3. The minor seminary

In 1860 the anticlerical Turin newspaper La Gazzetta Del Popolo created some polemic about Don Bosco referring to him as a modern-day 'Father Lobriquet..., the director of the nest-full of bigots at Valdocco'. It was a clear reference to the oratory as a boarding school primarily directed to caring for ecclesiastical vocations.1298

Don Bosco's minor seminary was not substantially different from other ordinary boarding schools.

However, it is certain that the specific orientation it had strongly conditioned the lifestyle of the

boarders. On the one hand the minor seminary lifestyle hi ghlights its protective elements. On the other

hand it highlights other essential traits, such as the religious atmosphere, sacramental life, family -like setting pursuing a wide range of ideals.

Naturally the stress is placed on all the procedures which ai m at guaranteeing a social, moral, almost

ascetic environment with additional measures to guarantee the 'immunisation' of the boarders. During

the summer of 1884, these measures seemed harsher at the time there was a debate about the

disciplinary and vocat ional crisis at the Oratory. The meeting of the Superior Chapter on 5 June

l884was dedicated to the topic of morality and fostering vocations at Valdocco. Don Bosco seemed

quite rigid: The first and fundamental principle is that of “safeguarding the young”. The protection of the young had to begin at the moment of acceptance and continue on right up to their expulsion. “Broken bones should be placed by the door.” “There must be severity in expelling the bad boys”. “During the formation period discipline and surveillance are needed so that no corner of the house may be a hideaway. There must also be an appropriate catechesis on Sunday and morality should be constantly protected”. Don Bosco concluded the meeting by focusing once again on three most immediate means, needed to reach the set goals of morality and vocations:

1. A specific set of rules on accepting boys;

2. The house must be 'purged';

3. Sharing, distribution, regularisation of offices, the boys and the playgrounds etc.1299

This meeting as well as th e one held on 7 July 7 1884 added a few more restrictive measures to the

ones already taken and intensified vigilance, decreased the number of contacts of the young with

settings considered destructive or dangerous like parishes, oratories, institutions fo r religious women, state hospitals, and at times even the reduction of the study program to the functional one followed by

the apostolic schools in France. This reduction called, for example, for the exclusion of Greek and

mathematics in the final high sch ool grades to make it impossible for them to take the high school

comprehensive exams.

1300

But at the same time and with the same insistence, Don Bosco urged the use of so many other very

constructive tools proposed by the preventive system itself: the presen ce of authoritative and competent teachers, Salesian Confessors specifically assigned to this task and capable of offering discrete and

prudent direction regarding vocation,

1301unity of direction, frequent family

-style meetings between the Rector or the Catec hist and the pupils both in public and private,

1302

creating an intense climate of

1298 A very useful though indirect source to understand Don Bosco's thinking regarding formation and vocation is by Fr

Almerico Guerra, Le vocazioni allo stato ecclesiastico quanto alla necessità e al modo di aiutarle. Osservazioni

pratiche antecedute da alcune avvertenze sulla scarsezza del Clero. Rome, Civiltà Cattolica Press 1869., pp. IX-334.

The author often quotes Don Bosco with admiration. His colleagues called him “true sower of virtue” who “formed

very good clerics and excellent priests” (p. 76). Don Bosco, thanking the author for the homage rendered his work.

Writes, “The book is written according to my spirit and I would really like it to be used by educators of the young”

(Letter 6 June 1869, E II 31).

1299 G.B. Lemoyne, Verbali delle riunioni capitolari, quad. 1 13r-14r.

1300 G.B. Lemoyne, Verbali delle riunioni capitolari, quad. 1, fol. 13V, 18r-v, 19r.

1301 G.B. Lemoyne, Verbali delle riunioni capitolari, quad. 1, folo. 13v.

1302 G.B. Lemoyne,Verbali delle riunioni capitolari, quad. 1, folo. 17R-v and 18r.