Messina, 2nd March 1913
To the President and members of the Little Clergy (Altar
Servants Group)
of the Salesian Oratory of Valdocco.
I have received, my dear sons, the fine letter that
your respected President sent me in his name and yours, and I thank you with
all my heart.
Yes, in the three years that I received from Our Most
Blessed Lady and the Venerable Don Bosco the grace of staying at the Oratory; I
was part of your Little Clergy (Altar Servants Group); the memory of it gives
me consolation even now and has always done me good. It is not true, however, that I was ever
President, but as I was already rather advanced in years and mature, and also
had a particular feeling for the Clergy, it obviously happened that dear Fr.
Bistolfi, carried away by his affection in the Lord for an old fellow pupil,
has made a mistake.
The first Presidents were Fumagalli and then Bianchi,
who I think were Salesians, the latter one at least, as I met him about six
years ago at Casale Monferrato Station.
He was going to Borgo San Martino, which was providential as he lent me
the money to return to Tortona as I had none.
Then there was Bottazzi, now a priest and vice-rector at the Episcopal
Boarding School of St. Clare in Alessandria.
Then Giovanni Martinasso my colleague - who, after the third form, went
to Foglizzo where the Salesian novitiate then was - and Manassero. I think Martinasso is a missionary; I felt
that he would do great good; and after him came Felice Talacchini. They were all young men of great piety and
spirituality, studying to enable themselves to do good for souls, and left me a
wonderful memory of good example.
Our Most Blessed Lady, in fact, chose several of them,
who remained Salesians, and made them her apostles among the primitive
peoples. Thus I hope it will be with
many of you, my blessed sons, who have received the gift of being in the shadow
of Our Most Blessed Lady of Help and of absorbing more closely the spirit of
Don Bosco, Don Rua and so many other holy Salesians.
* * *
Dear sons, if you knew what a great grace you have
received from the Lord, that of growing up in the Oratory of Valdocco! It is a
thing that you will understand later, when you are far away.
Be sure to appreciate this time spent living here, and
every day thank the Most Blessed Virgin and the Venerable Don Bosco and your
Superiors. Remain close to the Little
Clergy, always grateful to your good Superiors for being able to be part of it,
and when you come to the altar of Our Lady of Help pray also for me. I also, here or wherever I am, will pray to
her for you all that she will bless you all and that you will grow up in the
love of the Lord.
You see, I so greatly feel the good that belonging to
your Clergy has done for me, that when I am going through Turin and am able to
go to Our Lady of Help, I go and kneel in the presbytery, at a place where I
used to go when I went out with the Clergy; and there, at the feet of the Most
Holy Virgin, I try to become a child again as I was at that time, and to renew
the consecration of my whole self to Our Lady and to regain my lost vigour, and
I always find a great heavenly consolation there.
I cannot send you my photograph because I do not have
one, but I am sending you a card on which I am at the left of Bishop La
Fontaine, who is now in Rome, and who will be working for the Beatification of
Don Bosco. He took in a group of little
orphans after the catastrophe.
I thank you once again. Pay my respects to your most worthy Superiors
and also my dear Fr. Bistolfi. I will
always be pleased to receive any good news that you may give me from your
Little Clergy. I remain in Our Lord and
Blessed Mary.
Your most affectionate confrère,
Fr. Luigi Orione
of Divine Providence.
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