A Man of Faith

In the school year 186465, Latin IV and V and other subjects had been entrusted to the cleric Francis Cerruti, but the sickly young teacher became so exhausted that Father Rua, the director, begged Don Bosco to relieve him of his heavy burden. "Let him continue to teach!" was Don Bosco's reply. The good cleric obeyed, but toward the end of April he fell seriously ill. What follows is his own testimony: I suddenly felt totally exhausted. Often my spittle was tinged with blood, and a persistent cough and phlegm tormented me. I constantly ran a temperature and found it hard to breath. Doctor Pasini diagnosed my condition as a serious case of neglected bronchitis. At about this time Don Bosco paid us a visit. "Don't worry," he said before leaving, "your hour hasn't come yet. You still have a lot to do to earn your place in heaven." My condition, however, worsened and the doctor gave me up. I remember hearing him say, "There is nothing else medicine can do. He is too far gone. He must have total rest. Only nature can help him now." Father Rua, the director, solicitously looked after me and had the boys pray for me morning and evening, as is done for those who are critically ill, but to no avail. One day Don Rua went to Turin and informed Don Bosco of my condition. When he returned he said to me, “Listen to this. Don Bosco wants you to know that your hour hasn't come yet and that you'd better think about getting well.” Well, that same day I had such a coughing spell that, unable to stand it any longer, I threw myself on the bed, expecting to die at any moment. Yet, the next morning I resumed teaching and by evening felt better. The following day I felt almost entirely cured and continued my work to the end of the year. I also recall that my doctor was mystified by my recovery and that months later he was still puzzled and could not quite believe it. "Of course," he would remark, "nature has many secrets we are not yet aware of." He could not bring himself to admit more. He was an upright man, but hardly a churchgoer... I am convinced that, considering my physical exhaustion and my serious and long illness, my recovery was a miracle. BM Vol. 8, ch. 12, p.80-81

Keep in mind that Don Bosco was above all, a man of faith. He saw in people what they needed, their possibilities and their limitations. Because of this, he instilled faith in them by many encouraging words, and in the process, healed them not only physically but spiritually. We might not have the same faith as Don Bosco, nevertheless, these experiences make it very easy to believe that the only requirement of faith is weakness. Without that spiritual deficiency, God cannot work in us.

Article 29: In working-class areas “We recognize the gospel values which [the poor people] stand for, and the need they have of support in their efforts at human advancement and growth in the faith. Hence, we support them by ‘all the means that Christian charity suggests...”