Mary Help of Christians
The devotion to Mary Help of Christians has a rich history that goes back many centuries. In 1571, Christendom was saved through the intercession of Mary Help of Christians at the battle of Lepanto. Mary, under the title of Help of Christians, was also credited with the defense of Christian Europe at the end of the 17th century and the beginning of the 19th century. In 1815, Pope Pius XII decreed the Feast of Mary Help of Christians to be kept on May 24th.
In the 19th century, the devotion became even more widespread thanks to Saint John Bosco and continues to be propagated in the world by the Salesian family which recognizes and invokes Mary Help of Christians as its principal patroness. From the very beginning, St. John Bosco placed his work as a priest and founder under the protection of Mary Help of Christians, to whom he turned for every need. His confidence in Our Lady’s help and protection was greatest when when things were difficult or confusing, and he would often turn to her, saying, “So, shall we begin to do something?" Don Bosco placed the Institutes he founded under her maternal protection: the Congregation of St. Francis de Sales, called “the Salesians of Don Bosco,” the “Daughters of Mary Help of Christians,” known as the Salesian Sisters, and finally, the “Salesian Cooperators,” for lay people and priests who want to live the charism of Don Bosco.
Our Lady Help of Christians is inseparable from the Salesian Family, which has given the Church a host of Saints, Blesseds, Venerables and Servants of God. In 1862, Don Bosco said to Fr. Cagliero, one of his early Salesians, “Our Lady wants us to honor her with the title of Mary Help of Christians. The times are so sad that we need the Holy Virgin to help us preserve and defend the Christian faith”.
Our community has has been specially protected by Mary Help of Christians from its very inception.“Mary Most Holy was the inspirer of our Institute and continues to be its Mother and Teacher. We are therefore a religious family that belongs entirely to Mary.”(FMA Constitutions #4) The precious memory that Don Bosco left us regarding great devotion to Our Lady Help of Christians is two-fold. In the first place, Don Bosco wanted our Institute to be a living monument of gratitude to Mary Help of Christians. The second is a singular experience which Don Bosco had on his last visit to Nizza, Monferrato, Italy on August 23, 1885. After the new Sisters had received their habits, and the young women had entered the novitiate, Don Bosco, moved to tears, spoke to the Superiors who had gathered there. Several times, Don Bosco repeated: “Our Lady is really here, here in your midst … strolling in this House and the covers with her mantle.”
On her part, St. Mary Mazzarello also inspired our first Sisters to love Our Lady. Two specific memories that we hold dear are Mother Mazzarello’s reference to herself as the Vicar (second in line) to Our Lady, and her habit of calling Mary Help of Christians the true superior of our community. The second is her simple but very meaningful act of placing the keys of the house at the feet of Our Lady every night, asking Mary’s continued protection on the house and each of the Sisters.