Towards the latter part of the summer season, Don Bosco was sent by Don Cafasso for a chaplaincy work at St. Philomena Hospital. He would carry out his priestly ministry there together with Fr. John Borel to attend to the destitute girls housed in a refuge in the same building.
The hospital was founded by Marchioness Barolo, a devoted woman who committed to work for the poor and the needy. Aside from her various works to attend to the poor, she would also find time to visit the convicted women inside the jail. There, she would spend some three to four hours consoling them with kind words or merely her presence.
In 1834, she founded an institution meant to look after the welfare of very poor young girls. It's a boarding school that did not only form them to become productive citizens, but more importantly it sought to develop their morals.
When Don Bosco met her for the very first time, the Marchioness was already 60 years old. In his personal account, he found her to be humble despite her affluence. The feeling as mutual; the Marchioness also found Don Bosco virtuous enough, worthy to take care of her poor girls.
To persuade Don Bosco to accept the post, she did not only promise to accept the boys of Don Bosco as mere visitors. She promised him that she would allow them to gather his boys within the vicinity of her hospital.
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