Forty Dreams Of St. John Bosco: From St. John Bosco's Biographical Memoirs

Looking for a good spiritual read to get you motivated to do better? This book will certainly make you want to make you pull up your spiritual bootstraps so to speak.St. John Bosco (1815-1888), founder of the Salesian order famed for taking care of and teaching poor and abandoned boys, was given the gift of prophetic dreams. His first prophetic dream happened when he was nine years old and it showed him his future vocation. From then on he would have many more throughout his life. We know at least 179 were published in the original Italian edition of the 'Biographical Memoirs of St. John Bosco'.Quite a number of his dreams were about the state of the souls placed under his care, namely, the boys of his oratory school, who were virtuous and on the path to Heaven, others and who were just bumbling by but not trying to become more virtuous, and what their particular vices were and how they could have avoided them. He was also shown prophetic events foretelling the future of his Salesian Order, what would hinder or protect it, and he also dreamed about the future of the Church.This book features a selection of 40 of his dreams, several of them about the spiritual states of the boys as they can also be applied to us and our spiritual life.However, some of these dreams might surprise and even shock you, for St. John also saw boys on the road to damnation. If you have ever seen pictures of St. John Bosco with the boys of his oratory and notice how young the boys were, (sorry, there are not any in the book, you'll have to Google them), you'll get spooked as you begin to wonder how such young ones could set themselves on the path to Hell so soon in life, especially when they had a saint to help them! It would make you stop and think that if children could become sinners on the path to damnation, and at such an innocent time on earth when they didn't have half the evils surrounding them like kids today, what is going to happen to the likes of us in our modern times if we don't really watch it?Definitely a good book for Lent.Here are a list of the 40 dreams:(1) The First Dream – The dream St. John had when he was nine about Our Lord and Our Lady showing him his future vocation and mission.(2) The Monthly Test - prophetic dream preparing him for a Latin test at school. Heaven gave him the answer beforehand!(3) The Dream of the Shepherdess – a sequel to the dream he had at nine years old, the continuation his mission and the future glory of the Salesian order.(4) The Future of the Oratory – this is a series of three dreams put together – 'Youngsters Fighting', saw a vision of the unruly boys he would have to work with and make them virtuous – 'The Churches-The Martyrs', St. John seems in his dream to be getting nowhere with the boys, so he is shown a large church where the martyrs of Turin were killed, it would be the future church of Our Lady Help of Christians, and the graces grow. The dream also shows him another church, where the Theban legion were martyred. - 'The Ribbon of Obedience', the means to keep the clergy volunteers from leaving him, it is the birth of his new order.(5) The Martyrs – a dream of martyrs once again on the field that was shown to him in the previous dream, it is another future dream of the Church of Our Lady Help of Christians and also future indications about the Order. The three martyrs would be the patrons saints of the work.(6) The Future Church of St. Francis de Sales- again, how Providence would make the order grow from nothing(7) Two Boys attacked by a Monster – St. John sees the spiritual state of two boys who left the Oratory(8) Deadly Nooses – a vision of ugly cat like demons and how they strangle souls and keep them from making a proper Confession.(9) The Partridge and the Quail – St. John was shown which boys were eating meals of partridge meat and others meals of quail meat, a symbol of those following the path to Heaven and the means to attains it, others falling prey to sin, in particular gluttony.(10) The Precious Handkerchief of Purity-an allegorical / symbolic dream on the virtue of purity and how to protect it.(11) A Horned Cat-a symbolic dream of the constant battle to retain the virtue of purity.(12) A Fiendish Elephant – St. John shown a vision of a rampaging elephant – a demon bent on destroying his boys – he sees those who join it, those who fall victim to it and those who are spared and why.(13) Death's Messenger – foretold the sudden death of one of his boys and was given a chance to warn all the boys of the dangers of not being prepared for death at all times.(14) Fierce Crows and a Healing Salve – demons attacking the boys in various ways – some will wish to be cured, others will not(15) St. Dominic Savio – St. John's Beloved Pupil –(16) The Dream of St. Dominic Savio – a vision of St. Dominic in heavenly glory in the Choir of Virgins, he gives St. John advice on the Order and advice for his boys.(17) Boys' Gifts for the Blessed Virgin Mary - the gifts symbolise those children who were in the state of grace and those who were not – the ugly gifts were explained and cast away as gifts unfit for Our Lady. The good children are crowned with heavenly roses according to the virtues they practised. They must continue to practise these virtues if they wish to keep their crowns.(18) Innocence Preserved by Penance – a long dream explaining the virtue of innocence and the consequences of losing it and the means to preserve it.(19) In the Land of Trial – the battle of living in the world but not of it.(20) A Ghastly Pit – a symbol of temptation and the dangers of falling into mortal sin(21) Ten Hills – another symbolic dream of the obstacles that must be surmounted in the world.(22) Devils in the Church – the demons that attempt to distract everyone at Mass(23) The Snake and the Rosary(24) The Fourteen Tables – a series of banquet tables showing the state of the souls of the boys – those in mortal sin, those who were repentant sinners, and those who never lost their baptismal innocence(25) A Little Marmot – a symbol of the devil causing distractions and discouraging the boys from making a good Confession. (St. Bosco also gives four pieces of advice to follow in this chapter if you wish to live a good long and healthy life).(26) A Fierce Dog – St. John sees a fierce dog snapping at one of his pupils – the symbol of a troubled conscience.(27) A Giant Mastiff – a much bigger dog, told St. John that a particular pupil had a muddled conscience as was concealing sins in the Confessional he was too scared to confess.(28) Consciences Revealed – St. John sees his boys adding up figures on a tablet, like a maths test. Some boys sums were rejected, while those who had correct tallies were allowed out to play. Some boys don't come into the examination at all. The tablets represented the good works and virtues of the boys, those outside had blank tablet- nothing to show and in a state of sin. St John was allowed to know who was in what state, and, gave a warning for those with no tallies to show how to do better.(29) A Pack of Monsters – the devil attempting to attack the boys -some fall victim, others do not, and, St. John gives a remedy on how to successfully withstand the devil.(30) The Red Horse – a giant red horse appears – some times it appeared to have riders, at other times it seems to have wings. St. John thinks it is a demon but receives the answer it is the 'red horse of the Apocalypse'. St. John requested someone to do some research on the red horse, and of course the Apocalypse shows the red horse to be the horse of war and bloodshed. The editor of the book suggests St. John saw the rise of the democratic governments of Europe at the time which were causing so many bloody revolutions and hateful persecutions and hardships against the Church – (we recall this was the time of the 'Prisoner Popes'). St. John promoted charity, wholesome publications and love and loyalty to the Chair of St. Peter , that is the authority of the Holy Father, to counteract this 'unbridled monster' St. John said.(31) A Mysterious Vine - a Horrible Monster shows up in the first part, it tries to devour St. John, but he wards it off with the name of God and holy water, (Satan trying to stop him and his work) – also admits he dreamed of dying and standing before the Judgement seat of God, a reminder to always be prepare for death and not to let anything cause him to lose the Eternal Kingdom. He then explains the detailed dream of a Vine he saw, that showed him the state of the souls of the boys in his care.(32) To Hell and Back – probably one of his most lengthy dreams, and most frightening.(33) The Rose Pergola – Roses and Thorns – St. John see his path filled with thorns and roses and what they all represent regarding his mission.(34) The Struggles of the Society- advice to St. John and future members of the Salesian order.(35) The Phylloxera – the dangers of what will destroy a religious house – half measures will not help in this case but extreme ones, and tolerance cannot be allowed in this instance as the 'phylloxera' must be removed immediately.(36) The Bull, the Carriage and the Nails – a vision of a seven horned bull representing Satan is on the loose – St. John is shown how to defend his boys and the order- then, he has a lengthy vision showing him the the future successes of the order and the conditions to attain them, also, evil to be avoided.(37) The First Missionary Dream – St. John sees that the first missionary efforts of the Salesians is to be set up in Argentina.(38) The Angel of Arphaxad – the second missionary dream. Sees the countries his order will go to.(39) The Future of the Salesian Missions – fifth missionary dream.(40) The Two Columns in the Sea – the famous vision representing the Church under persecution in future times with St. John's explanation and the remedy to survive it.(41) A Letter Written by St. John Bosco on Education – features an extra dream about the oratory.This book, (TAN editions published 1969, reprint in 2014, ISBN: 9780895555977) also has in the back a list of other dreams that the editor / publishers says would be important for the Salesians to read and where to find them in St. John's Biographical Memoirs. If only they had them in the book too! This is the list they gave:The Wheel (about vocations and 'other matters') – A Walk to Heaven – Purgatory: Advice for all – The Saving Raft, war on sin – The Ten Diamonds – A Diabolical Council against the Congregation – The Third Missionary Dream – The Fourth Missionary DreamAgain, I wish they had included them in the book, especially the first half – the one on Purgatory and the 'Saving Raft' sounds like it could have been useful for us too and not just the Salesians, especially as the one on Purgatory has 'advice for all' printed after it! I also would have liked to have read a 'Walk to Heaven'.The book would have received the full five stars from me, but because they have told us about these dreams and then did not include them is a major disappointment. I'm docking the book a star because of it. St. John and his dreams gets the full five stars from me of course! But, since it is the book that is under review too, and I like to tell people what they're getting in a book, well, the publishers goofed on this one in my view.There is also a chart in the back showing the references to where the dreams may be found in the original Italian addition of the Biographical Memoirs, what volume, the time period, the pages of each volume, the number of recorded dreams in each volume, the author and the year printed.A very good book to read to motivate you to scrub up your soul, but be advised, you may be seized with the desire to make a General Confession.

St. John Bosco was a tremendous saint, hard working, totally devoted to Our Lady Help of Christians and a mystic by virtue of his amazing dreams. He knew which of his boys were in mortal sin and could read their souls. This book is a must have in any Catholic library.

Excellent.

I saw many reviews on this book. My impression was different. Many reviews focused on the stories of hell, but while I read a lot about his dreams about hell, there were lot of things overlooked. He talked about prayer. The extreme value of prayer for yourself and others. The power of the Holy Mass. The power of receiving Holy communion frequently, and visiting Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament. St Bosco talks about fidelity to the Pope, and the Catholic church. He talks how impurity destroys a soul and refusing to do God's will. As a teacher, he stressed for educators to pay attention to the students and make them feel valued. I enjoyed this Saint and would recommend it to others. Some dreams were similar, but I think they were to stress the danger of that one particular sin his boys were dealing with. The one thing St. Don Bosco stressed and lived, and no one mentioned, was that he had a deep and loving devotion to the Mother of God. I believe because of her, he is a saint!!Great book!

This is an amazing book! I am thinking of buying additional copies to give to the kids, especially young boys that I know. I am a chapter or two each night before I go to bed. I am Catholic and have always heard of St. John Bosco and Mother Angelica had read a few exerpts from this book. It took me way too long to buy it. I wish I could just sit and read it all day long. It is so eye opening to the importance of striving for holiness, for true Love and Devotion to Our Lady and it very much takes our relationship with our Lord and God very seriously! Written in short stories 'his dreams' are told to his boys in a loving fatherly manner. It is just an excellent book! We might have a different world if our kids read this book and at ages 8-12 before they start getting into trouble! Great for any age though. My own faith is being transformed reading this book and wished that I had had it as a child and a young adult!

NOTE! . . this review belongs to the previous title, Don Bosco's life. I did not read Forbes' account, it being a gift for friend Tom. The prievious review belongs to the current title, his forty dreams. (Sorry for the mis cue) Concerning his life, let me simply recall my overwhelming admiration for this humble, VERY fit, athletic, acrobatic, musical, champion for industrial Italy's cast-off kids. Decades of unremitting labor. His "secret" canine friend, "Grigio", who would always come from nowhere to scatter Bosco's would-be attackers and even assassins. The Church's deep appreciation for ministering to this multitude of "lambs in wolf skins" (cf. Eddie Doherty). His great secret? AFFECTION. Genuine affection for each and every one of his adopted charges. In the end, Don Bosco was acknowleged as the 19th Century's greatest educator. . . and his personal affection for them was key. My own mother always perceived a REAL man to be the well-trained, responsible, compitent TRADESMAN. Italy's trade schools owe a grerat debt to Bosco, . . who must have seen clearly the path to "national" prosperity through giving society's rejects the inestimable gift of a self-sustaining, community enriching trade.

I really enjoyed reading this book on the dreams of the wonderful St. John Bosco. It is well written and easy to read. Some of the dream stories also contain artistic pictures, which show something of what John Bosco had seen and remembered from his dreams. There is also a picture of him on the first page of the book. The things shown to John Bosco were of the past, present and future. There was also quite a lot of symbolism in the dreams and as a result many have explanations so the reader will understand what the dreams are about. He had about 179 documented dreams and this book represent 40 of them. Others are contained in his biographical memoirs.This book in many ways is quite frightening to read because it really gets you thinking about yourself and the state of your own soul. Some of the stories also detail the consequences for those who do not walk the true path to God. However, one should not get too disheartened, as there is always hope if you try to do the right thing and live a good life to the best of your ability. One thing is sure from this book and it makes it quite plain is the fact that the Devil is working tirelessly for the ruin of souls. Each one of us should be on our guard and the best way to defeat him is to take Holy Communion regularly, go to confession regularly by making good confessions and attend Mass regularly.Some of the dreams I thought were truly amazing to read and were those that described such breathtaking beauty of the flowers and gardens that John Bosco visited during his dreams. Many of his dreams he saw and recognised his own boys from the Oratory and he usually had a guide with him during his dreams either the blessed Virgin Mary or a Saint. One dream in particular I remember reading was that of John Bosco's trip to Hell. To read this dream gives some insight into the size and structure of Hell and the snares the Devil puts down before our path in life to capture the unwary.

I haven't got through the book as yet but so far the stories are a real eye opener for me , this book was recommended by my parish priest and is great. from what i have read so far which is about half, I would recommend to others to read 10/10 .

Very informative book

Excellent

Wonderful book. Wonderful Saint. I am a Catholic convert. If I had read this book before my conversion I do believe I would have converted sooner.