132. The young people and the fog, 1884
I dreamed that I was standing at the door of the school surrounded by a group of disciples and friends who were surrounded by an intense fog. They were trying hard not to be recognized, but I managed to observe them very closely and noticed that next to their hearts they had on their skin a spot in the form of a tumor that exhaled repulsive odors. The tumor had three colors: red, black and yellow.
The fog was more intense around the head and I could hardly read some signs that were there written upside down.
I woke up and did everything possible to forget those unpleasant images, but it was useless because those disgusting figures appeared again in front of my eyes. Then I got up and wrote down the names of all those I saw there in that intense fog.
Note: Don Bosco narrated it in 1884 in the Spiritual Exercises of Valsalice. Other circumstances and other things that he saw during the dream he was telling to each one of the interested parties in particular when he called them to inform them how he had seen them in the dream.
133. A visit to Pope Leo XIII, 1884.
On the night of October 9 (1884) I dreamed that I was traveling by train to Rome and that on arriving in that city I was going directly to the Vatican. I was thinking that it was going to be very difficult for me to speak to the Holy Father because surely one of his stewards was going to make it very difficult for me to impede the audience. However, I introduced myself to the Monsignor and he was very kind to me. And when I told him that I needed an audience with the Holy Father, he told me that since it was a matter of great importance he was going to make an exception, and without further ado he made me go in to talk to the Supreme Pontiff.
And I dreamt that I had been chatting with the Pope for about two hours and that he told me: - Beware of those who ask to enter your Congregation. It is necessary that they be: 1st, obedient, docile. 2nd, that they have a spirit of sacrifice: that they are not too attached to their family, to their friends, to their native land, and that they are able to last for a long time without going to their homeland. 3rd. that they be morally secure, secure in chastity.
This was the main theme he explained to me during the audience. When I finished speaking with the Holy Father I left the Vatican, got on the train and headed for Turin and when I was about to arrive in this city... I woke up.
Note: The next day, October 10, Cardinal Alimonda arrived to tell Don Bosco that Pope Leo XIII was sending him a personal message in which he asked him to appoint a priest to replace him in case of his death (Don Bosco was very weak and ailing). The Saint gathered the Superior
Council of his community and communicated the determination that his replacement would be Father Rúa, his most faithful and qualified collaborator. All were in full agreement with this appointment and the Holy Father thought it was excellent and approved it.
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