Introduction
Don Bosco was a man of prayer. He felt the need of God in his apostolic initiatives and commitments. His whole life though characterized by enormous activity was made holy by constant and continuous prayer (Article 85). To speak metaphorically, till the day mankind succeeded in going to the moon, we only knew one face of it, the face tuned towards the earth; the other face remained unseen and unknown. Something similar can be said about our knowledge of Don Bosco. Till Don Bosco was declared a Saint we know him as a man of activity. We did not know him as a Saint. We did not realise that all this activity was the outcome of his intimate union with God. His much-admired activity was the result of a life of prayer. Thus, Don Bosco and prayer form one unity in his life. It is indeed a mistake to differentiate the activity of Don Bosco and Prayerful moments of Don Bosco. It is because, Don Bosco, docile to the Holy Spirit, lived an experience of humble, trusting and apostolic prayer in which prayer and living were spontaneously united (Art 86).
Don Bosco and Prayer
The secret of Don Bosco’s success is his constant union with God. Other saints, united to God, would go into ecstasy, a state that takes them out of the world and immerses them into the things of God. Don Bosco’s ecstasy consists in immersing himself in work for the glory of God and for the good of his boys. His union with God in prayer does not suffer because of his work, but it remains uninterrupted and continuous as it is the outcome of his participation in the divine love. Every act even microscopic impressed and energized the heart of every Salesian and youngster. The nearer people came to Don Bosco, the more they had a chance to peep into his personal life, and the greater veneration they had for his person. In the bold testament of Don Rua, “I lived at Don Bosco’s side for more than 37 years. To observe even the minutest actions of Don Bosco made a greater impression on me, did me more good, than to read or meditate any pious book.”
Don Bosco- A Man Continually in Prayer
Don Bosco’s enormous activity and continual union with God never ceased till the end of his life. They were intertwined each with the other and made him a perfect blend of nature and grace. A man who was constantly at work is likely to be agitated, tense, impatient and nervous, especially when disturbed. Nothing like that in Don Bosco: ‘He had peace in his mind and in his heart for anyone who was to come to him, at any time, when busy with any work.’ Pius XI admired his ‘supreme composure, a mastery of time, by which he gave his attention to all who came, with such a calm tranquillity as if he had nothing else at hand.’ It is to be noted that Don Bosco’s calm did not leave him even in the most difficult moments, when he had no bread for his boys, when the building that had cost him so much collapsed, when for 10 long years he lived in conflict with his Bishop and even when there was no enough money to build the Sacred Heart Basilica. Never a bitter word or an expression of rebellion – at times one could notice that he felt the blow but immediately he recovered his calm, and more than that, his joy and cheerfulness. While not denying the fact that Don Bosco lost his serenity, calm and peace. He lost his calm, became serious, when he was confronted with an offence of God. Don Bosco is personally affected by sin. The man who is so patient, so calm and indulgent, always the master of himself, that same man feels his blood boil when he is faced with sin and scandal.
Characteristics of Don Bosco’s Prayer
Article 86 of Salesian constitutions says that “Salesian prayer is joyful and creative, simple and profound. It lends itself to community participation, is drawn from life and flows back to it”. It clearly expresses the attitude and the characteristics of Don Bosco’s own prayer. Thus, Don Bosco’s Prayer is characterized by: 1) A Prayer of Easter Joy 2) A Creative Prayer that sprang from his Commitment 3) A Profound Sacramental Prayer 4) A Simple Prayer 5) A Marian Prayer.
A Prayer of Easter Joy
What I want to say is this: Don Bosco’s prayer is steeped in Easter joy – the joy of ‘serve the Lord in gladness unconditionally’. Don Bosco was convinced that it is good to be near the Lord, that true joy is found in Him, that prayer is a source of inspiration and happiness.
Evidently, the joy of the Christian, just because it is a participation in the joy of Easter, proceeds from the participation in the suffering and death of Jesus. In this sense, Don Bosco was an Easter man who was never afraid of the crosses that life gave him but willing carried them even not counting his death.
A Creative Prayer that Sprang from His Commitment
Prayer for Don Bosco was not a show of emotions but an outflow of his creative commitment to God. ‘Here is a life’ said the Pope Pius XI ‘that we have been able to admire from nearby, a life that was a true and great martyrdom, a life spent in such a colossal activity that anyone else would be discouraged just by seeing it.’ Don Bosco prayed everywhere as he was not bound by place and time. For him, ‘Everything was Prayer.’
A Profound Sacramental Prayer
Don Bosco’s prayer is sacramental because his enormous work, activity and union with God aimed at saving souls. In this context, the words of Piux XI are very touching, “There is indeed a secret, and Don Bosco revealed it continually, maybe without noticing it himself. It is the motto which he so often repeated in his words and in his writings: Give me souls – take away the rest! Not a programme or a slogan, but an ever-present desire, a constant invocation, a continuous prayer – a prayer immediately translated into action, in work!
Don Bosco was at the same time priest and educator: a priest who found in education the possibility of fulfilling his priestly mission, and an educator who found in his priestly ministry a help towards education. Don Bosco’s educational system was founded on the ‘Frequent confession and frequent communion and daily mass. Through this he brought his boys into contact with God, and that is what the sacraments achieve.
A Simple Prayer
Don Bosco’s prayer is simple. It does not mean that it is superficial. His simplicity in prayer emerged from his outpouring simplicity in life. He learnt this from his mother Mamma Margaret who told to little Johnny “God Sees You”. This statement of his mother made him to be always in union with God. He never sat in the church for long time but he always spoke of prayer to his boys. His whole system of education is geared to giving the boys a taste for prayer; he looks for favourable occasions to promote prayer, he speaks of the importance and value of prayer, but he makes sure that everything is done with the utmost liberty and spontaneity.
Don Bosco did not want to prescribe special prayers for the Salesian, nothing but the ‘ordinary prayers of a good Christian.’ They were Simple in number: not too many, not too long, not tiring or boring. He firmly believed that nobody must go to prayer unwillingly, those who are fervent can always do more. Simple in style: not the prayers of an elite, not also a prayer that fuels the emotions, but ‘easy things, done with perseverance.’
A Marian Prayer
Don Bosco entrusted himself totally to Mary. He never did and said anything without invoking Mary. Mary as a mother holds a unique place in the life of Don Bosco (Art 8). She was always present in the life if Don Bosco. It all began with a dream that he had at the age of nine. In is first dream Johnny Bosco received Mary as his teacher: under her guidance he would be wise, and without her all wisdom turns to foolishness. Don Bosco had immense trust and faith in Mary. Don Bosco saw the in Mary a model of prayer and pastoral love and the teacher of wisdom. Mary is not just one element of our Don Bosco’s spirituality: she is at the heart of his spirituality.
Conclusion
The first monks called prayer the ‘work’ of prayer, because they undertook the labour of prayer as a contribution to the salvation of the world. In today’s busy world, a religious or a priest cannot have a satisfactory spiritual life unless he gives a long time to prayer. We must learn from the world around us. In our very busy world, people give importance to the week-end, far away from their business, to have a day of rest and recreation. It is also same be with the prayer. We easily understand that focusing on work can distract us from attention to God – but it is the same with prayer. Many people just recite formulas with their attention elsewhere or value their prayer according to the emotions they experience, but their prayer does not influence their life. Prayer should feed our piety, but our union with God (Don Bosco called it ‘piety’) is not measured by the length of our prayer. What is essential is not that we spend a lot of time in church, but that our prayer makes us ready for sacrifice and for work, ready to do our duty. I conclude with the words of Don Bosco: ‘Prayer that does not help us to correct our defects is not pleasing to God’.
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