9 Resolutions of Don Bosco at the time of his ordination

The resolutions DON BOSCO made during his retreat in preparation for ordination to Priesthood

These resolutions reflect the spiritual and priestly model offered by the Vincentians and by Fr Cafasso, and they also reflect the pastoral approach of St Francis de Sales:

“I began my retreat at the House of the Mission on 26 May, the Feast of St Philip Neri 1841.

The conclusion I drew at the end of the retreat in preparation for my first Mass was:

A priest does not go either to heaven or hell alone. If he does well he goes to heaven with the souls he has saved through his good example; if he does badly, gives scandal he goes to perdition with the souls damned due to his scandal.

Resolutions:

1. To ever go for walks unless seriously necessary: visit the sick etc.
2. To use time well.
3. To be prepared to suffer and accept humiliations in everything whenever it is a case of saving souls.
4. The charity and kindness of St Francis de Sales will guide me in everything.
5. I will always be happy with the food that is put in front of me unless it is harmful to my health.
6. I will water down my wine and drink it only as a remedy: that is, only when and as much as is needed for my health.
7. Work is a powerful weapon against the soul’s enemies; thus I will not give my body more than five hours of sleep every night. During the day, especially after lunch, I will not take a rest. I will only make some exception to this if ill.
8. Every day I will give some time to meditation and spiritual reading. During the day I will make a brief visit or at least a prayer to the Blessed Sacrament. I will give at least a quarter of an hour to preparation, and another quarter of an hour of thanksgiving before and after Holy Mass.
9. I will not engage in conversations with women outside of confession or some other spiritual need.

(F. Motto [Ed.], Memorie dal 1841 al 1884-5-6 pel Sac. Gio. Bosco a’ suoi figliuoli Salesiani, in RSS 4 [1985] 88–90).