123. The dream of the chestnuts, 1881
The year 1881 ended with a gift from Heaven to the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians (founded by our Saint). It consisted of a very instructive dream. Don Bosco narrated it thus: I dreamed that I was gathering chestnuts, picking fruit in the fields. When I had a basket full of fruit, a woman appeared to me and said: "Do you know how many fruits are in that basket? - I don't know, how many are there? - There are more than five hundred.
- And what does that number mean? - That the Sisters of Mary Help of Christians will have more than 500 houses in the world.
Then I heard the voice of angry men shouting like drunks and trying to attack us (perhaps they are the ones who oppose the vocation of those who want to become religious).
Then the woman said to me: - Look, there are some fruits that look beautiful and healthy on the outside, but inside they are damaged and full of worms.
- And what should we do with them? - To separate them from the others because they can spoil the healthy ones. And so we must do with those who aspire to be religious. If they are too proud or have other vices, we must drive them away.
- And how can one know which fruits (or vocations) are worm-eaten and rotten to hear inside, if on the outside they present such good and deceitful appearances? - To put them to strong tests. Severely demand that they comply exactly with the regulations of the community. This is a test in which it is difficult for anyone with a good spirit of observation to make a mistake.
And the woman added: - There are certain fruits that are known to be damaged, because when they are put in water they float immediately. Likewise some vocations: it is known that they are false because they do not want to remain below the others, but they want to stand out in some way. These must be kept away. We have to be careful because some of them are doubles and appear to be the opposite of what they really are.
Note: Don Bosco passed on these messages to his religious so that they would take into account all these norms when accepting new postulants into the Congregation.
The dream told him that his community of religious would eventually have more than 500 houses, and at that time it did not even have twenty. Now, thanks be to God, the community of the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians has more than a thousand houses in 75 countries. God be blessed for that.
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124. Message of Father Provera, 1883
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On the night of January 17, 1883, I dreamed that I met Father Provera (a Salesian Saint who had recently died). His face was so beautiful and so radiant with light that one could hardly fix one's eyes on it. I asked him: "Have you been saved, and what do you enjoy in the next life? And I enjoy all that a good heart can desire and all that a good intelligence can think of. "Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, what God hath in store for them that love him".
- And do I still have much time left on earth? - Not much. It is rather little. But you still have a lot of things to do. Work as hard as you can as if you were going to live here forever. But be prepared, because at the least expected time....
- And what should I tell my religious? - Recommend them much fervor, enthusiasm for everything good.
- And what should I do to preserve fervor and good spirit in the community? - Do as the farmer does: prune, prune without fear. Every dry and useless branch that does not produce good fruit must be cut and thrown out. In this way the rest of the tree gains strength and produces good fruit.
- And what do I say to those who work to save souls? - Tell them (he added, raising his voice) that a great prize is reserved for them, but that God grants that prize only to those who persevere with enthusiasm and dedication to serve Our Lord.
- And to the young people, what should I recommend? - That they work hard and be attentive to flee from the occasions of sin.
- And what else? - That they work with courage and that they never cease to avoid the occasions of sinning.
- And to be sure of obtaining eternal salvation, what should I recommend to them? - That they receive Holy Communion frequently and fervently, that they attend Holy Mass often, and that they make serious resolutions in confession and strive to fulfill them.
- And to what should we who are in this world dedicate ourselves especially? Father Loera became at that moment much more resplendent and said: "May everyone fulfill what is recommended in Psalm 116.
And a beautiful choir of thousands and millions of voices intoned the Psalm saying: - "Praise the Lord all nations. Praise Him, all you peoples. For His mercy is great toward us, and His faithfulness is everlasting and endures forever".
And when I heard a loud Amen, I woke up. It was two o'clock in the morning.