| ORIGINAL | ENGLISH | COMMENT | CITATION |
|---|
| Madonna [IT] | The Madonna | A favourite term of Don Bosco's, which continues to our own time, for Mary. In origin the term was used in Italian (before DB's time) to mean what today is Signora, or a polite reference to a Lady. Today it is always seen in reference to Mary and not translated. Commonly known in English in titles for paintings of Madonna and child. | DBCircolari:..Né mancate di raccomandare ai giovani allievi che siano buoni, divoti della Madonna |
| Madre della Chiesa [IT] | Mother of the Church | This title, so much part of Vat. II is to be found in DB's writings in 1868. | Cartcom:..O Maria, Madre di Dio e Madre della Chiesa |
| maestra e guida [IT] | mistress and guide | In Don Bosco's dream at nine years of age, he is told "Io ti daro' una maestra su cui disciplina", then frequently throughout his life he referred to the guidance he sought and obtained from Mary. The phrase maestra e guida has become a familiar one in Salesian literature to refer to the role Mary plays in the Salesian life. | PV3:..presenza materna di Maria 'maestra e guida'. |
| Maestro dei novizi [IT] | Director of Novices | Note - not Master of novices though this latter term is frequently in spoken use. Official written reference is the former term. | PV1:..Il maestro dei novizi |
| magistero [IT] | magisterium | Indicates those in the Church who have the task of teaching correct doctrine: Pope and bishops. The term is also used in a more restricted sense of the Salesian magisterium, indicating the official documentation of teaching of the Congregation. | RFCN_Cap_3:..la docilità e la sintonia con il magistero della Chiesa nell'esercizio del ministero |
| Malvasìa [IT-PI] | Malvasìa | A grape type (name of wine) typical of the Monferrato region around Don Bosco's home town of Castelnuovo. | |
| Mamma Margherita [IT] | Mamma Margaret | We retain the term 'Mamma' in Italian but Anglicise the name ''Margherita''. At Valdocco, with Mamma Margaret, the Salesian family spirit had its origins.It is important not to generalise the term family spirit which each Congregation lays claim to, but to retain the historical individuality of the Salesian family spirit as experienced with Mamma Margaret at Valdocco, as it is one of the fundamentals behind loving-kindness in the Preventive System. | |
| manuale [IT] | handbook | Could also be 'manual', but English prefers 'handbook' if the contents are other than purely mechanical ones. | | [ |
| marginalizzazione [IT] | exclusion, marginalisation | To exclusion one could add 'by society'. Cf. also emarginati. Important to see the Italian word in context. It may require a phrase such as 'leaving people on the fringe of society' or similar. 'marginalisation' is a possible gloss. | |
| maturazione umana [IT] | human maturing process | We could gloss this as 'maturation', but in fact it is a process, an aim of formation, with its many phases and rythms, and sounds better in English as a phrase. In Salesian documentation we find reference to a variety of maturing processes - vocational, cultural, of the person, in love, of the faith, affective, sexual... | Progetto personale - Formazione iniziale italiano:..la verifica della maturazione umana, spirituale e salesiana, grazie a processi di... |
| Maria [IT] | Mary | In reference to Mary, Mother of God, DB used many titles according to his time and place: ''addolorata, avvocata, immacolata, madre, protettrice, regina, salvezza, vergine''. In our own day of course many of these continue to be used especially if part of the universal household of faith. Mother of the Church is both old and new, having undergone a renewed interest from the time of Pope Paul VI (proclaimed at the end of Vatican II). For Mary Help of Christians cf. . | |
| Mazzarello, Maria Domenica [IT] | Mazzarello, Mary Domenica | 1837-1854. Co-foundress of the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians with Don Bosco. We usually anglicise the first name only, Mary. The term often appears in its Italian form entirely, and Maria Domenica is the form with which most people refer to her when using Christian name only. Canonised 24th June 1951. The term 'Mother' is applied usually to her and to other superiors (provincials and those at world administration level). Today many women religious prefer not to use the term 'Mother', but it is still used for the Superior General of the Salesian Sisters at least. In 1981 on the centenary of St Mary Mazzarello, Fr Vigano wrote a special letter called Rediscovering the Spirit of Mornese. | Chavez387:..stato l'esempio luminoso di Maria Domenica Mazzarello. |
| Media [EN] | (The) Media | The term is the usual one in English. Often in ecclesial language social communication is the preferred term, used as a synonym, but in fact it is not exactly a synonym. Social communication directs how media are to be used for the benefit of society. Media, of their nature, are simply instruments.cf. comunicazione sociale, social communication The term 'mass media' is synonymous with media; the term 'group media' can mean simply mass media which is usable in a group or, in certain contexts, media for special groups such as basic Christian communities. The term 'communication means' is not preferred in English (it directly glosses ''mezzi di comunicazione''). English would use simply 'media' instead. | |
| Media Convergenti [IT] | Convergent Media | One might have expected to find this term in English, simply because at the General Chapter (26) at which it was first introduced into Salesian discourse, it was linked with a term that does appear in its English form in the Chapter documents, namely, //personal media// (cf. separate reference to this). There was merely passing reference to 'media convergenti' as one of a number of types of media today, along with mass, folk, personal media. However the concept of convergent media is not just a passing fad. It is a very real shift which some even consider to be of the nature of a paradigm shift in communications. Certainly a significant body such as the EU has felt it necessary to define convergent media so its effects can be better understood. Multiple products come together to form a single product that does many things. However, the point is that this is not just a technological shift or process. It also presupposes a paradigm change: industrial, cultural, social, which stirs interest in finding out new information. It changes the way people relate to each other. Convergent media also enable them to avoid the Mr 'Bigs' of mass media and create, mix, mash-up | GC26 n. 109: ..vari tipi di media (mass, folk, personal, convergenti ecc.) |
| Memorie Biografiche MB [IT] | Biographical Memoirs MB | 19 volume collection on Don Bosco's life compiled in the early years of Salesian history from a variety of sources close to Don Bosco. 'Memoir' is not to be confused with 'chronicle' - a memoir is an eyewitness account but produced a long time after the event. A chronicle is at or near the time of the event | |
| Media Don Bosco Madagascar [EN] | Media Don Bosco Madagascar | English but works equally well for other languages too. It aims at being not just one more work but a different kind of work, where the 'difference' is found in the quality of communication and in the production and product, effectiveness of interventions, logical manner of service and respect for local culture, style of reception and encounter - a whole collection of attitudes and manner of approach which aims at satisfying its listeners, the ultimate clients, but at the same time keeps control of the product supplied. MDB forms part of the apostolic and pastoral activity of the Catholic Church of Madagascar, fully respecting its directives and guidelines, particularly in the matter of social communication. The activity of Media Don Bosco does not seek in any way to make a profit, and has no political or commercial connections. | |
| meditazione [IT] | meditation | Worth noting that Salesian meditation (i.e. as of St Francis de Sales) has a particular method which was once quite formally carried out in SDB morning meditation - 3 phases with resolutions. Once could regret that the loss of this rather formal approach has also meant the loss for some of any method at all! | CG25:..mediante la lectio divina, la meditazione quotidiana, la Liturgia delle ore, |
| membro [IT] | member | Italian offers two terms, ''socio'' and ''membro'' which have the same gloss in English, namely, 'member' A glance at the collocates (associated terms) indicates that ''membro'' associates with 'community', 'family', 'co-responsibility', whereas ''socio'' associates with types of member (priest, cleric, lay...). | PV6:..all'impegno personale del salesiano che è...come membro responsabile |
| Memorie Biografiche MB [IT] | The Biographical Memoirs BM | 19 volume collection on Don Bosco's life compiled in the early years of Salesian history from a variety of sources close to Don Bosco. Memoir is not to be confused with chronicle - a memoir is an eyewitness account but produced a long time after the event. A chronicle is at or near the time of the event. | |
| Memorie Dell'Oratorio MO [IT] | Memoirs of the Oratory MO | Important work by DB telling not just (and maybe not accurately) the history of the Oratory, but his founding principles and inspirations. More of a good story with key and foundational concepts of Salesian life intertwined. | |
| metodo [IT] | method | The term collocates most easily in Salesian usage with 'preventive system' or 'educational'. But in this context, method should not be understood as a clear set of details, rather as a set of principles and attitudes. | SDB-Regolamenti:..Nei paesi non cristiani, i salesiani, applicando il loro metodo educativo pastorale, |
| mettersi in discussione [IT] | question oneself | The phrase can be found in the Working Document (Instrumentum Laboris) for GC26. It implies more than a simple raising of questions, and is appropriate, no doubt, in the context where capitulars (and confreres generally) were asked, are being asked constantly, to be open to self-reflection, change, conversion... | |
| mezzadro [IT] | tenant farmer, sharecropper | The tenant farmer was termed a mezzadro or half sharecropper, since according to unwritten Piedmontese law he worked for half the produce. Francis Bosco was this person at the Biglione cascina. (Source: Lenti, Don Bosco History and Spirit Vol 1 p 34) | |
| ministero della Parola [IT] | ministry of the Word | A term especially relaunched by Vatican II. Ministry of the Word is placed as first in the pastoral service offered by Bishops and Priests. It is one of three complementary ministries of the priest, the other two being ministry of sanctification (through sacraments) and ministry of leadership of the community. | Viganò ACG296:..Nel Vaticano II il ministero della Parola (collocato sempre al primo posto nei tre livelli del servizio pastorale |
| misericordia di Dio [IT] | mercy of God | The term is a consistent one throughout biblical and Christian history. It is of interest to note that in 1847, one of the early retreats preached by Don Bosco was on this theme - requested by the Marchioness Barolo. | Costituzioni:..DB, Esercizio di devozione alla misericordia di Dio, Torino 1847 p. 81; (OE II, 151) |
| missionario [IT] | missionary | A primary dimension (sector) of Salesian life and mission. | SDB-Regolamenti:.. L'oratorio - un ambiente educativo che si apre, con slancio missionario, |
| Missionary Sisters of Mary Help of Christians MSMHC [EN] | Missionary Sisters of Mary Help of Christians MSMHC | Founded in 1942 in Guwahati by Bishop Ferrando. Members of the Salesian Family. | |
| missione [IT] | mission | A term rich in biblical content but also full of meaning for Salesians especially since the Special General Chapter post Vatican II. It was in 1971 that the SGC first introduced mission as a way of explaining the Salesian identity. Hence we speak of the Salesian mission. The Salesian mission can be specified more directly by speaking of 'the mission to the young' (''missione giovanile'') or 'our educational mission' (''missione educativa''). Those who work with us, including laity, are referred to as ''corresponsabili nella missione''. It is often better, depending on context, to gloss ''corresponsabili'' as a phrase in English, e.g. 'those who share responsibility for the mission'. Today we distinguish mission ''ad gentes'' (the foreign missions of old) from the more general sense of mission. But we speak of our missionary dimension and in fact retain this as one of the key sectors of the Salesian mission in general. For a long period of Salesian history the term was, in the plural (''missioni'', missions) the attention given to those not yet baptized (part of our Constitutions). During the 20th Century, ecclesial theology returned to the Latin ''missio'' and gave us the sense of mission as the mission of the Church, of the Congregation. | Cg20:..Missione salesiana e apostolato parrocchiale |
| missione comune [IT] | (the) common mission | The expression is found frequently in the Salesian Constitutions (e.g. C.44) where it refers to that which calls on our complementary and co-responsible action to achieve a common purpose. The common mission is the basis of pastoral planning in Christian life, either at the level of diocese or parish or in the case of a particular group with a particular shared mission (e.g. Salesian Family, the Salesian educative community...). | Costituzioni:..Ciascuno di noi è responsabile della missione comune e vi partecipa con la... |
| missioni [IT] | (the) missions | The more complete term is ''missio ad gentes'', in reference to what we used call 'the foreign missions' (a Eurocentric term if ever there was one!). The Salesian Congregation has ''missioni'' as a sector of activity and a department. Thus there is a Councillor for the Missions. There exists a tradition within the Congregation of any confrere being able to directly approach the Rector Major to offer himself 'for the missions'. | Chavezmgs04:...bisogni della società (le missioni, la pace, la solidarietà, la costruzione... |
| mixité [IT] | coeducation | The Italian term is now largely obsolete in Salesian usage and replaced by ''coeducazione''. It came in especially through the Special General Chapter which needed to face up to the reality of mixed genders. | CG20-3:RAGAZZE: 51, (v.Mixité). SOGNI di Don Bosco: 204-211. RETTOR MAGGIORE: |
| modestia [IT] | modesty | A term that DB spoke about in his plan for regulations for the Annex, once boys were living in. It was a virtue that he esteemed in general in the human being and especially in the young. | DBdomsav:....ma in quella modestia di abiti.. |
| mondializzazione [IT] | globalisation, inter-connectedness of events in the world | Italian actually distinguishes at an academic level between ''mondializzazione'' and ''globalizzazione'' but in practice either term will do. The concept that would in English be rendered by 'globalisation' is further delineated in Italian. ''mondializzazione'' stresses the connectedness of local events ('chaos theory' would be seen to be drawing on this idea, for example). cf. also globalizzazione. | |
| mondo [IT] | world | The term as it appears in earlier Salesian texts tends to have the negative concept that comes from a dualistic understanding of spirit and world or the scriptural opposition to spirit and world that we find in St John. Vat II's ''Gaudium et Spes'' meant a change in the way the term was applied in Salesian language. From SGC (1971) onwards we see phrases like 'today's world' used in a much more positive sense. We speak of an openness to the world of the Salesian mission in the world.. We also speak of 'the world of..' e.g as in the world of young people or young people's world. | DBValentino...essere dimenticati in questo mondo.' |
| mondo del lavoro [IT] | the world of work, working world | The term is a frequent reference in contemporary Saleisan documentation, especially from GC21 onwards and reflection on the circumstances of young people today, their need for preparation for the working world. It was the title of a Letter from Fr Viganò in 1982 (Salesian Mission and the World of Work). The concept was part of Don Bosco's thinking as he developed the vocational path of the Salesian Brother. | CG4:...società civile, in specie con il mondo del lavoro. |
| monello [IT] | urchin | Likely to be found in reference to poor and abandoned youth. | DBmagone:..Mio caro Magone, hai tu volontà di abbandonare questa vita da monello.. |
| Monsignore Mons. Msgr. [IT] | Bishop (and occasionally, Monsignor) | In English ecclesiastical terminology a monsignor is not a bishop but a domestic prelate. It is better, therefore, not to confuse the terms and to refer to a bishop as a bishop not as a mons. In Italian all bishops and archbishops (and presumably domestic prelates too) are called monsignori. There is no need to transfer this nomenclature to English. The normal reference in English would be to 'the Most Rev'bishop/archbishop of...'. | |
| Morano, Maddalena Caterina [IT] | Morano, Maddalena Caterina | FMA. 1847-1908. Beatified in 1994. Referred to as Mother Maddalena - the name remains in its Italian orthography at present. The tendency, though, is for names to be anglicised when they are in more frequent use in the English-speaking world. | Viganò ACG351.. novembre scorso a Catania, la beatificazione di Suor Maddalena Caterina Morano da parte del Santo Padre |
| morte [IT] | death | The term has a particular spiritual resonance in the life and work of DB, who often reflected on the importance of death and was not afraid to put this to his boys - he had the monthly practice of The Exercise for Happy Death. The theme is no less important for spiritual life today but our sensitivities in the use of the term mean that we have modulated The Exercise for into the Monthly Recollection. | Vecchi ACG376:..La loro vita e la loro morte hanno proclamato in forma chiara la radicalità dell'adesione a Cristo |
| movimento di carità [IT] | movement of charity | The term is recognisable as part of C.3 where it refers to a double movement of charity towards God and towards our neighbour. The term is also another way of speaking of the complete Salesian mission of human development and evangelisation brought about by works of corporal and spiritual charity. | Costituzioni:...della nostra consacrazione, vissuti in un unico movimento di carità verso Dio e... |
| movimento giovanile [IT] | youth movement | | Chavez ACG803:.Tramite il Movimento giovanile PALS e FRIENDS, fare lo stesso per i giovani adulti. |
| Movimento Giovanile Salesiano MGS [IT] | Salesian Youth Movement SYM | Term which came into being 1978. A movement with an educational character. | CG24:...Il Movimento Giovanile Salesiano (MGS) ha ricevuto un riconoscimento... |
| Movimento Salesiano [IT] | Salesian Movement | Usually capitalised in English. Reference to the various degrees of adhesion to the Salesian system and Salesian principles, GC22. Not a structured reality with a specific organisation but rather an awareness, a spirit, an affective belonging to, in view of doing good to the young. The Friends of Don Bosco would be an example of the Saleisan movement. Cf also vasto movimento. | Cartcom:.. L'apertura a un più vasto "Movimento salesiano". |
| musica [IT] | music | A term that Desramaut includes among his 100 words of Salesian spirituality. Since there is no such thing as a Salesian house without music in the Salesian tradition, a Salesian glossary must at least mention the term! | PV5:..gioventù, della musica e del canto, non solo come strumento a servizio... |
| Mutuae Relationes [IT] | Mutual Relations | Normally left in its Latin form, this document was published in 1978, May 14th as a joint publication of two Vatican Congregations or departments - that for religious life and that for Bishops. It deals with the relationships desired between Bishops and Religious. | | (:nl:) |
