*_January 31st ~ Feast of St John "Don" Bosco, priest_* The youngest of three sons, John Bosco was born into a poor family in northwest Italy in the rural hamlet of Becchi. His father, a farmhand, died when John was only two. Until the age of twelve, John helped support his family by working as a shepherd and farmhand. Inspired by a dream at the age of nine, John sought to care for young boys in need of guidance. Beginning at the age of ten, he would attend the shows of entertainers who performed juggling, magic tricks, and acrobatics. John studied their shows and then imitated them for other boys, always including prayers within the show and lessons he learned from Sunday sermons. After John left home at the age of twelve to search for work, he caught the attention of a newly ordained priest and future saint, Father Joseph Cafasso, who saw John’s intellectual gifts and assisted him with his education.