"No one can see Don Bosco without feeling attracted to him, or without loving him at once, for his heart is all love, and the divine light of a tender love beams in his countenance.

Like St. John, the beloved disciple, leaning on the heart of the Master, inebriated with ineffable delight and exclaiming: "Lord, I love Thee," so Don Bosco, taking to his heart this multitude of children to whom he became a father, sends forth a sigh of love which assuredly ascends to the feet of Him who said, "This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you."

The Abbe Don Bosco founded the Society of St. Francis de Sales, the object of which is to devote itself to the different works of piety and charity, and in particular to the special care of poor abandoned children upon whom depends the future happiness or misery of society.

Poor abandoned children! Could there be a more admirable work than that of taking special care of children whom neglect, ignorance, and contact with depraved, perverted natures defencelessly expose to the snares of evil?

Don Bosco gathers them together, gives them an asylum, teaches them an honorable trade, makes them useful citizens; but above all, he ennobles them, as it were, by initiating them in the splendors of revealed truth. He teaches them how to appreciate the immortal beauty of that soul made in the image of God, which they outrage through ignorance. Many of these children of the people have been raised to the highest dignity with which man can be invested: they have become priests!

We shall see how Don Bosco received the first inspiration of the mission which Divine Providence was to confide to him." --pages 9 - 11.