Today the Salesian Family celebrates the 175th birthday of St Dominic Savio, born on 2nd April 1842, near Turin.

Dominic studied with Don Bosco at the Turin Oratory, planning to become a priest. He lived a life of great piety, and was renowned for his cheerfulness, and for his intense desire to be a saint, something Don Bosco taught was a possibility for all of us.

He frequently played the peacemaker between the other boys, and was never afraid to speak out against wrong-doing and to warn his peers of the danger they courted in giving in to sin.

One of his dearest wishes was to come to England as a missionary, but at the age of fourteen, he died at home with his family around him. His last words were: 'Oh, what wonderful things I see!'

Pope Pius XI described him as 'small in size but a towering giant in spirit'.

Dominic was canonised in 1952, and is patron of choirboys and the wrongly-accused.

Read more about him