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St. John Bosco
| St. John Bosco | |
 | |
| Born | John Bosco August 16 1815 Italy |
|---|---|
| Died | January 31 1888 (age 72) |
St. John Bosco (1815 - 1888) was born in Italy. His father, a farmer, died when John was only two years old. From a young age John entertained other boys with his acrobatics and magic shows, charging only a prayer for admission. He worked many different jobs (tailor, baker, shoemaker, tutor, and carpenter) to pay his way through college and the seminary in Tuin.
After becoming a priest he became known as "Father Bosco" or "Don Bosco". Also referred to as "Giovanni Bosco", which translates into John Bosco in English and Jean Bosco in French.
Pope Pius XI canonized John Bosco in 1934.
Don Bosco teaching spiritual values via magic may have been the birth of Gospel Magic (the tailoring of a magic performance so that it can be used to instruct children or adults on some aspect of Christian theology). Gospel Magicians now have several organizations including the Fellowship of Christian Magicians and the Catholic Magicians' Guild.