Saint Dominic Savio

Dominic was born of very poor but holy peasant stock, one of ten children. His parents were from Castelnuovo D’Asti, ten miles outside Turin. When things got desperate they were forced to leave, to find work in a small village outside of Chieri called Riva. There on April 2, 1842, a boy child was born to Charles and Brigid Savio, whom they baptized Dominic. When Dominic was two years old, the family moved once again, to a village near their home town of Castelnuovo d’Asti, Murialdo.

Right from his earliest years, Dominic showed clear signs of piety. His parents said he never gave them cause for the slightest worry, was always obedient and thoughtful of their feelings. At barely four years of age, he swiftly learned his prayers, and could be observed reciting them alone, morning, noon and night. Deeply attached to his mother, he only left her side to go to a small hideaway where he could continue praying unnoticed.

He never began eating without saying Grace. One day, his family unwittingly began eating without first having prayed. Little Dominic cried out, "Daddy, we haven’t asked God to bless our meal yet." He then proceeded to make the Sign of the Cross and began the prayer the family always recited before eating. All joined in, and after they finished eating, they said the Angelus (as was their custom, morning, noon and night). On another occasion, a guest at their dinner table began eating without first saying Grace. Young Dominic rose and left the table, retiring to a corner of the room. When he was later questioned, as to his strange behavior, he said, "I didn’t dare sit at table with someone who eats like an animal."

In his biography of this little Saint, Don Bosco speaks not only of the extraordinary Grace bestowed upon Dominic, but attributed much of his virtuous life to his parents and their tireless commitment to bring him the treasures of the Church. Their example, their daily, ongoing living out of the Faith, their praying the Rosary and the Angelus as a family, their devout attendance at Mass, their fidelity to the Sacraments, their faithful teaching of the Catechism, bringing Dominic the stark reality of sin with its ultimate destruction of the soul, and the luminous rays of piety with its eternal reward in Heaven, molded him into the Saint he would become.

Father John Zucca said of his pupil, Dominic, that the first time he saw him was when the lad was five years old. As was his custom, Dominic was kneeling on the ground in front of the Church door, waiting for it to open. This was not an isolated case. He could be seen, every morning, praying, his eyes and heart zeroed in on something, or was it Someone, beyond the heavy doors. It was of no consequence, if the ground was muddy and wet from the pouring rain, Dominic knelt and prayed until the church opened.

He was an outstanding student scholastically, as well as spiritually. But as with today, there were rough necks who had not the same focus as Dominic. These young boys attended the same school as Dominic, bent on making trouble their primary occupation. Although out of necessity he had to associate with them in school, he never allowed himself to be coerced into joining them. He resisted them, gently declining to join them in seemingly harmless pranks, which soon turned into willful chaos and ultimate disruption of the classroom. Their mischief unchecked, they turned to harassment of old people on the streets, senseless, malicious destruction of property, and finally stealing. His refusal to join the pack caused him much pain; they taunted him, calling him all sorts of derogatory names. He just walked away, rather than engage in a verbal skirmish which could turn into a physical brawl.

So often we see little boys who live to serve as Altar Servers, lose their awe and wonder of serving the Mass when they grow older. It was not so with Dominic, who from five years of age reverently served. His life was to attend Daily Mass, so when he was not Altar server, he still devoutly participated in the Mass, adoring his Lord Who was coming to life on the Altar of Sacrifice.

He loved all the Sacraments, knowing about them from an early age, and desired to participate in receiving all of them, his eyes and heart set on the priesthood. When he was barely seven, he knew his Catechism by heart and fully understood the teachings of the Church, with spiritual wisdom way beyond his age, especially the Sacraments of Reconciliation and the Eucharist. But in those days, particularly in small country parishes, the age for receiving First Communion was eleven or twelve. Dominic had everything against him, but God. He was small for his age, and the

priest hesitated to receive him. The priest consulted other priests. Then considering how well prepared Dominic was and the ardent yearning he had to partake of the Eucharist, he allowed him to receive for the first time the "Bread of Angels" and his first "sweet kiss from Jesus."

Dominic ran home to tell his mother. He begged pardon from her for anything he may have done to upset her and promised to try to live a more holy life. His mother, deeply moved by this child of hers who had visited upon her nothing by loving concern and affection, tried to hold back the tears as she assured him all was forgiven and asked him to pray that he would always be close to his Lord Whom he would be receiving.

What makes a Saint? Dominic, like other Saints before and after him, had a passion for the Bread of Life, the Eucharist, His Lord truly present, Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity. The day of his First Holy Communion, he rose early. Barely able to wait for that glorious moment when he and the Lord would become one, he went to the church and knelt on the ground, outside waiting for the doors to open. The Mass, including his first Penance, lasted five hours. Dominic never forgot that day, and when he spoke of it, years later, his eyes misted as he said, "For me it was the best day - it was a great day."

St. John Bosco advised those about to receive First Holy Communion to take St. Dominic Savio as their Patron Saint, following the resolutions he made that day and ensued all the days of his life:

(3) My friends shall be Jesus and Mary;

Cardinal Salotti, defender of St. Dominic Savio’s cause said: "These resolutions are evidently the most remarkable legacy left by Dominic to the youth of today."

p.24, St. Dominic Savio by St. John Bosco

p.28, St. Dominic Savio by St. John Bosco