ALL OUR YESTERDAYS

 

A Patron Saint for Jugglers

You may or may not be aware of the fact, but the Catholic Church has a patron saint for practicalIy every cause and line of endeavor. For example: St. . Ambrose is the patron saint of candle makers. St. Nicholas is the patron saint of bakers, St. Andrew of fishermen and St. Cecili is the patroness of musicians.

 

It occurred to me that jugglers should have their own special patron saint. By definition a patron saint is one who shared a common interest or cause and now acts as spiritual benefactor, protector and advocate. I can think of no better candidate for jugglers than Saint John Bosco.

 

He was born near Turin, Italy, in 1815 and was ordained to the priesthood in 1841. He died at age 73 in 1888 and was canonized in 1934,

 

John Bosco learned to juggle in his youth. One day he saw some boys and girls fighting on the street, and was beaten himself when he tried to stop the fray. He wanted to show children there was a better way to have fun than fighting, and decided to emulate the acrobats and jugglers he saw in a marketplace show.

He learned to juggle balls and plates, do acrobatics, walk a tightrope and perform magic tricks. He began doing shows, and used his performances to gather crowds of young boys or neglected street urchins. Half-way through his performance, he would stop to preach. He was a skilled showman and all of the crowd would stay to listen to his uplifting message and wait for the conclusion of his show.

 

He continued his variety performances as he grew up, and integrated it with his devotion to the Catholic faith. Soon he gathered a group of young apprentices to teach them the catechism. By 1856 more than 150 boys lived at his hospice and learned trades like tailoring and shoemaking. Later, Don Bosco obtained a printing press and wrote and printed catechetical and pious pamphlets for youths.