On 31 January, the feast of St. John Bosco, during this year of the bicentenary of his birth, the Sa ...
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On 31 January, the feast of St. John Bosco, during this year of the bicentenary of his birth, the Salesian Info Agency (ANS), launches its official Facebook page, strongly supported by the Rector Major, Fr Ángel Fernández Artime, and his Council. Flickr will be used to make available entire albums of digital photographs in high resolution on events covered by the agency.

The Facebook page of ANS is intended as a digital space to share all the information published on the website, as already happens on the six Twitter profiles. It will also share many of the news items published on other official websites and Facebook pages of the various Salesian Provinces and Communities, of the Salesian Bulletin, etc ... of interest to the Salesian Congregation, the Salesian Family, young people and families.

It will also publish previously unpublished photographs of events, with captions in the original language or in the three most spoken languages in the Salesian Congregation: Italian, English and Spanish. It will share comments of the Rector Major published on his page or forwarded to the agency, as well as those of other members of the General Council.

Flickr will be used by ANS to make available entire albums of digital photographs in high resolution on the events covered by the agency. Each photo can be downloaded in its original format and will be accompanied by a Creative Commons licence, which allows it to be used for non-commercial purposes by citing the author (ANS). Anyone intending to use the photos for commercial purposes must apply for permission to ANS.

Through Facebook and Flickr, ANS is committed to make known statements of the Rector Major and Pope Francis, to be faithful to the Church, the Salesian Congregation and the Salesian Family, and to reach out to young people, families and all who feel the desire and the need to share dreams, like those of Don Bosco.
link: www.infoans.org/1.asp?sez=1&doc=11994&Lingua=2

To celebrate the bicentenary of the birth of Don Bosco, the Province of St. Adalbert in Northern Pol ...
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To celebrate the bicentenary of the birth of Don Bosco, the Province of St. Adalbert in Northern Poland (PLN) launched a special project on YouTube and Facebook called #Projekt200. It consists of 200 Good Nights.

What is involved? For 200 days, 200 people from the Salesian Family and beyond, cast lots to choose a word from among 200 words proposed by Internet users in reference to the holy educator of Turin.

Then, in a minute and a half, they have to give a Good Night based on the word they have chosen. The thought ends with the phrase: "We all belong to Don Bosco."

"Through this project we want others to learn about this wonderful saint in our time. Those who already know him will be able to see Don Bosco from another perspective. Certainly, a young man in an educational centre sees Don Bosco differently from a Salesian Cooperator, or a young Salesian or a Provincial," says Fr Cholewa. He, along with Fr Wiesław Psionka, is leader of the Group called Mediatico - the organization that is promoting the initiative, together with the Art. 43 media groups of the post-novitiate in Lad and the Students of Theology in Krakow.

The Good Nights are recorded on video and published daily at 8.30 p.m. (GMT + 1) on the YouTube channel of the PLN Province, while the text can be seen later on the Facebook page of Desert Radio. On the social networks the videos are designated with the hashtag: # i # projekt200 db200.

The launch was attended by the Primate of Poland, Archbishop Wojciech Polak; the Provincial, Fr Marek Chmielewski, and many other Salesians, young people and members of the Salesian Family.

In this way we want to spread a Salesian tradition, begun by Mamma Margaret. "It was always a brief thought or reflection that lasted no more than three minutes. Don Bosco was ahead of his time! Today, in fact, young people watch movies on YouTube that last no more than three minutes. The Good Night is a short invitation to do good, "says Fr Cholewa.

# Projekt200 began on 28 January at the opening of the Triduum for the feast of Don Bosco, and will end on 16 August 2015, the day of the Bicentenary of the Birth of St. John Bosco.
link: www.infoans.org/1.asp?Lingua=2&sez=1&doc=12129

The list of contributions is potentially endless and the more you search in social networks the lon ...
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The list of contributions is potentially endless and the more you search in social networks the longer it becomes. Among those received at ANS we mention the following:

• From Uruguay, a video explaining the Strenna for 2015;
• A video-clip of the hymn made by Bosco Media, in Spain;
• A hymn for the Bicentenary from Central America;
• “Vida en Ti”, a hymn for the Bicentenary from Ecuador, chosen after a contest;
• A hymn of the Salesian Youth Movement in Bolivia, composed for the Bicentenary;
• From Italy, a hymn in honour of Don Bosco composed by Monsignor Marco Frisina;
• The official song of the Bicentenary in the Antilles;
• A hymn for the Bicentenary from the Province of East Africa produced by BEAMS;
• From Ireland, a brief clip on the Strenna for 2015 and on fraternity;
• A video in honour of Don Bosco and his Bicentenary, made by class 4 EFI of the Colégio São Paulo in Ascurra, Brazil;
• A video-clip in Arabic for the Bicentenary, written and produced in the Holy Land;
• From the Province of Mexico-Guadalajara, the official hymn for the Bicentenary and another one made by the young people of the school in Colima;
• The official song of the Bicentenary in the Province of Colombia-Medellín;
• From Argentina, a song composed by Fr Eduardo Mena, SDB; and a video with some suggestions for celebrating the Bicentenary.

Others not mentioned in this list are invited to notify us of their works of creativity and ingenuity. They can do so by writing to the editor at, or on the Facebook page of the Agency.

link: www.infoans.org/1.asp?Lingua=2&sez=1&doc=12100

"Already we have parishes in many countries, in Argentina, Spain, Italy, United States ... and we ho ...
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"Already we have parishes in many countries, in Argentina, Spain, Italy, United States ... and we hope that there will be more and more parishes, and more and more volunteers who will add new places." So said the young Uruguayan Rodrigo Pérez, introducing a new App that lets you know when and where you can go to Mass in the various countries of Latin America and the world.

“The App is called Vamos a Misa (Let’s go to Mass). It originated in the first place thanks to a tweet from the Rector Major Emeritus of the Salesians, Fr Pascual Chávez. He invited Salesians and other religious to go on the social networks, because it is there that young people spend most of their time," Pablo Sanchez, one of the developers of the App, told ACI Prensa.

With this in mind, he met Pablo Rodrigo, who was on vacation away from his community and did not know where to go to mass. This led to the start of a new digital pastoral service.

Several hundred people use it every day ... we used to joke about the fact that we were the only two who used it but in fact, as soon as we launched it on National Youth Day, it began to spread among many young people," added Sanchez.

The beginning was not easy. The first difficulty was trying to keep the Mass times up to date. This led to one of the main features of the service: "The information is kept updated by the users themselves," says Pérez. Furthermore, "the application identifies automatically the place where you are and consequently is able to recommend the nearest parish to go to and the time of Mass there.”

Pablo also notes that the application wants to go further and help parishes to publicize not only mass times, but all their activities: catechesis, meetings, special celebrations, etc. The developers are hoping that users can "integrate into the parish and that the parish can integrate into the district," as Sanchez says.

The App can be found at the address www.vamosamisa.com from any device with web access. It can be downloaded for free from any tablet or smartphone with the Android system. To add new schedules and update the times of Mass it is enough to access it through a Google or Facebook account. We would like to say to App developers that their suggestions and proposals are welcome and can be sent to our profile on Facebook and Twitter.

A video presenting the App is available on ACI Prensa.
link: www.infoans.org/1.asp?Lingua=2&sez=1&doc=12001

To celebrate the Bicentenary of Don Bosco, the Salesian publisher Elledici has developed a number of ...
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To celebrate the Bicentenary of Don Bosco, the Salesian publisher Elledici has developed a number of initiatives: the publication of new books devoted to the Saint of Young, and collaboration with the famous Italian weekly OGGI for the release of a special issue entirely dedicated to Don Bosco.

Two hundred years after the birth of Don Bosco he remains one of the most popular saints, known and loved around the world. To mark the bicentenary of his birth Elledici is planning:

a new biography, entitled "Don Bosco. A timeless story" by Domenico Agasso, Renzo Agasso and Domenico Agasso jr, three journalists who are masters of the biographical genre, and closely linked to the places where Don Bosco lived. "Two hundred years after his birth, Don Bosco continues to fascinate: a saint forever and for all, without borders and with so much history" writes Fr Ángel Fernández Artime, Rector Major, in the preface.
a new essay on Francis de Sales, entitled "Was Don Bosco a true Salesian? A comparison of the two saints based on seven key words of their spirituality." It shows that it was the message and spirituality of the Bishop of Geneva that animated and motivated the work of Don Bosco, prompting him to choose Francis as his model and patron. The text is the work of Gianni Ghiglione, well known as a guide "in the footsteps of the Bishop of Geneva" and as a scholar of Salesian spirituality;
the special issue of the magazine OGGI will be on the newsstands tomorrow, 29 January. This is an illustrated publication of 124 pages, entitled "Don Bosco is alive: the relevance of his message." It chronicles the life of the saint, and helps us to understand the relevance of his message. It describes some of the Salesian places and offers a fascinating journey through the nature and spirituality of the places linked with Don Bosco, as well as a prayer to ask for his intercession.

Also, for the feast of Don Bosco, Elledici will publish three works by Fr Giuseppe Morante, SDB, dealing with Salesian spirituality lived in the concrete reality of our everyday lives. They are entitled "A family that educates: Parents are not born parents but become parents."; "A parish that evangelizes: Christians are not born Christians but become Christian."; and "An inclusive society: We are all different - we are originals, not photocopies."
link: www.infoans.org/1.asp?Lingua=2&sez=1&doc=11995

From Piedmont to Sicily, through exhibitions, theatre performances and Solemn Liturgies. There were ...
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From Piedmont to Sicily, through exhibitions, theatre performances and Solemn Liturgies. There were no limits to space and creativity in honouring Don Bosco during these recent weeks as, throughout Italy, homage was given to one of her most illustrious sons, through different manifestations.

In the centre of Turin City, at the Exhibition Hall of the Piedmont Region, there are still two exhibitions on Don Bosco, open to visitors. The first, opened on the 24th of January and will run until March 1st, is promoted by the Don Bosco Missions Valdocco (NGO), in collaboration with the Bicentennial Committee, 2015. Entitled "DOMESTIC NATURE. A new sense to the objects of the Ethnological Missionary Museum of Colle Don Bosco" it aims to explore the relationship between man and environment in its cultural diversity, relying on the ethnological collection of the museum, with items coming from all the continents.

The second, which is based on the motto of Don Bosco: "Da mihi animas cetera tolle", was inaugurated on 12 February and will end also on the 1st of March. It consists of 20 panels divided into three main themes - the figure of Don Bosco, the dreams, and the works - and includes various memorabilia of his time. The exhibit shows how the spiritual and the human in Don Bosco formed a single dimension that was expressed in his day to day activities for the mission of saving souls.

Still in Turin, this coming March 20, the Academy of Performing Arts will stage at the Teatro Colosseo the musical "Solo Chi Sogna” (Only he who dreams), an original work written and directed by Mario Restagno, with music by Walter Orsanigo and Paolo Gambino. Far from being just a work of praising Don Bosco, it offers a reinterpretation of the unusual story of Don Bosco, retracing the first years of his activity with the boys of the oratory at the estate of the Marchioness of Barolo, having to overcome misunderstandings, hunger, fear, pain, yet by persistence, at the end, achieving a dream.

In Rome, Mr. Mauro Corsaro, the organist of the Basilica of St. John Bosco in Cinecittà, Rome, has honoured the Saint of the young by composing a Mass for a choir of 4 voices and organ; it is simple to perform and can be easily sung even by the assembly during the liturgical celebrations. The Mass, all in F major, is entitled "You are the bread", which specifically is also the communion song, the text of which is loosely based on the prayer of St. John Bosco "Jesus my Lord." It was written in full accordance with the liturgical norms and has a solemn and festive style.

Finally, in Barcellona Pozzo di Gotto, Sicily, last 24th to 31st January, an exhibition in 8 panels was held at the Salesian Oratory-youth centre. It presented the life and the face of Don Bosco, the relationship of Don Bosco with Mary Help of Christians and with youth, Don Bosco as patron, Don Bosco the founder, and the holiness in the Salesian Family. The exhibition was curated by Fr Santo Russo and by the Salesians of the local community, and for this occasion, the Italian Post Office issued a special Philatelic postmark.
link: www.infoans.org/1.asp?Lingua=2&sez=1&sotsez=13&doc=12153