St. John Bosco, known everywhere as Don Bosco, spent his life as a father to the poor and abandoned boys of Turin. He learned juggling and magic tricks as a child so he could gather other children, win their attention, and then lead them to God. Out of that simple instinct grew one of the largest educational movements in the Church. He is the patron saint of youth, students, and apprentices, and the Church keeps his feast on January 31.
Who was St. John Bosco?
John Bosco was born on August 16, 1815, in Becchi, a poor farming hamlet in the Piedmont region of northern Italy. His father died when John was only two, and he was raised in real poverty by his mother, Margaret, remembered by generations of Salesians as "Mamma Margherita." A woman of deep faith and plain good sense, she gave him both his love of God and his tenderness toward the poor.
When he was nine, John had a vivid dream that stayed with him his whole life: a crowd of rough, quarreling boys, and a voice telling him to win them not with blows but with gentleness and love. He took it as a calling. As a boy he taught himself the tricks he saw traveling acrobats and magicians perform, then gathered the local children to watch, and once he had their attention, he would lead them in prayer and repeat the priest's Sunday sermon. He was ordained a priest in 1841.
A father to the boys of Turin
The Turin Don Bosco entered as a young priest was a city transformed by the Industrial Revolution. Boys as young as eleven and twelve had come in from the countryside looking for work and were living on the streets, in dangerous jobs, or in prison. Don Bosco went to them. He began gathering them on Sundays for games, catechism, and a hot meal, a gathering that became known as the Oratory, and settled at Valdocco in Turin. Within a few years he was caring for hundreds of boys.
He gave them what no one else would: schooling, workshops to learn a trade, music and recreation, and above all someone who believed in them. His mother left her home to come and cook, mend, and mother the boys alongside him. Not everyone approved; some accused him of luring boys from their parishes, and the police suspected his street gatherings of stirring up trouble. He kept going.
The Preventive System
Don Bosco's whole approach to education came to be called the Preventive System, built on three words: reason, religion, and loving-kindness. Instead of controlling children through punishment, he believed you prevented wrongdoing by surrounding them with warmth, faith, and constant, caring presence, so that a child had no reason to go looking for trouble. In an age of harsh discipline, teaching through love rather than fear was quietly revolutionary, and it is still the heart of Salesian education today.
The Salesians and Mary Help of Christians
In 1859 Don Bosco founded a religious society to carry on the work, naming it after St. Francis de Sales, a bishop famous for his gentleness. His followers became known as the Salesians of Don Bosco. Later, with St. Maria Mazzarello, he founded the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians to do the same work for girls.
He was an ardent devotee of the Blessed Mother under the title Mary Help of Christians, and he built a great basilica in her honor in Turin. He was also a tireless writer and publisher, and he sent his first missionaries to South America. Among the boys he formed was St. Dominic Savio, a pupil who died at just fourteen and was later canonized. Today the Salesians are one of the largest religious orders in the Church, working in around 130 countries and known especially for schools and vocational training, exactly the practical, faith-filled education Don Bosco began on the streets of Turin.
What is St. John Bosco the patron saint of?
Because of his lifelong work with the young, Don Bosco is the patron saint of youth, students, schoolchildren, apprentices, and young workers, as well as juvenile delinquents. As a prolific author and printer, he is also patron of editors and publishers. And thanks to the magic tricks he used to draw children in, he is the patron saint of stage magicians, a patronage petitioned in 2002.
Frequently asked questions
When is the Feast of St. John Bosco?
January 31, the day he died in 1888. He was canonized on Easter Sunday, 1934.
What is St. John Bosco the patron saint of?
Youth, students, apprentices, editors, publishers, juvenile delinquents, and stage magicians.
What is the Preventive System?
Don Bosco's method of education built on reason, religion, and loving-kindness, forming young people through love and encouragement rather than punishment.
Who are the Salesians?
The religious order Don Bosco founded in 1859, named after St. Francis de Sales, now working with young people in around 130 countries.
Why is he called Don Bosco?
"Don" is a traditional Italian title of respect for a priest, so he was affectionately known as Don Bosco throughout his life.
St. John Bosco devotionals
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