A lamp, died out for want of oil!

Tomorrow, April 1. Besides the pranks of April fool there is something else that this particular day brings to the mind of every salesian.  April 1, 1934 the day when Don Bosco was proclaimed a saint of the Catholic Church.  Seventy seven years from his canonization, Don Bosco is one of the few most loved and known saints in the whole world, even to the extent of being quoted by the president of America. (“...Brasilia is a young city – it will turn 51 next month. But it began as a dream more than a century ago. In 1883, Dom Bosco, Brasilia’s patron saint, had a vision that one day, a capital city of a great nation would be built between the 15th and 20th parallels. It would be a model for the future and ensure that opportunity was the birthright of every Brazilian...". These were the words of Barak Obama in a discorse at Brasilia during his recent visit to the South American country. 

But what makes this saint so lovable and acceptable to everyone? What has this poor priest of Becchi done to merit so much of affection and appreciation from world over? I think a small text from the biographical memoirs sums up beautifully well the life of this great saint.

On 28 December 1887, in response to Mr. Saint-Genset’s question about Don Bosco’s health, Dr. Fissore who was attending on Don Bosco said: “Don Bosco is finished, gone, and we have no hope to save him.  He is suffering from a cardio-pulmonary ailment, he has lesions on the liver and complications of the spinal cord with consequent paralysis of the lower limbs.  He cannot talk.  His kidneys and lungs hardly work.”  When asked for the cause of Don Bosco’s sickness the doctor continued: “There is no single cause.  It is the result of general exhaustion, the result of a life worn away by unceasing work and continuous worries.  Don Bosco is simply worn out because of too much work.  He is not dying because of any particular disease, but he is like a lamp which is slowly dying for want of oil” (Biographical Memoirs, XVIII, p.424).

On Easter Sunday, April 1, 1934, Pope Pius XI declared Don Bosco a saint; the Pope styled him "a giant of sanctity."  On this day when we commemorate his canonization there is no better prayer to make other than asking God a small share of the spirit and zeal of this great champion of sanctity.