Saint of the Day - May 6 - St Dominic Savio
9 March
Salesians 6 May
formerly 10 March
Profile
One of ten children of a blacksmith and seamstress. Protege of Saint John Bosco. Altar boy at age 5. At 12 he entered the Oratory School preparatory to becoming a priest. Well-liked and pious, his health forced him to give up his dream of the priesthood. He died at age 15; his dying words: “What beautiful things I see!”
His birthplace is now a retreat house for teenagers; the home where he grew up in Morialdo is now a retreat house for children. The final house in which he lived is the home in Mondonio where the Savio family moved when he was 10, and where he eventually died. Here you can see his father‘s metal shop, and his mother‘s tailoring shop. His tomb is in the basilica of Mary, Help of Christians in Turin, not far from the tomb of his mentor, teacher and biographer, Saint John Bosco.
Born
2 April 1842 at Riva di Chieri, Turin, Italy
Died
9 March 1857 at Mondonio, Italy of natural causes
Venerated
11 July 1933 by Pope Pius XI
Beatified
5 March 1950 by Venerable Pope Pius XII
Canonized
12 June 1954 by Venerable Pope Pius XII
Name Meaning
belonging to God (= Dominic) wise; learned (= Savio)
Patronage
boys
children’s choirs
choir boys (given on 8 June 1956 by Pope Pius XII)
choirs
falsely accused people
juvenile delinquents
Pueri Cantors
Colegio Santo Domingo, Bogotá, Colombia (chosen in January 1977)
singers
streetcatholic