Bicentenary of Bon Bosco in Nazareth: “Like Don Bosco, together with and for the young”

NAZARETH – The Christian Community of Nazareth, together with the Salesian family of Nazareth formally celebrated the annual feast day of St John Bosco on Sunday 1st February at the Church of Jesus the Adolescent. Priests, assistants, Daughters of Helping Mary, Volunteers and Association of former students gathered during a feastday organized by Fr Gianazza.

The Jubilee Mass
Usually this feast day is a popular one, but the celebration of the bicentenary of the birth of Don Bosco this year drew a bigger number of attendants. This celebration is prepared since three years by the Salesian family in the Holy Land and throughout the whole world. The bringing of the relics into the diocese in September 2013 was part of this preparation. The jubilee ran under the beautiful slogan: “To be and to act like Don Bosco, together with the young and for the young”
Mass, presided this year by Latin Patriarchal Vicar Mgr Marcuzzo, is the ending and official summit of a chain of celebrations which the Salesian family has organized for the school, the oratory, old students and volunteers. Mgr Boutros Muallem, an old student of the school, and some dozen priests and religious from different rites, many nuns and faithful attended mass. Singing by the Salesian choir, conducted by Don Giuseppe Giorgis, sdb, composer and choir leader, accompanied the prayers in a most impressive way.

In the homily, Mgr Marcuzzo insisted on the importance of imitating the Saint-Tutor of Turin. But also to follow the example of Maryam Bawardi, Marie-Alphonsine Ghattas and the venerable Simaan Srouji, whose beatification is expected one day.

A party of surprizes
A feast day of Don Bosco is never over without a socio-cultural event. After the Mass, all attendants gathered at the theatre. The Salesians showed, among other items, a video film shot in Aleppo, where a lot of people, mainly younger ones, expressed their way to confront war and violence with the power of Salesian spirituality and the braveness of examples of Don Bosco. Fr Gianmaria Gianazza took advantage of the happy occasion to “reveal’ two small but nice surprizes: a new series of 12 commemorative stamps, issued by Israel Post, on the bicentenary of Don Bosco, and a new bottle of Cremisan Wine with a special Jubilee sticker. Stamps and bottles were distributed, during the happy exchange of mabruk, among attendants.


Text written on basis of information gathered by a Salesian friend.