’s Halcyon Period:
The Cafasso Rectorate (1848-1860)
The Convitto After Fr. Cafasso: Crisis in the Gastaldi Period (1860-1876)
The Convitto’s Deepening Crisis and Closure
Fr. Giuseppe Allamano and the New Convitto

Don Bosco’s Vocation-Mission Dream-Its Recurrence and Significance

Don Boscos Vocation Mission Dreams

Introduction
Part I. Witnesses and Reports of Don Bosco’s Vocation-Mission Dreams
The Vocation-Mission Dream Line in Lemoyne’s Biographical Memoirs
Text and Source-critical Study of the Vocation-Mission Dream Narratives in Vol. I of the Biographical Memoirs
The First Dream (the Beech/ or Morla/do Dream-the original vocation-mission dream)
The Dream at the Age of 16 (First Turco-Related Dream)
The Dream at the Age of 19
The Dream at the Age of Twenty-one
The Dream at the Age of Twenty-two
Text and Source-Critical Study of the Vocation-Mission Dream Narratives in Vol. II of the Biographical Memoirs
The Dream of 1844
The First & Second Dream of the Holy Martyrs
Sources of the First and Second Dream of the Holy Martyrs
Context of the First and Second Dream of the Holy Martyrs
The Textual Tradition of the First Dream of the Holy Martyrs
The Textual Tradition of the Second Dream of the Holy Martyrs
Comparative Table and Reference Data of Dream Source Texts Compiled and Interpreted in the Biographical Memoirs
Part II. Don Bosco’s Vocation-Mission Dreams in Their Historical Setting and Their Significance for Vocational Discernment at Critical Turning Points
Evaluation of Data and Conclusions to Be Drawn from the Foregoing Text and Source-critical Study
Don Bosco’s Memoirs-the Point of Reference
First Vocational Awareness and the First Dream at the Age of Nine
The Calosso Experience and the Dream of ‘Reprimand’
Vocational Decision at Chieri
Vocation Decision in 1844
Conclusion
APPENDIX I: THE FIRST (BECCHl/MORIALDO) DREAM AT THE AGE OF
NINE/TEN
APPENDIX II: THE FIRST TURCO-RELATED DREAM
APPENDIX III: THE DREAM OF ‘IMPERIOUS COMMAND’
APPENDIX IV: THE CLOTHES-MENDING DREAM
APPENDIX V: THE SECOND TURCO-REIATED DREAM
APPENDIX VI: THE DREAM OF 1844
APPENDIX VII: THE FIRST DREAM OF THE HOLY MARTYRS
APPENDIX VIII: THE SECOND DREAM OF THE HOLY MARTYRS

Bosco’s “Boswell” Fr. John Baptist Lemoyne and his Work

Don Boscos Boswell John Baptist Lemoyne: The Man and His Work

Fr. John Baptist Lemoyne (1839-1916)-A Biographical Sketch
Early Years
Seminary Formation and Priestly Ordination
Meeting With Don Bosco
One Year with Don Bosco and Perpetual Profession
Director of the Salesian School at Lanzo (1865-1877)
Local Spiritual Director of the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians at Momese and Nizza (1877-1883)
Secretary to Don Bosco and to the Superior Chapter (1883-1916)
Father Lemoyne and the Biographical Memoirs
The Origin of a Biography and the Choice of Lemoyne for the Work
Lemoyne’s Systematic Search for and Collection of Biographical Documentation
Lemoyne’s Documenti
The Biographical Memoirs
Schematic View of the Publication History of the Biographical Memoirs in the Original Italian Edition
Lemoyne as Historian – His Method in Editing the Biographical Memoirs
Lemoyne’s Compilation Method
Lemoyne’s Interpretation of Documents
Lemoyne’s Use of Documentation
Lemoyne’s Charismatic Portrayal of Don Bosco

The Earliest Biographies of Don Bosco and Their English Translations

The Earliest Biographies of Don Bosco and Their English Translations

by Arthur J. Lenti, SDB

Subjects:

Early Sketches
Dr. Charles D’Espiney’s Don Bosco and its Enghlish Language Counterparts
Biography in the Miracle-Oriented, Laudatory Tradition
Criticism of Dr. D’Espiney’s Biography
Dr. D’Espiney’s Dom Bosco for the English-speaking public
Miss McMahon Translation of 1884
Mrs. Barker’s 1885 Adaptation of D’Espiney Dom Bosco
Fr. Bonetti’s Storia and its English-Language Derivative
Fr. Bonetti’s Cinque Lustri and Its English Counterpart
Don Bosco’s Early Apostolate
Importance and Character of Fr. Bonetti’s Biography
Mr Du Boy’s Dom Bosco
Don Bosco’s Revisions
Mr. Du Boys’ Conscientious Use of Sources
Mr. Villefranche’s Vie de Dom Bosco and Lady Martin’s English Translation
Quality of the Original Work and of its Translation
Don Bosco’s Ambivalent Attitude Toward His Own Biography
Conclusion: General Evaluation of Early Biographical Writing on Don Bosco

Don Bosco’s Battle Against Illiteracy

Don Boscos Battle against Illiteracy

by Michael Ribotta, SDB

Subjects:

Education in Light of Don Bosco’s Historical Contex: Intentional Suppression Literacy Rates
The Ambitions of a Poor Priest John Bosco
Early Efforts
The Metric System
The Primacy of Morality in Education
Finding Educators
Parallels and Improvements from Lancasterian Education
Tensions: Linguistic Regionalism
Epic Secular Literature: Important Secular Influence in Don Bosco’s Education