1855 (18 years old) he makes his first profession;
1860 (23 years) he is ordained a priest;
1863 (26 years) he becomes the first Salesian rector of Mirabello;
1875 (38 years) he becomes Director General of the FMA;
1884 (47 years old) he is appointed successor of Don Bosco by Pope Leo XIII.
When Michele Rua died in 1910, at the age of 73, the Salesian Congregation had grown from 773 Salesians to 4000, from 57 houses to 345, from 6 provinces to 34, in 33 countries of Europe, America, Africa and Asia. It was Fr Rua who sent the first missionaries to Asia in 1906.
