(ANS - Rome) -Today, 12 June 2014, marks the 60th anniversary of the canonization of St. Dominic Savio, the first fruit of holiness germinated at the Oratory of Don Bosco. To commemorate the event we quote below the words spoken on that occasion by Pope Pius XII.

"To our eyes the image of Dominic Savio appears as that of a frail teenager, weak in body, but with a soul open in total self-offering to the delicate and demanding love of Christ. At such a tender age we might expect to find good and amiable dispositions of spirit, but we are amazed to discover the marvellous inspirations of grace, and a constant adherence without reserve to the things of heaven which his faith enabled him to perceive with a rare intensity.

At the school of his spiritual master, the great saint John Bosco,  he learned that joy in serving God and making Him loved by others can become a powerful means of apostolate.  On 8 December 1854 he was seen lifted up in an ecstasy of love for the Virgin Mary, and shortly afterwards he joined with some of his friends in the Sodality of the Immaculate Conception, in order to advance with great strides on the path of holiness, and to avoid even the least sin.

He encouraged his companions in prayer, good behaviour, frequent reception of the Sacraments, the recitation of the Holy Rosary, and avoidance of evil and temptation. Undaunted by opposition, he intervened firmly, but charitably, to recall the wayward and perverse to return to their duty. Already in this life he enjoyed the Lord’s friendship and his soul was filled with divine gifts. At an early age he left this earth to receive, with the intercession of the Queen of heaven, the reward of his filial love."

Published 12/06/2014