Today is the feast of St. John Bosco (1815-1888), who was so devoted to St. Francis de Sales (1567-1622), that he named the order that he founded: the Salesians of Don Bosco.

"If it is permitted to turn to the friends of God and ask their help and their prayers on our behalf while they are alive, why would it be less permissible to turn to them when they reign with God in heaven? Is it possible that those saints who gave their lives and their means to charity will no longer listen to those who call upon them now that they are blessed in heaven? But their capacity to love is much greater now than it was when they lived on earth. Is it possible that they cannot help us? But if they could help us when they were mortal, why can they no longer help us when they are glorious and immortal?"

~ St. John Bosco

Portrait of St. Francis de Sales, photographed in Annecy, France.

Taking the gentleness and kindness of St. Francis de Sales as his model, St. John Bosco worked with the street youth of Turin, Italy, and founded an order to carry on the work with young people.