The Salesian Society, founded by Saint John Bosco, takes its
distinctive name from its patron, Saint Francis de Sales. The
object for which it was founded may be best seen from the
opening words of its constitution: "the Christian perfection of
its associates obtained by the exercise of spiritual and
corporal works of charity towards the young, especially the
poor, and the education of boys to the priesthood." The cradle
of the institute may truthfully be said to have been the fields
of Valdocco, at that time a suburb but now an integral part of
the city of Turin. In the first half of the nineteenth century
Italy had not recovered from the disastrous consequences of the
false and atheistical philosophical teachings brought into the
country at the time of the French Revolution. For this reason
education, morality, and religion were then at their lowest ebb.
To save the rising generation the Salesian Society was founded.
In 1844 Don Bosco began to gather together poor and neglected
boys. He found places for the