Don Bosco: History and Spirit, Vol. 3: Don Bosco Educator, Spiritual Master, Writer and Founder of the Salesian Society (review)

Abstract

In Arthur J. Lenti’s third volume in the series Don Bosco:History and Spirit, he presents the main achievements of St. John Bosco’s adult life, namely his work as an educator, a spiritual teacher, a writer, and the founder of what has become one of the largest religious orders in the Church. Father Lenti’s exposition shows that the years from 1848 to 1861 saw not only the triumph of the Risorgimento but also the adult development of Don Bosco as a writer, as a controversialist, and especially as a charismatic educator in the faith for young workers and students. However, the crowning achievement of this decade was his development from these young people of a group that became the founders of the Salesians, both as a religious order and as the wider Salesian community.