In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Saint John Bosco popularly known as Don Bosco was an Italian catholic priest.
The experience of Saint John Bosco and the advice he gave to young people can also be
useful to the people of this 21st century in great need of God.
May this video stimulate us to confess and receive Jesus in the Sacrament of the Eucharist
frequently in order to grow more each day on the path of holiness.
Don Bosco is the saint of dreams par excellence.
But his dreams were true visions, authentic revelations, in which God manifested the state
of the soul of the young people in order to help them to correct themselves.
These dreams or visions contained important teachings.
Let's describe this important dream he had which is related to our times.
On May 26th, 1862, Don Bosco had promised his young people that he would narrate on
the last day of the month something very nice.
On the night of May 30th, Don Bosco told them a parable or something similar as he wanted
to name it.
Here is what he said: "I want to tell you a dream.
It is true that the one who dreams does not reason; However, I would tell you even my
sins if I wouldn't consider that you would flee scared, or the house where we are would
fall.
I am going to tell you this dream for your spiritual good.
I had this dream a few days ago.
Imagine that you are with me on the seashore, or rather, on an isolated rock, from which
you see no more land than what you have under your feet.
In all that liquid surface one can see an uncountable multitude of ships arranged in
a battle formation, whose prows end in a sharp iron spur like a spear that wounds and pierces
everything against which it comes to collide.
These ships are armed with cannons, loaded with rifles and weapons of different kinds;
of incendiary material and also of books, and they are directed against another much
larger and taller boat, trying to drive the spur into it, set it on fire or at least do
as much damage as possible.
This majestic, taller and larger ship, equipped with everything, is escorted by numerous boats
that receive orders from it, carrying out the appropriate maneuvers to defend themselves
against the enemy fleet.
The wind is adverse to it and the agitation of the sea favors the enemies.
In the midst of the immensity of the sea, rising above the waves, are two sturdy columns,
very tall, not far from each other.
On one of them stands the statue of the Immaculate Virgin Mary, at whose feet on that column
you can see a large sign with the inscription:
On the other column, which is much taller and thicker, there is a Host of a size proportionate
to the column and below it there is another sign with the words: Salus credentium meaning
health of the believers.
The supreme commander of the majestic and larger ship, is the Roman Pontiff or the Pope,
and observing the fury of the enemies, the dire situation in which his loyalists find
themselves, he thinks of summoning the pilots of the subordinate ships around him to hold
a meeting and decide what to do next.
All the pilots board the majestic ship and congregate around the Pope.
They hold a council meeting; but when they see that the wind is getting stronger and
stronger and the storm is more and more violent, they are sent back to take command of their
respective ships again.
Calm restored for a moment, the Pope reunites the pilots for the second time, while the
flagship continues its course; but the storm turns dreadful again.
The Pope wields the rudder and all his efforts are directed towards directing the majestic
ship towards the space between those two columns, from whose upper part, all round, numerous
anchors and thick rings attached to robust chains hang.
The enemy ships prepare to assault the majestic ship, doing their best to stop her march and
to sink her.
Some enemy ships with the writings, other enemy ships with the books, other enemy ships
with incendiary materials of which they count in great abundance, materials that they try
to throw on board; others with cannons, with rifles, with spurs.
The combat becomes more and more fierce.
The enemy prows crash into the majestic ship violently, but their efforts and the momentum
are useless.
In vain the enemy ships resume the attack and waste energy and ammunition.
The gigantic ship continues safely and serenely on its way.
Sometimes it happens that as a result of the onslaught to which the majestic ship is subjected,
it shows a long and deep indentation on its flanks; but as soon as the damage has been
done, a gentle wind blows from the two columns and the waterways are closed and the gaps disappear.
Meanwhile the enemy ships fire the assailants' cannons, and when they do so their cannons
explode, the rifles are broken and the same happens with the other weapons and spurs.
Many enemy ships break apart and sink into the sea.
Then, the enemies, ignited with fury, begin to fight using the short weapon, the hands,
the fists, the insults, the blasphemies, curses, and in this way the combat continues.
At this point the Pope falls seriously wounded.
Those who accompany him immediately come to help him and lift him up.
Then the Pope is wounded a second time, falls again and dies.
A cry of victory and joy resounds among the enemies; on the decks of their ships reigns
an unspeakable joy.
But as soon as the Pope died, another one took the vacant position.
The pilots of the loyalist ships have chosen another pope immediately; so the news of the
death of the Pope arrives also with the election of the new pope.
The enemies begin to lose heart.
The new Pontiff or the new pope, defeating and overcoming all obstacles, guides the majestic
ship towards the two columns, and when the pope reaches the space between them, he ties
it with a chain that hangs from the bow to an anchor of the column that holds the Host;
and with another chain that hangs from the stern, he ties it to another anchor hanging
from the column that serves as a pedestal for the Immaculate Virgin Mary.
Then there is great confusion.
All the ships that to that moment had fought against the majestic ship captained by the
Pope, flee, disperse, collide with each other and destroy each other.
Some enemy ships when they were sinking try to sink the others.
The other ships that have fought valiantly under the Pope's orders are the first to reach
the columns where they are moored.
Other ships, that for fear of the combat had withdrawn and are very distant, continue to
watch the events prudently.
Until, when the remains of the destroyed enemy ships disappear into the depths of the sea,
they row rapidly towards the two columns, arriving at which they are secured to the
hooks awaiting them and then they remain calm and safe, in the company of the flagship occupied
by the Pope.
Absolute calm reigns in the sea at this moment.
At this point of this parable, Saint John Bosco asked Blessed Rúa: "What do you think
of this dream?"
Blessed Rúa answered: —It seems to me that the Pope's ship is the Church of which he
is Head: the other ships represent men and the sea represents the world.
Those who defend the Pope's boat are those loyal to the Holy See; the others, his enemies,
who with all sorts of weapons try to annihilate the Church.
The two tall columns seem to me to be the devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary and the
Blessed Sacrament of the Eucharist.
Blessed Rúa did not mention about the fallen and dead Pope and Saint John Bosco didn't
say anything about this either.
Saint John Bosco only added: "You said well."
This prophetic dream about the Church is also, as Saint John Bosco said, a kind of a parable,
with important teachings for our spiritual good.
It is important to note that in the dream of Saint John Bosco it is mentioned that the
great ship of the Pope that represents the Church is also attacked by books and writings,
that means in other words by so many ideas, philosophies, thoughts that under an aspect
of apparent compatibility with the Gospel, in reality they are totally contrary and even
harmful for us.
That is why as Catholics we must discern, confirm the sources of what we read, hear
and see, especially all the content we find on the internet.
only to books that are in accordance with our Catholic faith.
Therefore, it is important before reading a book to confirm if it has an imprimatur
and / or Nihil Obstat, to avoid confusion, contamination of our spiritual faith and misunderstandings.
Therefore we can say that this majestic ship also represents to each of us, our life, our
soul, our faith.
And when we go through tribulations, adversities, problems, fears, anguishes, anxieties, persecutions,
when temptations are very strong and it seems that we will not be able to do anything about
them, it is precisely those two columns that will allow us to stay afloat and be safe,
until peace and calm return.
It is the Eucharistic Jesus and the Blessed Virgin Mary who will allow us to face all
these situations in the best possible way and to come out in victory, that is, to come
out having grown in conversion, in faith and in holiness.
Let's remember that God does nothing without revealing His secret to His servants the prophets
- Amos 3:7, and this dream is a reminder for us, of those two great and wonderful means
that God has given us for our sanctification and salvation.
The devotion to our mother the Virgin Mary and help of Christians, and the sacrament
of the Eucharist, health of believers, “the source and summit of the Christian life." (Catechism 1324)
This dream is the announcement "before Christ's second coming the Church must pass through
a final trial that will shake the faith of many believers".
(catechism 675) and that it will only be able to overcome by being well tied, with chains,
to these two columns.
The Sacred Eucharistic Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of our mother the Virgin Mary.
In 1917 our mother the Virgin Mary appeared in Fatima in Portugal to three little shepherds,
Lucia, Francisco and Jacinta, there were several apparitions in which she announced the great
evils that threatened the Church and humanity, but also revealed the great means to avoid
them and, in the worst case scenario, to remedy them, in her apparition on July 13th, The
Virgin Mary told the Servant of God Sister Lúcia of Fátima: "Jesus wants to use you
to make me known and loved.
He wants to establish the devotion to My Immaculate Heart in the world.
To whoever embraces her, I promise salvation; and these souls will be loved by God like
flowers placed by me to adorn His throne."
Almost simultaneously with these apparitions in Portugal, our Lord Jesus Christ revealed
in Italy to the Servant of God Luisa Piccarreta what He experienced in each of the hours of
His passion.
The revelation of the prayer that our Lord Jesus Christ made to the Father in the Last
Supper: "Holy Father, thanks be given to You, because You always listen to Your Son.
Holy Father, come with Me.
You, one day sent Me from Heaven to earth to incarnate in the womb of My Mother to come
to save Our children.
Now allow Me to incarnate Myself in each host to continue their salvation and to be the
life of each one of My children.
Look, oh Father, few hours remain of My life and how will I have the heart to leave alone
and Orphans My children?
Their enemies are many: the darkness, the passions, the weaknesses to which they are
attached.
Who will help them?
Oh, I beg You to stay in each host to be the life of each one, to make his enemies flee
and be for them the light, strength and help throughout everything.
Otherwise where will they go?
Who will help them?
Our works are eternal, My love is irresistible, that is why I cannot and do not want to leave My children".
If there is something in common in the lives of the thousands of Saints officially canonized
by the Church, it is that when they were alive, they were totally Eucharistic and Marian.
They all had the Holy Mass as the center of each of their days, all spent hours accompanying
the Eucharistic Jesus in adoration, they all had a great and special devotion to our mother
the Virgin Mary, and they never stopped praying the Holy Rosary.
Let us hurry then to truly begin a Eucharistic and Marian life, a life in which these two
columns are also our help and the health of our faith.
Let us aspire to have a life in which the Eucharistic Jesus and our mother the Virgin
Mary are the best guarantee of salvation in the face of any tribulation, be it personal,
family, as Church or as humanity.
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.