The journal includes three essay, in the (STUDI) STUDIES section of this issue:
The first contribution is by Ana Martín García who deals with: "From narration, to image, to Salesian imagination: the iconography of Don Bosco's Dream at Nine Years of Age in the visual arts". On the occasion of the Bicentennial of Don Bosco's Dream, this article explores the history and iconography of this event (1824). The scene has been officially located between the beatification (1929) and the canonisation (1934), a period in which it was represented for the first time in the arts. Therefore, the main objective of this research is the analysis of the beginnings and developments of iconographic representation of the dream in the visual arts. The interest of this study lies in the fact that these images formulate an important part of the essence of the Salesian imagination: the works are incorporated into the field of visual culture as effective elements for the narration and configuration of the visual identity of the saint's life.
A research article by historian Grazia Loparco follows: "The colleges of the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians in Italy involving both continuity and change". The study, presented in two parts, concerns the colleges of the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians (FMA) in Italy. As a typical educational institution for the education of girls in the nineteenth and mid-twentieth centuries, the numerous colleges contributed to the spread of female education. They were valuable and widespread educational setting for the Church, bolstering faith in times of profound cultural changes. The analysis of the sources reconstructs the life and the typical formative offer of the Salesian spirit to prepare Christian mothers and teachers, where the colleges fully expressed integral education according to the Preventive System, preparing the girls for the responsibilities of adult life.
The third article, by Paolo Pieraccini, presents "Fr Antonio Belloni and the orphans of Palestine (1863-1890). A work of charity too long ignored, preparatory to the arrival of the Salesians in the Holy Land (15 June 1891) ". Fr Antonio Belloni began his educational and welfare activity in the Bethlehem area in 1863. He soon had to face complications of all kinds, first of all the difficulty finding adequate resources to guarantee sufficient educational facilities and services to an increasingly large number of young people he was helping. From 1869 he began to cherish the plan to hand over his orphanage to some solid Catholic religious congregation which could take care of it much better than a simple priest without political and religious protections, and with adequate financial resources and capable and numerous assistants. Only towards the end of the eighth decade of the nineteenth century did the conditions reach the point where they could allow Belloni to carry out the project of entrusting his institutions to the Salesians.
This section ends with an article by Fr Thomas Anchukandam, SDB: "José Luis Carreño Etxeandia SDB - A Salesian missionary model in a pluralistic and globalised context". José Luis Carreño Etxeandìa SDB reached India in June 1933 and, thanks to his gifts of nature and grace, proved to be one of the most intrepid and creative missionaries who have ever reached a country known for its multicultural and multi-religious context. The architect of what would become the Sacred Heart Campus in Tirupattur, the cradle of the Salesians in southern India, proved himself thanks to his hard work and commitment. But above all, thanks to his openness of heart and mind, Fr Carreño managed to make friends and win the affection and collaboration of the population, only a small part of whom professed the Christian faith. Already in the period prior to the Second Vatican Council, Fr Carreño, through his efforts at practical dialogue, proved to be a missionary of a post-conciliar nature.
An original text is presented in the (FONTI) SOURCES section: Salesian scholar Fr Aldo Giraudo offers a critical view of "The French manuscripts of Don Bosco's conferences to the cooperators in Marseilles (1880-1881)". The two conferences by Don Bosco (20 February 1880 and 17 February 1881) show the harmony of the saint with the demands and ideals found among the various components of local Catholicism in reaction to the secular turn of the Republican government; at the same time they document his pastoral zeal, the lucid perception of the problems, together with the breadth of views, the ability to adapt and his practical and planning skills.
To complete this edition of RSS are also:
two essays in the (PROFILI) PROFILES. The first is by researcher Piera Cavaglià, who presents "Mother Caterina Daghero in the government of the FMA Institute for 43 years". The second is by scholar Margarita Acedo: "In memoriam di sor María Felipa Nuñez Muñoz (1930-2023). Maestra, Licenciada en Filosofia y Letras y en Historia Contemporanea y Doctora en Historia Contemporanea ".
the (NOTA) NOTES section has an article by Fr Stanisław Zimniak, SDB: "Notes and reflections on some methodological elements for the study of Salesian historical memory".
The (RECENSIONI) RECENT PUBLICATION section presents various publications with topics related to Salesian personalities and activity;
and finally, the REPORTS section, where publications are reviewed on topics related to Salesian personalities and activity.
