CHAPTER XII
THE NEW BASILICA. DON BOSCO A THAUMATURGUS
The devotion to Mary, Help of Christians, had become a favorite one in Turin. Don Bosco, seeing that the chapel of St. Francis de Sales at Valdocco could no longer accommodate the large congregations that flocked there, resolved to erect a noble basilica to Our Lady under this title. As usual, his design was pronounced foolish and impossible of execution. But when Pius IX sent the Apostle of Youth his blessing and a purse of five hundred francs as the first contribution to the stately shrine, the state of affairs changed. Generous offerings were made, especially by Prince Amadeus of Savoy, always a friend of the Salesians: he it was who laid the cornerstone of the new edifice on April 27, 1865. After Don Bosco had paid for the grounds, eight cents remained in his hands. Fearless of results, so magnanimous was his trust in God, he hired laborers and the work went on rapidly. But these poor men had to support their families and must have money.
He remembered a sick lady who had declared her readiness to make any sacrifice to recover her health. He accordingly visited her, and after the usual commonplaces she pressed him earnestly on the subject of her cure. Don Bosco ordered a
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