Roman Catholic Saint. At the age of nine in a dream, he saw his mission and prepared himself amidst hardships and obstacles, working and studying to be able to realize it. He studied in Chieri, a few kilometers from Turin. Every day, morning and evening, he went to the Cathedral, the Church of Santa Maria della Scala. By praying and reflecting in front of the altar of the Chapel of the Madonna delle Grazie, he decided his future. At age 19, he made the decision to become a priest. After much prayer and consulting with friends and with his confessor, Don Giuseppe Cafasso, he entered the seminary to study theology. He was ordained a priest in Turin in the Church of the Immaculate Conception on June 5, 1841. He firmly made resolutions, strictly occupying his time, always concentrating on saving souls. Arriving in Turin, he was immediately struck to see hundreds of boys and young people in disarray, without guidance and work. He wanted to consecrate his life for their salvation. On December 8, 1841, in the Church of San Francesco d'Assisi, he met the first of the many young people who would follow him, Bartolomeo Garelli. Thus began the work of the Oratory, itinerant at the beginning, then, from Easter 1846, in its permanent home in Valdocco, the Motherhouse of all the Salesians. Hundreds of boys studied and learned trades in the workshops he built for them. In his educational work, he was helped by his mother who supported him and acted as a mother to many of his children who had lost their parents. In 1859, the first collaborators arrived to join him in the Salesian Congregation, oratories, professional schools, colleges, vocation centers, parishes, and missions. In 1872, he founded the Institute of the Figlie di Maria Ausiliatrice (FMA) who worked in various works for female youth. The FMA co-founder and first superior was Maria Domenica Mazzarello (1837 to 1881), who was proclaimed a saint on June 21, 1951, by Pius XII. Fr. Bosco also knew how to call numerous lay people to share the same educational devotion as he with the Salesians and the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians. In 1869, he initiated the Pious Union of Cooperators, lay people who were fully part of the Salesian Family and lived its spirit by doing their utmost in ecclesial service. Until the end of his life, he dedicated every moment to young people. He was beatified on June 2, 1929, and canonized a saint on April 1, 1934, Easter Sunday, both by Pope Pius XI. St. John Bosco's feast day is January 31.