St. John Bosco Prayer for Young People and Students

St. John Bosco (1815–1888), known everywhere as Don Bosco, was an Italian priest who gave his life to the poor and abandoned boys of Turin, teaching them a trade, the faith and the joy of being loved. He founded the Salesians and, with St. Mary Mazzarello, the Salesian Sisters, and his “preventive system” of education, based on reason, religion and loving kindness, is used in schools around the world. He is the patron of young people, students and educators. Below are prayers to St. John Bosco for children and teenagers, for students, for teachers and youth workers and for parents, the dream that shaped his life, Scripture and his story.

A prayer to St. John Bosco

Written for this page:

St. John Bosco, father and teacher of the young,
you won hearts not with blows but with kindness,
and led countless young people to Jesus and Mary.
Pray for me, that I may serve others with patience and joy,
trust in Mary, Help of Christians,
and never give up on anyone.
Obtain for me the grace I ask: (name your intention). Amen.

A prayer for children and teenagers

St. John Bosco, friend of the young,
watch over (names) and all young people.
Keep them safe from harm and from bad influences,
give them good friends and good teachers,
and help them to discover the joy of following Christ. Amen.

This prayer was written for this page. See the Catholic prayer for children.

A prayer for students

St. John Bosco, you studied hard to become a priest despite poverty.
Help me to work diligently, to learn well,
to use my gifts for good and to stay close to God. Amen.

This prayer was written for this page. See the prayer to St. Joseph of Cupertino for exams.

A prayer for teachers, coaches and youth workers

Don Bosco wrote that it is not enough to love the young; they must know that they are loved.

St. John Bosco, patron of educators,
bless all who teach, coach and care for young people.
Give them patience, wisdom and a cheerful heart,
help them to correct with gentleness,
and let every young person in their care feel loved. Amen.

This prayer was written for this page. See the prayers of the faithful for students and teachers.

A prayer for parents of a struggling child

St. John Bosco, you never gave up on any young person.
I entrust to you my child (name), who is struggling.
Help me to be patient and loving, to listen and to set good limits,
and lead my child back to the right path and to Jesus. Amen.

This prayer was written for this page.

The dream at nine years old

When he was nine, John dreamed that he was in a field full of boys who were fighting and cursing. He threw himself among them with his fists, but a noble Man appeared and told him that he must win them “not with blows but with gentleness and charity.” Then a Lady appeared, and the boys turned into wild animals and then into gentle lambs. She told him that this would be his field of work. All his life, Don Bosco saw this dream as his vocation.

Jesus’ own words about children guided him:

And he that shall receive one such little child in my name, receiveth me.

But Jesus said to them: Suffer the little children, and forbid them not to come to me: for the kingdom of heaven is for such.

The life of St. John Bosco

Giovanni Melchiorre Bosco was born on August 16, 1815, at Becchi, a hamlet near Castelnuovo d’Asti in Piedmont, in northern Italy. His father died when he was two, and his mother, Margherita, raised him in poverty with deep faith. As a boy he learned juggling and acrobatics to draw other children, and after the show he repeated the sermon he had heard at Mass and led them in prayer.

Working his way through school, he was ordained a priest in 1841 in Turin, then a rapidly growing industrial city full of poor boys working in workshops and drifting into prison. He gathered them on Sundays, and in 1846 settled his Oratory at Valdocco, where the boys could pray, play, learn and later live and train in trades. His mother, “Mamma Margherita,” came to keep house for them. Among his pupils was the young saint Dominic Savio.

To carry on the work, he founded the Salesians of Don Bosco in 1859, named for St. Francis de Sales, and in 1872, with St. Mary Mazzarello, the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians. He built the Basilica of Mary Help of Christians in Turin, wrote and published books for the young, and sent missionaries to South America. He died in Turin on January 31, 1888, and was canonized by Pope Pius XI on Easter Sunday, 1934.

Feast day and patronage

Feast day: January 31. A novena can run from January 22 to 30.
Patron of: young people, students, schoolchildren, apprentices, educators, editors and publishers, and, by popular devotion, stage magicians.
Symbols: a priest surrounded by boys, the cassock, and an image of Mary Help of Christians.

Frequently asked questions

When is the feast of St. John Bosco?

January 31, the day he died in 1888.

What is St. John Bosco the patron saint of?

Young people, students, apprentices and educators.

What is Don Bosco’s preventive system?

His method of education, based on reason, religion and loving kindness: preventing wrongdoing by surrounding young people with care, good activities and friendship rather than by harsh punishment.

Who are the Salesians?

The Salesians of Don Bosco, a religious congregation of priests and brothers founded by St. John Bosco in 1859 to educate young people, especially the poor.

More prayers

Texts and sources

Scripture: Matthew 18:5; Matthew 19:14, Douay-Rheims Bible (Challoner), public domain.
St. John Bosco, Memoirs of the Oratory (the dream at nine) and his letter from Rome of 1884 (on loving the young).
The prayers were written for this page.