St. John Bosco
Arms: Or out of a mount in base Vert three pine trees Proper.
SOURCE/NOTES & CREDITS: The blazon was re-worked by J.H. Gaylor from the “Arms of Saints”, by Sebastian Nelson, there was no background illustration available and the text was adapted by D.Q. Wedvick from the Wikipedia article.
Saint John Bosco was born on 16 August 1815 in Becchi, Piedmont, Italy as Giovanni Melchiorre Bosco, and as a priest was called Don Bosco, he became famous as an educator particularly of boys and young men. In 1859 he was the founder of the “Salesian Society” composed of priests, seminarians and lay brothers to carry on the education of youth. And in 1871 with Don Pestarino & Mary Mazzarello he founded the “Daughters of Mary Help of Christians” to help and educate girls the way the Salesians did with boys. Don Bosco’s preventative system of education put forth his idea that education is a “matter of the heart”, that boys must not only be loved but know that they are loved. The three components of the system are reason, religion and kindness with music and games thrown into the mix. Don Bocso is also well known for his dreams or visions.
He died on 31 January 1888, at the age of 72, was Beatified on 2 June 1929 by Pope Pius XI and Canonized as a saint on 1 April 1934 also by Pope Pius XI.
Note: We observed similarities between Don Bosco’s arms and our own, a coincidence of course, but we may hope that the saint will look down kindly on us and benevolently use his influence on our behalf in our time of need as a result. dqw 20100131
The artwork is a rendering by John Hamilton Gaylor.
Wedvick Armorial, 126, Bosco, 20100131
