July 1

1850: Mutual Aid Society

Don Bosco had always in mind the spiritual and material welfare of his boys. Lest his young workers join some liberal, irreligious society, he wanted to found one that would promote both their material and spiritual welfare. Hence he thought of a society for mutual help. The society, formally known as the “Mutual Aid Society”, was officially established at a ceremony held in the Oratory chapel on July 1, 1850. From the start, it was a success, the first seed of countless other societies or unions of Catholic workers that later appeared in Italy. (BM IV, 53)

1862: Funeral foretold

The Ruffino chronicle had the following prediction of Don Bosco: “July 1, 1862. After dinner today, Don Bosco remarked to a few around him, ‘We shall have a funeral this month.’ He repeated this later on, but always to only a few.” (BM VII, 128)

1886: Franciscan Tertiary

As a student at Chieri Don Bosco had decided to become a Franciscan. Later, he joined the Third Order in St. Francis of Assisi Church. …Father Candido Mondo, ,M.O., director of the third order in Turin, in a document dated July 1, 1886, issued at St. Thomas Monastery, declared that Father John Bosco, founder of the Salesians, has donned the habit of the tertiaries about the year 1848; that after his novitiate had professed its holy rule according to the papal constitutions; and that he therefore declared Don Bosco to be a true confrere of all the members of the three Franciscan orders. (BM III, 20)

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