Margherita Occhiena

Faced with poverty, Margherita demonstrated exceptional courage. She refused an advantageous marriage proposal that would have separated her from her children and chose to devote herself entirely to their education and the work of the farm. She managed the land with the help of Antonio and raised the three boys with firmness, gentleness, and wisdom, never showing favoritism despite their very different temperaments.

She quickly perceived the extraordinary intelligence and early vocation of her youngest son, Giovanni. However, Giovanni's desire to study met with the violent hostility of his half-brother Antonio, who believed that farm work should take precedence over books. To preserve family peace and allow Giovanni to follow his path, Margherita made the painful but necessary decision to temporarily send her youngest son away from home so that he could study. She supported his studies financially and morally until his priestly ordination in 1841.

In 1846, Don Bosco, exhausted by his work with the marginalized youth of Turin, fell seriously ill. After his recovery, he understood that he had to devote himself entirely to the Valdocco Oratory. On November 3, 1846, at the age of 58, Margherita agreed to leave the tranquility of her countryside home in Becchi to join her son in the miserable suburbs of Turin.

For ten years, she became "Mamma Margherita" to the hundreds of orphans and young workers welcomed at the Oratory. She voluntarily took on the tasks of cook, laundress, and seamstress, while providing an essential maternal presence to these street children. To finance the nascent work, she did not hesitate to sell her few personal belongings, including her wedding jewelry. Through her daily actions, she instilled the "family spirit" that would become the hallmark of Salesian pedagogy (the Preventive System). She collaborated closely with her son and worked alongside future pillars of the congregation, such as the young Domenico Savio and Don Rua.

The reputation of holiness of Margherita Occhiena was established upon her death, which occurred on November 25, 1856, in Turin due to pneumonia. Her funeral was accompanied by the tears of many young people from the Oratory who mourned her as their own mother.

Although her figure remained inseparable from that of her son, the Salesian Family formally requested the opening of her cause for beatification in the mid-20th century. During the 12th General Chapter of the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians in 1953, an official petition was presented to this effect.

The diocesan cause was officially opened in Turin on February 8, 1995, by Cardinal Giovanni Saldarini, Archbishop of Turin. On March 7, 1995, the Congregation for the Causes of Saints under the pontificate of John Paul II issued the nihil obstat decree, granting her the title of Servant of God. The diocesan inquiry was closed on April 22, 1996.

On October 23, 2006, Pope Benedict XVI authorized the promulgation of the decree recognizing the heroic nature of her virtues, thus conferring upon her the title of Venerable. This decree emphasizes that she exercised the theological virtues (faith, hope, charity) and the cardinal virtues in a heroic manner.

The decree was solemnly read on November 15, 2006, in the chapel of the Salesian community at the Vatican, in the presence of Cardinal José Saraiva Martins, Prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, and Father Pascual Chávez Villanueva, Rector Major of the Salesians.

On November 12, 2006, during the Angelus prayer in Saint Peter's Square, Pope Benedict XVI publicly greeted the Salesian Cooperators gathered in Rome on the occasion of the 150th anniversary of the death of Margherita Occhiena, asking that "Mama Margaret" protect the Salesian Family from Heaven.

The cause for beatification is currently underway, awaiting the official recognition of a miracle attributed to her intercession.

The spirituality of Margherita Occhiena is characterized by a simple, practical faith deeply rooted in daily life. Without formal theological instruction, she possessed a profound evangelical wisdom. Her spiritual life rested on the certainty of the constant presence of God, summarized by her frequent phrase addressed to her children: "God sees you."

She transmitted to Don Bosco a filial devotion to the Virgin Mary, teaching him to pray to her daily. This maternal influence directly shaped the Marian spirituality of the Salesian Congregation.

Her most lasting legacy is the introduction of the "family spirit" within Salesian houses. By bringing her tenderness, patience, and practical sense to the Oratory of Valdocco, she allowed Don Bosco's educational method to go beyond the framework of a simple institution to become a true, warm home. She is today considered the first "Salesian Cooperator" and a model of lay holiness for parents and educators.