Don Bosco is widely known as the Saint of Youth, but he is also the Saint of joy, lived and taught as an educational tool. Pope Francis, in fact, recalling his youth formation among the Salesians, said: “The Salesians formed me in beauty, work, and in being very joyful.”
Our young people are often dispirited, unmotivated, and disoriented, searching for a secret of happiness that can answer their questions. Rediscovering Don Bosco as an educator to joy and as an educator through joy can help us find ways to reach them and accompany them on their journey of growth.
Don Bosco’s revolutionary message
All saints are revolutionaries in their own way, and Don Bosco is no exception: at a time when priests lived detached from the people, he was a revolutionary priest because he was close and joyful. Pope Francis emphasizes this when he says: “Don Bosco was not a saint with a ‘Good Friday’ face, sad and sullen... Rather, he had a ‘Easter Sunday’ face. He was always joyful and welcoming, despite the thousand hardships and difficulties that beset him every day.”
He was not afraid to immerse himself in Turin’s social and existential periphery, visiting construction sites, factories, and prisons to find boys who were alone and abandoned. In these places, he began to bring the light of God and the joy of the Gospel message.
The revolution of cheerfulness
In the Valdocco Oratory, which he founded, the boys could learn to be “good Christians and honest citizens”; they could savor joy, understood as the high standard of Christian life. Yes, because for Don Bosco, holiness consists precisely in this: being very joyful.
To the young Francesco Besucco, Don Bosco advised: “If you want to become good, practice just three things and everything will go well. Here they are: cheerfulness, study, piety. This is the great program; by putting it into practice, you will be able to live happily and do much good for your soul.”
Cheerfulness may seem like something trivial, but it becomes a challenge, a courageous choice in a world that pulls us down, marked by wars and tragedies of every kind. Teaching cheerfulness was revolutionary in Don Bosco’s time, and it is revolutionary today as well.
The pedagogy of joy and celebration
Don Bosco’s legacy continues through missionaries who bring hope to the poorest areas of the world, offering young people opportunities through school, work, sport, and music…
Joy is a constitutive element of Don Bosco’s educational “system,” inseparable from study, work, and faith.
Don Bosco saw joy as a fundamental need in life and a law of youth: his vision stemmed from a profound knowledge and understanding of young people. He allowed young people to be young, with their need for freedom, play, and a “society of joy.” At the time, recreation - with games, jokes, and conversations - became essential moments for education: Don Bosco used them to draw young people closer and “instill thoughts of religion”; similarly, celebrations provided opportunities to express joy through music, singing, rituals, and a family atmosphere. Another important educational ingredient was theater: theatrical performances, both sacred and secular, were designed to convey moral values and develop young people’s abilities.
Don Bosco was convinced that “serving God can be happily combined with honest cheerfulness”. This is a great lesson that, especially today, needs to be rediscovered!
Following Don Bosco’s example, let us teach our children and young people the revolution of joy and rediscover with them the joy that comes from being Christians!
