Writing letters was a constant occupation of the saint from Turin, something he almost always reserved for the evening, once free from other daily commitments with the young people and with the adults to whom he gave audience. This explains the forty years spent by the curator of the volumes, Fr Motto, within the Salesian Historical Institute, in recovering 4,682 letters from the five continents and publishing them in the Sources series of the same Institute.
The entire epistolary corpus of the saint constitutes an indispensable instrument of knowledge of Don Bosco, his personality and his ideals caught up in his daily actions; one could say a "Don Bosco day by day", of the hard daily toil planning, opening horizons, working, suffering, struggling, living for the young, staying with them, being involved with their problems and without any fear beginning to write at the table to contact anyone in the world (authorities, groups and individuals), could help him to solve them.
Obviously, Don Bosco experienced first hand the historical, pedagogical, sociological, spiritual, ecclesial repercussions of his century that will be illustrated by scholars at the upcoming conference in Rome, at the Pontifical Salesian University.
On 2 April a second meeting is scheduled entitled "Don Bosco calls... Turin responds", which will be held at the State Archives of Turin. On this occasion, Alberto Riccadonna, Paolo Cozzo and Domenico Agasso will analyse Don Bosco's relationship with Piedmont and its impact beyond regional borders.
Both events will offer a unique opportunity to reflect on the correspondence of the founder of the Salesians, an essential tool to understand his spiritual vision and his social commitment. "There are many ways to read the ten volumes of the Epistolary of Don Bosco" explains Fr Motto, founding partner and director for twenty years of the Salesian Historical Institute. "In the two events indicated, some specialists from individual disciplines will offer a careful and deep reading of his simple but very numerous letters (4,682), to discover the dimensions of the man Don Bosco: educator, director of souls, promoter of missions, founder of an international and holy movement."
The event of 28 January, "From Valdocco to the world... and back", will be available on YouTube, at this link: https://www.youtube.com/live/PKGDDQ31ZTU
