27th April 2018: First Day:
SPIRITUAL STRENGTH
Grant me, dear St. Dominic, that remarkable gift of SPIRITUAL strength that was yours. Like you I must learn to fight against the devil with the weapons of prayer and the sacraments. Like you I must live up to my motto: “Death but not sin.” When temptations come my way, remind me of my motto and give me the courage I need to be brave and faithful to Jesus. Amen.
Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory be,
St Dominic Savio, Pray for us.
Practice: Do a good deed today
🌹🌹🌹
Dominic Savio Novena
Meditation
First day
“And when they came to the place which is called The Skull, there they crucified him, and the criminals, one on the right and one on the left. And Jesus said, “Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do.” (Lk. 23, 33-34)
A stove full of snow
Late in January 1853, Dominic Savio’s family moved from the hamlet of Morialdo to the town of Mondonio. There was very little work in Morialdo so Charles, his father, moved to Mondonio where he could find more work to support his family.
Before leaving, Dominic went to meet his great friend, the chaplain Fr. Zucca. He then bade farewell to the friends he had lived with for ten years. Last of all he went to the little church where he had learned to know the Lord and speak to him.
The Savio family (mom, dad, Dominic, Raimondina, Maria, John and William) found a place to stay because they had many relatives in Mondonio. Dominic found a new teacher called Fr Joseph Cugliero and they became friends. He eagerly resumed his studies. Francis Deidèri was a clever and intelligent pupil. He and Dominic became good friends.
Fr Cugliero immediately noticed the extraordinary goodness of Dominic Savio. He noted his impressions in a letter (written three years later) in which he recalled this remarkable observation:
“Dominic attended school in Mondonio under my supervision. Truthfully, in the 20 years that I have been teaching, I can say that I have never come across someone like him who has possessed such virtues as, sobriety, diligence, assiduousness and affability. He was well loved by everyone. In church he seemed to be such an innocent soul, always open to the grace of God.”
At the end of this wonderful testimony, Fr Cugliero adds: “A particular observation: one day, I WRONGLY reprimanded him for something he had not done and he bore it all very patiently; he said nothing; as if he was really guilty. He did not clarify the issue by bringing to my attention that in fact, the mischief had been done by two of his classmates.”
In recounting his glaring blunder, Fr Cugliero remained very vague but a sworn testimony of Charles Savio, a classmate and cousin of Dominic (who everyone called “Minot”), allows us to reconstruct the atmosphere in the school, and the story in detail.
Even in the class of Fr Cugliero, as in classrooms all over, there are always some pranksters capable of hiding themselves. Fr Cugliero, like all the teachers of his time threatened the boys with very harsh punishments. Some had already been threatened with expulsion from school.
In those harsh winters, the school was heated and fuelled by a big stove. Each pupil had to bring with him a piece of wood to keep it going. One day Fr Cugliero arrived late. It was snowing outside and the classroom was not been sufficiently warm.
Two boys (they were the pranksters) after whispering to each other for sometime slipped outside. They returned with a block of snow and without anyone seeing it, they slipped it into the stove. This generated a lot of smoke and water began to trickle out of the stove spreading around the classroom. It was a sick joke.
Just at that moment Fr Cugliero arrived. He saw the water trickling out of the stove and went to remove the cover…. He was furious.
- So, it’s going to be warm in here today? Right? Who was it? He asked in a very stern voice. The two culprits looked scared. What if someone “spilled the beans”? They would be expelled from school. What were they to do? They had a brief discussion and decided to put the blame on someone who had never done anything like this before, Dominic. Brazenly, one of them got up and pointed at Dominic saying: “It was him.” The other confirmed this allegation, “Yes, it was Minot.”
Fr Cugliero was stunned: “Minot! Was it was really you!”
Dominic did not know what he was being accused of. Because of the snowfall, he too had arrived late and had not even noticed what had happened. Only later did he become aware of the stove and the snow. He stood up and looked around: no one spoke. Everyone had seen the prank. In such cases it is easier to be a spectator and remain silent like the two “ringleaders.”
The teacher went on: “It’s a good thing that this is your first prank or I would have kicked you out of school.”
Dominic lowered his gaze. It would have taken just one word to unmask the culprits.
But the teacher went on: “If it wasn’t your first prank, it would have meant expulsion.” The teacher went on scolding him and made him kneel in the middle of the class.
However, at the end of the lesson there were some students who went and told Fr Cugliero the names of the real culprits. This was not tale-bearing; it was simply repairing an injustice.
The teacher was stunned for a second time: “You blessed boy, why did you not say something?”
The following day, feeling very embarrassed for having punished the innocent lad, he approached Dominic:
“Why did you not tell me that you had not done it?
Dominic smiled:
“It was not necessary. I thought of those two who would have been expelled from school, and I did not want that to happen. I wanted them instead to be forgiven. And then I thought about Jesus... He too was accused unjustly...
Fr Cugliero remained silent. But he thought that Dominic was too good a boy to remain in a little unknown town in the middle of nowhere. He thought it would be better if Minot could be sent to the school of Don Bosco. That was just what he wanted for Dominic.
Time for Reflection
Dominic’s words reveal to us that he knew Jesus, and he also knew that he, though wrongly accused on the cross, forgave his executioners.
We would do well to understand that Dominic wanted to live like Jesus, taking him as his model even in tough times.
Being a Christian means just that: learning to live like Jesus.
Do you know Jesus? Do you take some time reading the Gospels and his words? Do you strive to live like him?
Moment of prayer
Saint Dominic Savio, who knew and loved Jesus and tried hard to imitate him in things both easy and difficult, help us also to be truly Christian – that is, knowing Jesus and striving to take him as our model in everyday life.
No comments:
Post a Comment