When Don Bosco was only four years old, a terrible famine broke out and, as narrated in the Memoirs of the Oratory, "edibles came at fabulous prices. The wheat was paid up to fr. 25 a hemina."
Mother Margaret, who had to look after her elderly mother-in-law and young children, did not lose heart. "In extreme cases, extreme means must be used," she said. Aided by a neighbor, named Bernardo Cavallo, she went to the stable, killed a calf, cooked part of it to feed her family.
Then she brought in grain from the farthest villages, bought at a very high price. She stored them right in the barn of the little house, which became a reserve for the whole family.
Years later, when Don Bosco in the fall brought the boys here from Turin, he used to repeat only Mamma Margaret's words of encouragement, "Have confidence in God. Let us kneel down and pray."
Source: salesianos.info
