(ANS – Rome) – In recent days, Fr Pierluigi Cameroni, Postulator General of the Salesian Family for the Causes of Saints, offered a report on work completed by his office through 2012. Other than the question of numbers, his report expresses the  rich patrimony of holiness in the Salesian Family.

“We are repositories of a precious legacy that deserves to be better known and valued”, Fr Cameroni said. “The risk is that we reduce this patrimony of holiness to liturgical memory, not fully appreciating the potential of a spiritual, pastoral, ecclesial, educational, cultural, historical, social, missionary kind. The Saints, Blesseds, Venerables and Servants of God are like precious gold nuggets picked out of the dark recesses of the mine that glint, and reflect the splendour of Christ's truth and charity in the Church and the Salesian Family”.

“The pastoral aspect touches on the effectiveness of the Saints, Blesseds, Venerables and Servants of God as successful examples of Christianity lived in various particular socio-cultural situations in the Church and the Salesian Family. The spiritual aspect implies an invitation to imitate their virtues as a source of inspiration and a way to live our lives. The pastoral and spiritual care we give to a Cause is an authentic form of the pedagogy of holiness which, because of our charism, we should be especially sensitive and attentive to”.

On 31 December 2012 the official list is as follows: 9 Saints, 116 Blesseds, 10 Venerables and 30 Servants of God of whom 8 are awaiting the “Positio super vita, virtutibus et fama sanctitatis” or “super martyrio”, and 4 are in phase of this being drawn up, while for a further 4 the Diocesan Inquiry has already been concluded, and is still in progress for another 4. For 2 the “supplex libellus” has already been presented. There are a further 6 causes, beyond the Salesian Family which have been entrusted to Fr Cameroni.

During 2013 the following anniversaries should be remembered:

• 125th anniversary of Don Bosco's death (Turin 31 January 1888)
• 100th of the birth of Attilio Giordani (Milan 3 February 1913)
• 75th of the Beatification of Mary Domenica Mazzarello (20 November 1938)
• 50th of the death of Fr Augustus Arribat (La Navarre 19 March 1963) and Fr Joseph Quadrio (Turin 23 October 1963)
• 25th of the Beatification of Laura Vicuna (Castelnuovo Don Bosco 3 September 1988)

“Each one of our Saints, Blesseds, Venerables, Servants of God brings a wealth of aspects that deserve greater consideration and appreciation”, Fr Cameroni commented. ”Getting to know them and making them known for the extraordinary kind of believers they were generates a gradual involvement in the same way they chose, a passionate interest in the events of their lives, and a joyful sharing of the plans and hopes that led them to take the steps they took”.

In the appropriate section of sdb.org you can find brief profiles, and other data and resources on these personages of Salesian holiness.

Published 23/01/2013