Traditional Chief hails Saint Don Bosco
Catholic Christians came from various parishes in Lilongwe to offer their intercessory prayers to God through Saint Don Bosco who they said had come to visit them in form of his relic pilgrimage.
In Pilgrimages people usually travel to a sanctuary or holy ground to pray and pilgrimages have been part of the movement of all the great religions.
Senior Traditional Authority Tsabango of Lilongwe said on Tuesday that he was impressed with the history of the life of Saint Don Bosco.
The Senior Chief made the remarks at Don Bosco Catholic Parish in Lilongwe on Tuesday during a Holy Mass to celebrate the life of Don Bosco at the end of the saint’s relic pilgrimage.
“Today the Lord must be glorified. I am impressed by the history of Saint Don Bosco and what he did during his life”, said Senior Chief Tsabango. He said all the things Students of Don Bosco Youth Technical College presented as offerings during mass told the story of the valuable skills development programmes Don Bosco left for the youth.
Senior Chief Tsabango said the saint had love for the youth and had the spirit of sharing with them that is why he put up the skills development training programmes which are still being shared to the youth through his Salesian community. He said the activities of Don Bosco youth centre in his area gave the real message of what Saint Don Bosco believed in, his love for the youth and his spirit of sharing with them.
“Sharing helps. When you share education, skills, we all benefit. I have learnt a lesson, even us chiefs let’s learn to share with others ”, he said adding that by starting skills development programmes Saint Don Bosco also realized the youth’s bodily needs. He urged the youth to emulate the life of the Saint and to refrain from deplorable behaviours.
. “Trousers, we firm them with belts and not leaving them loose almost falling off. I do not believe that the boys that Don Bosco taught would behave like the boys we see today”, he said referring to how boys and some young men wear their trousers these days.
Monsignor Francis Sonkhani who represented Archbishop Remi Ste- Marie of the Archdiocese of Lilongwe requested the Salesian Community Missionaries to extend their services to the whole diocese.
“I thank the Salesian Community for the work you are doing here. We ask you to extend your services to other areas because in the Archdiocese, there are a lot of youth who also want to know about Saint Don Bosco and they also would want to learn the skills their friends are acquiring here”, said Monsignor Sonkhani.
He said young people learning at Don Bosco centres in Lilongwe and Nkhotakota were lucky because they had access to skills taught by the Salesian Community founded by Saint Don Bosco when he was alive.
The Provincial for the Zimbabwe Vice Province of the Salesian Community, Fr. George Chalisery celebrated the holy mass led by Monsignor Sonkhani.
In-charge of the Zimbabwe Vice Province of the Salesian Community Fr. George advised the youth to take advantage of the programmes at Don Bosco Youth Technical College by working hard to achieve big things in life. Zimbabwe Vice Province covers countries of Zimbabwe, Zambia, Malawi and Angola.
Don Bosco’s Salesian Community Rector Fr. Alex Kim said Saint Don Bosco wanted Christians to live a holy life and he (Fr. Kim) urged the people who attended the mass to have strong faith in order to benefit from the pilgrimage.
The pilgrimage of Don Bosco’s actual relics is a reverse kind of pilgrimage where, instead of people going to the sanctuary where a saint is venerated, the saint goes to the people.
Saint John (Don) Bosco who was born in 1815 in Northern Italy with his real name as John Melchior Bosco Occhiena and ordained to priesthood in 1841 is the founder of the Salesian Community, well known for youth evangelization, in the Catholic Church.
He died in 1888 at the age of 72 leaving behind a large movement, the Salesian Community, for the evangelization of youth and 100 years later in 1988 Pope John Paul II declared St. John Bosco “Father and Teacher of youth”.
The literature says the event of the pilgrimage of the casket of Don Bosco’s relic is a worldwide event and it introduces the Salesian Family to the 200th anniversary of the birth of Don Bosco in 2015 and the pilgrimage which started in 2009 is ongoing up to 2014.
According to the available literature the relics of Don Bosco have been recomposed from the urn that contained his remains since 1929 when the body was exhumed for his beatification and canonization. The bones and tissues of the right hand and arm, he used to perform most of the miracles when he was alive, were taken and placed within a wax replica of St. John Bosco’s body, which in turn is enclosed in a large urn (glass casket).
Saint Don Bosco’s relic pilgrimage arrived in Malawi on Sunday and left the country on Tuesday. From Malawi the pilgrimage proceeded to Angola.