Anecdotes about the Virgin Mary

"The two pillars of Don Bosco: Mary Help of Christians and the Eucharist"

Valdocco Oratory, Turin (Italy) (1862)

El 30 May 1862in the Oratory of Valdocco (Turin), san Juan Bosco narró a sus muchachos uno de sus sueños más célebres. Les había prometido «algo bonito» para los últimos días de mayo, y lo que contó quedó grabado en la memoria salesiana. En el sueño, la the ship of Peter - the Church - was attacked by countless enemy ships in the midst of a furious storm. Finally, the Pope managed to tie it with safety between of the large columns rising from the sea: a crowned by the Santa guestsand another by the image of the Immaculate Virgin with the title of Auxilium ChristianorumHelp the Christians.

The interpretation, transmitted by Don Street and collected in the Salesian tradition, identifies those two columns with the two great pillars that Don Bosco proposed to his young people: devotion to Mary Helper y la frequency of the sacraments, especially the Communion.

Distinguishing with care: documented the narrative of the dream, its date and its written transmission in the Biographical memoirs salesianas, así como la explicación que dio Don Rua. En cambio, la lectura del sueño como «profecía» de las crisis futuras de la Iglesia pertenece a la spiritual reception del episodio, no a una verificación histórica externa. La frase «Ella lo ha hecho todo», que la tradición salesiana usa para expresar la convicción de Don Bosco de que María sostenía su obra, no consta as a literal quote documented in the sources consulted.

El vínculo con el Rosary It is indirect but real: the dream underlines that salvation passes through Mary and the Eucharist, and Salesian piety always united Mary Helper with the daily Marian practices, including the Rosary. It should be noted, however, that in this particular dream the Rosary no consta as an explicit element of vision; the nexus is devotional Salesian context rather than text.