26. Notice to hide dangerous documents 1860 (MB. 6,546)
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"I dreamed that a gang of robbers came into my room and went about rifling through all the closets and rifling through all my papers and writings.
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But one of the robbers turned to me and in a kindly tone said to me: - Why don't you hide that paper and that other document? Don't you see that if a government requisition comes, those letters from the Archbishop could get you into trouble? And those documents that came from Rome that you have almost forgotten in that corner (and he pointed to the place where they were) and those other papers that are over there? If you make them disappear from now on, you will avoid many problems and troubles later on".
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In the morning I told the dream to some of my friends and I did not take it very seriously, but just in case I went to my room and took out all the letters from the Archbishop and the documents from Rome and other special papers and took them to a very high and hidden place.
Note: The dream happened on May 23. Don Bosco hid the papers on May 24, and then on May 26, 1860, the anti-clerical minister Farina ordered a search of Don Bosco's house for documents that could compromise him against the government. In that year 1860 is when the government of Piedmont (capital of Turin) seizes Rome and takes away the Papal States from the Supreme Pontiff. They look for any pretext to accuse and imprison the Pope's friends and they know that Don Bosco is a close friend of the Supreme Pontiff in Rome.
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On May 26, three inspectors and 18 policemen arrived to search Don Bosco's rooms. They searched everything, even the basket of papers, and were unable to find a single document or letter to accuse him. Everything had been perfectly hidden by Don Bosco, far away from there, on the 24th, after the warning of the dream. Ten more times the police came to search all his papers and his rooms and they never managed to find anything to accuse him. God takes care of his children and warns them in time.
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[Note from Susana: it must be because of the attacks to the Vatican that Piedemonte made in the past that this area was the most punished in the world by Covid-19].
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27. The fourteen tables 1860 (MB. 7,534-535)
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"I dreamed that I was with all my youths in a place as pleasant as the most beautiful of gardens, seated before tables which, ascending from the earth in the form of tiers, rose so high that the last ones could hardly be seen. These tables, long and spacious, were fourteen in number, arranged in a stadium and divided into three orders, each supported by a sort of embankment wall.
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In the lower part, around a table placed on the dusty ground and devoid of all ornaments and without any crockery, I saw a number of youths. They appeared sad; they ate grudgingly and had before them a loaf of bread similar to the hard, ugly bread given to soldiers in war, but so stale and moldy that it was disgusting. This bread was in the center of the table mixed with dirt and filth. Those poor things were like filthy pigs in a pigsty. I wanted to tell them to throw that bread away; but I had to content myself with asking why they had such nauseating food before them.
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They answered me: - We must eat the bread that we have prepared for ourselves, for we have no other.
That represented those who are in mortal sin.
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Proverbs says in chapter I: "They hated discipline and did not embrace the fear of God and did not pay attention to good advice, and therefore they have to eat the fruit of their evil deeds". And Psalm 75: "Those who do the wrong will have to drink from the cup of bitterness."
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But as the tables were higher and higher, the young men who ate at them became more cheerful and ate tastier bread.
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The higher the table they were at, the more beautiful, elegant and cheerful were the young people who ate there, and the more luxurious the tablecloths and the finer the dishes, and the more exquisite the food that was offered there. And I was struck by the fact that at the upper tables there were many young people, more than I had imagined.
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At last I looked at the highest tables, the loftiest tables. The food served there was so extraordinarily fine and delicate that no one could describe it. The tables looked like gold. The dresses of the young men seated there were luxurious and costly. Each boy's face shone with admirable lights. Each young man enjoyed an extraordinary joy, and each one took great pains to share his joy with his companions. In beauty, in elegance, in joy, in brightness and splendor, those who occupied the higher tables totally surpassed those who were at the lower tables.
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And I was told that those at the highest tables are those who strive to keep their souls without sin. Those at the middle tables are those who fall and commit faults but hasten to confess and make amends. Those at the last table below live quietly in their sins without repenting or trying to make amends. The Holy Book teaches: "Blessed is he who, being able to sin, does not sin". But "Woe to him who lives as if God did not exist: he shall have no peace". (Is. 48:22).
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But the most surprising thing is that in the dream I recognized all my students one by one, and right now I can point out to each one at what kind of table I saw him. I seem to be seeing them right now, each one at his table.
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While I was watching them I saw a man in the distance and I wanted to go and ask him something, but I tripped over something and... I woke up.
Note: The next day. August 6, 1860, the young people were passing by Don Bosco's room to ask him at what table he had seen them. And they were amazed at the admirable precision with which he informed them of the state of his soul.
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Several of them asked him if they could still move from a lower table to a higher one and he told them that yes, it was possible, as long as they were careful to avoid sin and dedicated themselves to behave well.
Which of the 14 tables will we be at, and which one do we want to go to?