136. The devil in Marseilles, 1885.
While staying at the Salesian Congregation in Marseilles, Father Cerrutti heard a loud scream during the night. Then he heard it even louder. He realized that the scream was coming from the room where Don Bosco was sleeping. He got up and went to see what was happening. He entered the room and found the saint, awake, sitting up in bed. Filled with anxiety, he asked him: "Don Bosco, are you unwell? - No, no," he answered calmly, "Go to sleep peacefully.
The next day the saint told him about the dream he had had: "I saw the devil enter this house. He went to the bedroom and passed from one bed to another saying: This one is mine! This one is mine! I protested. Suddenly he rushed towards one of those young men to take him away. I began to scream and he threw himself on me to strangle me.
At this Don Bosco began to cry and said to me, very moved: "Dear Father Cerrutti, help me. I have come to France to collect alms for the Temple of the Sacred Heart of Jesus in Rome. But in this school there is a very serious spiritual need. These poor young people must be saved. So for these days I will leave all other concerns and dedicate myself to helping them to save themselves. Let us make a good Spiritual Retreat with these students.
That night the Father Director announced to the students that a Spiritual Retreat would be held the following day and that Don Bosco would hear the confessions of those who wished to confess with him.
And the Spiritual Retreat was so effective that the Saint exclaimed afterwards with emotion: "The devil made me spend a bad night, but we have also given him a punch and a very strong blow.
Father Albera, director of that school added: "There are some young people here who have made me cry because of their bad conduct.
And Father Cerrutti asked Don Bosco: "Are the ones the devil wanted to take away only those who do not go to confession? And the good Father answered: - They are not only those who do not confess. They are those who confess but either do not tell all their sins or confess without contrition, without true repentance.
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137. The Missions of Asia, Africa and Oceania, 1885
On July 2, 1885, Don Bosco narrated the following dream to his Salesians: I dreamed that I was beside a very high mountain on which there was an angel who was sending forth light towards distant regions. The angel had in his right hand a sword that shone like a lively flame and with his left hand he pointed to some regions and said: - The angel of Axfaxad invites you to fight the battles of the Lord and to gather all the peoples in the barns of the Lord.
Then Luis Colle and many young boys and a great number of angels appeared, encouraging us Salesians to never stop in the work of evangelizing and spreading religion.
And I dreamt that I arrived in the center of Africa where blacks were everywhere and I heard a voice saying: "There is no curse for them, but blessings from the Creator.
Then I dreamt that I arrived in Australia and the many islands that made up Oceania and I heard thousands of children shouting to us: "Come to our aid, why don't you continue the work that others have already begun? And many surrounded Salesians whom I did not know and welcomed them singing: - Blessed are those who come in the name of the Lord.
And it seemed to me that in the future there will be a lot of work for the Salesians there in those islands, and that their work will produce very good spiritual fruits, because the hand of the Lord will be constantly helping them if they know how to be grateful for the favors of God.
Oh, if only the Salesians of today could see 500 years from now what a wonderful destiny God has in store for us in the future, if we are faithful.
In 150 or 200 years the Salesians will be spread all over the world.
We will always be seen with sympathy even by the bad, because our work in favor of the poorest and neediest people attracts the sympathy of all, the good and the bad. There will be some bad heads who will want to destroy us, but these will be isolated attempts that will not have the support of the others.
But everything under these conditions: that the Salesians do not allow themselves to be dominated by the love of comforts or by the lack of enthusiasm for work. Let no one be overcome by gluttony. That we all spread the good reading of the Salesian Bulletin, and that we support vocations, and also the vocations of older people who will want to come to our Congregation.
The journey in that dream was from Santiago de Chile, through Buenos Aires, Rio de Janeiro, Sao Paulo, Cape of Good Hope, Madagascar, Persian Gulf, Senegal, Ceylon, Hong Kong and Austria.
Explanations: Don Bosco had them find out what was the meaning of the name of that angel who was called "Angel of Arphaxad", and it was learned that according to the Holy Bible, Arphaxad was a descendant of Shem, Noah's eldest son (Genesis, Ch. 10) and that the descendants of Shem are the inhabitants of Asia. This indicates that this angel invited Don Bosco that his Salesians go to Asia. In that great continent the Salesians now have many houses and a great number of vocations.
As for Africa, where he saw so many blacks awaiting the arrival of the Salesians, his community already has houses in almost all the countries of that continent.
The Saint often thought of this dream, spoke of it with great satisfaction and joy and saw in it a confirmation of what had already been confirmed to him in other dreams. Now his Salesians are in 105 countries, as it was announced to him in these dreams that announced the future.