The Secret Word of FR. AURELIUS MASCHIO

Aurelius Maschio was born on 12^th February 1909, in the village of Vazzola in Italy. His father Giuseppe was a firm, hardworking and kind business man who was noted for his devotion for God. Aurelius’ mother Orsolina Dalla Cia was known for her prudence and qualities of heart. She attended to all her children’s needs with utmost love, of which Aurelius was the sixth of the twelve. Thus with her nature and grace she won the affection and friendship of the other mothers around the village. In spite of a big family, twelve children, nine brothers and three sisters they were yet a happy family. That highlights the saying ‘a family that prays together lives together.’

Once his elementary school master said: “He is an intelligent and diligent student endowed with strong good will.” So, his parents chose Genoa, a long way from home, about two hundred miles over the plains of Lombardy to reach the Salesian school at Sampierdarena. There came a time where he revealed to his parents about his desire to become a priest, to which his parents gave a smile and agreed to join him to a minor seminary. Then before joining in the Apostolic School at Penango in Piedmont, he got clarity about God’s call and told his parents about it. His parents supported him saying ‘If God calls; we cannot but say ‘yes.’’ On 5^th October, 1924 at a grand and moving ceremony in the Basilica of Mary Help of Christians in Turin, he received the missionary Cross along with other 18 Salesians as missionaries.

It was on 17^th November, 1924 that he first stepped into Indian sub continent where God would work wonders through him. He was sent to North-East India. What a change from sunny Italy, the land of olives trees and wine to the humid and green plains of Assam known for its forests and wild life. Yet the energetic youngster was a hero of the context with his passion for Christ; professed in Shillong on Christmas night 1925. On completion of his philosophical studies in Shillong he worked at St. Anthony’s High School as a teacher. After which it seemed as if heaven was in a great hurry to make him a priest, so after completing his hard study from 1930–1933 by kerosene and candle light, at the age of twenty four, the most joyous day of his life dawned. It was on 29^th April 1933 he was ordained as a priest by Mgr. Perrier, Archbishop of Calcutta. Then he was assigned as an assistant parish priest to Fr. Mlekus at Cherrapunjee for six months. His pastoral love, commitment and dedication found no barriers, neither of language nor of culture and habits of people. What a thrill he must have had being an Italian, in learning and writing Khasi. He made used the language of the locality to enter into the lives of the poor. To his credit he mastered the language so well that he wrote two books in Khasi of which, the Government of Assam used as the text books for the Khasi Schools.

This speaks how much was rooted in Assam, mastered language, culture and habits. Suddenly when he received his new assignment to leave for Bombay he felt as if he was being uprooted from the North East India. It was like a thunderbolt not only in his heart but also in the hearts of the people whom he administered tirelessly with the pastoral love of the Good Shepherd. However, he took it up with complete trust in God and obediently moved to Bombay as his new mission field. It was in 1936 at the age of twenty seven, still in the freshness of his youth, he reached Bombay with a spontaneous smile on his lips, hoping for the best to come. His openness to learn another culture and another language was something to be appreciated. This was how he transformed the practical challenges into profound opportunities to draw more people to God.

As soon as Fr Maschio arrived in Bombay he resolved that the number increase ten times over, where he was assigned to care 500 boys at Don Bosco School at Tardeo. There he started putting into action some ambitious plans and began looking for a dream-plot for his dream-school to another hired bungalow at Cumballa Hill. In 1939 he acquired a plot for a school at Matunga which was a muddy mosquito-infested piece of land in the middle of nowhere. At that time there were many comments, one of many was “Could he not find a better place?” Who knows what might come, for, God’s ways are not our ways. Don Bosco High School today is considered a ‘premier’ institution thanks to his vision. All these will solemnly proclaim that he was a man of great vision. He opened a Technical Institute of St Joseph’s which today houses the prestigious BIT (Bosco Institute of Technology.) Then for orphans and boys from unstable homes, he opened Dominic Savio Boys Home at Andheri…and many other institutions in and around the city.

Here a building was completed but elsewhere a foundation had already been laid shows that the cement never dried upon his ongoing visions. Yet, it was not a multiplicity of schools but a mosaic of institutions tailored to suit the needs of the youth. To make the youth good Christians and honest citizens he opened an orphanage, a seminary, a technical workshop. Today, for instance, at the headquarters at Matunga, Mumbai, there is a Skills Training Centre that equips young, bright and less fortunate youngsters from the bastis–slums around, to improve their communication skills, with the basics of conversational English and a smattering of computers to work and live well in the society. It was the city of Bombay that was destined to witness be the magic of touch of Fr. Maschio while he transformed a barren muddy wasteland into the imposing complex of buildings that is today Don Bosco High School, Matunga, Provincial Headquarters, Shrine office and the grand richly-decorated shrine in honour of Mary Help of Christians and the vast playgrounds. Through his monthly “Don Bosco’s Madonna”, eagerly awaited in thousands of homes, he still continues to bring the message of Christ, the example of His Blessed Mother and the teachings of the Saints to innumerable souls all over the country and abroad. He had a great heart for the poor and the deprived of society while he used to provide food for hundreds of poor people. Even today this yeoman service is continued giving bread and alms to the in the poor in the surroundings of the shrine.

Every magician has a secret word, a word from which one would obtain strength. It was the same with Fr. Maschio who had been reputed to have had the golden touch that came from his secret word. He kept it in his heart, loved it and cherished it from the days of his youth, throughout his life in India. The magic word that kept Fr Maschio was the dearest prayer of our Father and Founder St John Bosco that echoes everyday in the heart of every Salesian as “MARY HELP OF CHRISTIANS.” This word was his key strength to accomplish all his efforts and endeavors as a dynamic Salesian, visionary and a Pioneer. He is exceptionally an icon of inspiration for all of us as we aspire to imitate the same charism of Don Bosco.