119. Salesian houses in France, 1880
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In 1880 an anti-Catholic government in France proposed to expel all the religious from this country. The Salesians were frightened and sent a telegram to Italy asking for 40 beds to be prepared for them. Don Bosco replied that they should be calm, that they would suffer but would not be expelled. His friends asked him why he was so sure that his Salesians would not be expelled from that country and he told them the following: In the days of the feast of the Birth of the Virgin (September 8) we were all anxious about the news coming from France about the expulsion of the religious. They had already expelled the Jesuits and were going to expel other communities. I prayed and had people pray for this problem and one night while I was sleeping I saw Mary Help of Christians appear and extend Her great mantle and cover all our houses in France under it. Our Lady was looking with great kindness at our houses in France. Our Lady was looking with a smiling expression at those houses, when suddenly a frightful storm and a horrible earthquake broke out, and there was hail, lightning and cannon fire, which filled everyone with fear and terror.
All those cannon shots and lightning were directed against our Salesians, but none of them suffered any damage.
All those who took refuge under the protection of our powerful defender were unharmed. The darts sent by the enemies crashed against the mantle of Our Lady and fell to the ground without being able to do any harm.
The Blessed Virgin, surrounded by beautiful lights, and with a smile on Her lips and an extraordinarily beautiful face, exclaimed: "I love those who love me".
Little by little the storm and the earthquake subsided, and none of our people fell victim to those dangers.
That is why after having had this dream I wrote to the Salesians of France not to worry, because the Blessed Virgin was going to protect them in a special way. And although the anti-Catholic press cried out every day for us to be expelled, we were not expelled. May this be an encouragement to all of us to always place our trust in the Blessed Virgin. But let us not become proud, because if we fill ourselves with pride, the Virgin Mary may abandon us and then the wicked would do away with us.
Note: The law of expulsion had already been published. Many communities had to leave the country. Those in charge of expelling the religious went from convent to convent all day long, forcibly removing religious. And finally at ten o'clock at night when there were only the Salesians left to be expelled, they suspended the work of expulsion to continue it the following day. But at dawn the mayor received a telegram from the Minister of Government ordering him not to expel anyone else. The government was afraid of encountering international problems. So the Salesians were not expelled.
Of course, Don Bosco, following the motto: "A Dios rogando y con el mazo dando" (Praying to God and giving with the gavel) did not stand idly by and do nothing. He went to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of his country and then interceded with the Italian Consul in Marseilles and by these means he got the French government to silence the anti-clerical newspapers that were slandering the Salesians and asking for their expulsion. Finally the government realized that the Salesians were dedicated to educating poor children and did not expel them.
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120. A new house in Marseilles, 1880.
In September 1880 Don Bosco dreamed that in Marseilles he was offered a farm with many pine trees and two rows of plantain trees and a ditch full of water running through the farm, which had a large and spacious house, and in the dream he heard that in that house he would have a novitiate.
Later, Father Joseph Oriol told him in Marseilles that the Salesian College of that city needed a country house for poor young people to spend their vacations there, and Don Bosco replied: "I already have a large and spacious house ready, in a beautiful farm where there are many pine trees. And the house is reached through two rows of plantain trees, and the farm is crossed by a large ditch full of water.
Father Oriol, who knew that Don Bosco had no other possessions in Marseilles outside the Salesian College, thought that the Saint was raving, but he dared to ask him: - On what grounds do you say that you have that house and that farm in Marseilles? And the good Father answered him: - It is that I saw it in one of my dreams. And I saw many young boys playing there.
That priest, although he was not a Salesian, nevertheless, when he heard something that Don Bosco had heard in one of his dreams, he believed it to be true. So he was convinced that this was really going to be the case.
A year later some benefactors offered a farm for the Salesians, but Don Bosco saw that it was not like the one in the dream and did not accept it.
Years went by and the farm was not available. In 1882 Father Oriol reminded the Saint of what he had seen in the dream and he assured him with a smile that the dream would be fulfilled in due time.
Later a lady offered Don Bosco a farm in Marseilles for rent. The Saint wrote to the Father Director of the Salesian College in that city to go and see the farm and tell him if it was like the one he had seen in the dream. Father Bologna saw that the estate was very different from the one in the dream and the estate was not accepted.
In 1883 Mrs. Pastré, a wealthy landowner whose daughter Don Bosco had cured by giving her a blessing, wrote to the Saint offering him an estate in Marseilles. Don Bosco wrote again to Father Bologna asking him to go and see the farm and that if there were many pine trees, and a few rows of plantain trees, and a ditch with plenty of water and a large house, he would accept it. The Salesian went to see the farm and found that it was just as the good Father had described it in his letter. So the house was accepted and the Salesian novitiate was founded there.
In 1884 Father Oriol went to visit the famous farm called La Providencia (the Providence) and was amazed to see that it was exactly like the one Don Bosco had described to him in 1880 when he told him about the dream he had had.