Replying to the questions of Giovanni Peduto, Fr dal Covolo first of all gave a brief account of the life of the young man who decided that he wanted to be of help to his people who were having a difficult time, and then he explained the secret of the holiness of Ceferino who looked to the example of Dominic Savio, a pupil of Don Bosco. “It is that kind of holiness that immediately reminds us of the thought of the Servant of God John Paul II in Novo Millennio Ineunte, and taken up again these days by Pope Benedict XVI in the Angelus on the Solemnity of All Saints: holiness is not an exceptional privilege reserved to a few people; rather, holiness is the demanding goal of every baptised person, it is the aim of ordinary Christian life.” The Postulator of the Salesians continued, declaring that “From this point of view - we can call it “the ‘secret of the holiness” of Ceferino – one can recognise the charismatic validity of Don Bosco’s intuitions about education.”
Fr dal Covolo pointed out what is striking about Ceferino, quoting an expression of Cardinal John Cagliero who had known the young man: “In this youngster one can see grace reigning,” is the innocence that shone out of him, and quoting the well-known proverb “a falling tree makes more noise that a growing forest” he commented: “we should never forget that the story of mankind is above all a story of grace, always sustained and enlightened by the Providence of God, in which the real heroes are the saints who throng there, those who are recognised and also those who are not canonised: this indeed is the “growing forest.”
For Fr Enrico dal Covolo Ceferino would put before the young people of today above all coherence, fidelity, persistence in regard to the duties of the ‘good citizen and the good Christian.’” The fundamental desire of Ceferino, “to be useful to his people,” is basically that of every young person of good will. This desire is most powerfully enlightened and strengthened in the following of Christ. In this way the humanitarian ideals that Ceferino, like many young people today, admired profoundly, are taken up, confirmed and strengthened thanks to faith in Christ, to the Sacraments and to prayer.”
Published 14/11/2007
