# The Venerable Don Bosco, the Apostle of Youth/Chapter XXVI

CHAPTER XXVI
LOYALTY TO THE POPE IN LIFE AND DEATH. THE CLOSING SCENES
"In 1887, on the occasion of the Golden Jubilee of Leo XIII," records the Salesian Bulletin, "it was proposed to bring out a special issue entitled Exultemus, containing a selection of autographs in honour of the Pope. Among others was this declaration from our Venerable Founder:
"My tribute will be to declare, as I do before all the world, that I make my own the sentiments of esteem, respect, veneration and unfailing love which St. Francis of Sales bore toward the Sovereign Pontiff; and I would repeat the glorious titles which he had enumerated from the writings of the Fathers and the Councils, forming a crown of precious jewels to adorn the Pontiff's head some of which are: Abel in his favour with God; Abraham in his office of patriarch; Melchisedech in his sacred orders; Aaron by his priestly dignity; Moses in his authority; Samuel by his office of judge and arbitrator; Peter by his power; and some forty others equally honorable and appropriate.
"It is my desire that the followers of the Congregation of St. Francis of Sales should never swerve from the principles of our Patron, which firuided his conduct toward the Holy See: that ​they should accept readily, respectfully and with simplicity of mind and heart not only the decisions of the Pope concerning dogma and discipline, but that in controverted and open questions they should accept his opinion as a private Doctor of the Church, rather than that of any theologian in the world.
"I hold, too, that this should not only be a rule for the Salesians and their Co-operators, but for all the faithful and especially for the clergy; for besides the duty of a son toward a Father, besides the duty which all Christians have of veneration for the Vicar of Christ, the Holy Father has a special claim upon our fidelity and deference, as being chosen from among the most enlightened and prudent, and the most conspicuous for virtue, and because in directing the Church he is guided by the light of the Holy Ghost."
Don Bosco's whole life and work, as the reader must be convinced from the foregoing pages, bore the impress of his loyalty and constant devotion to the Successor of St. Peter. A beautiful and touching emphasis was placed upon this loyalty as he neared death, for which the Salesian Bulletin is my authority:
"In the evening of December 23rd, 1887, just before he received the Holy Viaticum, he was visited by His Eminence Cardinal Alimonda; and on receiving the Cardinal's salutation Don Bosco raised his biretta and said: 'Your Eminence, I beg you to pray for me that I may save my soul;' and ​then he added, 'I recommend to you my Congregation'.
"The Cardinal encouraged him, speaking of submission to the holy Will of God, and reminding him of all the labour he had undergone for His greater glory. Don Bosco with tears in his eyes, answered: 'I have done what I could; may the holy Will of God be accomplished in me.'
'Few,' observed the Cardinal, 'are able to say that when they come to the end of their life.'
"Don Bosco exclaimed: 'I have lived in troublous times…… but the authority of the Holy See…… I have just commissioned Msgr. Cagliero to tell the Holy Father that the Salesians are to be a bulwark to the authority of the Pope, wherever their labours may call them.'"
The diary of Don Bosco's last illness, under the date January 7, 1888, reads thus:
"This evening, with the doctors' permission we began to give Don Bosco some food. Before taking it he uncovered his head and prayed, evidently affected. The bystanders feared that the food might prove hurtful to him, but he bore it very well. Afterwards with unusual liveliness he began to ask a thousand questions. He inquired after news from Rome, about the Pope and his Sacerdotal Jubilee; then he asked for information about the Oratory and wished to speak with some of the brothers. He never felt so well.
"Toward six o'clock he sent to Father Lemoyne the following message: 'How do you account for ​this, that a person lying sick in bed for twenty-one days, almost without food, with his mind extremely enfeebled, all on a sudden recovers, understands everything, feels strong and almost able to get up, to write and to work? Yes, at this moment I feel as well as if I had never been sick at all. If any one were to ask the reason why, you might answer thus: Quod Deus imperio, tu prece Virgo potes! (What God does by His power, Thou obtainest, Virgin! by Thy intercession). This is certainly not my hour yet; it may be ere long but not now.'
"This unexpected respite in Don Bosco's illness was beyond doubt the result of many prayers offered up through Our Lady in many parts of the world. He was thus enabled to set in order many affairs, to give directions for the management of the Oratory and to decide about the personnel of our Houses."
He would often joke about his sufferings; and, alluding to his spine which bent more and more painfully, he would repeat laughingly the refrain of a Piedmontese song:
O schina, povra schina
T'as fini de portè fascina.
O back, my poor back
Thou hast ceased to bear burdens.
"Hope springs eternal in the human breast," so the poet, and his saying is confirmed by experience. Don Bosco's brethren and friends still looked ​for an amelioration of his condition, a hope which was re-echoed by all Turin, and, indeed, by the whole Catholic world. But his physicians never shared these illusions. Dr. Fissore asserted:
"Don Bosco is dying. He is attacked by a cardiopulmonary affection; the liver is affected; the spinal marrow presents a complication causing paralysis of the lower limbs. This illness has no direct cause, it is the effect of a life exhausted by labor; the lamp dies out for want of oil."
Cardinals and archbishops and many persons of the highest rank, as well as pilgrims from Home, besought the honor of seeing the venerated invalid. The Archbishop of Paris, Msgr. Richard, visited him on January 24th, and having given him his blessing, he knelt humbly to receive that of the "Father of Orphans."
"Yes," said Don Bosco, "I bless your Grace and I bless Paris."
"And I," said the Archbishop fervently, "shall tell Paris that I bring Don Bosco's blessing."
On the following day, the feast of St. Paul, the patient fell into intermittent delirium, his unconscious lips breathing prayers and the names of his benefactors. The Holy Viaticum and Extreme Unction were administered on January 29th, the feast of St. Francis of Sales. During the day he frequently raised his arms toward heaven, repeating, "Fiat voluntas tua"; but gradually paralysis seized the right side and speech failed. On Tuesday, January 31st, at two o'clock in the ​morning, his agony began, and Don Buzetti called the Fathers, who had left only a short time before.
Soon the humble room was filled with priests, students and laity, kneeling in fervent prayer. The affecting scene is best described by the Salesian Bulletin:
"On Msgr. Cagliero's entrance, Don Rua gave him the stole, and went to Don Bosco's right side. Bending to the ear of the well-beloved Father, he said in a voice full of emotion: 'Don Bosco, we, your sons, are here. We ask your forgiveness for all the grief we may have caused you; in token of pardon and paternal love, bless us once more. I will guide your hand and pronounce the form.'
"What a scene of emotion! All heads were bowed to the ground, and Don Rua, with all the power he could muster in this agonizing moment, pronounced the blessing, raising at the same time Don Bosco's already paralyzed hand to invoke on all present and absent Salesians the protection of Our Lady, Help of Christians.
"At about 3 o'clock the following telegram arrived from Rome:
"'The Holy Father, from the depths of his heart, gives the apostolic benediction to Don Bosco.
"Cardinal Rampolla"
"Monsignor had already read the Proficiscere. At half past four o'clock the Angelus bell rang ​from the Church of Our Lady, Help of Christians, which all around the death-bed recited. Then Don Bonetti made a short aspiration—Vive Marie!—which the venerable invalid had repeated several times during the preceding days. Suddenly the weak rattle ceased, the breathing was regular and quiet, but for a very short time. Msgr. Cagliero said the last prayer: 'Jesus, Mary, Joseph, I give you my heart, my soul and my life! Jesus, Mary, Joseph, assist me in my last agony! Jesus, Mary, Joseph, may I die in peace with you!' Then were heard three scarcely audible sighs. Don Bosco was dead! His age was seventy-two years, five months and fifteen days. The hour was 4.45 a. m. Don Rua, in a few broken sentences of filial veneration, found strength to allude to the simplicity of this death crowning a noble life. Msgr. Cagliero entoned the Subvenite, sancti Dei, in a voice trembling with emotion, then blessed the venerated remains, praying for the repose of his soul. He took off his stole and put it on the dead body, placing the crucifix, which had so often been pressed with unspeakable fervor to the lips of the dying, in the clasped hands. The De Profundis, recited kneeling, was only a long sob."
Leo XIII, on receiving the telegram announcing the death of Don Bosco, exclaimed, raising his eyes to heaven: "Don Bosco è un Santo, un Santo, un Santo! Don Bosco is a Saint, a Saint, a Saint!"
A letter from Don Rua conveyed the sad tidings to the Salesian Co-operators, fifty-three ​thousand copies of which were not enough. All Turin was deeply impressed by the death of its saintly apostle, and most of the stores were closed through respect.
The body, robed in sacred vestments, was borne to the Church of St. Francis of Sales, and while it remained exposed to the veneration of the people many extraordinary favors and cures were obtained. On Thursday, February 2, the funeral ceremonies took place in the basilica of Our Lady, Help of Christians. The chanting of the Office was followed by the solemn requiem Mass, sung by Msgr. Cagliero; the music, composed by him, was rendered by singers who were all Don Bosco's orphans. Three bishops and all the clergy and religious orders of Turin and vicinity who could attend, formed a part of the funeral cortege to Val Salice. Eight Salesians bore the coffin, which was preceded by a procession of all the students of the schools and Oratories, and thousands of Don Bosco's former pupils of all professions and trades. Over a hundred thousand, it was believed, did honor to the mortal remains of this ardent lover of God, this loyal priest of His Holy Church, this guardian angel of Christ's little ones, the Venerable Giovanni Bosco, the Apostle of Turin.
While Don Bosco lay dying, all begged to see him and kiss his hand for the last time, which Don Rua graciously permitted