January 22 -- Blessed Laura Carmen Vicuña
Laura Vicuña was born in Santiago, Chile, in 1891. Her father, José Domingo, died when she was two and her mother, Mercedes, moved the family to Argentina to escape revolution in Chile.
When she was nine she entered a boarding school staffed by the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians (Salesians Sisters). Like St. Dominic Savio she made First Communion resolutions to love God with her whole being, to mortify herself and die rather than offend God; and to make Jesus known and offer reparation for the offenses committed against him.
When she came to realize that her mother was living in an immoral situation she offered herself for her conversion. Exhausted by sickness and sacrifices, she revealed to her mother on the last evening of her life: "Mamma, I am dying! A long time ago I asked Jesus to bring you back to God, and I offered my life for that intention. Mamma, before I die, please give me the joy of seeing you reconciled to God." She experienced this joy before dying on January 22, 1904.
She is buried in the chapel of the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians at Bahia Blanca, Argentina. She was beatified by Pope John Paul II on September 3, 1988.
January 24 -- St. Francis de Sales
Francis de Sales was born in Savoy in 1567. He studied philosophy and theology in Paris and earned doctorates
in civil and ecclesiastical law at Padua, Italy. After his ordination to the priesthood he offered himself to his bishop for the work of bringing back to the Catholic faith the Calvinists of the Chablais, a district of southeastern France border-ing Switzerland.
As Bishop of Geneva, residing at Annecy, he preached and implemented the reforms of the Council of Trent. Of a noble and discerning spirit and learned in the humanities, he was a great spiritual director; he opened the paths of asceticism to all, and showed that the essence of the spiritual life lay in the love of God; and with St. Jane de Chantal he founded and directed the Order of the Visitation.
He died at Lyons on December 28, 1622. The celebration of his feast on January 24 recalls the translation of his remains from Lyons to Annecy on January 24, 1623. He was canonized in 1665, proclaimed a Doctor of the Church in 1877, and officially named patron of Catholic journalists and writers in 1923. Don Bosco drew his inspiration from the apostolate, the loving kindness and the humanism of St. Francis de Sales; he chose him as the patron of the Salesian Society.
January 31 -- St. John Bosco
What can we say about St. John Bosco in a couple of paragraphs! He gave himself totally to the welfare of young people. He founded the Salesian Family comprised of priests, religious and lay persons which today is a world-wide organization. The Salesians of Don Bosco (SDB) is the third largest religious order of men in the Church, and the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians (FMA) is the second largest religious order of women.
Don Bosco died on January 31, 1888 in Turin, Italy. In 1988, John Paul II proclaimed him "Father and Teacher of Youth."