Mother Margaret is a key figure to understanding Don Bosco and the direction of his mission. At 150 years from his passing, the Rector Major invites us to reflect on the importance of the family as the cradle of life and primary source of education. 

Taking advantage of the invitation by Pope John Paul II, the 2006 gift-booklet discusses the topic of protection of life through the family. What Don Chavez proposes is an absolutely current issue. In fact, this is a difficult period for the institution of the family, not only due to its fragile internal nature but also to the cultural environment in which we live, which has become, under many aspects, not favourable for its development. Today, the family is an increasingly private and fragile institution, founded on a precarious bond and considered to be easily reversible, jeopardising the upbringing of children and leading to a high economic and social price. Left to its own devices, based on false expectations and undermined by the incapacity to create common projects by abdicating part of the individual freedom of each spouse, the family ceases to be a stable point of reference in the growth process of individuals, losing a large part of its social importance.

The Gospel clearly tells us that the model of the family of Nazareth is the essential core of humanisation, providing a loving and protective environment in which to develop one’s individual qualities.

The family of Nazareth is a model not only for those who decide to marry and have children. The importance of the family atmosphere in the formation of character and in the transmission of values is, in fact, a recurring theme in the teachings of Don Bosco. In establishing his activities at the Valdocco oratory, he intended to find that very family atmosphere that concretely and emotionally involved not only the brothers but all participating youth as well. It is not surprising, therefore, that in realising this project, Don Bosco asked for help from his mother who, after being his own guide, went on to become the mother of the educational family he established.

The family, be it natural or educational, is a fundamental social institution whose members are united by interpersonal relationships of various kinds, all driven by an affective, communicative and normative climate that  bestows upon them a particular charismatic energy.