| ORIGINAL | ENGLISH | COMMENT | CITATION |
|---|
| obbedienza [IT] | obedience | Long before DB used this word in terms of a religious vow, he was using it in the context of the early Oratory for his boys. The vow of obedience comes first in Don Bosco's enumeration of the 3 vows. It has pride of place in the Dream of the Ten Diamonds. "In the Congregation", Don Bosco said "obedience is everything". | DBscritti:..Se voi eseguirete l 'obbedienza nel modo suindicato io vi posso accertare... |
| oculatezza [IT] | caution, having a careful eye for.. | The Italian term is in general use in the sense of 'caution'. It is a word that was in use among Salesians to express a practical quality of the Preventive System and Salesian assistance in addition to its more general meaning. | Vigano ACG290:..tipici si perda né si offuschi, - un impegno che richiede sintonia con il carisma del Fondatore e oculatezza verso... |
| ONLUS [IT] | ONLUS | The term is an acronym. In English it means non-profit organizations for social benefit. It brings together such organizations registered under Italian law. An acronym and therefore not translated. The Don Bosco in the World Foundation belongs to ONLUS. The term can be on lower case, except for the first letter: Onlus. | |
| onomastico [IT] | name day | In most English-speaking countries the person's birthday is celebrated. In Italy and other Catholic countries (or formerly so) the name day or day of the Saint one is named after is celebrated. | CG20-6.txt - ..onomastico, il 24 giugno 1870, per esprimergli la loro riconoscenza. |
| opera [IT] | work, setting | Would not always be glossed as 'work'. After all at the heart of it must be a 'community'. Occasionally as 'setting'. Avoid 'presence'. Then there are the several ''Opere'' (Upper case O) or 'Works' that are part of the founding story of the Congregation, including the very Work of the Oratory itself, and the Work of Mary Help of Christians (cf. Figli di Maria or Sons of Mary). | POI:..Ridefinire per ogni presenza un rapporto tra comunità ed opera che renda possibile ad ogni |
| operativo [IT] | working, practical | As in'' modello operativo''. ''direzioni operativi'' ''orientamenti operativi'' (working guidelines) etc. | CG23:..Ispettorie; un orientamento operativo per la nostra presenza in Africa; |
| Opere Edite [IT] | Pubished Works | Published in 1877 by Don Bosco, this booklet (5" x3.5", 59 pages, counting title page and frontispiece) contains the Regulations of the Oratory of St Francis de Sales for the Externs. Reference to the term in English is most likely in its original form, ie. as Opere Edite. In more recent times there has been the publication of ''Opere Inedite'', Don Bosco's Unpublished Works, by the ISS. | |
| oratoriano [IT] | oratorian | In Salesian circles it will refer to the characteristic style of the Oratory or to a person who attends one. But cf. also criterio oratoriano and cuore oratoriano. | RATIOCh03...lo stile specifico dell'animazione e il criterio oratoriano applicato nelle diverse opere.. |
| oratorio [IT] | oratory | Would most usually be capitalised. Central and founding concept in Salesian experience - the place (Valdocco), the people (DB and the boys), the actions (education), the system (preventive) etc. The best description we have of the term is to be found in GC21 nos.121ff. The discussion notes that Oratory and Youth Centre indicate different realities in different areas, but both coming from the same pedagogical intuition and spirit. It notes that the two terms are somewhat imprecise even in normative texts. GC21 however, offers its definitions: Oratory is aimed at younger children (''ragazzi''), is for the most part open to the masses with aims and methods that are appropriate to this. By contrast the Youth Centre is open to older youth... | DBletrom:...distrazione, mi parve che mi si presentassero innanzi due degli antichi giovani dell'Oratorio. |
| Oratorio festivo [IT] | Festive Oratory | The concept is difficult to translate into more modern secularised societies where not so many religious festivals are celebrated. But it implies non-working days, weekends, long weekends and the like. In fact DB took up a term already in existence - the Oratory and the festive oratory already existed, so what was the distinctive notion that DB added? It was the fact that in an Italian parish context, the festive oratory was mainly for prayer, and mainly just for an hour or two in the morning or afternoon. DB made it play and prayer, and open from early morning to late evening! His oratory, then, became truly festive as well as being on Sundays and feastdays, the real meaning of festivo in Italian. The daily oratory was actually a slightly later 'invention'. | MO:..La festa dell'Immacolata Concezione e il principio dell'Oratorio festivo |
| orfanel/orfaneij [IT] | orphan | cf comment on ''orfano'' below. | |
| orfano, orfanello [IT] | orphan | We might have expected Don Bosco to use this term more often. Instead he uses it but once in MO where he describes the first boy he took in (from the Val Sesia) at the Oratory. Cf. comment by N Cerrato on DB's use of Piedmontese ''fieuj''which comes into Italian often as ''ragazzi'' or ''giovani'' but carries the sense of ''orfani/orfanelli''. These latter exist in Piedmontese but are less likely to be heard in conversation. | MO:.. La buona donna aiutata dall'orfanello uscì fuori[,] raccolse alcuni pezzi di mattoni, e con essi fece in cucina |
| organico [IT] | organic, whole, overall | In many instances this adjective may not need to be translated and certainly would be best glossed with a term other than 'organic'. Possible other terms are 'structured', 'planned', 'integral', 'overall'. In the context of POI or ''Progetto Organico Ispettoriale'', avoid 'organic' and either gloss simply as 'Province Project' or 'Plan', or 'overall plan'. There is an historical reason too why the term 'organic' can be misleading. Cf. deliberazioni capitolari, deliberations of a Chapter. | CG25:..un lavoro progettuale unitario e organico? |
| organismi ispettoriali [IT] | province organising groups or bodies | Avoid 'organisms'. | CG23:..Agli organismi ispettoriali spetterà promuovere iniziative per qualificare... |
| ospizio [IT] | boarding establishment | DB opened his first such place in 1847 just two years after settling into the permanent location for the Oratory. It was an annex to the Oratory but eventually came to be the basis of the development of the ''collegio''. Note that the ''ospizio'' is a boarding institution but the term usually implied for underprivileged children. DB himself employed the term to indicate to others what sort of children he was looking after. | | (:nl:) |
