Pascual Chavez Villanueva – “«He summoned those He wanted and they came to Him» (Mk 3,13). On the 150th anniversary of the founding of the Salesian Congregation” in “Acts of the General Council of the Salesian Society of St John Bosco”

Significant events have influenced our Congregation, including the winter plenary session of 2008-2009, the International Congress on the “Preventive System and Human Rights,” and the Spirituality Days of the Salesian Family. Visits to Provinces in southern India were also conducted. Reflecting on the Feast of the Annunciation, the profound nature of vocation is highlighted, particularly through the calling of the Twelve disciples by Jesus, emphasizing the importance of companionship and shared mission within the Salesian tradition. As we commemorate the 150th anniversary of our Congregation’s founding, there is an opportunity to renew our commitment to Don Bosco’s vision.

Contents:

• 1. “AN ACT OF GREAT SIGNIFICANCE”
  • 1.1. A start is made in the name of Our Lady
  • 1.2 Days of waiting
  • 1.3 The boys from the ‘black belt’
• 2. FOR THE YOUNG AND WITH THE YOUNG, DON BOSCO FOUNDER
  • 2.1 The event
  • 2.2 Our young ‘founding fathers’
  • 2.3 Involving today’s young people
    • a) Don Bosco had the intuition that for his Congregation the right path was that of youth
    • b) Don Bosco was not afraid to engage his boys in activities that were courageous and humanly speaking imprudent
    • c) The Sodality of Mary Immaculate founded by Saint Dominic Savio, was the small field in which the first seeds of the Salesian crop germinated
• 3. CONSECRATED TO GOD IN THE YOUNG
  • 3.1 Sons of CONSECRATED Founders
  • 3.2 Don Bosco’s teaching to his Salesians
• 4. OUR CONSTITUTIONS, THE WAY OF FIDELITY
  • 4.1 The first photograph Don Bosco wanted
  • 4.2 A long and thorny path
  • 4.3 Sacred nature of the Rule approved by the Church
  • 4.4 The constant recurring theme of Don Bosco and of Don Rua
  • 4.5 The renewal of the Constitutions
  • 4.6 The words of the testament
• 5. DON BOSCO FOUNDER OF “AN VAST MOVEMENT OF PERSONS WHO, IN DIFFERENT WAYS WORK FOR THE SALVATION OF THE YOUNG’ ” (C. 5)
  • 5.1 “The Sons of the Oratory scattered all over the earth”
  • 5.2 The vast network of the Salesian Family
  • 5.3 What Don Bosco heard and saw
• CONCLUSION

Reference time period: 2009

Reference institution:
Direzione Generale SDB