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On January 31, 2001,
St. John Bosco Council #12846 was instituted.
St. John Bosco died on this date in 1888, at age 73, and January 31st is his
special feast day.
Our Council works in affiliation with St. Raymond of Peñafort
parish, also newly formed and in the process of building a new church facility
to serve the Fairfax Station and Springfield area of Virginia.
.jpg) An update on “St. John Bosco”,
patron of our council.
Relics of
St. John Bosco will travel to five continents
Celebrations for the bicentennial of the
birth of St. John Bosco, the founder of the Salesian Order and champion of
underprivileged children will include a five-continent "pilgrimage" of his
ashes.
The crystal and aluminum urn containing a likeness of the saint and hir right
arm bone has been displayed in several Italian cities. In June, top Vatican
officials honored the saint when the urn was brought into the Callixtus
catacombs on the Appian way to Rome.
During his lifetime, St. John Bosco, commonly known as Don Bosco, often visited
the catacombs, a burial site for early Christians. He was drawn to the "courage
and charity" of those first followers of Jesus.
The urn's journey began in Turin, in northern Italy in April in a celebration of
the 150th anniversary of the founding of the Salesian Order. It will travel
first to Chile, stop in several South American countries, Central America, the
United States, Canada, Asia, Africa, and back to Europe. The pilgrimage is
expected to end in Turin in 2014. The bicentennial of St. John Bosco's birth
will be celebrated with events in 2015.
Pope Benedict XVI has agreed to grant plenary indulgences to those who make a
pilgrimage to see and pray before the urn in various locations around the world.
Salesian communities for youth are now found in 128 countries.
St. John Bosco, also referred to as “Don Bosco” (“Don” means “Father”)
seems an
ideal patron for several reasons:
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St. John Bosco had a prophetic dream of
the Catholic Church, symbolized by a large ship being furiously attacked
by an enemy fleet. Amid the turbulent waters and enemy fire, the
Roman pontiff stood at the helm and exerted all his strength to steer the
Church to safety between two large pillars. On top of one pillar was a
Host and upon the other was a statue of the Virgin Mary. These
symbolized the devotion to the Holy Eucharist, "Salvation of Believers,"
and the Blessed Virgin Mary under the title, "Help of Christians."
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Despite the fierce battle, the Church was securely docked between these
two pillars, and the sea was made calm.
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This dream takes on greater significance
as we find our Church being wounded from within and from without. It
is easy to focus on the evil actions of others and to lose sight of both
the true nature of the battle we are in and the important role we have as
members of the Church, the Mystical Body of Christ.
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Even more significant for us, as Knights
of Columbus, is our unwritten law, Support our Bishops and Clergy.
Let us help to anchor and support the ship in this time of turbulence.
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In keeping with the Knights
efforts to help orphans and spur on the youth to strive for solid Christian
ideals, St. John Bosco (who is often called the patron of Catholic youth)
serves as a exemplary role model. Don Bosco took orphaned and abandoned youth
off the street of Turin and worked closely with “his boys” to teach them a
trade and instill in them spiritual ideals and a healthy self esteem, so that
they could be holy, happy, and productive Catholics in their communities.
May the adopted
patron for the Knights of Columbus Council at St. Raymond’s serve as a role
model not only for the Knights, but for our whole parish as we continue to work
toward building and strengthening our parish community in the love of Christ
Jesus, and supporting our Clergy. For more information on St. John Bosco visit:
http://saints.catholic.org/saints/johnbosco.html
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