St. Dominic Savio Units

  FEAST DAY: 09th March

Dominic Savio was an Italian adolescent student of Saint John Bosco.Savio was born on April 2, 1842, to Carlo and Brigida Savio. They livednear Turin. When he was two years old, his parents returned to theirnative place at Murialdo on the outskirts of Castelnuovo d’Asti (whichwas the birth-place of John Bosco), and from where they had goneto Riva in 1841. His parents took great care to give him a Christianupbringing. By the age of four, Dominic was able to pray by himself andwas occasionally found in solitude, praying. In his biography of Dominic,John Bosco records that Savio’s parents recollect how he used to helphis mother around the house, welcome his father home, say his prayerswithout being reminded, (even reminding others when they forgot) andsay Grace at mealtimes unfailingly.He was studying to be a priest when he became ill and died at the ageof 14, possibly from pleurisy. He is the only saint of his age group, whichincludes Maria Goretti (age 11) and Ponticus of Lyons (age 15), whowas declared to be a saint not on the basis of his having been a martyr,but on the basis of having lived what was seen as a holy life. He wascanonised a Saint on June 12, 1954 by Pope Pius XII, making him theyoungest non-martyr to be canonised in the Catholic Church.