Dominic Savio

Dominic Savio (Italian: Domenico Savio; 2 April 1842 – 9 March 1857) was a 19th-century Italian teenager who was a student of John Bosco and became a Catholic saint. He was studying to be a priest when he became ill and died at the age of 14, possibly from pleurisy. He was noted for his piety and devotion to the Catholic faith, and was canonized a saint by Pope Pius XII in 1954.

Bosco regarded Savio very highly, and wrote a biography of his young student, The Life of Dominic Savio. This volume, along with other accounts of him, were critical factors in his cause for sainthood. Despite the fact that many people considered him to have died at too young an age (14) to be considered for sainthood, he was considered eligible for such a singular honour on the basis of displaying "heroic virtue" in his everyday life. Savio was canonised a saint on 12 June 1954 by Pope Pius XII, making him the youngest non-martyr to be canonised in the Catholic Church, until the canonisations of Francisco and Jacinta Marto, the pious visionaries of Fatima (aged 10 and 9 respectively), in 2017.

Much of the biographical information known about Savio comes from his biography written by John Bosco, in addition to the testimonies given by Savio's family and friends.

The son of Carlo and Brigitta Savio, Dominic was born on 2 April 1842 in the village of Riva, 2 miles (3 km) from the town of Chieri, in Piedmont, northern Italy. His baptismal name, Domenico, means "of the Lord" and the surname Savio means "wise". His father was a blacksmith and his mother, a seamstress. His parents had ten children in all. The family was described as poor, hardworking and pious.

When he was two years old, his parents returned to their hometown at Murialdo on the outskirts of Castelnuovo d'Asti and from where they had gone to Riva in 1841. His parents took great care to give him a Christian upbringing. By the age of four, he was able to pray by himself and was occasionally found in solitude, praying. John Bosco records that Savio's parents recollect how he used to help his mother around the house, welcome his father home, say his prayers without being reminded, (even reminding others when they forgot) and say Grace at mealtimes unfailingly.

Fr. Giovanni Zucca from Murialdo, who was then the chaplain at Murialdo when Dominic was five years old, notes in a statement to John Bosco that he came to notice Dominic due to his regular church attendance with his mother, and his habit of kneeling down outside the church to pray (even in the mud or snow) if he happened to come to church before it had been unlocked in the morning. The chaplain also notes that Savio made good progress at the village school not merely due to his cleverness, but also by working hard. He would not join the other boys in doing something that he believed to be morally wrong and would explain why he thought a particular deed was wrong.

At the age of five, he learned to serve Mass, and would try to participate at Mass every day as well as go regularly to Confession. Having been permitted to make his First Communion at an early age, he had much reverence for the Eucharist.

At that time, it was customary for children to receive their First Communion at the age of twelve. (Pope Pius X would later lower this age to seven.) After initial hesitation, and subsequent consultation with other priests, the parish priest agreed to permit Dominic to receive his First Communion at the age of seven, since he knew the catechism and understood something of the Eucharist. He spent much time praying and reading in preparation, asking his mother's forgiveness for anything he might have done to displease her and then went to church. In his biography of Dominic Savio, John Bosco devotes a chapter to tell of Dominic's First Communion. He says that several years later, whenever he talked of the day of his First Communion, he said with joy: "That was the happiest and most wonderful day of my life." John Bosco records that on the day of his First Communion, Dominic made some promises which he wrote in a "little book", and re-read them many times. John Bosco once looked through Dominic's book, and he quotes from it the promises that he made: