St John Bosco

John’s parents were poor farmers.  When John was only 9 he already wanted to become a priest.  His mother let him go to school, but he always had to do his chores first.  He learned to do all kinds of jobs; carpentry, shoemaking, cooking, farming, baking and many other jobs.   When John grew up he did became a priest. As a priest, Don Bosco (Don means Father in Italian) began helping his people. He was a very kind man and he felt sad when he saw so many children living on the streets of Italy. Like a loving father, he gathered together these homeless boys and taught them how to work, so that they would stay out of trouble. His advice to the boys was, "Pray when it's time to pray. Study when it's time to study. Play when it's time to play. Show kindness to everyone you meet. But do it all for the love of Jesus."  Don Bosco started his own religious order of priests, brothers and sisters called the Salesians, after St. Francis de Sales.