To call St. Dominic Savio a holy man is a bit of a stretch. He was only 14, or about the age of a freshman in high school, when he died from a lung problem in 1857. Fourteen and yet he was a saint of God, living a holy life among boys his own age. He started following St. John Bosco at the age of twelve. He was known as a peacemaker and he impressed St. John Bosco with his desire to become a priest. He even founded a group called the Company of the Immaculate Conception which was dedicated to prayer and work. He did not accomplish great feats, but he knew how to pray and love.
Can a junior high or high school student be a saint? Why not? We are all called to holiness at every age of our lives. Children and youths have a natural turn to idealism. They are looking for something and someone to which they can dedicate themselves. That something is love and that someone is Jesus! Adults need to foster the innate desires of holiness and restrain the concupiscence of pre-teens and teens. They need role models of goodness, holiness, kindness, self-discipline, firmness of purpose, loyalty, friendship, generosity, forgiveness, and love to help them to grow to become the saints that God has called them to be. We also need to let them be role models to adults, as St. Dominic Savio is.
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