On Friday 23 September, the band from the Leo XIII Salesian School in Bogota, Colombia will perform at the Salesian Institute of San Francisco de Sales in Brena. The next day, Saturday, at 10.00 a.m., in the Basilica of Mary Help of Christians in Brena, some Salesians will be ordained to priesthood. Finally, on the Sunday, a solemn Mass will be celebrated in the same basilica to mark the 125th anniversary of Salesian presence in the country.
In 1890 Fr Michael Rua, the first successor of Don Bosco, began to plan the presence of Salesians in Peru. He appointed as Rector and founder Fr Antonio Riccardi whom Don Bosco himself had sent to Patagonia in Argentina. He left there for his new destination and reached Callao on 27 September 1891, one day before the rest of the expedition arrived from Italy. There were two priests, a Salesian brother and nine Daughters of Mary Help of Christians, who soon took care of the Sevilla School.
Right from the time of their arrival in Peru, the Salesians and the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians tried to help needy young people. In December, just three months after their arrival, they opened a festive oratory in the Rimac district. It was attended by about a hundred children who were soon beginning to experience and share the charism of Don Bosco. However, it was with the opening of the School of Arts and Crafts in Brena that the Salesian spirit in Peru really began to take off.
Today the Salesian charism is more alive than ever and the Salesian presence has spread across the country, from the coast to the highlands and even into the forests. Everywhere they are promoting the integral development of young people, through education and evangelization.
More information is available on the website of the Salesians in Peru.
