A dreamer of the first order, St. John Bosco was renowned for lucid dreams revealing God’s will. He was born Giovanni Melchior Bosco at Becchi, Italy in 1815 and died Jan. 31, 1888 of natural causes at Turin. His father died when John Bosco was two years old, so the boy had to help his mother through work.
While growing up, John Bosco learned magic tricks entertaining other boys with those along with homilies. Carpenter, baker, shoemaker, and tailor, he was ordained in 1841. A tireless worker, he taught neglected young boys, attended to a girls hospice, wrote short essays on faith, and founded the Salesians of Don Bosco in 1859.
With the inspiration of Our Lady, Help of Christians and St. Frances, the Salesian Order features priests who educate boys. John Bosco founded several other orders, too. Pope Pius XI beatified him in 1929 and canonized him in 1934.
