Don Bosco’s Devotion
to the Holy Rosary
“If you only knew how bad I used to be” says an oratory boy, “Don Bosco saved my life.”
I begin my sermonette tonight in honor of Don Bosco expressing the same debt of gratitude to him and to his spiritual sons who have continued his work. I am a product of the educational apostolate and youth ministry of the Salesians in the Philippines, and to them I shall forever be grateful.
I wanted to point this out at the onset because I want us to be reminded of the good that our service brings to young people. When we go to encounter the young and allow ourselves to become like Don Bosco by the grace of the Holy Spirit, we are able to touch their lives, inspire them to practice virtue, and bring their hearts to Jesus. And yet again, we achieve this only by becoming like Don Bosco through the Holy Spirit. This is perhaps the reason why the 26th General Chapter insisted on a “return to Don Bosco.” “To return to Don Bosco,” says the Chapter “means loving him, studying him, imitating him, invoking him and making him known...”
When I was in high school, I was attracted to the Salesian life not because of Don Bosco but because of the Salesians in Don Bosco Mandaluyong who were my good friends. In fact, when I started my aspirancy in DBTI, Makati, one of my prayers was for me to be fascinated by Don Bosco and eventually learn to love him. I did study Don Bosco, and in reading him and seeing the life lived by his sons, learned to love him. It is my belief that we keep Don Bosco alive today when we continue to make present in us his characteristics, that is, when we become like moon that reflects the brilliance of the sun.
Tonight, I’d like to share an aspect of Don Bosco’s spirituality which became for me very real this month: Don Bosco’s Devotion to the Holy Rosary.
I was not very prayerful before entering the seminary, and one of the things that I feared was the daily recitation of the Holy Rosary. I wasn’t sure whether I’d survive praying the lengthy rosary everyday. But since I really wanted to become a priest, I decided to make the most out of it by just being open to it. Eventually I learned to love the rosary.
I know that Filipinos are very devoted to the Holy Rosary, but it was only this year that I experienced the intensity of such devotion. In Mapagong 2, as in the other chapels of Mary Help of Christians Mayapa, we had our rosary rally last Oct 24. In our chapel, there was absolutely nothing special with the activity: nothing spectacular, nothing avant-garde, nothing fancy. But I was deeply touched by the devotion of the people to the Blessed Mother and the simplicity of their faith. It seemed more of a family affair, with the children happily gathered around their loving Mother to whom they go for shelter and support.
In the case of Don Bosco, we are sure that there is no question about his great love for the Blessed Mother. On the day of profession of John Francesia, Don Bosco told him “Remember: nothing, absolutely nothing , must ever be done at the Oratory except in the name of Mary!”
On December 8, 1854, the day of thanksgiving to the Immaculate Mother for having spared all the oratory boys from the cholera epidemic that devastated Turin and the surrounding areas, Don Bosco said of the rosary, it is “a wonderful means for acquiring the virtue of purity and a sure protection against the snares of the devil.” How can we be fooled by the devil when during the rosary we meditate on the mysteries of life of our Lord Jesus Christ as presented in the Gospels. On another occasion, he reminded the boys, “recite the rosary devoutly and without haste.”
According to Fr. Stella, Don Bosco considered the Rosary not as an end in itself but as a means, that is, a means of sanctification, a means to start contemplation and fervent communication to God. Perhaps it is good to ask ourselves, “does my daily recitation of the holy rosary lead me to contemplation, to a fervent communication with God, to intimacy with him?” Indeed Don Bsoco saw the rosary as a means for training in Christian perfection and our striving for salvation.
As we honor Don Bosco, we do not content ourselves with a feeling of distant admiration. We owe it to him, him who is our spiritual father, to imitate his example. As we end the month of October, perhaps it is fitting that we renew our devotion to the Holy Rosary, and we do this as a concrete expression of our commitment to follow Christ according to the way of Don Bosco.
No comments:
Post a Comment