(ANS – Rome) –  On Monday 14 November, in preparation for the Bicentenary of the birth of Don Bosco, in 2015, the Salesians at the Salesian Pontifical University (UPS) met together for the presentation of the next edition of the  “Memorie dell’Oratorio.”

Present at the event were all the Salesians of the UPS Vice Province, staff and students, and representatives of various groups of the Salesian Family. Arranged by the Superior of the Vice Province,  Fr Joaquim D’Souza and the Rector Prof. Carlo Nanni it was organised by the Institute of Pastoral Theology in the Faculty of Theology and coordinated by the Director of the Institute, Prof. Jesús Manuel García. Also present was  Fr Francesco Cereda, General Councillor for Formation, making the Extraordinary Visitation of the UPS.
 
After being opened with a short prayer the meeting was divided into three parts. In the first  Prof. Aldo Giraudo presented the book of the “Memorie dell’Oratorio” which Don Bosco wrote between 1873 and 1875 and entrusted “to his beloved Salesian sons” in 1879. The volume, published by LAS, has an historical introduction written by Prof. Giraudo, who also prepared the historical notes.

Prof. Giraudo said that the value of this book was to be found in its presentation of an educational  system which Don Bosco himself devised as a pedagogical and pastoral proposal for someone who had decided to accept and follow his charism. Quoting Don Braido, Prof. Giraudo described the “Memorie dell’Oratorio” as “Memoirs of the future.”

Then Fr Tonelli spoke about the time it took Don Bosco to write his “Memorie”. The time needed to provide “a wise memory,” capable of offering a “impassioned interpretation” and an example  of “evocative communication” in which there is the direct co-involvement of the reader. The expression “see who is looking at you” which Don Bosco address to his reader, Fr Tonelli remarked, is“ ensured by affection and a personal relationship”.

Finally, Prof De Nitto pointed out how the three decades narrated coincide with three stages of the formation strategy: formation of the human personality, the experience of the method of accompaniment, and the offer of an educative model. In this strategy, an essential element for the success of an ”educational relationship” is the offer of oneself. For this reason, the “Memorie” provide and example of accompaniment and fulfilment to be offered to the young and to adults, and in particular to a “teaching” community such as the UPS.

At the end, in his “Good Night,” Fr Cereda expressed the hope that a reflective personal reading of the “Memorie” would help every Salesian and every member of the Salesian Family to spend well the time of preparation for the Bicentenary, a time in which not only will Don Bosco be remembered but also everything that in a providential manner has followed.

The evening ended with the solemn presentation of copies of the book to those present by Fr Cereda, Fr D’Souza and Fr Nanni.

Published 16/11/2011