Of all of the mystics of the Catholic Church, Don Bosco is unique in that Heaven frequently gave him mystical experiences in his sleep. These incredible dreams were often for the benefit of the many boys he cared for in his Oratory.

Don Bosco was also gifted with an incredible memory. Not only could he retain the many, intricate details of his experiences, but he also recognized the boys in his dreams as real life boys from his Oratory. The dreams accurately showed the state of their souls - thus serving as an encouragement to the good to keep going, and a warning to the bad to change for the better.

Don Bosco frequently gave spiritual talks to his Oratory community. Sometimes this included relating his mystical dreams. While he went into great detail of what he saw and his understanding of the symbolism, he wouldn’t name names in public. But afterwards, he privately spoke to those who needed it.

The night of May 30, 1865, was one among many nights when Don Bosco related a recent dream he had had; one that particularly had to do with his boys at the Oratory.

In the dream, he saw the boys in procession toward a richly decorated altar of Our Lady. They were all singing hymns to Her, but while some sang beautifully, others sang rather poorly - and some didn’t sing at all, but instead acted very bored or kept disturbing others.

Everyone carried gifts, mostly flowers, to Our Lady’s altar. Next to the altar stood a handsome youth with wings. This angel would take each boy’s offering and place it on the altar - if it was a worthy gift for Mary.

The first boy had gorgeous bouquets, which the angel silently placed on the altar. The bouquets symbolized good works. However, as more boys came with their flowers, Don Bosco discovered that not all of the bouquets were in pristine condition. Some contained decayed or scentless flowers, representing actions that look good but are not done with a good intention. Others had thorns and nails among the flowers - symbolizing various acts of disobedience.

When boys with these defective bouquets came forward, the angel scolded them, and ordered them to remove the bad flowers and pluck out the sharp objects. Once this was done, he did accept their repaired offerings and placed them with the other beautiful gifts on Mary’s altar.

Sadly, there were a number of offerings which could not be accepted at all. They were strange things, like pigs’ heads and slimy toads. Each strange object stood for vices like impurity, theft, and scandal. The unfortunate boys with these bad objects were ordered by the angel to withdraw.

Other tragic lads came up with a knife stuck in their hearts! This represented sacrilege, and the angel urged them, "Don’t you realize that there is death in your soul? If it were not for God’s mercy, you would be lost forever. For heaven’s sake, have that knife removed from your heart."

Eventually, all the boys had taken their turn. The angel looked at everyone whose gifts had been accepted. He arranged all these youths in a line before the altar. The bad boys had to step aside.

At this point, two other angels appeared at each side of the altar. They carried ornate baskets filled with amazingly beautiful crowns of roses. The roses surpassed anything from this world, and symbolized immortality.

The boys were crowned according to various virtues they excelled in; purity, obedience, humility, or love of God.

The angel then spoke to them all, telling them that it was Our Lady’s wish for them to be crowned thus. He then urged them to see to it that their crowns would never be taken away from them. Humility, obedience and chastity would safeguard their crowns. With those three virtues, they would always find favor with Mary, and one day receive an infinitely more beautiful crown.

The crowned boys then sang hymns to Mary as they left the church. There was no more bad singing or boredom. Rather, they sang so full-heartedly that Don Bosco was amazed.

When he went back to look for the boys who had been turned away, they were gone.

As Don Bosco concluded his story, he urged all of his young listeners to always give gifts to Mary that She would not have to refuse. As usual, he had recognized all the boys, good and bad. He spoke to his boys privately, particularly warning the bad ones of the specific vices they struggled with, so that they could mend their ways. In the end, the whole experience was a touching reminder of how dearly and truly Our Blessed Heavenly Mother seeks and receives the gifts of love from Her children.