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Liturgical Memory of Blessed Joseph Cafasso (1811-1860)

EAO, 22 June 2016 -- "If I have been able to do any good, I owe it to this worthy priest." (Don Bosco)

The Spiritual Guidance or Accompaniment is among the top priorities of the EAO provinces. In the last EAO encounter during the GC27 (April 2014) all 10 Provinces pointed at spiritual direction as first priority to the way forward.

"Who is your Cafasso?" becomes a question during the provincial canonical visitations and each province.

St Joseph Cafasso (1811-1860) is recognized by Pope Pius XII as Saint Patron of the Italian Prisons (1948) as well the universal model for the Confessors and Spiritual Guides (1950 - Menti Nostrae). As reminds Pope Benedict XVI (2010, June 30) - "St Joseph Cafasso is a reminder for all of us to advance on the journey of Christian life, of Holiness. May he remind to all priests the importance to dedicate their time to the Sacrament of Reconciliation and to the Spiritual Direction and to all of us to keep the necessary attention towards our most needed neighbors."

Don Bosco reveals in his MEMOIRS OF THE ORATORY (Part II, chapter 11):

"Fr Caffasso, who for six years had been my guide, was also my spiritual director. If I have been able to do any good, I owe it to this worthy priest in whose hands I placed every decision I made, all my study, and every activity of my life. The first thing he did was to begin to take me to the prisons, where I soon learned how great was the malice and misery of mankind. I saw large numbers of young lads aged from 12 to 18, fine healthy youngsters, alert of mind, but seeing them idle there, infested with lice, lacking food for body and soul, horrified me. Public disgrace, family dishonour, and personal shame were personified in those unfortunates. What shocked me most was to see that many of them were released full of good resolutions to go straight, and yet in a short time they landed back in prison, within a few days of their release."

Celebrating the liturgical memory of St Joseph Cafasso, June 23rd, we have a good chance to give thanks and pray for all spiritual guides in our provinces and delegations; we have a good chance to see how our young Salesians are being prepared for the spiritual accompaniment of the young people.

Some useful materials about St Joseph Cafasso: (liturgy, art, writings)