Later, Don Bosco narrates that on the day the dogma of the Immaculate Conception was proclaimed, December 8, 1854, Dominic went before the altar of the Virgin and renewed the promises he made in his First Communion. While there, he uttered the following prayer over and over again:
“Mary, I give you my heart; May it always be yours. Jesus and Mary, may you always be my friends; but, out of mercy, let me die rather than have the misfortune of committing a single sin.”
Later, Don Bosco relates that, before dying, Dominic received the sacraments of Penance and Communion for the last time. He remembered his First Communion promises and told Jesus and Mary that they would now be the friends of his soul forever. “I repeat it and say it a thousand times: die, but do not sin,” he added bravely.