St. Dominic Savio

Vol. 12, No. 45
SALESIANS OF DON BOSCO, PROVINCE OF ST. PHILIP THE APOSTLE
May 7, 2015
Provincial’s Calendar
May
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10-12
13-15
16-17
18-20
21-22
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Veronica Bryant
Birthday Celebrations
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St. Dominic Savio
One of the benefits of the current age is that we are blessed
with a richer historical understanding of Don Bosco, his times,
and life at the Oratory in Valdocco. For us, this deeper and broader familiarity with the historical development of Don Bosco’s
charism, mission, and movement offers a more focused perspective on the priorities, inner motivations, life style, and operational
processes that are the foundational elements in the way we are Message from
called as disciples of Christ in Don Bosco’s spirit.
Fr. Provincial
It is quite instructive to review the materials preserved in our
historical writings and in modern scholarship. It is instructive for us to reflect on both
the Life of St. Dominic Savio by St. John Bosco and the more recent writings of Fr.
Arthur Lenti or Fr. Teresio Bosco. Certainly the teachings of Fr. Pascual Chavez,
Rector Major emeritus, are helpful in this regard.
A history as rich as that of St. Dominic Savio could lead us to a variety of understandings on the nature of his holiness, his apostolic ministry, his sacramental piety,
his moral convictions, his openness to the spiritual direction given him by St. John
Bosco, and his role as a model of holiness for young people of all times. Undoubtedly, we all have our own perspective on the profound meaning that St. Dominic Savio
brings to the way we live as disciples of Christ in the spirit of Don Bosco.
My understanding of St. Dominic Savio is tightly intertwined with the basic
movements within the Church and the Salesian Congregation that are carrying us
Office days and short visits to
communities
Liturgy with Salesian young
people at Great Adventure,
Jackson, N.J.
Visit with the novices in St.
Joseph Novitiate, Rosemead,
Calif.
Visit Salesian community in
Surrey, B.C.
Visit Salesian community in
Edmonton, Alta.
Provincial council meeting,
New Rochelle, N.Y.
Office days and short visits
Marian Day for the Salesian
Family, Marian Shrine, Stony
Point, N.Y.
May
Fr. James McKenna
Fr. Joseph Vien
Fr. Abraham Feliciano
Bro. Benito Guerrero (SUO)
Bro. Marcel Gauthier
Bro. Stephen Eguino
Fr. Joseph Hannon
Pray for the Sick
 Bro. Jerry Harasym
 Fr. Armand Quinto
 Elizabeth Brennan, Fr. Tom
Brennan’s mother
 Alviera Nazzaro, Fr. John
Nazzaro’s mother
 Josephine Reynolds, Fr.
Anthony D’Angelo’s sister

Remember the Deceased
Sister Antoinette Cabrera, FMA
PHOTO: The Salesian Family
gathered in Washington, D.C., to
celebrate the bicentennial of the
birth of St. John Bosco. Story on
page 5.
May 7, 2015
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forward in the current day. It is both instructive and inspiring to reflect on the life and ministry of St. Dominic Savio
in the light of these basic principles that have characterized our vocational journey over the last five years.
From his earliest years, St. Dominic Savio based his
life around a personal intimacy with Jesus and his mother,
Mary. When receiving the Eucharist for the first time,
Dominic took as his motto for life: “My friends will be
Jesus and Mary.” This basic principle led Dominic to live
a deeply personal relationship with God and Mary, the
mother of God. Dominic lived in intimate union with God
throughout his life. Times of prayer and sacraments were
not moments of God breaking into his daily life. Rather,
they were more explicit expressions of the intimacy that
Dominic was living throughout the day.
St. Dominic Savio lived his baptismal promises in a
very direct and practical manner. He lived as a missionary
disciple of Christ who was called to proclaim the Gospel
to everyone he met: fellow students, friends in the Immaculate Conception Sodality, adults in the Oratory, teachers,
and even St. John Bosco. St. Dominic Savio was a missionary evangelizer in the way he lived (an example of
joyful Christian living to his fellow students) and in the
way that he assisted Don Bosco in carrying on Christ’s
mission in the Oratory (forming the members of the Immaculate Conception Sodality to become missionary disciples in the spirit of Don Bosco). Through their membership in the Immaculate Conception Sodality, the older students in Don Bosco’s Oratory were guided in a formation
program that deepened their relationship with Jesus and
Mary, called them to service to their fellow students, and
nourished a sense of fraternity within that small group.
When walking together with his fellow students to and
from their academic courses, St. Dominic Savio drew his
companions into a small Christian community that was
characterized by spiritual accompaniment. St. Dominic
Savio not only walked with his companions on the way to
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school. He led these young men along a journey of faith
that drew them to recognize the gifts that God had given
them. Together, they discerned how those gifts could lead
to a life-long commitment to faith, hope, and charity as
disciples of Christ.
For us, it is important to note that in 1859, when Don
Bosco invited young men from the Oratory to be founding
members of his new religious congregation, at least 10 out
of the 15 were members of the Immaculate Conception
Society who had been formed as followers of Christ by
the spiritual animator of that sodality, St. Dominic Savio.
Fr. Pascual Chavez noted on the occasion of the 150th
anniversary of the founding of the Salesian Congregation
that when comparing the names of the Immaculate Conception Sodality members with the founding group of our
congregation we are led to the conviction that “the
‘Sodality’ had been the ‘proving ground’ for the Congregation that Don Bosco was preparing to found. It was the
small field in which the first seeks of the Salesian harvest
began to sprout” (AGC #404, p. 39).
St. Dominic Savio is certainly the patron saint of the
young. However, he is also a model for all of us who are
called to serve the young in the spirit of Don Bosco: intimate with the Lord and Mary, his mother; missionary disciples in Christ; spiritual accompaniment along the path of
life. If we want our province and the Salesian Congregation to grow, we can do no better than to look to the example of St. Dominic Savio for an indication to a hopeful
way to the future of Don Bosco’s mission and family in
the Eastern U.S. and Canada.
Thomas A. Dunne, SDB
Provincial
Published weekly by the Salesians of Don Bosco for the territory of Canada and the Eastern U.S.A.
Copyright © 2015
Salesian Society, Inc. - Province of St. Philip the Apostle
148 E. Main Street, PO Box 639, New Rochelle, NY 10802-0639 USA
Very Fr. Thomas Dunne, SDB, Provincial
Editor: Fr. Michael Mendl, SDB - salesianstudies@gmail.com
Publisher: Fr. Dennis Donovan, SDB
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SALESIANS
OF DON BOSCO
May 7, 2015
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PROVINCIAL ANNOUNCEMENTS
The Salesians of Don Bosco in the St. Philip the Apostle Province and the Archdiocese of
Washington jointly announce the appointment of Fr. Michael Conway, S.D.B., as the
President of Don Bosco Cristo Rey High School and Corporate Work Study Program in
Takoma Park, Maryland. Fr. Conway will succeed Fr. Steven Shafran, S.D.B., in this
leadership position. Fr. Conway’s appointment as President will begin on July 1, 2015.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Most Reverend Blase J. Cupich, archbishop of Chicago, has definitively received Fr. Omar Oswaldo
Guillen into the presbyterate of the archdiocese of Chicago by a decree of incardination issued on May 5,
2015, in accordance with canon 267 §1 of the Code of Canon Law. With gratitude for his contributions to
our province for ten years, we wish Fr. Guillen fruitful ministry as a diocesan priest. We assure him of our
continued prayers.
JERUSALEM — Bros. Paul Chu (top photo) and Dieunel
Victor (lower) were instituted as acolytes on the feast of
St. Dominic Savio, May 6, with ten other Salesian seminarians in Jerusalem. Fr. Munir El Rai, provincial of the
Middle East, presided.
NEW ROCHELLE, N.Y. — New from
Salesian Missions! Fr. Mark Hyde
shares powerful personal accounts from
young men helped by one of the missions in Kenya: Bosco Boys Nairobi.
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TORONTO — Twenty-nine pilgrims, led by Fr. Mike
Pace, enriched their spiritual and cultural life by visiting
Marian shrines in Europe in April. The pilgrimage ended in
Turin where, in addition to the Basilica of Mary Help of
Christians and the Sanctuary of the Consolata, the participants viewed the Holy Shroud recently put on display. Submitted by Fr. Romeo Trottier, SDB.
ORANGE, N.J. — On the Memorial of
St. Joseph the Worker, Fr. Tom Dunne
presided at Mass with the initial
formation community of Don Bosco
Residence. During the liturgy, Fr. Tom
instituted Bro. Wilgintz Polynice in the
ministry of acolyte. Photo sent by Fr.
Domminic Tran, SDB.
YAPACANI, BOLIVIA — Salesian Lay Missioners
Connor Bergeron, left, and Adam Pizzaia, right, have been
serving at the Salesian mission in Yapacani. When Fr.
Angel Fernandez, center, visited nearby Santa Cruz last
month, they took advantage of the chance to go to the huge
youth rally there and managed to get their photo taken with
Don Bosco’s successor. They were thrilled, to say the least!
See http://adampizzaia.blogspot.com/2015/04/a-trip-tosanta-cruz.html for more details. Photo from Adam
Pizzaia’s blog.
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Salesian Family celebrates Don Bosco's bicentennial in D.C.
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Hundreds of members of the Salesian Family gathered to celebrate the 200th
birthday of St. John Bosco on Sunday, May 3, at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington. They included Salesians, Salesian Sisters, the D.C. Salesian Cooperator community,
Don Bosco Cristo Rey students, faculty, staff, and families, and many more who love the founder of the Salesian Family and his spirituality. Traveling from Honduras, Cardinal Oscar Rodriguez Maradiaga was the main
celebrant and homilist. Three students from DBCR served the Mass.
Photos by Veronica Bryant.
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Cooperator centers enjoy impressive growth
The Association of
Salesian Cooperators
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Seven new members
were inducted into a newly established Cooperator center at Don Bosco Cristo Rey High School
on May 2. From left to right, provincial councilors James and Paula Dolan and Ana Alvarado
were present for the Mass of induction. Fr. Steve Shafran, director and president of Don Bosco
Cristo Rey, presided.
CHAMPAIGN, ILL — Fr. Joseph Santa Bibiana and Sr.
Loretta DeDomenicis have been preparing candidates for two
years to form a new center of Salesian Cooperators in Champaign.
Fourteen candidates, shown above, will be inducted on May 13 at
Holy Cross Church. Photo by Sr. Loretta DeDomenicis, FMA.
SAN SALVADOR — Members of the Cooperator provincial councils from Canada and the U.S.A. will gather in
San Salvador, El Salvador, for the second annual regional
congress. The congress will be the setting for the election
of new leadership for the region.
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Sr. Antoinette Cabrera, FMA
Used her skills as a seamstress to assist the
those she served
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Cardinal Rodriguez visits immigration
detention center in Texas
by the Salesian Sisters
Sr. Antoinette Cabrera
died on May 6 at Chilton
Medical Center in Pompton
Plains, N.J.
Sr. Antoinette was born
on May 29, 1933, at Puebla,
Mexico, and was a Salesian
sister for 61 years. She
taught in FMA schools in
Texas, Florida, New York, Massachusetts, and New Jersey, including 30 years at Mary Help of Christians Academy in North Haledon.
Sr. Antoinette’s long life was filled with concern for
the spiritual and intellectual growth of her pupils. Students, parents, and faculty loved and respected her. She
gave of herself generously to the ministries entrusted to
her notwithstanding her poor health.
Sr. Antoinette was also an excellent seamstress and
used her skills to prepare beautiful costumes for magnificent theatrical performances and to assist the girls in preparing for fashion shows, proms, and formal occasions.
She will be remembered as a caring, prayerful and loving
person, always acting with great interest in each student
and with an ardent desire that they make choices of good
character.
The wake will take place on:
Friday, May 8, from 2:00-8:00 p.m. at St. Joseph Provincial Center, 655 Belmont Avenue,
Haledon, N.J.
Saturday, May 9, from 9:00-11:30 a.m. at Mary
Help of Christians Academy, 659 Belmont Avenue, North Haledon, N.J.
The Mass of Christian Burial will be held on Saturday,
May 9, at 11:30 a.m. at Mary Help of Christians Academy, followed by interment and repast in the high school
cafeteria.
SAN ANTONIO (ANS) – Cardinal Oscar Rodriguez Maradiaga, SDB, archbishop of Tegucigalpa, met
with hundreds of Mexican and Central American immigrants held in a detention center in Texas.
According to Fides, the Honduran prelate was accompanied by Archbishop Gustavo Garcia Siller of San
Antonio. Following his visit, Cardinal Rodriguez held a
press conference in which he described the situations
that push people to make the dangerous trek across the
border.
In the region, in fact, “there are situations of violence and poverty that have led to a mass exodus of
these people,” explained the cardinal, who is also president of Caritas International. He also told the press that
his visit will also serve to report the situation to the Holy Father.
Cardinal Rodriguez, who is also a member of the
council of cardinals that advises Pope Francis, spoke
with minors who are held in the detention center.
Last year, the U.S. experienced a sharp increase in
children and teenagers traveling to the border unaccompanied by adults.
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Madonna among the cherry trees
M. MENDL
STONY POINT, N.Y. — Confessors are needed for the sacrament of Reconciliation at the Marian Shrine on May
23. Times are 11:00 a.m. till noon, for the pilgrimage day in honor of Mary Help of Christians; at 7:15 p.m. till 8:15, for
the gathering of the Salesian Youth Movement.
Priests who can help, please contact Tanya Acosta at tacosta@salesianym.com or Fr. Tim Zak at timzak@optonline.net.
http://www.nbcnews.com/news/latino/music-frees-el-salvadors-children-countrys-violence-n352901
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Fr. Pepe Morataya, SDB brought the Don Bosco Youth Symphony and Chorus from San Salvador to perform for packed audiences at the Kennedy Center and the World Bank in Washington, D.C.
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Salesian Family on the scene in Nepal
After the earthquake the Salesian Family attends
to otherwise abandoned victims
condensed from ANS reports
KATMANDU (ANS) – In Nepal the
commitment of the Salesian Family toward
the population affected by the earthquake
continues through the provision of various
forms of relief. The whole Salesian Family
around the world has responded to another
natural disaster with promptness and generosity through the missions offices in Turin,
Bonn, Madrid, New Delhi and New Rochelle, as well as various foundations and
Salesian NGOs of Austria, Ireland, the United Kingdom, Hong Kong, Korea, Italy, Germany, Australia. All have participated in the
first shipments of aid and will continue for
as long as necessary.
The Don Bosco Relief Team is in full swing in ten
villages spread over 4 of the 29 districts of Nepal affected
by the April 25 earthquake. During the first six days of
the emergency, the DBRT distributed five-day supplies of
food and tarps to more than 2,350 families.
The DBRT is addressing post-earthquake problems by
providing shelter and food for the injured and the homeless. In the four districts where the Salesian works are
located, or close to them, well over 2,000 people were
killed and hundreds of houses flattened (details: http://
www.infoans.org/1.asp?sez=1&doc=12570&Lingua=2).
The efforts of the DBRT are much appreciated by the
villagers, many of whom have so far received no aid from
any quarters other than from Don Bosco. During the
DBRT’s daily evaluation and planning, many of members
have commented on the serenity of the victims in spite of
the tragedy and their willingness to share what little they
have with others.
From dawn until late at night, braving all odds, Salesian sisters have managed to reach several remote villages
with material assistance. These are areas not yet reached
by official aid agencies, and the population is even now
without food. The already poverty-stricken families have
now lost the little they had in the earthquake. The sisters’
relief work thus alleviates their sufferings and helps them
not to feel abandoned.
ANS
The girls of the sisters’ hostel in Katmandu are trying
to make contact with their families for news, for more
information on their present needs, and also hoping being
able to reunite with their loved ones as soon as possible.
In the next few days, they will undertake more travel to
continue the distribution of relief materials.
To give an idea of the devastation of the earthquake
and the relief supplies offered by the Salesian Family in
these days of emergency need, the Salesian Family has
released a short clip on Facebook.
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“A week spent in a Tata Sumo:
my experience of the earthquake and its aftermath”
KATMANDU (ANS) – Fr. Savio Rai, SDB, a
member of the Don Bosco Salesian community in
Katmandu, gives a first-person narration of his experience of the earthquake that struck Katmandu on April
25, and its aftermath: “I spent one week in a Tata Sumo Jeep—during the day visiting the villages with
relief materials, and during the night sleeping in it as I
was afraid to sleep in my room due to mortal fear of
another quake.”
He writes from Katmandu:
Life brings such twists and turns into its rhythm
that one has to be always ready for the unexpected.
Whoever knew that the 7.9 earthquake would bring
such disaster and turn the lives of millions of people
upside down!
On April 25, Saturday (in Nepal Saturday is the weekend holiday, and Sunday is a working day), after Holy
Mass I came back to the house and was trying to prepare
myself for the next day’s leadership animation program
for the newly elected monitors, captains, and house leaders. Meanwhile Leonard (the plumber) came along with
another man to meet me. I do not know why I was feeling
very uncomfortable around 11:40 a.m. and wanted to
send them away. . . . I told them that we shall go down
and have look at Leonard’s new bike. So we hurried down
from the top floor to the school gate.
No sooner had we reached the gate than the big quake
was felt. Initially I thought it was a huge truck passing by,
but our guard shouted, “Father! Earthquake!” I just
shouted back, “Run,” and I dashed toward the paddy
field. But to our surprise, the water tank that was latched
with the iron bar collapsed, and water gushed down.
At one moment I thought, My God I am going to drown
since I do not know how to swim! For a moment I thought
I was inside the water tank, which was almost 20 feet
deep. Anyway, we ran like drunkards and managed to get
hold of the wall, but could not jump over it. . . . The shaking was such that I was thrown down to the field, landing
on my knees. I was totally feeling giddy, and I saw the
buildings on the hills collapsing like a pack of cards.
Thereafter fear crept into me so badly that my head
kept paining and spinning. Even the slightest shake of the
door or the window gave me a fright. I did not want to
ANS
enter the house again after seeing the building shake. So I
decided to make the Sumo my temporary home. This Jeep
became by bedroom, office, parlor, cyber-cafe, recreation
room, and all-in-all. Most of the time I did the updates on
the school Facebook or wrote reports to the province sitting in the jeep.
It was uncomfortable to sleep in it, but I got used to it
once I knew there was nowhere else to go. . . . Only after I
sat and typed this story, I bade adieu to the cozy Jeep and
returned to my room. . . .
It was a week with lots of fear, and tension from people, nature, and other elements. It was a week where I had
to be cool and calm though tensed within myself as I had
to lead the faithful in liturgy, to interact with the people,
to say no to the people who just wanted to take things
away. But within these moments my Holy Mass, Rosary,
and prayers kept me going.
I was a happy to be with the people to help them in
whatever way I could and also was happy to organize
some relief work with my generous staff, alumni, and supportive staff under the guidance of Fr. Jijo John, the coordinator of Nepal Don Bosco Society. It was a moment of
fear, but at the same time a moment to be near to the people. It gave joy and peace, and this will be cherished for a
long time to come. A week in the Jeep, a week as a Gyspy,
a week filled with terror and fear, and above all a week
close to the people in need.