Mass cards

During Don Bosco's time, there were prevalent the custom of Mass cards: something boys or people would use to keep track of their participation in Mass, by getting the priest to endorse the card after the Mass. Don Bosco, somehow never introduced those in the oratory or among his boys. He certainly was far ahead of his times, in recognising that Mass is something you attend out of one's own personal desire to meet the Lord rather than fulfill an obligation. As a boy he was eager to participate in Mass, receive communion, even at the expense of foregoing breakfast. He encouraged the boys to Communion, not by routine clockwork but out of a personal experience of the Eucharistic Lord.