156. On the Obligation to Give Alms 1887
On June 14, 1887, our Saint spoke thus: a few nights ago, I dreamt that the Blessed Virgin appeared to me and reproached me for having been silent about the grave obligation to give alms. And She said to me: - Look, even if you are a priest, you can lose yourself for sins against the sixth and seventh commandments.
And She insisted that there are many who are lost for not having made good use of riches, for making improper use of the riches, for making improper use of their goods, and not distributing enough to the poor. And She added: “If those who have wealth were to distribute among the orphans and the poor what is not very necessary, the number of those who would be saved would be much greater. But unfortunately there are many who keep their wealth for themselves, and this will be their downfall.
Note:
For several years Don Bosco had been speaking very often to the rich and to all those who had some wealth, about the very serious duty that every Christian has to share his goods with the needy. Many criticized him for this, and even wanted to accuse him before the ecclesiastical authorities for speaking so much about the grave dangers that await those who have goods if they do not share them with the needy.
The saint repeated: “If they do not now voluntarily distribute their goods to the poor, one day they will come with a dagger or other weapon in their hands and take it from them by force.
And he complained that many priests are embarrassed to insist to people about the seriousness of the obligation to give to the por,the seriousness of the obligation to give alms, and alms proportionate to what each one has or earns. (Not crumbs that one does not feel. That would be a to deceive oneself. If what is given to others does not cost anything, that is not giving, it is only cheating oneself. The alms must impoverish in something the one who gives it).
He repeated and repeated that to recommend to others that they devote themselves to generous alms giving is to do them a great favor, because, as Tobias said in the Holy Bible: Almsgiving erases Bible: “Almsgiving blots out a multitude of sins”.
But since he was criticized so much for teaching this, he decided to keep quiet lately. And it was then that the Blessed Virgin appeared to him in person to scold him for having kept silent and to remind him that even if one is a priest, he can be lost if he lives in sin against the sixth commandment or does not duly distribute his goods to the poor.
After this dream, he called Father Bonetti, a good writer, and said to him: “Please, write a book about the grave necessity and obligation that every good Christian has to give alms. And distribute it everywhere.
Father Bonetti published that book the following year, a few months after the saint's death. The title of the book was: “How to earn Heaven by giving alms on earth”.
It is curious that this is perhaps the last apparition of the Blessed Virgin to Don Bosco, and She did it to insist on a subject that is very important for salvation: giving alms on earth.
very important for salvation: Giving alms.
There is now a very beautiful book on this subject (whose reading we recommend as enormously profitable). Its title is: “How to become rich for Heaven by giving alms on earth”, by Sálesman. In this beautiful book is what St. John Bosco taught about the serious obligation that each one has to give alms according to his possibilities, and also many other very beautiful examples. Let us not fail to read it, its reading can be of great benefit.
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157. Journey in the company of Father Cafasso 1887
On October 24, 1887, Don Bosco said: One of these nights I dreamed that Father Cafasso, my former confessor and spiritual director, appeared to me, and that with him I went through all the Houses that the Salesian Congregation has in America, and I saw the conditions of each house, and the state of the soul of each one of its Salesians.
Note: St. Joseph Cafasso was the generous priest who paid for poor John Bosco's scholarship to the seminary so that he could finish his priestly studies. Then, during the first 19 years of Don Bosco's apostolate, St. Joseph Cafasso was his confessor, his spiritual director, his generous benefactor and in many cases the only one who was able to understand him and who always knew how to defend him. Our Saint always kept a very pleasant memory of Father Cafasso, who came to pay him a last visit just three months before Don Bosco's death.