St. Dominic Savio

St. Dominic Savio was born in a village of Riva, in Piedmont, northern Italy. He was born on April 2, 1842, and died on March 9, 1957 at the age of 14. His parents were Carlo and Brigitta Savio. He had 9 siblings. Dominic was baptized as Domenico, which means “belonging to God”, and Savio means “wise”. His dad was a blacksmith, and his mom was a seamstress. Although they were very hard working, they were poor. Dominic’s parents tried very hard to give him a Christian upbringing. At the age of four, he was able to pray by himself. He was often found alone praying. He even reminded others to pray. Dominic was a good child. Dominic received his First Holy Communion at the early age of seven with a special permission from the priests. He would rather die than sin. Dominic’s mentor and teacher at the Oratory of St. Francis de Sales was St. John Bosco. He looked up to him, and wanted to learn from him. He was always obedient to his teachers, and chose his friends very carefully. Dominic renewed his First Communion promises at the altar at the age of twelve. John Bosco recorded this, and other incidents that happened for future reference. Dominic was very impressed after listening to a talk on sainthood, and decided he would become a saint. He did physical penances like making his bed with small stones and pieces of wood, covering with thin clothing in the winter, and fasting on bread and water. When John Bosco heard of this, they forbade him to do physically harm his body. John Bosco told Dominic that the best penance was to do well in school, be humble, and that obedience was the greatest sacrifice. Dominic started a group called Sodality of Mary Immaculate. Its main aim was to obtain special protection of Mary during life and at the time of death. He proposed that people honor Mary in different ways, and that they receive Communion frequent.

Dominic began to get sick, but that didn’t stop him from spending time with friends, and talking those that needed words of encouragement. Doctors told Dominic to stay home and recuperate from his illness, but a few days later, he was back at the school. John Bosco spoke to Dominic’s father to schedule his return back to his family on March 1, 1857. During the first four days at home, Dominic’s cough got worse. His father took him to the doctor, and he recommended bed rest. Dominic had a feeling death was near, so he asked that he be given the Anointing of the Sick. On March 9, 1857, after being visited by his parish priest, he asked his dad to read him prayers. He then fell asleep for a little while, but when he woke up he said goodbye to his dad, and passed away.

Dominic was a special child of God. He spent a lot of time with his friends, encouraging them to be devoted, discouraging those that used bad language, and teaching Catechism at Sunday school. He also encouraged people to go to confession and receive Communion regularly. Dominic was the type of child that would take the blame for other’s mistakes. When his mother was in labor with his sister, she was in a lot of pain. Dominic walked into the room, kissed his mother and left. When he left, the mother’s pain was gone too. The women that were helping his mom found out that Dominic had placed a green scapular around the mother’s neck. His sister, Theresa, later wore the same scapular when she was in labor. She later wrote that it had been passed down to several women in labor, but was later lost. Because he was such a special child, but too young, people thought he was too young for canonization. Pope Pius X disagreed, and started the process of his canonization. Dominic Savio was declared Venerable in 1933 by Pope Pius XI. He was beatified in 1950 by Pope Pius XII, and declared a saint in 1954. Pope Pius XI described him as "small in size, but a towering giant in spirit."

What I like the most about St. Dominic Savio is how big his love for God was. I can imitate him by praying every day, going to confession, receiving Communion, being obedient at school and at home, and treating others as if they were Jesus. Dominic taught people to be loving, compassionate and caring.