“You are the light of the world. A city set on a mountain cannot be hidden. Nor do you light a lamp and then put it under a bushel basket; you set it on a lampstand, where it gives light to all in the house. Just so, your light must shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your heavenly Father.” (Matthew 5: 14-16)
What you will find on this section of our web site are personal testimonials of the kind of light that Salesianum has been generating – and sharing – within the City of Wilmington (and far beyond its environs) since the original three Oblates of St. Francis de Sales first opened its doors and admitted its first 12 students over 100 years ago. Time has demonstrated that Salesianum School is not merely a school: it is a place where boys learn – and acquire – the values and skills they need to take their place in the world as Salesian gentlemen, modeling the example of their patron, the “Gentleman Saint,” Francis de Sales.
Over its 100+ years of ministry, Salesianum has exposed nearly 15,000 graduates to the two great pillars of the Salesian tradition: humility and gentleness. Salesianum students learn that authentic humility is not about putting yourself down: rather, it is about recognizing – and claiming – your God-given abilities, gifts and talents and placing them at the service of others. Likewise, authentic gentleness is not about being a pushover; rather, it is about recognizing that the best way to enhance yourself is to build up others: To recognize the God-given abilities, gifts and talents of all those with whom you live, labor, laugh and love. Real manhood isn’t a function of what you can take from others: it is measured by what you give to others. Real manhood isn’t a function of what you can do to others: it is measured by what you can do with others.
Obviously, Salesianum is not a perfect place. As a ‘city on a hill,’ it cannot claim that every graduate will become a model citizen. As ‘light to the world,’ Salesianum’s beacon is not always clear and bright. For all of its ‘good deeds,’ the challenge to ‘glorify your heavenly Father’ sometimes seems beyond its reach. Nevertheless, Salesianum is – among so many things – a community of faith that believes in the power and promise that comes from lighting one candle rather than cursing the darkness.
The Oblates of St. Francis de Sales are grateful for the opportunity that we have had – along with our lay colleagues and so many of you who have supported our mission and ministry – to light nearly 15,000 candles in the form of those graduates whom Salesianum has educated since its inception in 1903, and whose light – literally – shines throughout the world.
What follows are the reflections of five Oblates of St. Francis de Sales who give testimony to how they experienced the light of Salesian spirituality at Salesianum School – two as faculty, three as both graduates and faculty – over a period spanning nearly seventy years. How about you? What memories do you have of your experience of Oblate, Salesian education at Salesianum that you’d like to share with “all in the house”? If you have a reflection that you would like to submit, we are open to considering including it. Please send it to healing@oblates.org.
Thank you!
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