Bosco College of Teacher Education, Dimapur
It is enough to know that you are young for me to love you very much.”
Don Bosco
Bosco College of Teacher Education, Dimapur, Nagaland, is an educational institution of the Catholic Church, belonging to and managed by the Salesians of Don Bosco, Dimapur Province. The College is named after St. John Bosco (1815-1888), popularly known as Don Bosco, the Father and Friend of Youth. John Melchior Bosco (Don Bosco) was born into a family of a poor Italian farmer on 16th August, 1815, at Becchi, a hamlet near Turin, Italy. At the tender age of two he lost his father, and he had to undergo immense sufferings and challenges in his early life.
His mother, Margaret, took on the task of bringing up her three children with tenderness and great courage. She taught them to till the soil and to see God’s presence in the beauty of the sky, in the abundant harvest and even in the storms which destroyed their vines.
John saw in the dream a divine commission to work for poor and abandoned urchins and the youth. The long years that followed were directed by an amazing enthusiasm to make that dream come true, which was not without its share of challenges and incredible hardships. However, adorned with the gift of splendid blending of nature and grace, Don Bosco accomplished incredible feats in the service and welfare of the poor youth, and his mission was widely acknowledged all over Italy and the rest of Europe and Latin America.
A mysterious dream at the age of nine left an indelible stamp on his entire life. He saw himself amidst a group of scruffy street children who were fighting and using abusive language. He jumped into their midst to stop the commotion, hitting out wildly with his fist. A majestic personage, who introduced himself as Jesus, stopped him. He promised to give John Bosco a ‘teacher’ who would show him how to deal with the ragamuffins, who, to John’s horror, had metamorphosed into ferocious beasts!
At this moment a beautiful lady appeared, Mary, the Mother of Jesus, the promised teacher. “Not with blows,” she said, “but with loving kindness!” And as she spoke, the wild beasts became gentle lambs! She left him with an agenda for life: “Make yourself humble, steadfast and strong.” John saw in the dream a divine commission to work for poor and abandoned urchins and the youth. The long years that followed were directed by an amazing enthusiasm to make that dream come true, which was not without its share of challenges and incredible hardships. However, adorned with the gift of splendid blending of nature and grace, Don Bosco accomplished incredible feats in the service and welfare of the poor youth, and his mission was widely acknowledged all over Italy and the rest of Europe and Latin America.
As his zealous work for the poor and marginalized youth acquired recognition and spread beyond the confines of Italy, Don Bosco felt inspired to begin new initiatives in order to embrace many more needy young people and to reach out them. He founded societies like, ‘The Salesians of Don Bosco’, ‘The Daughters of Mary Help of Christians’ and ‘The Union of Salesian Cooperators’.
Having spent his entire life and energy at the service of the young, Don Bosco breathed his last on 31st January 1888. He was canonized as a universal Saint of the Catholic Church on 1 April, 1934, by Pope Pius XI. The three societies he founded bear witness to his ardent love and concern for the young and continue to carry out his vision and mission all around the world.
But undoubtedly, the greatest gift and legacy he has left behind is his unique way of educating: A path based on reason, religion and loving kindness, a system that had the hallmark of total personal involvement, a method that was inspired by his one magnificent dream