Veteran Formator Fr. Henry Bonetti Publishes Book

(ANS – Manila – July 10) – Fr. Henry Bonetti’s extensive work, a series of Salesian meditations on the Lord’s Prayer, a spiritual journey which is the result of a lengthy period of research and prayer, is available for the “exclusive use of the Salesians of Don Bosco.” SICUT, as the work is called, aims at helping Salesians “build the Oratory in their heart” especially through meditation.

Fr. Bonetti shares his intentions in the Foreword: “Dear Brother [=student of theology], this book of meditations is compiled with you in mind. It is my gift to you as you begin your theology/biennium of studies [=Salesian brothers – Sandor community]. You have come on a long journey. Now you are on the last leg of this journey. You have come well-prepared to the theologate or biennium course…. There are five elements of Salesianity that you must explore more deeply over this time: The dream at age nine (‘Make yourself humble, steadfast, and strong’), Don Bosco’s life journey (the Valdocco Oratory experience), Scripture of the Good Shepherd (Mark 6:34: ‘They were like sheep without a shepherd and he had pity on them’), and an internalizing process (transformation) and prayer approach (contemplation).”

Each mediation on the Lord’s Prayer is articulated in six sections: e.g. ‘Who Art in Heaven’:

1. Who Are: Our Ever-Present God
2. Who Are: Active Presence of Understanding
3. Who Are: The Practice of Union with God – Hospitality
4. Who Are: Dominic Savio – Meditation on Heaven by Don Bosco
5. Who Are: Don Bosco’s Annunciation
6. Who Are: Don Bosco Make Heaven on Earth for His Boys

(Addendum: St. Francis de Sales’s Meditation on Paradise, on Heaven and Hell)

Fr. Bonetti, the rector of SnDB (Seminaryo ng Don Bosco) in Paranaque, Philippines, acknowledges his thanks to Word and Life Publications for their proofreading, and to the theology students of his SnDB community “who listened patiently, reacted positively, and encouraged mightily,” as well a special thanksgiving to Mary our Mother, who at every point, through timely interventions, encouraged him to persevere.

NB: Sicut is a Latin word. It means “as.” “Sicut in caelo” stands for “(on earth) AS it is in heaven.” It is a commentary on the Our Father. The book is a limited edition mostly for Salesians in initial formation and for the East Asia-Oceania provinces.

[Editor’s note: Fr. Bonetti is an American Salesian from Clifton, N.J., who has belonged to the Korean Province since his first profession in the early 1960s. He is “on loan” to the studentate of theology in the Philippines, which serves the entire EAO Region.]

Don Bosco Center of Studies Publishing, 512 pages