In the early afternoon, participants at the seminar followed the saints as pilgrims, and taking advantage of the infinite possibilities that the places in Valdocco have for "speaking" to the men and women of today, they were able to discover or rediscover various dimensions of Salesian holiness.
In the Chapel of the Relics they saw and touched with their hands the mortal remains of those who lived the gospel without gloss; they observed the courtyards of the Salesian Mother House as places of daily sanctification; in the church of Saint Francis de Sales they explored the spiritual wealth that marked the first Oratory of Don Bosco; in the Chapel of the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians they sensed the fragrance that the feminine touch has added to the Salesian charism; in the chapel of the baptismal font in the Basilica of Mary Help of Christians they went back to the baptismal root of all holiness; they commemorated the missionary fire of the Salesian Family before the pulpit in the basilica from which Don Bosco blessed the First Missionary Expedition; looking at the picture of the Sacred Heart they understood how Jesus and the Help of Christians continue the invitation to accomplish great works even today; and in the concluding prayer before Don Bosco’s remains, they celebrated the greatness of God who bestowed so many graces by making use of the humble lad from the Becchi.
The subsequent talk by Sister Francesca Caggiano, Daughter of Mary Help of Christians – who was also the main animator at times of prayer and liturgies – focused on the elements of the reputation for holiness and signs. "Reputation, when it is authentic, is like a magnet: it is attractive of itself and guides others to holiness; it makes the dust-covered traces of its likeness to God and its striving towards Him resurface in the human heart", she noted.
She then reminded her listeners that the search for the holiness of others cannot take place without personally searching for one's own holiness: otherwise, without the breath of the Spirit, the postulator (or vice-postulator) becomes an expert in “legal” issues, instead of a “pneumatophor” (bearer of the Holy Spirit).
She then gave examples of outstanding cases in the Salesian Family: the reputation for holiness of Felice Canelli, diocesan priest and Salesian Cooperator, attested by many documents of various kinds; Rosetta Marchese, Seventh Mother General of the FMA Institute, whose reputation for holiness has found new vigour in the confirmation of her deep spiritual union with Jesus in the Eucharist; and Fr Silvio Galli, SDB, where an entire people of God has requested the opening of the Cause and for which over 10,000 graces, prayers, favours and requests have been noted.
Finally, Sr Francesca highlighted the challenges today in the search for the reputation of holiness, which are to be found, first and foremost, in the horizontal outlook deprived of any transcendence that characterises many modern societies. Far from falling into an empty pessimism, however, Sister Francesca urged her listeners to respond to this cultural climate with a renewed attention to the graces that God continues to work despite the indifference of many, and renewed the invitation to draw on the genuineness of our spirituality to be able to transmit to the men and women of today the “yearning for God” that is still able to win over souls.
Such a thought-provoking afternoon then required a twofold elaboration of the contents, first in small groups and then by sharing in a plenary session.
The evening visit to the Casa Don Bosco Museum concluded this second day in the “circle of the Saints”.
