I recently was going through some stuff in my office, (with the faithful assistance of my mother, RoseMary Clair), and we found a booklet by St. John Bosco…his advice to parents and teachers. Here is some of what he said:
- The primary happiness of a child consists in knowing one is loved.
- The young must not only be loved, butthey must know they are loved.
- I maintain that without religion no good can be done with the young.
- In every young person, even the most difficult, there is a vulnerable spot for good. The first duty of an educator is to find it.
- Teachers seen only in the classroom are simply teachers. If they mingle with the students outside the classroom, they become brothers and sisters.
- No good can come from education, until a young person has opened his/her heart in confidence.
- Remember that education is a matter of the heart.
- Personal contact and friendly relationships produce confidence, without which, no lasting good can be accomplished.
- Educators always speak in the language of the heart.
- Love must always be the mainspring of the heart.
Thank you, Don Bosco, for teaching us how to love the young, and to see Christ in them. By your word and your example, you offer us an efficacious path to holiness. I am happy and proud to be numbered among your daughters, and the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians!
