(ANS – Rome) – During the three year period of preparation for the bicentenary of the birth of Don Bosco (1815 – 2015), especially during this first year dedicated to a knowledge of the saint  tomorrow  6 June there occurs the commemoration of the bicentenary of the marriage of Margherita Occhiena and Francesco Bosco, the parents of the saint of youth (1812 – 2012).

“This coincidence of this anniversary with the conclusion in Milan of the VII World Meeting of Families is significant,” says Fr Pierluigi Cameroni, Postulator General for the Causes of Saints of the Salesian Family.

After the civil marriage during the Napoleonic era on 24 May, the original document of which written in French is still preserved, on the morning of 6 June 1812, Francesco Bosco and Margherita Occhiena celebrated their marriage in the parish church  of  St. Martin in Capriglio, in the presence of the Rector Fr Giuseppe Maggiora. “For the young couple this step was the more important one as they knew very well that their having received the sacrament of marriage  was for them a source of many blessings: for peace and harmony in the family, for their future children,  for their work and in overcoming difficult moments in the lives,” Fr Cameroni observes.

“The sacrament of matrimony would help Francesco and Margherita to live their married life in fidelity and fruitfulness. Their wedding rings would be a sign of that fruitfulness which would extend to include the family founded by their son John. This would evoke in Don Bosco and in his boys a great sense of gratitude and love for that couple of holy spouses and parents.”

For the whole Salesian Family this anniversary is a further  invitation to pay special attention to the family in its youth ministry, forming and involving parents in the education and evangelisation of their children, appreciating their role in the programmes of education to love  and developing  new kinds of evangelisation and catechesis for and through the families.

The anniversary will be celebrated in a special way in Capriglio on 6 June and in Turin in the Basilica of Mary Help of Christians on 24 June. For further information visit the site of the  Association of the “Friends of the Mamma Margherita Museum” in Capriglio.

Margherita Occhiena, known as Mamma Margherita, was declared Venerable on 23 October 2006.

Published 05/06/2012