9. Aparition of Comollo, 1839
"Given the friendship and intimate trust that mediated between me and Comollo, we used to talk about what could happen to us at any moment, that is, about our separation when death came. One day, remembering what we had read in some biographies of saints, we said, half jokingly, half seriously, that it would be of great consolation to us if the first of us who was called to eternity would let the other know where he was. Often renewing this conversation, we promised each other to pray for the other, and that the first to die would give news of his salvation to the surviving companion. I did not realize the importance of such a promise, I confess that there was much levity in it and I would never advise others to do so; nevertheless, between us that sacred promise was always taken as something serious that had to be fulfilled. Throughout Comollo's illness, the pact was renewed several times, always with the condition that if God permitted it and it was to his liking. Comollo's last words and his last look assured me that the pact was going to be fulfilled.
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Some companions were told the secret and truly wished that it would be verified. I was anxious, because I hoped for a great relief in my distress.--It was the night of April 3 to 4, the night following the day of his burial, and I was resting, together with twenty other students of the theological course in the dormitory.
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I was in bed, but I was not asleep; I was thinking precisely of the promise we had made to each other; and, as if I guessed what was going to happen, I was seized by a terrible fear. Then, at the stroke of midnight, there came a dull murmur from the end of the corridor, a murmur that grew louder, darker and sharper as it advanced. It resembled the noise of a great carriage with many horses or a train in motion or like the firing of cannons. I do not know how to express it, but to say that it formed a set of noises so violent and gave such a great fear that it cut off the speech of those who perceived it. As it approached the bedroom door, it left behind it a sonorous vibration of the walls, the vaults and the floor of the corridor, to the point that everything seemed to be made of iron big bars, shaken by very powerful arms. It could not be seen how far it was advancing; there was an uncertainty like that left by a locomotive, whose point of travel could not be known, if one judged only by the smoke that rose into the air.
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The seminarians in that dormitory woke up, but none of them could utter a word. I was petrified with fear. The noise was getting closer and closer, more and more frightening. I could already feel it next to the dormitory. The door opens, by itself, violently. The din continues to get louder, with nothing to be seen, except for a little light of various colors that seems to be the sound regulator. Suddenly there is silence. A light shines brightly, and Comollo's voice, fainter than when he was alive, is heard very clearly, saying three times in succession: - Bosco, Bosco, Bosco, I am saved! At that moment the bedroom became brighter, the rumor that had ceased was heard again with much more violence, like a thunder that sank the house, but it ceased immediately and everything was in darkness. The companions jumping out of bed, fled without knowing where; some took refuge in a corner of the dormitory, others crowded around the prefect of the dormitory, Don José Fiorito, from Rívole, and so they spent the rest of the night anxiously awaiting the light of day. Everyone had heard the rumor. Some perceived the voice, without understanding what it said. They asked each other what that murmur and that voice meant and I, sitting on my bed, told them to calm down, assuring them that I had clearly heard the words: - I am saved! Some had also heard them, like me, echoing over my head so that for a long time, they were repeated by the seminary. [Susana's note: there were also noises of chains and a cart, I don't remember having read about the locomotive].I suffered a lot; the terror I felt was such that I would have preferred to die in those moments. It is the first time I remember being afraid. Because of all this I got an illness that brought me to the brink of the grave, my health was so bad that I did not recover it until many years later.--God is omnipotent, God is merciful. Generally He does not attend to these covenants; but sometimes, in His infinite mercy, He allows them to be fulfilled, as in the case I have just described. I will never be the one to give such advice to others.
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When it is a question of relating natural things to supernatural things, poor humanity suffers greatly, especially when they are things that are not necessary for our eternal salvation. We are already quite certain of the existence of the soul, without having to look for other proofs. Let it suffice for us what Our Lord Jesus Christ has revealed to us".--Note: the first of the youthful biographies written by St. John Bosco was that of Louis Comollo, the best friend of his youth. In his friendship the phrase from the Holy Bible was fulfilled: "To find a good friend is like finding a treasure".
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Comollo admired Bosco's great strength and his enormous vitality, but he was concerned to make him understand that in everything one must proceed with great gentleness, even if one has great strength and enormous energy.
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At the hour of his death, Louis had a vision in which he saw the Blessed Virgin coming to help and protect him, and he exclaimed: "What consoles me most in the final hour of my life is to have received Holy Communion many times and to have been very devoted to the Blessed Virgin. O Mary, how happy are Your devotees, defended by You in life and protected by You at the hour of death". And he died a holy death.
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Among all his seminary companions, Comollo left a great reputation for holiness. And he had the honor of having his biography written by the same person who wrote the famous biographies of St. Dominic Savio and Michael Magone: none other than Don Bosco.
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10. The Shepherdess and the Flock, 1844.
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Don Bosco says in his autobiography: "On the second Sunday of October of that year (1844), I had to announce to my young boys that the Oratory would move to Valdocco. But the uncertainty about the place, the means and the people had me worried. The night before, I went to sleep with a restless heart. That night I had another dream that seems to be a continuation of the one I had in Ibechi when I was nine years old. I think it is appropriate to explain it in detail.--I dreamed, then, that I was in the midst of a multitude of wolves, foxes, goats, lambs, sheep, rams, dogs and birds.
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All together they made a noise, an uproar, or rather, a commotion capable of frightening the most intrepid. I was about to flee, when a kind lady, dressed as a shepherdess, told me to follow and accompany that strange flock, while She took the lead. We wandered through various places; we made three stations or stops. At each stop, many of those animals, whose numbers increased more and more, became lambs. After a long walk, I found myself in a meadow, where those animals were running and feeding together, without one trying to harm the other.
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Exhausted with sheer fatigue, I wanted to sit down by the neighboring road, but then the shepherdess insisted that I keep on walking. After a short stretch of road I found myself in a large courtyard, surrounded by corridors and at the end of which stood a church. At that moment, I realized that four-fifths of those animals had already become lambs.
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At this point some shepherds arrived to guard them, but they stayed only a short time and then left. Then something wonderful happened: not a few of the lambs became shepherds, who grew up and took care of the flock. As the number of shepherds increased greatly, they divided up and went to different places to choose other animals of a different origin and lead others to change.
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I wanted to leave there, because it seemed to me that it was time to celebrate mass, but the shepherdess invited me to look to the south. I looked and saw a field planted with corn, potatoes, cabbage, beets, lettuce and many other vegetables.
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- Look again," she said.-
-I looked again. Then I saw a church so tall and grand. A choir accompanied by orchestra and instrumental and vocal music invited me to sing mass. Inside the Church there was a large sign on which was written in immense letters: 'This is my house, from here my Glory will go forth."
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Always in dreams I asked the shepherdess where I was; what was the meaning of that walking and stopping, that house, a Church and then another Church. She answered me: "You will understand everything when, with your material eyes, you see realized what you now contemplate with the eyes of the understanding.
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And as it seemed to me that I was awake, I said: - I see clearly and I see with material eyes. I know where I am going and what I am doing.--At that moment, the bell of the tower of the Church of St. Francis of Assisi rang, and I awoke.--
This lasted almost all night; it was accompanied by many circumstances. At that time I understood little of its meaning, because I did not give it great credit; but afterwards I understood things little by little, as they came to pass. Later it served me, together with another new dream, as a program for making my decisions.
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Observations: The Virgin is pointing out to Don Bosco the different stages of his educational work, and how his students, who at the beginning are so uneducated (like wild beasts) will become lambs: good Christians and honest citizens, and how many of them will also become shepherds. In fact, almost all the educators of his Salesian community will come from among the students that he collected and educated.
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In the Shrine of Mary Help of Christians in Turin (which he saw already in this dream, 20 years before it was built), on the dome of the Shrine there is today the sign that the Saint saw in 1844: "THIS IS MY HOUSE, FROM HERE WILL COME MY GLORY".