pedagogy did not create feelings of anxiety, even though predictions of death did indeed provoke them. Don Bosco knew that and at times he justified himself, as he did for example in a Good Night given on March 16, 1865. And, mind you, this is not the only talk of this kind:

When I show up here and announce that another boy is going to die, for goodness sake let

me know if some of the boys are too scared by these announcements and write to their

parents asking to be taken out of the Oratory because ‘Don Bosco is always predicting the

death of someone.’ But please, tell me this: had I not made this announcement would

Ferraris had prepared himself so well to appear before God's tribunal? ...To those who are

so afraid of death, I say: "dear children, perform your duties, do not engage in bad talk,

approach the sacraments frequently, do not give way to gluttony, and death will not scare

you.1010

5. Education to hope and joy

This kind of education, certainly problematic in some ways, contributed to maintaining an approach to life lived under the motto: “God sees me!”. This God is a father and a judge, great in his love, and a demanding, encouraging guardian of merit as well as someone who punishes any fault, anywhere. This is popular kind of theology, condensed into advice for holiday times and offered in the already quoted Good Night on 21 August, 1877, both to academic students and working boys at the Oratory. This “healthy fear” was, finally, paart of love expressed by abandoning oneself to God who is a merciful Father.

We should not think that the Lord is all cruelty and inflexible justice, Don Bosco assures

them, no, he is rather all mercy, goodness and love. And just as the one who offends God

should be afraid of him, so sthe one who can say of himself: I have nothing on my

conscience that bothers me, be content. To the latter I can say: go and sleep peacefully; let

your recreation be cheerful and live happily. If someone who lives in harmony with God

leads a happy life, someone who cannot say that he has a goodconscience should be afraid,

lest God take his time away from him.1011

Along with responsible commitment, radical feelings of hope and joy were also likely to surface.

Following the simple and traditional faith Don Bosco adheres to, life and death are events with which we have to come to grips, just as we have to come to grips with good and evil, reward and punishment,

heaven and hell, all sources, respectively, of a legitimate hope and a healthy fear. Within this

perspective, good people will always expect t o hear words of hope, eternal happiness and a justified,

even though precarious earthly joy, naturally all connected with how one carried out one's daily duties.

If we want to have a good harvest, we first of all have to sow “good and useful things”.1012

The young person is introduced to acknowledging the constant presence, not only of death, but also of the alluring perspective of paradise which is implored through the motherly mediation of Mary, Virgin and Mother.’1013The hope that God will grant us paradise is based on secure guarantees provided by reason and faith: having been baptised, and living as a Catholic, being able to profit from the sacrament of Forgiveness, having the opportunity to draw sustenance from the Eucharist, being able to practice Christian mortification and Christian charity; and especially by the fact of knowing that Jesus Christ

1010 G.B. Lemoyne, Cronaca 1864ff God Night of 16 March 1865, p. 118.

1011 G. Barberis (G. Gresino), Cronaca, quad. 3, Good Night of 21 August 1877, p. 12; cf also G Barberis (E. Dompé),

Cronaca quad. 15, p. 27.

1012 G. Barberis, Cronichetta, quad. 2 Good Night Wed- 7 July 1875, pp. 39-43; similarly in D. Ruffino Le doti grandi

e luminose..., Jan 1864, pp. 14-15.

1013 G.B. Lemoyne, Cronaca 1864ff evening talk during novena for Immaculate, 2 Dec. 1864, pp. 34-35.