Mary Gave St. John Bosco the Dream That Makes Us Dream

By Provincial Fr. Dominic Tran, SDB

“God wills everyone to be saved and to come to knowledge of the truth” (1 Timothy 2:4).

And so, from all eternity, Mary has been in God’s plan for salvation for “everyone.”

We know how Mary carried out her role in the life and mission of Don Bosco and his Salesian Family. It began 200 years ago when 9-year-old John Bosco saw in the dream: “I seemed to be in a vast meadow with a huge crowd of boys who were fighting, swearing, stealing, and doing other blamable things. The air was thick with flying stones, hurled by youngsters who were fighting. They were all abandoned boys, devoid of moral principles. I was about to turn away when I saw a Lady beside me. ‘Go among those boys,’ she said, ‘and work.’” (Rector Major, Presentation of Strenna 2024)

The will of God that every young person “be saved and come to knowledge of the truth” once given to Don Bosco is now entrusted to us. How privileged we are!

As we celebrate 200 years of St. John Bosco’s dream, we praise God for creating and saving all. We thank Mary for “the dream that makes [us] dream” (Strenna 2024).

She is telling us, “Go among those young people and work.” She is praying for us. She is leading us. She is with us as our Immaculate Mother and Help.