HISTORY OF DON BOSCO SCHOOL

 Valencia: November 22, 1894 the first arrive

Salesians to Valencia, the city of Cabriales had
eagerly awaited since 1895 when the first
contacts with Don Bosco himself and he is asked to send
the first missionary expedition, the environment
reigning product of the
Guzmancista era was a ghost that kept the
children of Don Bosco for some time.
The Salesians form a boarding school that will soon
had a significant number of students, its
initial cost was
15 bolivars and remained open until 1968 when
By orders of the Superiors, Fr. Ricardo Alterio as
Director is responsible for decreeing its closure and the
externed.
This boarding school had been going on since
the year 1895; just a few months before the arrival of the
Salesian Fathers to Valencia. Seventy-three years of
uninterrupted operation. Seventy-three years watching
arrive at the beginning of the second half of September,
young schoolchildren loaded with suitcases, with their faces
saddened, and with the spirit in suspense before the
possible surprises from the boarding school. Seventy-three years in
that, in the last days of July, the girls
He dispersed, with joy reflected on his face,
jubilant and joyful at the return to the lap
paternal
The boarding school that was closed gave
physiognomy, and was a very special flavor component for the
"Don Bosco" school in Valencia. Its history is confused with
history of the squad. Let's start now to relive the
chronicles of this educational temple.
At the end of 1894,
integrated the community into
property house
the family
Fontainés, on the corner of El Vapor. He presided over it
the Reverend Father Félix Andrés Bergeretti, with the
Savoia and Montanari clerics. All natives of Italy.
They had arrived from the hand of the Bachelor Priest
Víctor Julio Arocha, Vicar of Valencia, and they had
the support and sympathy of a group of

Valencian midwives. At their head, Mrs.
María de la Paz Pérez Santander, whose prison cell is
opened generously to cover the inherent expenses
to the daring company.
The property, facing La Fortuna Street, today
Anzoátegui Avenue was narrow and uncomfortable. The
Parents opened operations,
knowing that they would perform there for a short time. TO
the few months, with more than two hundred students enrolled,
On April 1, 1895, they settled in an old
architecture house
colonial, facing El Sol street, today a street
Paez; acquired for the amount of Twenty-Six Thousand
Bolivars. That's when they could breathe
wide, and start talking about relative comfort.
Valencia had responded to them extensively.
Simplicity, the spirit of work, plainness and
cordiality in treatment, behavior
uniform compared to the rich student and the poor schoolboy. All those
virtues had made an excellent impression on the
mood of society
Valencian. Convinced of the roots, sure that
had arrived at a hospitable home and a safe harbor, the
Parents dared to commit to such a large investment.
Investment that involved years of deprivation and
even of unpleasantness.
At the command post was a man of a
great fortitude, with an invaluable store of experience. A
superior that would give the new house a certain direction;
at the same time that he gained daily support and sympathy
for the cause he personalized.
                         

                                    The first

                                            Director, Hero or Conspirator   

FELIX ANDRÉS BERGERETTI was born in
Italy in the year 1835. He arrived in Valencia when he was forty-one
eight years. Man of excellent health, very agile, and
very awake, he had entered the Congregation
Salesian barely a year ago. Missionary
vocational, he had previously joined an order of Fathers
evangelizers, and had performed in Australia. He was in
Sydney, Melbourne, Palestine, and finally in
Ceylon, where he performed for fourteen
years.
He spoke Spanish,
Italian, English,
French, Latin and Greek. I knew well the
Arab; He had very advanced knowledge of
surveying and engineering. His gifts as well as his
activity had earned him the offer of the Miter,
that the tireless missionary had refused to
accept.
He arrived in Valencia ripe, to give us the
precious seed of his experience, as well as to
release his devotion and mystique for him
Don Bosco pavilion. On June 6, 1897, in fact,
He was already celebrating his Priestly Silver Jubilee.
Bergeretti gave the Salesian house of Valencia the
precise orientation. Teaching in the classroom, and teaching in
the Workshops. Primary school.
Education
Secondary. And Craft Teaching. Tailor shop. Arts
Graphics. Carpentry. With the
great collaboration of two young people
clerics, Jacinto Piana and José María
Grazzini, like Brother Coadjutor Falletti, all arrived to
reinforce the cast of the new house; the teaching of
music and
the different sets that
it envelops, they would gain expression and strength. The
School Band would, after a short time, be the
set that would animate the end programs
of course, as well as many other acts of life and
run through the city.
However, it would be the collective tragedy that
would carve the definitive profile of Bergeretti. The awful
Smallpox epidemic of 1898, which closed its
College, and threw him to the degraded. At the Hospital "St.
Roque", and in the recently opened Civil Hospital. It was
then heroic and selfless. He faced death without fear.
He brought comfort to thousands of dying people. And it was Christ.
Samaritan. Figure of goodness and mercies, in one's own
places where death
had installed with display of cruelty.
This smallpox epidemic closes the first stage of the
Salesian House of Valencia. Of the exemplarity of its Director
remain, to engrave in bronze, condensed in a happy phrase, the
Bishop Adam's lively emotion: "How immense,
gentlemen, I think it's Félix Andrés
Bergeretti!"
The 19th century had passed with the unpleasant memory
of Smallpox. Joy and hope at the dawn of the
new century. However, for the Salesian Fathers of Valencia,
clouds loaded with black threats pointed out. At eight in the
morning of January 8, 1900, in fact, two delegates
of the Civil and Military Head of the Plaza communicated to the Director
Félix Andrés Bergeretti, and his collaborators
immediate ones, Inocencio Montari and Juan Bautista Voghera, the order
of General Cipriano Castro, triumphant leader of the Revolution
Restoration Liberal, to appear in Miraflores "in the
distance term"

The next day, at eleven in the morning,
They took the train that would take them to Caracas, the
mentioned above. The Fathers had been accused of
write and distribute, through the students, a brochure
revolutionary content.
It was a perverse lie. General Castro
would keep them in the capital until
on February 18, having returned to Valencia at
next day, in the midst of the contentment of the
citizenship, and the enthusiastic joy of the
students.
That painful incident seemed to be overcome with the
presence of the Director at the Mass for the Dead to be celebrated in
Tocuyito, on September 14, in suffrage of the
souls of the soldiers fallen a year before, in the
battle that sealed the victory of General Castro.
Accompanied by his wife, Castro had witnessed
the ceremony, and had had the opportunity to appreciate
the excellence of the School Band. Five days
Then, on September 19, the Supreme Head of the
Government, and
Mrs. Zoila de Castro, paid an attentive visit to the School
Salesian of Valencia, and they left an alms of two thousand
bolivars in the hands of the Reverend Father Bergeretti.
Furthermore, on July 5, 1901, he had been granted
the Bust of the Liberator in the 2nd Class; by disposition
of course from the Head of Power
Executive.
But the trips of
head of the community to Curaçao where a house operated
Salesian, aroused the suspicion of the Government. Upon returning from
one of them, verified in the company of the father
Inspector, on February 9, 1902, he was not
allowed to disembark. The community was orphaned
Salesian of Valencia. Inflexible and stubborn, Castro did not
would lift the expulsion order, and the great
missionary and distinguished Salesian would die seven years
later in Ockland, USA of North America. On June 17, 1957 his ashes
They arrived, in a bronze urn, at the gates of the city. The
Salesian Alumni, led by Don Ramón
Chazzin, soul and champion of that crusade, sowed,
definitely, to the great apostle on earth
Valencian. He was buried in the Sanctuary of Mary
Helper, and Monsignor Dr. Gregorio Adam gave his praise,
Bishop of Valencia.
A very valuable element would become the
then acolyte Juan Schonewolf, who followed
studies at the University of
Valencia, and on November 4, 1900 he opted for the Degree of
Bachelor of Science
Philosophical, receiving qualification of
outstanding. On July 5 of the following year,
would receive Minor Orders from the Bishop
of Calabozo, Monsignor Felipe Neri Sendrea. This Prelate
He was a great and consistent friend of the Congregation
Salesian. Every year it used to be season
health and rest in the home of his relatives, located just a stone's throw
one block from the Sanctuary of Mary Help of Christians. He
provided a valuable contribution by prestigeing the solemnities, and
conferring holy orders on clerics who
They made up the staff of the
home. On February 5, 1902,
recorded the death of the student Víctor Manuel
Juárez, from the Tailoring workshop, who formed
part of the School Band staff. He was residing
in the Parish of San Blas.
Among the first students of the Salesian House of
Valencia is worth remembering ALBERTO J. WALLIS, authentic
gentleman, with lineage that will always honor through
the clarity of his life, residing in Guacara, a town that knew of his greatness and his
bonhomie CARLOS J. BELLO, who became
famous doctor, brilliant for his research
in the domain of
Tropical Pathology. To PEDRO REFAEL TINOCO, to ESTEBAN
FERNANDEZ, to LERMIT BORGES, TULIO
TOMAS SALVATIERRA, MARTIN J. GORNES MC PHERSON, JOSE RAFAEL
POCATERRA, CARLOS SAGARZAZU AND LUIS TROYA, of whom he said
Monsignor Adam "who captivated for more than three
decades to this city." RAMON CAZZIN, "vortex
inevitable of diligence and love
Valencia", in the praise of the same Prelate; it would take
enrollment at the "Don Bosco" School, in the year of
1902; when the Father had stopped acting
Bergeretti. And we will conclude this first chronicle about the
Salesian House of Valencia remembering a true fact
significance for the Institute. On November 21, 1902
The Reverend Father Pablo Albera knocked on their doors,
accompanied by his Secretary. This priest was part
of the high government of the Salesian Order, and represented
directly to Don Rúa, successor of Don Bosco.
He spent eight days in the Salesian house of
Valencia Father Albera; who passing time
would rise to the very high position of Rector Major of the
Congregation, and would be the Third Superior General of
the order.
Valencia paid him very eloquent tributes. By
It is true that at the banquet offered to him, with the presence of
all the Clergy of the city, carried the word
Priest Dr. Hipólito Alexander.
The unjust and surprising ostracism of Father Bergeretti,
founder and first Director of the Salesian College of Valencia,
brought disorientation to the spirit of his
immediate collaborators in the government of the house, Reverends
Fathers Montanari and Voghera.
We already referred to the magnificent
orientation given by Bergeretti to the team.
Primary Education and Baccalaureate. Teaching of
Manual Arts. To the
Typography, Tailoring and Carpentry,
shortly after added the Workshop
Cabinetmaking.
Valencia had responded very generously to the
envoys of Don Bosco. But the economy of the country was very weak.
country. At the local level, the situation became
sometimes dramatic, as a consequence of wars
civilians, and the outbreak of Smallpox. General Cipriano Castro
had begun his government with measures and provisions
many times based on arbitrariness and caprice.
The Salesian House of Valencia paid a heavy tribute to the
Cabito's whims and pretensions.
At seven o'clock at night on June 10, 1902,
Provincial Superior communicated to the Salesian community of
Valencia, the name of the new director. Juan Bautista Voghera
had been chosen to command the destinies of the
School. Juan Avaro and Jacinto would accompany him.
Piana, as Prefect and Catechist, respectively. Enrique De
Ferrari will continue to fulfill the functions of the
Scholastic Counselor.
  
The new Director was a young man, of excellent
training, with great diction; to the point that
He used to climb the Holy Cathedral in sermons
commitment. He had first-class organizational skills. The
would bring out, placing the school within the
orbit of highest performance: seeking a growing
exchange with Parents and Representatives of the students;
bringing to those confidence in the educational work of the
campus, through the end-of-year exams
year, and the end-of-year events.
But Father Voghera was not satisfied with
continue the adaptation work that Father began
Bergeretti, nor by satisfying, punctually, the serious
house commitments. On February 7, 1904, the
interrupted work on the Sanctuary, placing them under the
address of the famous architect Antonio
Malaussena. For these purposes, he promoted a
collection in the trade of the
city, which produced Bs. 763, and installed a Ladies Board
Cooperators, who would be in charge of collecting a cent per
person, between
the sympathizers of the Salesian Work in Valencia.
These details show us how the works of
church
They grew and prospered then thanks to the mysticism
of the managers, and to the determined collaboration of the
faithfulness, that before money,
contributed labor in a common effort, which by
Men and women were equally divided.
Before moving forward we want to remember that the
Architect Malaussena had won laurels in this
city, with the construction of the Municipal theater;
that he directed from the Decree of the Person in Charge of the
Presidency, Mr. General Hermógenes López,
who ordered the execution of the work.
The work on the Sanctuary had begun since
on April 24, 1900, the date on which it was placed and blessed
the first stone, acting in a solemn ceremony the Bishop of Las
Pampas, Monsignor Felipe Neri Sendrea.


The new Sanctuary would be in the Gothic style.
With a central nave forty meters long by
sixteen wide. Later they would be added
up to eight side chapels, four on the right and four on the
left of the central nave.
On January 29, 1905, the Vicar of
Valencia, priest Víctor Julio Arocha, to the
solemn blessing of the new sanctuary, dedicated to
Mary Help of Christians. He climbed the sacred Chair, the
Dr. Ricardo Arteaga, Dean of the Holy Church
Metropolitan; who came from Caracas with such an object. This
priest was very closely linked to the Order
Salesian. He had exchanged correspondence, in different
opportunities, with Don Bosco, about the possible
installation of the Salesians in Venezuela. AND
By designation of Don Bosco himself, he had the rank of
Director of the Salesian Cooperators in Venezuela.
The 1906-1907 school year closed, in the
second half of July, with brilliant exams
rendered among the most qualified examiners. Anthony
Sandoval, Faustino Figueredo Herrera, Miguel Bello
Rodríguez, doctor Fco. Caballero, Manuel Napoleón Barrios, Jesús María
Briceño Picón, R.A. Torres Coronel, Marcos Sergio
Godoy, and the Bachelor Aquiles Antich. Among those examined
They monopolized the first positions, and received the First
Awards: Germán Vizcarrondo Rojas, José Gregorio
Ponce Bello, Manuel Delvalle, Juan Vicente Lecuna, J.J.
Paris, Roberto Carvallo, Carlos Amaré, Ramón
Roberto Chazzím, Agustín Fernández, Miguel
Enrique González Zárraga, Alfredo Carvallo,
Francisco Ríos, Simón Rojas Galea, Pedro Antonio
Maninat and Francisco Rey. Oscar Gutiérrez Betancourt was
student of the Reading class, and his
brother Alfonso, who would glean so high in the domains of
the poetry,
received the Unique Music Prize
Instrumental.
Can a payroll be prepared?
more linked to Valencian life? Can they be
give in succession, names with more linkage
and roots in the movement
scientific, cultural, professional and economic
city?
On Sunday, August 4, 1907, Father presided.
On Sunday, August 4, 1907, Father presided.
Voghera the last distribution of Awards to which
would reach the rank of Director. He ruled in the State
Dr. Samuel Eustaquio Niño, who attended
accompanied by the General Treasurer, Dr. Raúl
Curly. The Prayer of Order was given by Don
Santiago González Guinan. Egregious tribune; who knows
produced in a very brilliant speech:
"A waste of ingenuity, erudition, eloquence and
poetry, in honor of the work of Don Bosco".
On February 24, 1908, Father Voghera embarked in La
Guaira, heading to Europe. I left
in charge of the direction of the house, to the Priest
Jacinto Piana; whose popularity in Valencia acquired
special dimensions. I would return at the end of November,
to deliver the address that so gallantly
will serve for six years.
On December 19, 1907 he visited the Salesian works
of Valencia, His Honor Monsignor Dr. Juan
Bautista Castro, Archbishop of Caracas and Venezuela; who knows
He was in Valencia, in Santa Pastoral Visita.
Teachers and students of the Salesian house received the
distinguished Prelate, who after being in the Sanctuary,
was the subject of a special program
in the school assembly hall.
     
                            Father Enrique La Riva


At eleven in the morning on January 22, 1909
the Father Inspector communicated to the Salesian community of
Valencia, the name of the new Director. He was a priest
Enrique Rivas, who the following month, on the seventh of
February, the Festive Oratory reopened, with an attendance
of forty children.
At the same time, he showed signs of deep concern for
finish the works of the Sanctuary. He concluded his
ornamentation, and built the hillock, which was
always a source of admiration and satisfaction for the
Valencian Catholics.
Simultaneously, he cared for and increased the work of
the Cooperators; sure that they were the sympathizers of the work
of Don Bosco who could give him strength and
projection.
Father Rivas was born in Milan on the 12th
May 1863. Don Bosco himself had given him
delivery of the cassock, when he was twenty-two years old
old. He was ordained as a priest in Seville, Spain, on
May 25, 1888. He was the Founder of the Salesian house of
Caracas, where he worked with great determination. He was a Salesian
genuine, and a most virtuous priest. Silent,
introverted, he was fond of observing everything and applying the remedy
precociously. Very discreet and very diligent, never
would cause a conflict, and
I would always look for formulas from the
very spirit of the Holy Founder. With its thick bunch of
keys in his right hand, it was through the noise of the
the same as he had come to sense.
He celebrated his Silver Anniversary among us
Priestly, and those anniversaries hurt his
modesty, since it gave room for Valencia to testify to him
appreciation and veneration. From the Sacred Chair
He then sang the glories of those Twenty-Five
Years, Father Galilea, the Augustinian of eloquence, and of
conviction, an apostolic figure in the annals of
Puerto Cabello. Among the most outstanding students of the
time of Father Rivas, we will mention Jorge del Castillo,
Miguel Enrique González Zárraga, Leopoldo
López, José Delfín Ponce Bello,
Matías Feo, Francisco Esteban Caballero and Federico
Brook.
Distinguished benefactor of the Salesian Work, for those
times, DOÑA MARÍA DE BETANCOURT FIGUEREDO,
poet and writer, sometimes shoehorned her articles with
his own name, and others appealing to the pseudonym.
He disseminated the Salesian initiatives, exhibiting everywhere
moment the deepest faith in the triumph of the work of
Don Bosco.
They were the years of poverty.
Apart from the Festive Oratorio, entirely free, the books of the
Prefecture registered a high percentage of insolvent students.
But that poverty was a
faithful reflection of the economic malaise that is everywhere
I palpated then.
The first and most determined benefactor of the cause
Salesian, his name was Monsignor Víctor Julio
Arocha. The Vicar of Valencia did not limit himself to bringing the
Country the Salesian Fathers. He always gave them
paternal protection, and at all times made him the object of
the most deferential attention. For Monsignor Arocha
the Sanctuary of Mary Help of Christians, and the College of the
Salesian Fathers, were an extension of their Church
Matrix, and
extension of your own home.
Like Bergeretti, Father Voghera would not return to
Country. From Europe it would go to the United States of
 North America. In New York City
would carry out the Parish of La
Transfiguration.
But his admirable organizational work
would continue to bear fruit. Thus, by September
In 1912, thirty-one had graduated from the campus.
five high school graduates, two of them later graduated
doctors; three with doctors in political science,
three were Pharmacists, and three had embraced the career
priestly.
And we find on the list of founding students
SALVADOR CARVALLO ARVELO; who passing time
would become an integrally representative figure, in
the intellectual, the social, the political, and the
economic.

                                                  Monsignor Enrique de
                                                                Ferrari

The first stage of the Salesian House of Valencia
concludes with the smallpox epidemic of 1898, which
closes the school for more than seven months. The second is
complete with the year 1913, upon separating from the
Addressed by Father Enrique Rivas, who moves to
Caracas with the rank of Provincial Delegate.
The third era revolves around the Priest
Enrique de Ferrari. It is a decade, which covers the
time elapsed between 1914 and 1924. During those ten
years De Ferrari is the central figure and the character
excellence. The Salesian work is going to expand, including
will begin to cover new aspects, will invade others
fields and will sponsor other referrals.
Enrique De Ferrari had arrived in Valencia in
quality of
acolyte, on November 19, 1895, accompanied by
the clerics Pedro Opalski, Polish and Antonio
Monaco, Italian. Since then it had remained
in the Salesian house on El Sol street.
He was born in Novara, on November 18,
1875. He was therefore barely twenty years old when
arrived on the shores of our country. He was the son of
Gaudencio De Ferrari and Virginia Molgora. I had studied
elementary school in his town and then he had
transferred to Turin as a student of the Institute
Technical.
It was in Turin where De Ferrari visited for
the Salesian houses for the first time. Soon he entered the
Seminar of
Foreign Vocations of Valsálice, having received the
cassock from the hands of Monsignor Cagliero, the first of the
Salesian Bishops. There it began and advanced
his Philosophy studies. Chosen to evangelize in
America, it was destined for the Province of
Venezuela.
At the College of Valencia, the clergyman De Ferrari
began his work under the direction and
advice from Father Beregeretti. Shortly after arriving,
interested in the formation of a History Museum
Natural. He worked tirelessly in that direction, until
obtain invaluable pieces of Mineralogy and the
most diverse zoological species and
botany. He had the satisfaction of inaugurating his
Museum, at the beginning of the 1896 – 1897 academic year.
The Museum of the clergyman De Ferrari had
very special significance. He opened a
stage of objectification of teaching, in the
scope of Primary Education classrooms and
Secondary. That new dependency involved a
considerable progress. It was the first step in the
renewal of teaching, until then covered
of a purely rote garb.
From Ferrari he assimilated, on the other hand, the
Bergeretti's recommendations, and became a creditor of his
trust. He performed the functions of Advisor
scholastic and was in charge of the leadership and
control of the
Workshops. When the prison incident
superiors of the Salesian house of Valencia, in January 1900,
He had been in charge of the direction.
The intense work to which he gave himself without reservation,
It undermined the young acolyte's body. a serious
Lung disease put him on the verge of death. The
severity intensified when repeated hemoptysis
They added a dramatic aspect to the disease.
When he recovered, the young acolyte
promoted a pilgrimage of action
thanks to the neighboring town of Puerto Cabello. AND
returned to give himself whole as before, and as
would always give as long as he was at the service of the
house of Valencia.
Meanwhile he advanced in his study and knowledge
of Theology, valid for the license that then
allowed these disciplines from the place where
would provide services. Already
ordained priest, on May 24, 1899, feast of
Mary Help of Christians, sang her first mass, at nine in the morning.
the morning, in the living room that served as
Chapel. That same day, at seven in the morning,
Peter also went up to the altar for the first time.
Opalski; four years earlier. The latter does not
had completed twenty-four years of
age.
Its governing position of the Professional Schools
led De Ferrari to assume the role of journalist. He
On February 2, 1899, the first
magazine issue
weekly "The Friend of the Home", which would circulate under his immediate
direction, to fulfill function
informative of the work of the Salesians in
Valencia.
In the year 1911, under the direction of
Father Riva, Father De Ferrari traveled to Italy,
after sixteen years of stay in
Valencia. That trip must have done a lot of good for him.
organization, returning on September 23, to
resume his duties as Scholastic Counselor and Director
of the Professional Schools. In reality, there was
covered the entire scale of
professorship, since he had served until
Declamation chair. One of his students
most exploited in this discipline
His name was Ramón Roberto Chazzím.
Two years later, on December 15,
1913, the appointment of Father De
Ferrari as Director of the "Don Bosco" School in Valencia,
succeeding Father Riva, designated Provincial Delegate in
Venezuela, with headquarters in the capital of the
Republic.
The new Director would hone his skills
extraordinary teacher. committed to
elevation of Secondary Education,
It would cover various subjects of the Baccalaureate.
I would teach Mathematics, Physics and Chemistry. In Algebra and
Geometry would develop
with the ease and skill of a specialized teacher. The
issues
more intricate would acquire characteristics of pastimes when,
From the blackboard, the new Director wrote, erased and
I started writing again. Formulas. Figures.
Equalities. Binomials and Trinomials. Everything flashed before the eyes
of the student, within a precision and order
rigorously didactic; without ever causing the
confusion. At the time of teaching
Physics and Chemistry, I preferred the Laboratory,
using the classroom very little. Thanks to your contacts and
skills had managed to transfer to the College,
the showcases of Natural History and the Cabinets of the ancient
University of Valencia.
Those instruments were good, brought from
North America by Professor O'Daly, in the rooms
of the "Don Bosco" School. Here they should continue
fulfilling the function of being useful for the new
generations. They would later be reinstated in
Excellent Condition.
Doctor Fabián de Jesús Díaz
write the following note to "Very difficult to forget the
practical lessons in Physics and Chemistry
Father of Ferrari. When already enrolled in the School of
Medicine,
We attended, in the dilapidated laboratories of the
University of Caracas, to the practical classes of
Medicinal Chemistry, we missed it very much
those tests
precise and forceful from our teacher from Valencia!!… And
everything happened with the greatest fluidity and spontaneity, without
awaken fatigue in the Teacher, nor fatigue in the Student.
When someone managed to get distracted and lost track of
the explanation, the professor's keen eye
called to the blackboard; from where he was no longer allowed
distraction. The topics followed one another, and the program
It could be fully explained. There was not
poorly viewed chapters. They had all been commented
"in extenso". There was no opportunity, therefore, but
of a slight recapitulation for the moment of the test
final.
True architect of relationships
public, Father De Ferrari knew how to expose
each of the parents of their students, the real situation
of these; without awakening mixed feelings
and adverse. Under his direction the boarding school grew
considerably, since the good name of the team was in the
mouths of the people of Cojedes. Portuguese, Yaracuy, Falcón
and eastern states of the Republic. The comunications
They were very difficult at that time. Except for those who
They came from the foreign populations of Carabobo,
and those from the neighboring State of Aragua,
boarding students barely received visits from their
family members twice a year. But he took good care of himself
Father De Ferrari because in the environment of the house they will be preserved
the treatment and exchange that govern good relationships
relatives. He was everywhere. Consoling the
some. Comforting others. Applauding the scholars.
Encouraging the retarded. Sometimes he mitigated and
reduced the severity of some punishments. Other times, it
placed himself in charge of a cause, to prosecute it
better, and give it a more pronounced flavor
didactic.
He was, on the other hand, a truly
multiple. Shortly after arriving at the Directorate,
undertook the erection of the tower of the Sanctuary;
construction that he himself directed, when not
He directly undertook the work. He extended the
dominion and property of the Salesians over the entirety of the
block in which they settled. was able to establish
as the entrance door and main façade of the School, the
southwest corner of the intersection of the streets of Colombia and
Anzoategui. In that way it would have crossed, in
diagonal, the vast land that delimited the streets El Sol,
Colombia. Anzoátegui and Briceño Méndez, from
today. Started new dependencies and facilities, the same
on the old land, as on the newly acquired one. In
This one stuck to a type of classroom, fresh and illuminated. He himself planted the columns in the company of
Francisco Ríos and Higinio Seijas, two master builders who
They well deserved the title of Architects.
The extension of Salesian work in Valencia,
during the decade in which Father De Ferrari commanded his
destinations, surpasses all calculations, and nullifies all
forecasts."
How the teaching of Manual Arts came to him
below, for different reasons and reasons, he sensed the
future of agricultural education. Interested
in his plans to one of his most distinguished benefactors, and
Thus on September 15, 1920, Dr. José
Berrizbeitia signed the donation of the land where today
The Salesian Agronomic School operates. Climbed on his
chestnut horse, since then he was seen crossing the streets
of the city, and heading north until touching the
doors of their new campus. But, very old and very modern,
little did he acquire a brand new car, which
He drove with the skill and ease of a veteran behind the wheel,
taking advantage in this way of the limited time that
had.
He always had the good desire to collaborate. It was that
generous feeling, the same one that led him to settle in
the old Liceo de la Divina Pastora, willing to continue the
work of Hipólito Alexander. On January 1, 1917
opened that free school, which he considered
also a hotbed of priestly vocations. Over there
Don Bosco's flag would remain hoisted until
the year 1924, in which, the Diocese was erected,
The Salesians had to return to their main headquarters.
Despite the multiplicity of functions, and the
diversity of activities, De Ferrari preserved intact
his priestly spirit. Neither dealing with the powerful, nor
the rise and splendor of his works, nor the vigorous ascendancy that
charge on subordinates, disciples and friends. Neither him
success
systematic that always accompanied him, and
he seemed to have become his faithful and submissive vassal. Nothing.
Absolutely nothing could make him proud, or even erase him.
fleetingly from his mind the image of
priest of Christ. That's why I thought about the humble and the
dispossessed, entrenched himself in virtue, encouraged
coexistence and exchange with his brothers, and in all his
acts, from dawn to night, he tried to lavish himself with
that complete self-giving that Saint Paul regarded as the
highest expression of Charity.
– The second year of
Address of Priest Enrique De Ferrari, when
The manifestations of its dynamism and competence were already beginning.
In the month of May 1915 he organized a large
program to commemorate the One Hundred Years of the establishment
of the feast of Mary Help of Christians, as well as the
Centenary of the Birth of Don Bosco, in "Becchi",
small village in Italy. The newspapers of the
era echoed the display of fervor, and in
special uninterrupted parade of faithful to the Sanctuary
of Mary Help of Christians, from May 21 to 30,
Even when the festivities closed.
Day after day they filled the church of the
Salesians, numerous pilgrimages coming from all the
Parishes of Valencia. First came the devotees of the
Main Parish. The next day, the 25th, those from
The Candelaria. On the 26th, those from San José. On the 27th he was
awarded to the Parish of San Blas. Then followed those of the
Divina Pastora and, finally, the pilgrimage
departure from the Church of San Francisco.
On Sunday the 30th, a Fifty Voices choir sang the
On Sunday the 30th, a Fifty Voices choir sang the
Hymn to Mary Help of Christians, with lyrics from the inspired
poetess and distinguished benefactor of the Salesian Work in Valencia,
Doña María de Betancourt Figueredo, and music
by Master Manuel Betancourt. Since the 23rd, in
hours of the morning, had been solemnly
inaugurated the beautiful Bell Tower, which the Priest
Ferrari will build it in just over five months.
A chronicler from EL ECO PUBLICO could well have said, by the way
of this Tower: "Ordinarily the Lord saw
Director stationed at the top of the scaffolding, under the sun of the
noon, directing the craftsmen, and many times
surprised the night, tireless in his tasks."
We can well say today that De Ferrari amazed the
Valencians with their capacity for work, and with the finished
planning your works. HE
Anyone who thought that those
triumphs came at random. Their work in front of the Cooperators
Salesians, and close to the members of the Archconfraternity of
María Auxiliadora, was the product of intelligent work
and tenacious. The first had assured him
construction of the Tower, and the latter had
packed the Sanctuary for ten afternoons
consecutive.

                                         The Spanish plague visit us
On October 2, 1918, the
first case of "plague" among the superiors and students of the College
"Don Bosco", from Valencia, was the feared SPANISH PANDEMIC,
that caused so much havoc and death in this city. Very
Few students retired to their residences. The great
The majority remained at the College. One after another
They were presenting the symptoms of the disease. Up to forty
four patients came to occupy the beds in the bedroom. He
Father De Ferrari then showed signs of a temper and a
self-denial to all proof. Solicitous, concerned, in
At no time did he show signs of fatigue. Advised
by Dr. Rafael Manuel Iturriza, treated all the
sick; Not a single case resulted in a fatality. Own
Director served the medicines, and carried the confidence
to the spirit of all
The doors of the Sanctuary, like those of all the Temples
of the city, remained closed during the epidemic. He
La Pastora High School, by then in charge of the Parents
Salesians, was enabled as an emergency hospital, reaching
to shelter up to forty sick people.
The Spanish "Flu" of the year eighteen
had arrived to demonstrate that at the head of the community
Salesian of Valencia, there was a man who was a direct heir
of the benefactor of the Variolosos: Félix Andrés
Bergeretti. From him I had learned the most
heroic self-denial.
                                                               The
                                        School Silver Wedding

…And Valencia, calibrated the gesture of Enrique De
Ferrari and prepared to respond. In the year of
1919 marked twenty-five years since it opened
its doors to the "Don Bosco" School, at its headquarters on El Street.
Sol. A quarter of the silo of the
presence among us of Priest De Ferrari.
A Board is formed under the Presidency of Monsignor
Víctor Julio Arocha, of which the
following gentlemen: Dr. Emiliano Azcúnez, Dr.
José Berrizbeitia, Father Torres Coronel, doctors Pedro
Castillo, Alejo Zuloaga, Atilano Vizcarrondo, Ricardo Zuloaga E.,
José Luis Arcay, Rafael Manuel Iturriza, Pedro Manuel
Castillo, Luis Felipe López, Francisco Iturriza, Don
Eduardo Berrizbitia, Don Martín Gornés and Don
Joaquin Alvarado.
It was all of Valencia, in its most
representatives, who stood up to reward the
children of Don Bosco, and give a very loud applause to the head
of the community: Enrique de Ferrari.
There were four days of solemnities
liturgical ceremonies in full pomp, beginning on Friday,
December. On Sunday the 7th at 8 p.m., in the Teatro Hall
of the College, a brilliant act was accomplished
literary, in which there was a waste of oratory,
poetry and good theater; giving the Speech of Order,
the Vicar of Puerto Cabello, Fray Eugenio de Galilea, tribune and
speaker of many carats
The President of the Republic, Dr. V.
Márquez Bustillos, granted, by special Decree,
to Priest Enrique De Ferrari, the medal of Honor
created on February 18, 1894, to be used on behalf of
popular gratitude. General Emilio Fernández,
Constitutional President of the State of Carabobo, by Decree of 13
of November 1919, which was endorsed by its Secretary General of
Government, Dr. Lisandro Lecuna, offered him a pen of
gold. The Municipal Council of the Valencia District, by Agreement of the
18 of the same November, he joined the rejoicing of society
of Valencia, and appointed a commission to
made present the votes of the Body. presided
then the City Council, Don Ricardo Montenegro, and together with
he signed the Agreement, the councilors: Gustavo Minguett,
Mariano Páez, Mariano Paz, Matías Manrique, Carlos
Betancourt G., Pablo José Acosta. The Trustee
Municipal Attorney, Pedro Manuel Castillo, and the Secretary, Don
Juan Seidel.
Father De Ferrari had to face the serious
contingency caused by the first war
World. As a first consequence it stopped arriving
the human contingent, and the
Salesian Provinces of Venezuela and Colombia, with headquarters
in Bogotá, and supply your own material
human.
Father De Ferrari, without hesitation, left
on December 27, 1918, leading a first contingent of
four young aspirants. Long and painful journey, until
Mosquera, near Bogotá; full of adventures and
discomforts, made under the impression of those
first Salesian vocations.
It was for De Ferrari a slogan that was dutifully followed and
faithfully fulfilled, make your College beat in unison
with the heart of
Valencia. Everything that represented a reason for pleasure for the
city, found an impact within the campus. The
significant figures who visited Valencia, went
to give, and they were splendidly received in the Sanctuary and
at the Salesian College.
For the Centennial year of the Battle of Carabobo,
in 1921, received and provided shelter to the entire
students of the "San José" High School, Los Teques. He put the
order the Organizing Committee of the Third National Congress
of Medicine, the halls of the College, and thus the
satisfaction of seeing how the magna sessions
assembly, promoted by the National Academy of Medicine, was
They happened under the arches of his Institute.
He was respectful and submissive in the face of Superiority
Ecclesiastical, the same as before the Hierarchy of the
Order in which he fought. He received, on several occasions, as
guest of honor, to the Internuncio, and then to the
Apostolic Nuncio. One of them, Monsignor Felipe
Cortessi, highlighted to the Province in relation to
establishment of four new Dioceses,
He stayed in the community for a week.
Salesian of Valencia.
Ferrari's multiple activities led him to
invade foreign lands within your Director radius
of a Salesian house. This is how he acted
several years as Master of Ceremonies of the Main Church
From Valencia. With that character
He conducted the ceremonies of Consecration of the Holy
Mother Church, presided over by Archbishop Rincón
González, and he also served during
the episcopate of Monsignor Granadillo.
When mentioning his most important collaborators
enthusiastic and fervent, we must cite the Priests
Crispín Pérez and César Lucio Castellanos, and
doctors José Berrizbetia, Francisco Iturriza, Miguel
Gerónimo Ocando, Pedro Manuel Castillo and Rafael Manuel
Iturriza. As his right arm, in the government of the house,
was the Priest José María Grazzini, the
administrator
of the School, efficient, quiet, respectful. direct heir and
immediate of the gifts and position of Father Piana,
He became irreplaceable in the choir of the Sanctuary, and
at the head of the College's lyrical ensembles.
He was a generous collaborator of the works of Father De
Ferrari, General Juan Vicente Gómez, President of the
Republic; who extended his hand to him, determinedly,
more than one opportunity. I visit him on several occasions
and slept at school, in addition to visiting his
children who were boarders of the School And at the head of their brigade
of Cooperators, Benefactors and leaders of the
Archconfraternity of María Auxiliadora, one of the
Archconfraternity of María Auxiliadora, one of the
best structured sets life has ever known
ecclesiastics of this city, let us remember Enriqueta Rojas,
Delia Sandrea, Doña María de barrios, the sisters
Ugly gentleman, the young Burgos sisters and
Doña María Betancourt Figueredo, who captured in
beautiful poems and
vibrant chronicles of his first-class devotion
line for the cause of Don Bosco.

Arrived in Valencia since 1912, he was
very direct collaborator of Father De Ferrari, the
Priest Luis Frassatto; for this time member
of the Salesian community of Valencia. This honorable dean of
"Don Bosco" School is, for teachers and students, a true
relic. Lucky bond between this present,
contradictory and absurd moments, and the splendid yesterday, loaded
of days of glory, who knew the
Salesian Congregation among us.
Before the end of the year 1924, Father De
Ferrari handed over the Management of the College of Valencia, and
He moved to Caracas, where he would establish his residence, as
head of the family
Salesian, with jurisdiction throughout the
country.
                                              
                                                    Father Rodolfo Fierro


In 1924 he took possession of
the Management of the Salesian House of Valencia, the
Reverend Father Rodolfo Fierro Torres, of nationality
Colombian.
For six consecutive years he would perform in
that high destiny, producing their separation in
the year 1930. However, he would act again
five years later, remaining, in this new
occasion at the head of the Salesian community, from 1935 to
1939.
He was a zealously minded priest.
cultivated. With long years of stay in Europe;
writer of brilliant literary style; lecturer of
excellent resources and
valuable disciplines. After a careful
training, came to bear fruit and initiate training programs
I work in this city.
He knew how to keep the institution at a high level
to be carried by his predecessors. He deserved all the
trust of Bishop Francisco Antonio Granadillo, who did it
object of notable distinctions. This prelate loved
History, and in Father Fierro Torres he found the pleasing
conversation partner, permanent lover of
characters and events from the past. Bishop and clergyman arrived
to complement each other in the pursuit of historical research.
On one occasion, when in the neighboring Puerto
On one occasion, when in the neighboring Puerto
unveiled the statue of the Father of the Nation, he had to
Monsignor Granadillo pronounce prayer of
commitment. His broken health did not allow him to satisfy
that requirement. And in his place he sent Fierro Torres;
who, far from being intimidated by the weight of
representation, came out successful, with a piece
oratory of great content. Father Fierro was confessor of the
Bishop Montes de Oca, successor of Monsignor Granadillo. In
the material order, carried out the construction of the
arm of the College that extends along the street
Colombia, between Anzoátegui and Briceño Avenues
Mendez.
Father Fierro Torres died in one of the
Salesian houses of Barcelona, ​​Spain; from where
remembered for the intellectual work of great magnitude that he always
would attack.
         
                                                 A Polish Director P. Máximo
                                                                 Piwowaezik


A Polish priest of exquisite education and good
deal, the Reverend Father MAXIMO PIWOWARZIK, assumed the
Address of the "Don Bosco" School, in the year of
1930. He had acted for several years under the
address of Father De Ferrari, and had
characterized by his zeal and fervor. However, not
He would govern until the end of his term.
period of three years, separating from the
leadership of the House, in 1932.
It was precisely in that year when he entered
command the "Don Bosco" School, in Valencia, for the first time,
a Salesian of Venezuelan nationality.
   
                                   The first Venezuelan to assume a
                                                        Address

ISAIAS OJEDA, born in Acarigua, disciple of
Francisco Antonio Granadillo, at the Liceo de la Divina Pastora, and
by Enrique De Ferrari, in the Salesian house of Valencia. Formed
in the novitiate of Mosquera, in the Republic of Colombia;
He always had the affection and trust of his teachers
and higher.
Demonstrating his genuine Salesian vocation,
shortly after taking the reins of the house of Valencia,
He worked on the reorganization of the School
Free DOMINGO SAVIO, to which he always gave paternal
protection. From his largesse and generosity he knew,
Likewise, the Naguanagua Agricultural School, which for
then he already raised the need for his first
buildings.
It was up to Father Ojeda to promote the events
commemorative of the Canonization of Saint John Bosco. In it
old Sanctuary built a large chapel, intended for the
cult of the new Saint; In it he erected a beautiful altarpiece,and placed on it an image of the Founder.
He was a great friend of the Alumni, and at all
throughout his management
showed lively concern and singular interest
by the Association that brings them together.
Those in charge of the Directorate include:
Priests Juan Vernet (1937-1938) and Jesús de
Corcuera (1938-1939). The latter was a renowned professor of
Mathematics, Physics and Chemistry.
He taught at the Federal Men's College,
where his presence was always seen with the best eyes, since
exercised and showed signs of a thorough knowledge of the
subjects he taught.
By 1939 he was in charge of the
Addressed by the Reverend Father José María
Wolbers, of German nationality. It will be up to you to act
until 1944. His management will have
be characterized by a considerable increase in the number of students. The
School life takes on a very high tone. Promotes
Alumni meetings, and promotes the activities of
the Archconfraternity of María Auxiliadora. This
luck keeps the flame of worship lit in the Sanctuary, and
appears very
solicitous in relationships and exchange with parents,
representatives and cooperators of the Salesian work in Valencia.
The name of Father Wolbers is a very special cause for remembrance in
the annals of the Salesian House of this city.
The weddings
College Gold
. . . And so we arrive at the year 1944. It is the
fiftieth year of the arrival of the Salesians to
Carabobo, and to Venezuela. There is unanimous consensus, in the
School and in the city, around the
anniversaries. Everyone agrees that
must celebrate wildly. The representatives of Power
Public; the Bishop and Clergy of the city; the
Alumni Association, which by then
looked like a true living force of
population, under the presidency of Don Ramón
Chazzim; the society and the people of Valencia.
That's when it arrives with the character of
That's when it arrives with the character of
Director, and is in charge of the leadership of the College, the
Priest Ricardo Alterio. Valencian for all four
sides. Trained in the same classrooms and under the same arches
that they would come to know about his austere Director silhouette.
Those who saw him arrive and get fully into his work
routine, they never thought that with it began
a new stage in the life of the "Don Bosco" School, in Valencia.
He was the ninth Director, in the succession order, discarding the
interim offices of the years 1937 and 1938. But in
reality came to fill and embody an entire era in the
campus life. Thirty years earlier there had been
initiated the performance of his teacher, Enrique De Ferrari.
From that extraordinary man, he had captured a whole
courtship of virtues, and had learned the methods of
job. It arrived when, virtually, they had already
scheduled the fiftieth anniversary events, and it was his responsibility
just preside over them.
That program included an exhibition
of antiquities dating back to the origins
of the College. Next to the figure of the founders
was, sometimes in the photograph, and other times in the most
accurate reproduction, furniture, material
teaching, diplomas and medals, spokespersons
journalistic, book
registration, honor rolls, instruments
musicals, etc. This exhibition, which
had a very notable success, it was inaugurated with a
beautiful speech by Antonio Oswaldo Marvez Sosa, very outstanding
Carabobeño intellectual.
Previously, a contest had been promoted for
the alumni anthem. They were the winners: the poet Roque
Muñoz and Master Joaquín Quintero N., who
He was the Director of the Band of the
State.
An event was held at the Municipal Theater
great solemnity, in which medals and medals were awarded and
buttons, to former Directors and Teachers of the campus.
It was up to Dr. Donato to deliver the Order Speech
Pinto, one of the most prestigious figures of the
Salesian Alumni Association.
In the corridors of the School, a
In the corridors of the School, a
banquet for several hundred students and alumni, and the façade
of the Institute, for several nights, showed off special color lighting, which
deeply impressed the Valencians and the
visitors.
The driving force behind the fiftieth anniversary celebrations was Don
Ramón Chazzím, who at that time presided
the Alumni Association. The great Valencian
displayed a feverish activity, the same as so many times
he has known how to develop when it comes to a commitment
honorary. He did not omit details, he knew how to be everywhere,
shake the Salesian pavilion with singular vigor, and make
of those festivities a reference point in the life of
Valencia.
Special chapter must correspond in this
story to the Alumni Association, installed on
January 17, 1924; during the government of the priest
Enrique de Ferrari. His life has been very eventful, full of
ups and downs and chiaroscuros that have prevented him from fulfilling his
mission.
It has been a real shame, since that life
irregular and intermittent, only the
dispersion, emptiness and mutual ignorance. His
operation was regular in its first decade
(1924-1944), and below we copy the list of
Its Presidents: Don Pablo José Acosta, Don Luis Rafael
Acevedo, Don Ramón Chazzím, Don Hermógenez
López Lugo, Dr. Fco. Ignacio Romero, Doctor Darío
Hoffman, Ramón Chazzim, Don Rafael Eduardo Romero.
Among his best achievements are the famous teams
that imported from Germany to
Physics and Chemistry laboratories, as well
such as the instruments that will be donated for a possible
reinstallation of the Manual Arts workshops
(1930s and 1944).
And here we finish our
chronicles about the Salesian House of Valencia. They
extend and cover, consequently, since the arrival of the
first Salesians to Valencia, until 1944, fifty years
after.
Through this story we have shownand fully demonstrated, the links and links
that Don Bosco's children contracted with Valencia.
It has corresponded to the Reverend Father Alterio the sad
privilege of leading the School to the closing of the boarding school.
Tricks and even cruelties of fate. The fact that
He always demonstrated impressive audacity and aggressiveness,
to mark an entire stage in the life of the School. The fact that
He planned and erected large buildings,
comfort, presentation and durability to the test.
The one who has bequeathed to Valencia a vast two-story modern sanctuary,
functional, fresh and illuminated; capable of hosting up to a thousand
students, and, simultaneously, more than a thousand
congregation. Now he will deplore the loss of his
inmates, for whom he cared so much, and to whom he gave
efforts, life and energy. !!! But we know well that
will continue forward in the combat position assigned to it
point out, ready to fight new battles, and ready to
win other proselytes to the cause to which he has taken up
whole.

                                                         Father Richard
                                                                  Alterio

In 1944 he climbed the high
position. It was the year in which the
Fiftieth anniversary of the arrival of the Salesian Fathers in Valencia.
It was up to him to preside over those celebrations, even
when he did not take active and effective participation in the
different programmed numbers. He was the ninth Director in
the succession order, of the Salesian House of Valencia.
Twenty-four years have passed since
so. On different occasions, and in compliance with the
statutory stipulations, had to be separated from the
Address. But they were separations for a short time,
more or less fleeting.
He continued, on the other hand, gravitating like
axis and center of the life and destinies of the School. Was a
obligatory point of reference. When a came up
difficult situation, everyone tried to remember. In a
occasion Father Alterio had confronted a
more or less similar situation. . . And the
had resolved in such a way. And that solution was
again applied. There was the impression that
jurisprudence would have been established in each case.
Ample reason assisted me to affirm in
the last of my chronicles about the Salesian House
of Valencia, that when Ricardo Alterio took
possession of the Directorate, in the year 1944,
A new era began in the history of the institute. No
only the material works,
We'll see how much money they reached. Nor the long one
succession of Promotions graduated while he
will exercise command of the house. What truly
Mark and
marks his time as the school Directorate, he is the
style that would be printed on the function itself
rector
Clear and precise sign of his robust personality.
He exhibited, at all times, the same tone,
identical procedure,
equal and unalterable behavior. Wasn't shown once
smiling, and saddened and sorry on the occasion
following. He pleased as many things as he could please.
He knew how to say no, even when that attitude
negative would hurt him deep inside
spirit!!!
One day he wanted to enroll as a student at the
law school, at the newly opened University of
Carabobo. I longed for a complete knowledge of codes and
laws. Very
I was in a hurry to have time available that between obligations
of the Management, and the teachings in the classrooms of
his School, they took over his morning as well as his afternoon. But I know
He proposed to make the effort and went ahead.
He promptly attended to hear his
teachers. He filled out notes like the boys who sat
at his side. He took exams, and was a regular customer of the
outstanding. And on the afternoon of November 13, 1964,
Auditorium of the University of Carabobo, from the hands of the Rector
Giugni, received the title of Lawyer of the
Republic.
He was the first Salesian priest to opt for a
university degree, in the history of
Salesian Province of Venezuela. He was also the
first regular priest, that is, the first member of
religious community, which among us climbed the greats of the
Auditorium in demand of a
diploma. We should go back to the last
years of the last century or the first of the current one
century, when the first stage of the University of Valencia.
Only then would we find very respectable figures
of the Clergy of Carabobo, all belonging to the secular clergy as
regular students at the Faculty of Sciences level
Ecclesiastical.
The vocation must nestle in every Salesian
didactics. Feel good among
children; observe and classify their tendencies and aptitudes.
Direct your reactions and feelings from an early age. AND
enrich their knowledge in the classroom. Ricardo Alterio
He received that training as one who receives a legacy,
from the own hands of Father Enrique De Ferrari. The example
luminous of that unforgettable teacher is a permanent guide
of his actions and constant point of reference in his diaries
examinations of conscience.
Graduate of the National Pedagogical Institute
directed his teaching activities in the sense of
specialization. Physics and mathematics. To the
dictate them, avoid at all costs stuffing and
succession of knowledge; repeated without leaving traces on
the brain and in the
student spirit. Basic knowledge,nouns, fundamentals; always making an impact on the
mood of the audience. All in accordance with the maxim
de Graf: "An excellent teacher is he who without
teaching many things, gives rise to in the disciple a
great desire to learn".
Because he is an excellent teacher, his disciples
They remember and come closer to perceive his accent again.
teacher. Of the anodyne and obscure professors
Only a very vague memory is preserved by his disciples.
His reputation as a good teacher has brought him into the teaching ranks of
the Faculty of Law of the University of Carabobo. Four
few years after receiving the title
academic, Father Alterio already holds the rank of professor
academic.
The period of more than two decades that he has
incarnate, at the head of the "Don Bosco" School in Valencia, has
haloed as a famous administrator. This is what their
great achievements. Search for him in his works, in the security of
find it grown and upright, like someone who conceives and realizes
projecting into the future. There was all the
school arm. Facing Briceño Street
Mendez. Four-story building. Classrooms, bedrooms,
dining rooms, kitchen, infirmary, and residence for staff.
All impressively solid, comfortable,
hygienic, comfortable. Made with durability of
centuries, to withstand the harsh test of the pounding of the
girl.
But its new sanctuary deserves a separate chapter.
Two-story church, capable of accommodating a thousand students on the floor
high, and more than a thousand parishioners on the ground floor. Temple
modern, vast, illuminated, and functional.
You may not agree very much with your
architectural line, and even longing for the
Gothic warheads of the old church. Who
You may doubt that the reason is more abundant
artistic in the semi-dark sanctuaries of the last century?
But isn't there talk of a new church? Of a new rite and
of a new order? For such approaches this is the best
response, this slender, semicircular, concise, bold and
solid at the same time that Father Alterio chose the Virgin
Helper.
There it is, in the northwest corner of the intersection
There it is, in the northwest corner of the intersection
of Páez and Anzoátegui streets. Endowed with all
the implements that Catholic worship requires and
points out. Work that is over a million and a half
of bolivars, fully paid for the date. In one of
the side chapels on the right, the ossuary; that keeps
very precious ashes. Those of Félix Andrés
Bergeretti, first. Those of Enrique De Ferrari,
of indelible memory. Those of María de la Paz Pérez
Santander, the distinguished benefactor, who conceived and financed the
Avenue of the first Salesians. Those of others
worthy benefactors, like Doña Ninfa
Pérez de Bermúdez Coussin. And those of Don Cayetano
Alterio, progenitor of the illustrious priest, and great friend of the work
Salesian. . . And in the front of the Sanctuary, the
Baptistery that announces and awaits the catechumens, who
Someday they will arrive.
But let's leave the new Sanctuary, and
Let's move to the southwestern edge of the city. In it
"El Boquete" neighborhood, hundreds of boys attend the classrooms
of the Festive Oratory "Monsignor Víctor Julio
Arocha". There we will find the chapel, and school cafeteria,
the cinema, the
amusements appropriate for children. He
germ of a future great school of manual arts. All
composed of a pleasant and comforting atmosphere. It is the work
sponsored by the "Don Bosco" School of Valencia. It is the tip of
spear of this Salesian house, in one of the proletarian neighborhoods
from the city. It is also the work of Father Alterio and
Let us remember later how the teacher of the most
exemplary disciplines, the lesson over,
while the girls scream and run in the main courtyard, open
the piano, and delights in the most varied scores. Is
the disciple of José María Grazzini and
Luis Troya. He is the successor of the famous Jacinto Piana, who
will found the first groups
school orchestras. And he is also the composer, for
who the Pentagram seems to keep no secrets.
But for whom it covers so many aspects, and exhibits
so many edges, a single hidden plane. He
genuinely priestly spirit, which governs his austerity,
He presides over his previous world, encourages and keeps his faith very alive.
For more than thirty years he has been wearing the cassock of the
priest. No one has seen him dressed in any other way. It is that it lives
embraced by his cassock, with all the strength and breath of his
intense priestly vocation!!
This is Father Alterio, whom Dr. Fabián
de Jesús Díaz baptized as "A man and
captain for companies
size". Faithful observant of the rule, he is a Salesian veneer
the old way It belongs, consequently, to the same lineage of
those apostles who, at the end of the last century,
They set up their store in the house on Anzoátegui Street,
half a block from the corner of "El Vapor". one of those
pioneers modeled his profile on the son of Don Bosco.
How can it be surprising that he, loyal and
consistent with his teachers, exhibit their same virtues, and
exercise the same behavior? . . . Valencia can be felt
proud of this authentic Valencian, who
wanted and that he lived and dreamed very worthy of his
past, but also very much in tune with its radiant future.
And so, very old and very modern for those who observe it.
From the outside, Ricardo Alterio lived his immutable present
as son of Don Bosco.
The anecdotes and stories of the School are
innumerable, they are rooms that hide a treasure and for short
time we have had to restrict our investigation to
what would be the first seventy-five years, leaving
for future research the past that one day was
present.