- St. John Bosco or more popularly known as Don Bosco (Don Bosco means Father Bosco in Italian) was born Giovanni Melchiorre Bosco on August 16, 1815 at Bechhi, Castelnuovo, Italy. - He was the youngest of three children of Francis Louis Bosco and Margaret Occhiena. - He had his first communion in 1826, and had his Elementary studies in Castelnuovo in 1830. - He entered the Seminary of Chieri in 1835 and was ordained to the priesthood on June 5, 1841 in Turin. In December of that same year, he began his work for the young when he met a 16-year old orphan, Batholomew Garelli. - He instituted the Salesian Order on December 18, 1859 with eighteen members. - He built a church in honor of Mary Help of Christians which is now the Basilica of Mary Help of Christians in Turin. The churh was consecrated on June 9, 1868. - The Salesian Society was approved by Rome on February 19, 1869. - In 1872, Don Bosco and Sr. Maria Domenica Mazzarello instituted the Salesian Sisters of St....