Don Bosco relics at Carfin Quotes

Helen Border Glasgow University Chaplaincy

The experience was deeply spiritual, it seeps into you right on the spot and it's easy to understand.

Helen Gilmore

I found my soul in the words and in the experience.

John, Glasgow University

It seemed to give me a way to link soul to life. I work in accounting and I found ways in this experience to link my work to spirituality.

Susan Smith Stonyburn

The whole life story of this man reads as an incredible and brilliant experience. It inspires me and gives me hope that my own life has some meaning.

Gerald Reynolds Motherwell

Friendship seems to be the key to this saintly life. As a teacher myself I recognise Don Bosco's challenge to be a friend to the young. The quote that sticks with me is this “ a teacher who only appears in the classroom remains just a teacher. A teacher who spends time in the playground becomes a friend.”

Marie McGuire Uddingstone

The spirituality we experienced today is so down to earth and I can see it all happening in the story of my family life.

Agnes from Blantyre

There is a warmth and presence of God radiated by the young people who accompany the relic. There was an almost magical sense of presence throughout the day.

“The ladies of Carfin” ( Mary, Anne Marie, Kathleen and Margaret)

The relic pilgrimage reminds us that we all need to be more child-like and not take ourselves so seriously.

Children brought up with Don Bosco's method would grow into strong and balanced young adults.

We need to delight in young people and recognise their energy and gifts.

The idea of a goodnight thought in families is a brilliant way to close the day with peace and a positive thought for young people.

Elizabeth and Laurence Murphy

You don't need to go into extraordinary places to find God. Don Bosco helps us find God in the ordinary things of life, in what happens and in our relationships.

We liked the emphasis on a gentle approach to other people and ourselves, especially when things were going badly. Focussing on a gentle personal care for others gives us deeper spiritual motives for working with other people.

Margaret Kelly Easterhouse

This experience has made me look at myself more clearly. It touches my life in ways I can't explain but it gives me more reasons to stay connected with the church. Through salesian spirituality small things become more meaningful and feed the soul.

Don Bosco Relics LIverpool January 7th report

Liverpool January 7^th Report.

This was the first day back at school for many students so it was fantastic for a number of schools to get large numbers to Liverpool Cathedral. Students visited from St John Bosco Croxteth, Thornleigh College Bolton, Savio High School Bootle, All Saints Primary Bootle, St Anselm's Birkenhead, Blessed Trinity Burnley. During the day over 3,500 people visited Don Bosco's relics.

The morning was filled with a buzz of anticipation as people waited to visit the relic. The pilgrim experience became a youthful mixture of conversation, spinning plates, magic tricks and story telling all of which helped younger visitors to understand something about Don Bosco and how they wanted to pray at his relic. Jessica Wilkinson told stories about Don Bosco's dreams, a whole team helped young people to put their thoughts into words as prayers and others were teaching plate spinning. Plate spinning in church? It was a way to introduce the idea of balanced living in a memorable way. Many students had prepared by watching the Don Bosco film and had answers ready for all our questions. Some lucky youngsters went away with multi coloured “Don Bosco hats.”

As the young people went away more adults arrived after having seen the coverage on BBC Northwest. Two sisters came because they wanted to know why their now deceased aunt took the name Don Bosco when professed as a Franciscan in the mid 1930s. A retired university professor came and waited alongside a Nigerian family and shared their concerns about young people. The conversations flowed around the pool of light within which the relic rested.

A farewell mass for the relics was celebrated by Bishop Tom Williams and Bishop Terry Drainey from Middlesbrough Diocese. In the homily Bishop Drainey praised the relics team for the joy and energy that had surrounded the event which he described as a moment of grace for the whole of the northern dioceses. At the end of the mass the 30 concelebrants and the road crew accompanied the relic out of the cathedral and cheered and sang as it was taken back to the specialised vans designed for this world tour. Just as the doors of the van closed a distraught family arrived from Birkenhead and were disappointed to have missed the opportunity. The Italian members of the road crew opened the van for them and helped them climb up as a family to spend some time alone with Don Bosco.

The team and relics left for Birmingham St Chad's Cathedral where Don Bosco's relics will remain for two days before moving on to Cardiff.

Quotes from Liverpool January 7th

From youth groups:

Strange but interesting

James Deane

The body thing was weird but the team were great and helpful

Liam Bladon

It was actually quite cool that a person from so long ago wanted people to have fun and enjoy their lives as young people.

Courtney Buchanan

It was interesting to see the person we had learnt so much about in school

Georgie Turner

This was a totally unusual experience. I liked the spinning plates and the tricks from the crew.

Abbee Hurst.

It has been quite an experience finding out about Don Bosco and the way he made cheerfulness a holy thing.

Anisa Haji

What would I ask if I met Don Bosco? I'd ask Don Bosco if he likes roses and then if he would like to come and play with my games.

Thomas Proctor (age 4) Norris Green.

Adults

The most moving thing for me was the simplicity of the words on the pilgrim experience. They revealed something of Don Bosco but more about where I am on the bigger journey of life. It was very helpful!

Paul Crumpton Birkenhead

The energy and singing of the team was a great moment at the end of the mass and the way that the congregation all clapped Don Bosco as he left the Cathedral was quite emotional for me.

Agnes Clark St Helens

I loved the way that hundreds of young people gathered and waited with great patience around Don Bosco before saying a prayer with him. It was good to see that church can still hold young people and give them a good experience.

Trevor Cunliffe Burnley

It was brilliant to see the relic crew working so well with young people. They were telling stories, doing tricks and talking about Don Bosco. The cathedral was filled with the cheerful noise of young people. Long may it last.

Anne Dawson North Manchester

The saint and the splif

He was hiding away, having a splif on Hope St. Just one of thousands of Liverpool lads needing to escape from home on Sunday afternoon.  He was minding his own business but he was still spotted by a young woman who asked him for a light. She didn't seem to notice the smell of his splif and he began to relax into a conversation.
Seems she is from Derby and she was fun despite her weird accent. It turns out that Jess is part of a crew working in the cathedral and helping with the world tour of the relics of a dead saint.
At first he thought it was the splif talking but no, Jess and her friend Emily were on tour with a dead body! This was beyond wierd!
Jess told him he was called Don Bosco and he spent his life working for young people setting up places for them in Turin, his home town.
As he listened to the story what started as weird turned into something fascinating. After a while he asked Jess if he could have a look. So they took the steps up to the cathedral together and Jess introduced him to a 200 year old saint in a glass coffin. On the way he learnt how Don Bosco had lost his Dad as a kid, had fights with his brother that forced him out of home and didn't have a great start at school. It sounded like it could be his story as he stared at the relic.
What was really impressive was that Don Bosco had used these set backs to help others. He wanted young people to feel safe, to belong because he hadn't when he was young. Maybe be could use some of his problems to sort his life out.
Jess told him he could be a saint too, but he didn't fancy the glass coffin!

Carfin and Don Bosco's relics

We arrived at Carfin for an 8.30 start. The team were in great form despite thin sleep and a lot of fast food the night before. Carfin is a friendly place with a lot of practical care and a lot of humour.
Don Bosco seemed to offer different things to different people in today's pilgrim experience. For some the message was about friendship in relationships, for others it was the significance of ordinary things.
One person spoke about how amazing it is to get into the world of young people and share their joys and sorrows. One retired teacher regretted not being aware enough of wasting time with young people.
It seems to me that we have done a dis-service to people by making God unapproachable to some and unbelievable to others. Don Bosco's spirituality resolves both these tensions by  focussing on God as a friendly presence with whom we deal each day. That means that experience becomes the holy ground of life. The here and now becomes a flow, within which God can unfold a pattern of providence. Don Bosco helps us to step into that flow which includes ordinary things and see things through God's eyes.
Today's pilgrims demonstrated that they were aware of the call to service but found it more difficult to listen.
We hope that Don Bosco helps use the road crew to give a good example of faith action as the journey continues.
David

Glasgow Cathedral, standing on the banks of the Clyde, is a wonderfully warm and welcoming cathedral. As we set up for the first day of the pilgrimage it already felt like coming home.  The chance to meet so many people of Glasgow is exciting and to share some of Don Bosco's spirituality with them will be a challenge and a privilege.
The simplicity of the message of Don Bosco needs to be heard by parents, by teachers and by young people. The charism of Don Bosco does not belong to the Salesians but belongs to the whole church. This, the first full day of the pilgrimage starts the process of giving this gift away. Today we are making the living gift of a Salesian spirituality to the people of Scoltland. It is good to be here!

David

Don Bosco pilgrimage

We met Don Bosco's casket in Bolton today and are now in convoy as a forty strong team to Glasgow. There is a quiet excitement in the team, partly because this is all so strange and also because we don't know what we will be asked. The team are settling in together and may be pacing themselves already for the 14 days.
Glasgow will be interesting because faith is different north of the border. Here are some thoughts from members of the crew....
I am sitting in the back of this minibus, it's not very comfortable above the wheelarch. However, I'm going home. Being born and bred Glaswegian, I'm proud that we're starting there. Although Don Bosco never personally had the pleasure of visiting any part of the UK, his values and vision have had a profound impact on the way young people have been taught in Scotland for over a century. I'm sure the Scots will recognise him, when they meet each other. (Kevin)
Well, the day has finally arrived & the excitement is building! It's a privilege to be part of the road crew who will share in this special time in the church. Jesus wanted children to come to him & know his redeeming love, Don Bosco gave us a wonderful example of how to share that love. Let's celebrate! Come & join the pilgrimage! (Jessica)
With those thoughts gathered on the bus to Gretna we will leave things until later.
David