| RMG – A new publication from the Salesian Historical Institute |
| RMG – Tragic accident at the entrance to the Generalate |
| RMG – Publication of the Acts of the Seminar in Krakow |
The book is one of the sources used by Fr Lemoyne in drawing up the 45 volumes of the “Documents for writing the history of Fr. John Bosco, of the Oratory of St. Francis of Sales and of the Salesian Congregation,” which would then be used in the various volumes of the Memorie Biografiche.
The production of this previously unpublished source has been the work of Fr Pablo Marín Sánchez, a member of the ISS. It contains the critical text in Italian, the language of the original, of the first draft of the chronicle about Don Bosco written by his young secretary Carlo Maria Viglietti, He lived at the side of the founder from 20 May 1884 until his death. The introduction and the notes are in Spanish.
This “primitive chronicle” about Don Bosco covers the last three years of the life of the “father and teacher of youth,” i.e. between 24 March 1885 and 31 January 1888. It begins with an account of the last journey Don Bosco in France (24 March - 6 May 1885); of the first and only triumphant journey a month later to Barcellona (Spain); of the dream about the “future of the Congregation” he had in Sarrià, near Barcellona; of his last audience with Pope Leo XIII; of the blessing of the church of the Sacred Heart in Rome; of the earthquake in Liguria; of the arrival of the Salesians in London; of the departure of the Salesian missionaries for Uruguay and Ecuador… The chronicle ends with the diary of Don Bosco’s final illness and his death on 31 January 1888.
The critical text of the chronicle about Don Bosco written by the young secretary who was “a great enthusiast of the saint,” is of great interest for Salesians, members of the Salesian Family and friends of the Piedmontese saint, as also for scholars - since it is the first document closest to the events, in other words less elaborated than those which followed it; therefore “the most accurate” and authoritative.
Published 05/03/2010
