I have a particular love for Saint John Bosco. I love his philosophies of rearing children and education. I love his practical, no-nonsense advice for life. I love his heart for teaching and training boys that the world thought were hopeless. God called this Italian priest in the 1800's to found a school for these boys and train them in a life of virtue. For that reason, he was claimed some years ago as patron of our little homeschool here and I feel like he has a special watch over our family. I think it's particularly neat that his birthday is the same day as our wedding anniversary.
His feast day is on January 31 and we'll be taking some time to honor our patron!
We're going to make it a priority to get to Mass. After all, there's no better way to live the liturgical year than with the liturgy. But also, listen to what he says:
"Be eager to go to Mass on weekdays also, even if it costs a sacrifice. Our Lord will reward you with His blessings and make you succeed in your undertakings."
Sooo it seems especially appropriate to honor him by making sure to get there...and that quote is the kick I need to get out of the rut we've been in of not going.
We'll watch Saint John Bosco - Mission to Love. Our parish has a copy we can borrow and it's really well done.
If I'm feeling extra energetic and generous, we'll go somewhere just for fun. The weather here has been pretty gloomy, rainy, and cold all of January so a park or something is out of the question but we've been stuck inside so much, the boys would probably be thrilled with just a trip to Hobby Lobby! He's also the patron saint of magicians so maybe I'll actually encourage John Paul to put on a show for us of all those card tricks he loves.
Bosco was nicknamed the "clown of God" because of his love of laughter and jokes, especially in teaching his boys. So for dinner we'll be creating our "clown of God" pancakes. I think he'd like that idea. (Another idea, of course, is to have an Italian dinner!)
Want to know just a very few of other great Bosco quotes? Sure you do. And I have my even more favorites that I'll be sharing soon...
"A day that fills the heart with remorse and fear of God’s judgment cannot be called a day of amusement."
“Act today in such a way that you need not blush tomorrow.”
"Be humble and patient, and the Lord Jesus will give you the will and the means."
"Human nature is weak and the devil is always most active after a conversion. We can never have too much pity for those who have fallen."
"The devil loves darkness. He always operates in the dark because he knows that if he is discovered he is beaten."
Saint John Bosco, pray for us.
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Do you know of any good books about him?
ReplyDeleteDefinitely his memoirs which it looks like are only available on Kindle right now: http://amzn.to/2khz4LP. The Educational Philosophies of St. John Bosco I read years ago and I remember it being very good! I wish some publishers would rerelease some of his own writings but they're very hard to find now.
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