Release date is 2026-01-16

Laurent Vogel (This file was produced from images generously made available by the Bibliothèque nationale de France (BnF/Gallica))

La pédagogie d'un saint by A. Auffray is a Catholic educational study and biographical account written in the early 20th century. It presents and defends the pedagogical system of St. John Bosco—the Salesian “preventive” method grounded in Gospel charity—showing how paternal closeness, joy, and sacramental life form a practical path for educating youth, especially the poor and at-risk.

The opening of this study celebrates Don Bosco’s elevation in the Church and immediately argues that his highest title is educator, then outlines his method: constant, fatherly presence; a cheerful atmosphere; winning the child’s heart through affection and trust; and leading to prayer, confession, communion, and devotion to Mary. It roots the approach in the Good Shepherd and the hymn to charity, notes Rome’s favorable regard, and counters critics who label the system sentimental. A brisk biographical sketch shows how his poor rural upbringing, his mother’s firm tenderness, a formative childhood dream, and early initiatives with boys shaped his educational instincts. We see his discovery of Turin’s abandoned youth and the founding moment with Bartolomeo Garelli, from which the Oratory grows rapidly. Auffray stresses that Don Bosco did not craft a theory first; he lived a method—familiar, joyful, preventive rather than repressive—demonstrated in scenes of him playing with children to earn their trust. Evidence of results follows (notably Dominic Savio and broad practical success), alongside a clear contrast between preventive and repressive systems, a humane approach to correction (delayed, non-humiliating, reasonable), the creation of a family spirit, and the start of a chapter on educating freedom that rejects both harsh rigidity and lax license, even in chapel practices like confession and communion. (This is an automatically generated summary.)

Originally published: Lyon: Emmanuel Vitte, 1930