Andrea Bozzolo – Don Bosco’s childhood dream, Theological reading

The year 2024 will commemorate the bicentennial of Don Bosco’s “nine-year dream.” This significant anniversary commemorates an event that Don Bosco regarded as one of the most pivotal in his personal life and profoundly influential for his mission.In his Memoirs of the Oratory, Don Bosco himself emphasized the enduring impact of this dream on his psyche throughout his life. He believed that it held a unique and foreshadowing significance for the evolution of his mission. Furthermore, in 1858, during Don Bosco’s visit to Rome to discuss the establishment of the Congregation with Pope Pius IX, the Pope inquired about any occurrences with supernatural implications. It was during this conversation that Don Bosco shared the very same dream with the Pope. In response, Pope Pius IX instructed him to meticulously document the dream’s details, leaving it as an inspiration for the future members of the Congregation, whose formation had prompted Don Bosco’s visit to Rome.

Reference time period: 1815 – 1888

Reference institution:
Archivio Salesiano Centrale