Saint Dominic Savio
(1842-1857). His party is celebrated on May 6
Biography of Saint Dominic Savio
Saint John Bosco, founder of the Salesian Congregation and the Institute of the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians, had thousands of students, among whom the most famous was Saint Dominic Savio, a young student who died at only 14 years of age.
Domingo Savio was born in Riva de Chieri (Italy) on April 2, 1842. He was the eldest of the five children of Ángel Savio, a very poor mechanic, and Brígida, a simple woman who helped the family economy by sewing for her neighbors.
From a very young age, he liked to help at Holy Mass as an acolyte, and when he arrived at the temple very early and found the door closed, he would stay there on his knees adoring Jesus the Eucharist, while the sacristan came to open it.
The day before his first confession, he apologized to his mother for all the trouble she had caused him with his childhood defects. On the day of his first communion, he wrote the following resolutions:
– I will go to confession very often and I will receive Holy Communion whenever the confessor allows me to.
– I want to sanctify the holidays.
– My friends will be Jesus and Mary.
– Rather die than sin.
– Always be happy.
At the age of 12, he met Saint John Bosco for the first time and asked him to admit him free of charge to the school that the saint had for poor children. Don Bosco, to test his memory and his willingness to study, gave him a book and told him to learn a chapter. A short time later Dominic Savio arrived and recited that entire chapter from memory. San Juan Bosco accepted it and Dominic, very happy about that news, told his educator: “You will be the tailor. I will be the cloth. And we will make a good suit of holiness to give it to Our Lord.” This was accomplished admirably.
One day he told his holy confessor that when he went to bathe in a special well, he heard bad conversations there. The priest told him that he could not bathe there again. Domingo obeyed, although this cost him a great sacrifice, since it was very hot and there was no shower in his house. And Saint John Bosco adds when narrating this fact: “If this young man had continued going to that place he would not have become a saint.” But obedience saved him.
One day, two companions challenged each other to fight with stones. Domingo Savio tried to appease them but it was not possible. Then, when the two boys were ready to throw the first stones at each other, Dominic stood in the middle of the two with a crucifix in his hands and told them: “Before you throw the stones at you, say: Jesus died forgiving those who crucified him and I don’t want to forgive those who offend me.” The two enemies shook hands, made peace, and such a fight did not take place. For many years, they remembered with admiration this way of acting of their holy friend.
Every day, Domingo went to visit the Blessed Sacrament in the temple, and at Holy Mass, after receiving Communion, he stayed as if in ecstasy talking with Our Lord. One day he did not go to breakfast or lunch, they looked for him throughout the house and found him in the church, as if suspended in ecstasy. He hadn’t realized that several hours had already passed. He was so moved by the visit of Jesus Christ in the Holy Host.
For three years, the Fellowship Award was won, by popular vote among the 800 students. The companions were amazed to see him always so cheerful, so kind, and so helpful to everyone. He repeated: “We demonstrate holiness, always being happy.”
With the best students of the school, he founded an association called “Company of the Immaculate Conception”, to encourage each other to better fulfill their duties and dedicate themselves to the apostolate with more fervor. And it is curious that of the 18 young people with whom two years later Saint John Bosco founded the Salesian Community, 11 were from the association founded by Dominic Savio.
In a dream-vision, he knew that England was soon to take a big step towards Catholicism. And this happened several years later when the future Cardinal Newman and several great English men converted to Catholicism. Another day he knew by inspiration that under a staircase, in a distant house, a person was dying and that he needed the last rites. The priest went there and helped him to die well.
When correcting a young man who used bad words, the other slapped him. Domingo blushed and said: “I could hit you too because I’m stronger than you. But I forgive you, as long as you don’t say what shouldn’t be said again.” The other corrected himself and from then on was his friend.
One day there was a serious disorder in class. Domingo did not participate in it, but when the teacher arrived, the most undisciplined students blamed him for everything. The teacher scolded him strongly and punished him. Domingo did not say a word, the professor asked him why he had not defended himself and he replied: “It is that Our Lord did not defend himself when they accused him unjustly. And also, the promoters of disorder could be expelled if they knew they were they, because they have already committed faults. On the other hand, as it was the first fault they punished me for, I could be sure that they would not expel me”. Many years later, the teacher and the students still remembered with admiration such strength in a child of such weak health.
The mother of Saint John Bosco, Mama Margarita, said to her son one day: “Among your students you have many who are wonderfully good. But none equals Dominic Savio in virtue and holiness. No one as joyful and pious as him, and no one so always willing to help everyone and in everything”.
Saint John Bosco was the saint of joy. No one ever saw him sad, although his health was very poor and he had enormous problems. But one day the students saw him extraordinarily serious. What was happening? It was that the most beloved and holy of all his students was leaving his school: Dominic Savio. The doctors had said that he was coughing too much and that he was too weak to continue studying, and that he had to go away for a few weeks to rest in his town. Every month, in the Monthly Retreat, an Our Father was prayed for the one who would die first. Domingo told his companions: “This month’s Our Father will be for me.” No one imagined that it would be like this, and it did. When Dominic said goodbye to his holy educator who in just three years of high school had led him to such great holiness, the students around him commented: “Look, it seems that Don Bosco is going to cry.” -It was almost possible to repeat that day what people said about Jesus and his friend Lazarus: “Look, how he loved him!”
Dominic Savio was ready to leave for eternity. The doctors and specialists that Saint John Bosco hired to examine him commented: “This boy’s soul has such great desires to go to God, that his weak body is no longer capable of containing it anymore. This young man dies of love, of love to God”. So it was.
On March 9, 1857, when he was about to turn 15 and was in the 8th grade of high school, Domingo, after confessing and receiving Communion and receiving the Anointing of the Sick, felt that he was leaving for eternity. He called his father to say prayers from the prayer book at his bedside. His mother did not feel strong enough to accompany him in his agony and his went to cry in a nearby room. And at about 9 o’clock at night he exclaimed: “Dad, dad, what beautiful things I see” and with an angelic smile he sweetly expired.
Eight days later, his father felt in a dream that Domingo appeared to tell him very happy that he had been saved. And a few years later he appeared to Saint John Bosco, surrounded by many other young people who were in heaven. He was beautiful and full of joy. And he told her: “What consoled me the most at the time of death was the presence of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Recommend everyone to pray to her a lot and with great fervor. And tell the young people that I await them in Paradise.” .
Dominic’s cause for beatification was introduced in 1914. He was beatified on March 5, 1949 by Pius XII and canonized by the same Pope on June 12, 1954. His feast is celebrated on May 6.
On the occasion of the 50th anniversary of his canonization, in 2005, the relics of Saint Dominic Savio were taken on a pilgrimage by the Salesians to Italy, Libya, Syria and Spain.
Prayer to Saint Dominic Savio
Beloved Saint Dominic: you gave up your short life totally for the love of Jesus and his Mother. Help youth today to realize the importance of God in his life. You who became a saint through fervent participation in the sacraments, enlighten parents and children on the importance of frequent confession and Holy Communion.
You who at an early age meditated on the sufferings of the Passion of Our Lord, obtain for us the grace of a fervent desire to suffer for love of Him. We desperately need your intercession to protect today’s children from the deceptions of this world. . Watch over them and lead them along the narrow path to Heaven.
Ask God to give us the grace to sanctify our daily obligations by carrying them out perfectly out of love for Him. And remind us of the need to practice virtue especially in times of trial and tribulation.
Santo Domingo Savio, you who knew how to preserve the heart in baptismal innocence, pray for us.
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