ANS - Urgnano) -Today, Friday 7 February, the relics of  Don Bosco have come to Urgnano, near Bergamo. This small town is not just another stop in the itinerary of the worldwide pilgrimage of the relic of Don Bosco. A woman called Caterina Lanfranchi Pilenga lived at Urgnano. She was suffering from a severe form of arthritis and was miraculously healed  when she invoked the intercession of Don Bosco. This was the miracle that opened the way to Don Bosco’s canonization.

In the Decree Geminata Laetitia of His Holiness Pope Pius XI that proclaimed Don Bosco a Saint on Easter Sunday, 1 April 1934, we read:

Caterina Lanfranchi, wife of Alessandro Pilenga, suffered from arthritic diathesis. The arthritis affected especially her knees and feet. There were organic lesions, and her limb functions were severely impaired,  but her life was not in danger. Since 1903 all treatment had proved in vain. She went twice as a pilgrim to Lourdes, but did not obtain a cure through the intercession of the Blessed Virgin. On her second pilgrimage at the beginning of May 1931, before leaving she prayed to Our Lady: "Since I have not received healing here at Lourdes, at least grant me, because of the devotion I have for Blessed John Bosco, that he may obtain it for me in Turin."

She returned from France, still in the same condition and on May 6 at she went to the Basilica of Mary Help of Christians in Turin. With the help of her sister and the coachman she got out of the carriage, went into the church and sat down to pray in front of the body of Blessed John Bosco. A little while later, she knelt for about twenty minutes. She got up, went to the Altar of the Blessed Virgin and knelt down again. Then, as if coming back to herself, she became aware that she was cured. From that moment she was able to walk freely without any assistance, to the astonishment of all present  who knew that she was unable to walk. She was able to get in and out of the carriage and to climb the stairs without difficulty. The recovery has lasted since then as three expert witnesses have testified. The doctors who cared for her then, as well as the witnesses and the experts appointed by the Office of the Sacred Congregation of Rites, have unanimously attested the miracle.

In recent days the newspaper L'Eco di Bergamo interviewed Italo Pilenga, one of Caterina’s grandchildren. He had this to say: "Even though I was not yet born at the time of the event, I remember my grandmother Catherine well. He story has made its mark on our family. Suffice it to say that we almost all went to study with the Salesians. I attended Junior High School with them. Ours was a large matriarchal family with Grandmother Caterina and Grandfather Alessandro at the centre.”

Published  07/02/2014