It was the Provincial of Piedmont, Valle d'Aosta and Lithuania, Fr Leonardo Mancini, who opened the doors at Valdocco. He immediately addressed the Strenna theme, stressing that “if the Salesian spirit dwells in us, we cannot help but be interested in young people in the surprising and encouraging discovery of the dream that God has for them.”

Fr Joan Lluis Playà, Central Delegate of the Rector Major for Salesian Family Secretariat and therefore Coordinator of these Days, invited us to "live with intensity and enthusiasm the event in which the key words of previous years – yeast, heart, love, Christians and citizens, hope, holiness – all converge in the word ‘dream’ since it includes the entire Don Bosco, his life, his vision.”

Very significant was the arrival on stage of 32 people, representatives of the five continents, who each brought a cube with which a cardboard wall was built that showed the symbols of the Salesian Family Groups. Each of these pieces gave a strong visual impression of the consistency of the variety and the spread of the Salesian charism. Thus creating an atmosphere of joy, we went on to watch the video that presents the Strenna 2024. The Rector Major introduced it, revealing what led up to the choice of the theme: "200 years after the Dream at nine years of age, this could only be the key thread. It was immediately and unanimously approved!”

His address then followed up on the drafting of this traditional document that encourages the year’s programme. It was, for Card. Á.F. Artime, an opportunity to share a "beautiful impression gained from his visits over 10 years of his term of office to 120 different countries: to have seen how many people in the world do good every day: it is extraordinary!” He summed it up in four essential points:

- the dream that Don Bosco had around the age of 9 has the characteristics of a prophetic vision. It was this that guided his entire life as a man and as a priest. At the age of 72, only at the end of his hard-working and painful experience, did he understand its full value - with the admirable presence of Mary Help of Christians at his side! – when he celebrated his final Mass at the Sacred Heart in Rome at the altar dedicated to her;

- the importance of recovering Salesian thought around that dream, which arose from the memory passed on to his sons, starting with Fr Rinaldi (the Rector Major at the time of the first centenary of the dream) then consolidated and further explored with each change of leadership, up to Fr Pascual Chávez;

-  the main characters in the dream are both male and female, and these must continue to be the main ones for Salesian activity today as well. Mary of Nazareth is the primary one. On this point the Rector Major focused on a fundamental point: "If a Salesian does not carry in his heart a true love for the Help of Christians, he belongs to the Salesian Family in formal terms, but in fact, and we say this in a kindly way, he really belongs to some other organisation.”

The explanation of this character is "the feminine and maternal dimension that accompanied Don Bosco’s mission. I say this with my heart: the orphans he welcomed needed to feel at home, in a family, loved.” Consecrated or lay, the female figures in the Salesian Family should not be thought of as ‘cooperators’ helping to manage some operational aspect, but as an expression the Saint’s desire to have not only a mother from Heaven but women at his side, with all that they offer;

- the image of wolves and lambs may seem old-fashioned. But if the boys from the poor neighbourhoods in Turin carried a knife with them, today we find them in many contexts carrying firearms.  “In today's society we are facing much greater violence than even twenty years ago. And this gives reason to think how necessary the Salesian charism is today more than ever.”

In Strenna 2024, the 10th Successor of Don Bosco expressed twelve wishes, twelve “little dreams” that he would like to see fulfilled: “Our family is in good health, but we can always give more. Today’s world will be better if we manifest the hope and freshness of our actions. We do the best we can, we show that we have not lost our dreams.” If they are like Don Bosco’s dream, they too will make you dream. Especially the poorest: “We were born for the most needy. Not a single comma of the first constitutions of the Congregation has changed; we cannot think of other formulations. The Holy Spirit continues to sustain us if we guarantee that charismatic fidelity is active.”

Mary Help of Christians continues to be a teacher as in the dream at nine years of age: for this reason, at the end of the assembly, the first Day offered a video-witness from members of the Association of Mary Help of Christians (ADMA), who highlighted the strength that supports the Christian family.

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