shed his blood for our salvation and our hapines.1014
From 1863, The Companion of Youth added the last line from the presentation of the first edition, “Live happily and may the Lord be with you”, with the conclusion “Live happily and may the fear of God be a treasure for you throughout your life time”.1015The l875 edition had another enriching addition: “May heaven grant you many long years of a happy life and may the holy fear of God be always the wonderful treasure showering you with heavenly favours in time and in eternity”.1016“Ah, for the love of Jesus and Mary”, it said toward the end of l847, “with good deeds, prepare yourself to hear the favourable sentence of God and remember that the more fearful the sentence uttered against a sinner, the more consoling likewise the indication that Jesus addressed to one who lived as a Christian should: 'Come?, he wil say, ‘come and take possession of the glory that I have prepared for you';1017 “the more fearful the thought and consideration of hell, the more consoling will be the thought of paradise, which is offered to you. Oh, how desirable and lovable is the place where all kinds of goods will be enjoyed”.1018
6. Signs of a differentiated and contextual pedagogy
It is quite clear that Don Bosco, since the first two decades marking the beginnings of his cultural and spiritual evolution, was convinced that if the young man had to embark on any sort of journey for his human and Christian growth, he needed to perceive his personal identity and potential for recovery and development.
The adult who accompanies him should support him with a similar intuition, Don Bosco believed. As we have already seen, this interaction between the young person and the educator constitutes the essence of Don Bosco's preventive system. No other meaning can be given to Don Bosco's
classification of the young into “rascals, scatter-brained and good”, or the differentiated ways he proposed for dealing with them.
Differentiated approaches were first seen in the Historical Outlines then in the general articles of the Rules for the houses, 1877. The first is a paradigmatic and generally overlooked document. “The scatter-brained”, Don Bosco explains, “the ones who habitually just hang around and do little work, can be led to a successful outcome by teaching them a trade, through assistance, by instruction and by keeping them busy”. They will not all turn out to be perfect Christians but they will certainly be good citizens, honest workers, morally and civilly responsible human beings and, perhaps, people who could passably good SundayChristians. For the rascals instead, the results might be longer-term. “The fact that they don't get worse” is an appreciable, though minimal, goal. “Many succeed in becoming wiser and therefore earning their daily bread in an honest wa”. This is certainly a remarkable result in terms of a young man's growing into adulthood and regaining consistent temporal values. It could stand asa potential preparation for following the Gospel since it provides some understanding of life and, perhaps, faith in God.
At any rate, there is a well-established 'pedagogy of hope'. The seed has been sown and will bear fruit. Room should be left for time and grace to work on: “The same individuals who seemed so insensitive when they were being looked after find room, in time for the good principles they learned and later on this will produce results”.1019
Diagnosis, prognosis and therapy result from real and ever wider-ranging experiences. These
1014 G. Reano, past pupilof the Oratory, letter to Fr G. Bonetti 2 Feb 1885, pp. 40-42; revokes a good night by D.
Bosco during a novena to Mary in response to the question, Why does God want to give us heaven?
1015 G. Bosco, Il giovane provveduto..., Turin, Oratory of St Francis de Sales Press 1863, p. 6
1016 G. Bosco, Il giovane provveduto..., Turin, Oratory of St Francis de Sales Press 1875, p. 7, OE XXVI 7 1017 G. Bosco, Il giovane provveduto..., p. 43, OE II 223.
1018 G. Bosco, Il giovane provveduto..., pp. 48-49, OE II 228-229.
1019 Cenni storici..., in P. Braido (Ed.), Don Bosco nella Chiesa... pp. 78-79.