The official welcome Eucharist was led by Fr Anthony Dung Nguyen, Rector of the Formation Community and Provincial Delegate for Formation, in the evening on Saturday 8th July. Fr Peter Varengo SDB, an Italian missionary priest to Australia who was born in the same region as Don Bosco, delivered the homily highlighting the Saint’s life story and his relationship with God who specifically called him to work for the good of the young.
Many pilgrims, lots of familiar and unfamiliar faces, flocked the relic casket and prayed for their needs, especially for the young members of their families. Constant streams of pilgrims visited St Joseph’s church over the weekend to experience the relic statue for comfort and strength from God through the intercession of this patron saint of youth, St John Bosco.
The Provincial Fr Will Matthews SDB who was away in New Zealand paid a special visit to the relic statue along with the Provincial Economer Fr Peter Carroll SDB on Monday evening 10th July to officially welcome the Saint into the Province, and to the pilgrims who paid a special trip to St Joseph’s Collingwood on a cold evening.
The relic statue will be at various Salesian houses and other parishes in Melbourne until 13th August. It will then make a pilgrimage to Sydney, Adelaide, Hobart and Perth. The relic statue of the Saint will return to Melbourne later in September for a Salesian provincial retreat and the official farewell Mass at St Margaret Mary’s church in North Brunswick on 30th September.
For more information, please visit: https://www.salesians.org.au/salesian-family/relic-tour-of-don-bosco
