Interpersonal Relations

Salesian Methods

The Salesian Society was founded by St. John Bosco in the 1800's in Italy to educate boys. It grew and spread and then the Daughters of Mary, Help of Christians, was also founded to educate girls. St. John Bosco named his orders Salesians after St. Francis de Sales, the saint who gave us the allegory that you can catch more flies with a drop of honey than with a gallon of vinegar.

Our Lord to St. John Bosco

When St. John Bosco was yet a boy, desiring to become a priest, he had a dream in which he saw a crowd of boys laughing and playing, some of them blaspheming. He came in raising his voice and using his fists to stop them from blaspheming.

"At that moment a dignified looking man, nobly clad, who seemed to be in the prime of life appeared on the scene.....'You must win the hearts of these friends of yours, not with blows, but with sweetness and charity. Set to work at once to intruct them on the wickedness of sin and on the excellence of virtue.'"

St. John Bosco as a Teacher

The saintly boy grew up to be a priest and took in the orphan boys of the area to teach them. He taught both orphan boys, and boys from good families; among the latter was St. Dominic Savio.

Note:

The quotatations from St. John Bosco on this page and on other pages of this website have been taken from a book called, Reason, Religion, Kindness, The Educational Method of St. John Bosco, by Paul Avallone, S.D.B., Salesian Publishers, New Rochelle, NY, copyright 1965.

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