ABOUT

Don Bosco Seminary & School Dankotuwa

Don Bosco Seminary & School at Dankotuwa is situated in the Puttalam District, North Western Province, Sri Lanka. It is located 12 kms (7.5 miles) away from Negombo. It is a junction town connecting Colombo-Negombo-Kuliyapitiya-Hettipola-Panduwasnuwara-Nikaweratiya main road and Negombo-Kurunegala main road.
Don Bosco Seminary & School is in the diocese of Chilaw. Don Bosco Seminary & School is a Roman Catholic Formation House of the Salesians of Don Bosco Sri Lanka, incorporated and registered as a non-profit Charity Organization with Government approvals. It is dedicated to the formation of the young seminarians to discover life calling while engaging in serious formal education. The seminary formation leads the young boys to have an initial experience of the educative-pedagogical system of St. John Bosco, commonly known as the “Preventive System of Don Bosco”. The seminary is open to the challenges of the youth world. It serves the neighbourhood, children, adolescents and young people to discern aptitude for the Salesian-Religious-Priestly Vocation. It also engages the young activists, lay collaborators, and volunteers for a greater commitment and mission. Don Bosco Seminary & School pays a special attention to adult vocations. The academic programme is geared towards a holistic learning and formal educative activity constantly accompanied by a local and international board of teachers and formation guides. Surrounded by a brotherhood of other religious orders and secular institutes, the formative programme is open and inter-religious by its very nature making Don Bosco a home for young seminarians.

VISION STATEMENT

Sanctitas Est Gaudium (Sanctity is Joy)

MISSION STATEMENT

We the Salesians of Don Bosco Seminary & School at Dankotuwa accompany the young boys and adults who manifest an aptitude for the Salesian Religious Life to have an initial experience of the life in common of the Salesians of Don Bosco Sri Lanka. We help the young seminarians to mature in self-knowledge, Christian doctrine, youth catechumenate, and Salesian Spirituality. We facilitate their human maturation, spiritual growth, intellectual development and pastoral activities imbibed in the sound principles of the Preventive System of Don Bosco. We propose to young seminarians apostolic activities in the pastoral field realized in the Sri Lankan cultural context.

SCOPE

  • Help the seminarians to pursue their formal education.
  • Help the seminarians to grow and mature as young men, through an all-round formation.
  • Help the seminarians to get a solid background in Christian Doctrine.
  • Help the seminarians to discern their vocation and decide freely.
  • Help the seminarians to verify the suitability for the Salesian Consecrated Identity.
  • Help the seminarians to foster devotion to the Holy Eucharist and the Blessed Virgin Mary.
  • Help the seminarians to acquire excellence in art, music, sports and culture.

Message From The Rector

Dear Friends of Don Bosco,

Welcome to the new look of Don Bosco Seminary & School, the Maha Gedara, the Parental-home of the Salesians of Don Bosco Sri Lanka since 1987! Don Bosco Seminary & School today proposes a modern, holistic and youth-centred educative and formative experience mandated by the General Chapter 28 (GC 28) of the Salesians of Don Bosco. We foster close relations with the students, teachers, parents and the past pupils. The GC 28 deliberated that this collaboration must take place together with the lay people and the Salesian Family in the mission and in the formation. The lay people and the Salesian family offer a charismatic strength to our pastoral mission. The same Chapter listed as guidelines to be more generous in the congregation now than ever before; it is the time for greater generosity in the congregation, a universal and missionary congregation. The Synod of 2018 also said that the young people are a “Theological Locus in which the Lord reveals to us some of his expectations and challenges for building the future” (FD, 64).

Today, formation has truly become a precious gift from the Lord that brings to maturity in us. We the Salesians of Don Bosco Sri Lanka offer to our young seminarians an inestimable gift of the Father’s call to the Christian and Consecrated Salesian Vocation. We are so proud even amidst these times of sicknesses and suffering, the Congregation is blessed with the admission of around 450 novices annually. Every call is an indication of how much the Lord loves the Church and our Congregation (C. 22). Every young person who enters our gate is a gift and a blessing for us.

As formation guides, we must excel in humility, lucidity, authenticity and a new impetus in the community understanding of our life, mission and pedagogy. Today, we are called to live the reflection and the mandate of the GC 28 as Formation Guides and Good Shepherds according to the heart of Christ. According to the Chapter, there is no more room for “mass-production” in formation. In short, formation is a real work of handicraft. Every craftsperson speaks about unique works of art, art that is handmade, one-to-one. The role of the woman/mother in formation and educative settings is a must today.

Let’s live the “Da mihi animas” of Don Bosco in our times. It’s the essential nuclei of the formative experience of all of us. Let’s never forget that the modern digitalized educative model and praxis have transformed all of us. With computer technology, education and formation are a continuous process and moreover it’s more of a student’s domain. Today, we can’t talk about education and formation without technology. Our classrooms, libraries, lecturing and services have become virtual. The new learning environments are continually on progress academically and culturally.

Time has come for Don Bosco Seminary & School to excel in high quality and top ranking academic and formative programmes catering into the education and formation of our young students. Let’s build a better future in education and formation. Let’s learn how to learn. Let’s form well-rounded persons and happy and successful lives. Let’s offer a very special place for every one and let all our amenities serve the needs of our students.

I wish you all the best in studies and work!
Rev. Fr. Susith Milroy SDB
Rector