DECIDE TO BE A PERSON OF GOD
DECIDE TO BE A PERSON OF YOUTH
DECIDE TO BRING THE BEST OUT OF YOU
SALESIANS OF DON BOSCO [SDB]
FATHERS AND BROTHERS
If your heart Experiences the strong Desire
If your Mind Nurtures the Cherished Dream
To dedicate your life totallty to god's service
To be a witness of jesus' love as a Priest or a Brother in the church.
To be a friend and guide of the youth of India, especially of the poor and the abandoned
To transform society through youth clubs, media centres,schools,parishes,shelter homes Contact Us.
Bro.Meril Rodrigo,SDB
Don Bosco Beatitudes,
P.Box:2681,
50,Sundaram Street,
Vyasarpadi, Chennai 600 039.
SALESIAN SISTERS
IS JESUS CALLING YOU TO TAKE UP THE CHALLENGE?
To offer your life in His service.
To be a friend and guide to the young.
To empower the weak and the helpless.
To promote women's rights.
To befriend the homeless children.
To impart education to change society.
To fight for the poor and down-trodden.
WHERE
In slums,orphanages,educational institutions,dispensaries,hostels,youth centers,shelter-homes,villages,parishes.
LIFE-STYLE
Living in communities-Fostering both Prayer
and action-Living the system of "Reason,eligion and Love" -In the spirit of St.John Bosco and St. Mary Mazzarello
We are the International congregation comprising of some 15,000 Sisters workiing in all the five continents. In india we total 1,200 Sisters insix Provinces.
Contact Us to Know more.
Sr.Superior
Salesian Sisters
Mazzarello Convent
Kodambakkam
Chennai 600 024.
Each one of us is called by God to one Salesian vocation.
Yet not all of us are called to the same state in which this vocation is lived out.
Some are called to be ‘Salesian Clerics’ others are called to be ‘Lay Salesians’ (or Salesian Brothers).
Salesian Clerics are those who dedicate themselves to the service of the young through their sacramental ministry either as permanent Deacons or as Priests (The term ‘clerics’ includes those who prepare themselves for the deaconate or priestly ordination). Salesian Laymen are those who dedicate themselves to the same vocation of serving the young while remaining in the lay state as brothers among brothers.
Each of us is responsible for the common mission, and participates in it with the richness of his own personal gifts and with the lay and priestly characteristics of the one Salesian vocation.
The Salesian brother brings to every field of education and pastoral activity the specific qualities of his lay status, which make him in a particular way a witness to God’s Kingdom in the world, close as he is to the young and to the realities of working life. The Salesian priest or deacon brings to the common work of promoting human development and of educating in the faith the specific quality of his ministry, which makes him a sign of Christ the Good Shepherd, especially by preaching the Gospel and administering the sacraments.
The significant and complementary presence of clerical and lay salesians in the community constitutes an essential element of its make-up and of its apostolic completeness.
(Const. Art. 45)
THE SALESIAN PRIEST OR DEACON
The specific Salesian priestly features are as follows:
evidence shown of the figure of Christ the Shepherd of whom the Salesian, like Don Bosco, is a witness for youth most in need, especially by means of preaching the Gospel and in the administration of the sacraments.
a deepening of the ecclesial sense of unity and communion with the Church, in particular with the Pope and the Bishops; docility in accepting the magisterium and in helping young people and the faithful to accept its teachings.
the vital experience of the priestly ministry in and from within the local and provincial community, in reciprocal complementarity with the Salesian Brother.
development of the capacity to discern the will of God in events and persons, and of preparation for animation and spiritual direction especially of the young.
the development of a particular sensitivity proper to the Salesian spirit, for the catechetical, vocational and Marian dimensions in the exercise of the priestly ministry.
growth in awareness that the priesthood is a specific dimension of his Salesian vocation. This awareness is present in all his activities being, as he is a priest or deacon like Don Bosco everywhere and at all times.
Today, the Salesian Congregation counts amongst its number 11069 priests and 17 deacons who work side by side Salesian Brothers in community al the service of the young throughout the world.
THE SALESIAN BROTHER – THE LAY SALESIAN
The specific features of the Salesian Brother are as follows:
The response to the vocation which stems from baptism; called by God to give himself completely to Him in Christ and to serve him as a ‘lay religious’ in the Salesian Congregation;
The carrying out of the specific mission of the integral Christian education of the young, especially the porrest of them, in the spirit of Don Bosco and in communion with the Salesian priest. All this within the context of a religious community;
The living out of the lay vocation that seeks the Kingdom of God through temporal matters and orienting them towards God. He does this with characteristics that are proper to religious life;
The fulfilling of a non-sacramental mission of evangelization and sanctification, with an intensity that comes from his specific consecration and the Church’s mandate.
Today, the Salesian Congregation numbers 2,317 Salesian Brothers working side by side with priests in community, at the service of the youth of the world. They work as educators, animating and managing the various works and activities of the Salesian mission: schools, hostels, technical institutes, centres of agricultural development, editorial activities in the area of press, radio, television, and centres of social, legislative and economic development.
Source GC21, 172, 173, 178).
Can laymen be Salesians? Can a Salesian be a layman?
Don Bosco envisaged a large army of laymen at the service of God’s kingdom. In 1883 he spoke directly about this innovative idea to 22 novices who were preparing to become Salesian coadjutors:
I will put two thoughts to you. The first is to tell you what my idea of the Salesian Coadjutor is. I have never had the time and opportunity to explain it well. You are gathered here to learn the art and practice of religion and holiness. Why? Because I need helpers. There are things that priests and clerics cannot do, and you will do them.
I need to be able to take one or other of you and put him in a printing establishment, and say to him: “You look after things and see that all goes well”, to send another to a particular house and say “Take care of that workshop or those workers, and make sure that the work is done as it should be”. I need to have someone to whom I can confide tasks of greater trust like the management of money or dealing with legal cases and representing the house before outsiders… Indeed people on whom I can rely for the smooth running of the kitchen and for the task of door keeper: those who will see to the provision of whatever is necessary and that nothing is wasted…etc.
I need people to whom I can entrust tasks like these, and you must be such people. In a word, you must not just be people who work or labour, but people who direct matters. You must be managers and supervisors of the other workers, not just employees. All this of course according to a rule and within the necessary limits: but all of you must play your part in the directing process as though you yourselves were responsible for the workshops. This is the idea of the Salesian Coadjutor. And I have a tremendous need for many who will come and help in this way!
And now I put to you the second thought that is more challenging. Because you will have to help me in this way in large enterprises your work will also be a delicate one. You must acquire many virtues. Because you will have to oversee others you must first of all give good example. The presence of one of you must be an automatic guarantee of order and morality and that good is being done. Because if salt loses its savour….
And so let me conclude. Nolite timere, pusillus grex. Do not be afraid: you will grow in number but more especially you must grow in goodness and strength. Then you will become like unconquerable lions and will be able to do a great amount of good.
www.sdb.org
