St. John Bosco is an especially appropriate intercessor to call upon as part of our efforts to strengthen Catholic education. The saint, whose feast day is today, was given the title “Father and Educator of Youth” at his canonization in 1934.

Some quotes from “Don Bosco”:

• “If we want to have a good society, we must concentrate all our forces on the Christian education of the young. Experience has taught me that if we wish to sustain civil society then we should take good care of the young.”

• “Without confidence and love, there can be no true education. If you want to be love you must love yourselves, and make your children feel that you love them.”

• “Remember that good confessions and good Communions are the first steps to a sound education.”

• “The school was not the end; it was rather the instrumental means for improving the way of life.”

• “If young people are educated properly, we have moral order; if not, vice and disorder prevail. Religion alone can initiate and achieve a true education.”