On May 1, 1865, Saint John Bosco recounted a dream in which he found himself inside a church filled with young people, yet very few were approaching Holy Communion.
Near the altar stood a dark figure with horns holding what Don Bosco called a “magic lantern.” Through it, the young people were shown whatever most attracted their attention: games, past victories and defeats, familiar places, books, food, friends and even sinful images. Absorbed by what they were seeing, many became distracted from prayer and the Sacraments.
Don Bosco himself explained the meaning plainly: the devil was using distractions to draw young people away from God and especially from Holy Communion. His remedy was to turn their eyes toward the Cross.
Today, some Catholics see an intriguing parallel between the “magic lantern” and modern smartphones: a small device capable of endlessly presenting each person with the images and entertainment most likely to capture his attention.
That comparison is a modern interpretation, Don Bosco did not predict smartphones explicitly, but the original 1865 account is real and is recorded in the Biographical Memoirs, volume VIII, pp. 115-116.
