MARY HELP OF CHRISTIAN

(Ave Maria Auxilium Christianorum)

Prepared by: Danish Quezon Freddie Untalasco

Jimrey Capsuyan John Lenon Bucu

The Origin of the Devotion

The origin of the Devotion to Mary, Help of Christians began in the early years of the
Church and it reached its peak during the Naval Battle of Lepanto when the Christian fleet were
victorious against the Turkish Muslim fleet that threatened the entire Christendom. Pope Pius V,
in gratitude, instituted the Feast of the Most Holy Rosary on October 7, 1571 and added the
invocation “Help of Christians” in the Litany of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
In 1809, Rosary petitions once again went up for Mary’s help. Emperor Napoleon
Bonaparte had responded to his excommunication by abducting Pope Pius VI with the intention
of pressuring him to sign a treaty that would give the Emperor powers over the Church and state
in France and all conquered territories.
While Christians everywhere prayed to Mary for the trail, exiled pontiff at Fontainbleau,
Napoleon encountered the Winters of Moscow and met his defeat in Waterloo that he was forced
to sign his abdication from power. On May 24, 1814, Pope Pius VI returned home from his five
year exile in Rome. A year later in 1815, Pope Pius VII consecrated that day perpetually to Mary
and instituted the Feast of Our Lady under the title “Mary, Help of Christians”, to
commemorate the hoped for help of Mary, most holy toward the Pope and the Christian people.
The Apparitions to St. John Bosco
St. John Bosco, the founder of the Salesian order, became the instrument of worldwide
propagation of the devotion to Our Lady as Help of Christians. In 1863, Our lady appeared to
Don Bosco asking him to build a Church to honor Her as Mary Help of Christians with these
words: “This is my house, from here My Glory shall shine forth.”
Don Bosco, as he is popularly called, started working against all odds- with lack of funds
and the presence of strong anti-clerical act by civil officials during that time. With strong
devotion to Mary Help of Christians and Jesus Christ, he built the church under miraculous
circumstances with financial help coming from practically unknown devotees. In 1865, Don
Bosco asked the Artist Thomas Lorenzone to paint the picture of Mary Help of Christians. After
three years of work, the painting was finished and put in its place over the main altar of the
Basilica. In 1868, Don Bosco completed the Basilica of Mary Help of Christians in Turin, Italy
and it has become the center of devotions and Mother Church of over 150 Shrines dedicated to
Mary Help of Christians around the world including the Philippines.
The Devotion
The devotion to Mary Help of Christians continues to spread all over the Country, not
only through the help of the Salesian Order but also through the faithful who experienced graces
by invoking Our Lady in this unique advocation. For Don Bosco, the Immaculate Virgin, Mary
Help of Christians, was ever-present Mother who helps her children daily, going to their rescue
and leading them to Jesus. “Be devoted to Mary Help of Christians”, he would often say, “and
you will see what miracles are!” In Catholic tradition, the daily praying of the Rosary is not only
a Marian Devotion, but above all the contemplation of Jesus in the mysteries of His saving
Incarnation. And for Don Bosco, Mary is the powerful Helper who defends the Church and the
Pope from every kind of danger.
Mary, Help of Christians in the light of the Holy Scriptures
In Christ, revelation reaches its fulfilment and fullness. When the fullness of time arrived,
God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law. All expectant waiting for the
savour’s coming in the Old Testament was consecrated in our Lady’s faith. Our Mother is a
model of faith. “By faith, Mary accepted the Angel’s word and believed the message that she
was to become the Mother of God in the Obedience of her devotion (cf. Lk 1:38). Visiting
Elizabeth, she raised her hymn of praise to the Most High for the marvellous he worked in those
who trust him (cf. Lk 1:46-55). With the same faith, she followed the Lord in his preaching and
remained with him all the way to Golgotha (cf. Jn 19:25-27). By faith, Mary tasted the fruits of
Jesus’s resurrection, and treasuring every memory in her heart (cf. Lk 2:19, 51), she passed them
on the twelve assembled with her in the Upper Room to receive the Holy Spirit (cf. Acts 1:14;
2:1-4). Our Lady lived out her faith amid a fully human life, that of an ordinary woman. “God
did not spare her pain, exhaustion in her work or trails of her faith. “Blessed is the womb that
bore you and the breasts that nourished you. Jesus said in reply: “Rather, blessed are they who
hear the word of God and keep it (Lk 11:27-28). It was a compliment to his mother on her “fiat”.
She lived it sincerely, unstintingly, fulfilling its every consequence, but never amid fanfare,
rather in the hidden and silent sacrifice of each day. Our Lady “lived entirely from and in her
relationship with the Lord; she was disposed to listen, alert to recognizing the signs of God in the
journey of his people; she was integrated into a history of faith and hope in God’s promises with
which the fabric of her life was woven.
Our Lady is Teacher of faith. Every aspect of faith in Christian life finds its prototype
in Mary: being faithful to God and viewing circumstances of ordinary life in the light of faith,
even in moments of obscurity. Our Mother teaches us to be totally open to the divine will “even
though it is mysterious, and often does not correspond with their wishes, and is a sword that
pierces their soul, as the elderly Simeon would say prophetically to Mary when Jesus was
presented in the Temple (cf. Lk 2:35). Her complete trust in God’s faithfulness and his promises
never wavers, even when the Lord’s words were difficult or apparently impossible to accept.
Our lady is our Help. In the Annunciation, Mary’s response shows us her faith as a
commitment, a self-giving, a vocation. Like Mary Most Holy, Christians should live “with their
eyes on God. “Christ lays down one condition: we must live by faith; then we will be able to
move mountains. And so many things need moving in the world, but, first of all, in our own
hearts. So many obstacles placed in the way of grace! We have to have faith, therefore: faith and
works, faith and sacrifice, faith and humility. For faith makes us all-powerful: “If you will only
believe, every gift you ask for in your prayer will be granted (Mt 1:22)
We also know that Mary acted like a real mother who came to the rescue of the
newlyweds at Cana, and literally entrusted them to her son Jesus, when she said: “Do whatever
he tells you.” (Jn 2:1-11)
Spurred by a strong faith, let us tell Jesus: “Lord, I do believe, but help me to believe
more and better!” let us address this same plea to our Lady, Mother of God and Our Help, our
teacher of faith: Blessed are you for your believing’ the message that was brought to you from
the lord shall have fulfilment (Lk 1:45) “Mary Help of Christians, help us in our Faith.
Four guidelines for Devotion to the Blessed Virgin: Biblical, Liturgical, Ecumenical and
Anthropological
Today it is recognized as general need of Christian piety that every form of worship
should have biblical imprints. The progress made in biblical studies, the increasing dissemination
of the Sacred Scripture, and above all the example of Tradition and the interior action of the
Holy Spirit are tending to cause the modern Christian to use the Bible ever increasingly as the
basic prayer book, and to draw from it genuine inspiration and unsurpassable examples.
Devotion to the Blessed Virgin cannot be exempt from this general orientation of Christian
Piety;i indeed it should draw inspiration in a special way from this orientation in order to gain
new vigor and sure help. In its wonderful presentation of God’s plan for man’s salvation, the
Bible is replete with mystery of the Saviour, and from Genesis to the book of Revelation, also
contains clear references to her who was the Mother and associate of the Saviour. What is
needed is that texts of prayer and chants should draw their inspiration and their wording from the
Bible, and above all that devotion to the Virgin should be imbued with the great themes of the
Christian message. This will ensure that, as they venerate the Seat of Wisdom, the faithful in
their turn will be enlightened by the divine word, and be inspired to live their lives in accordance
with the precepts of Incarnate Wisdom.
In the Sacrosanctum Concilium, it wholeheartedly approving the practices of piety of the
Christian people, goes on to say: “…it is necessary however that such devotions with
consideration for the liturgical seasons should be so arranged as to be in harmony with the
Sacred Liturgy. They should somehow derive their inspiration from it, and because if its pre-
eminence they should orient the Christian people toward it.” ii What is needed on the part of the
leader of the local communities is effort, pastoral sensitivity and perseverance, while the faithful
on their pat must show a willingness to accept guidelines and ideas drawn from the true nature of
Christian Worship; this sometimes makes it necessary to change long-standing customs wherein
the real nature of this Christian worship has become somewhat obscured. The devotion should be
approved by the Magisterium.
The ecclesial character, devotion to the Blessed Virgin reflects the preoccupations of the
Church itself. Among these especially in our day is her anxiety for the re-establishment of
Christian unity. In this way devotion to the Mother of the Lord is in accord with the deep desires
and aims of the ecumenical movement. The ecumenical aspect of Marian devotion is shown in
the Catholic Church’s desire that, without in any way detracting from the unique character of this
devotion, every care should be taken to avoid any exaggeration which could mislead other
Christian brethren about the true doctrine of the Catholic Church.
Devotion to the Blessed Virgin must also pay close attention to certain findings of the
human sciences. This will help to eliminate one of the causes of the difficulties experienced in
the Devotion to the Mother of the Lord, namely, the discrepancy existing between some aspects
of this devotion and modern anthropological discoveries and the profound changes which have
occurred in the psycho-sociological field in which modern man lives and works. The devotion
should teach us that the Virgin Mary has always been proposed to the faithful by the Church as
an example to be imitated, not precisely in the type of life she led, and much less for the socio-
cultural background in which she lived. She is held up as an example to the faithful rather for the
way in which, in her own particular life, she fully and responsibly accepted the will of the Father.
She is worthy of imitation because she was the first and the most perfect of Christ disciples. All
of this has a permanent and universal exemplary value. Mary should be known as New Woman
and perfect Christian, found in her as virgin, wife, and a mother that is suitable life of a woman.
Devotion to Mary Help of Christians in the Archdiocese of Lingayen-Dagupan
The Canonical Coronation of Mary, Help of Christians. At Dagupan City,
Pangasinan, amidst flood and downpour in large part of Luzon, another Marian image in the
Philippines was canonically crowned. As the Archdiocese of Lingayen-Dagupan celebrated its
90th founding anniversary last August 22, 2018, the image of Mary, Help of Christians, was
crowned in the presence of a good number of archbishops and bishops, priests, religious, and the
people of Pangasinan and other nearby provinces. Representing Pope Francis, His Excellency,
Most Rev. Gabriele Giordano Caccia, DD, the Apostolic Nuncio to the Philippines, led the
celebration of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass and the Rite of Coronation of the Blessed Virgin
Mary. The precious crown used in the coronation was not from a prominent family, but from the
contributions from each faithful of the archdiocese as an act of gratitude to Mary. The image was
with the diocese since it was established. Accordingly, like a mother is always with her children,
Mary knew the faith that has been passed on to the people of God in the Diocese, now an
Archdiocese, of Lingayen-Dagupan. As a mother, Mary accompanied the growth of the
archdiocese and constantly guided her children, especially the seminarians in formation and the
priests of the local church for she is their patroness.
It was a real story of a mother who experienced flooding as they were living near a river.
When the water from the river would rise, she knew that their house will be completely flooded.
Seeing a big trunk of tree floating on the water, she told her children to “hold on tight to the
wood.” And they were rescued and were saved.
Relating the story to the daily life of the faithful, there were other kinds of “flood” in life:
floods of injustice, dishonesty, betrayal, falsehood, selfishness, and corruption. These “floods”
grow and we may not be able to swim away from them. In these moments, the image of the
mother would tell us to “hold on tight to the Wood—the wood of salvation, the wood of the
cross.” Mary taught us to hold tight to and stay by the cross. On the cross, there is the King not
seated on a throne in a palace, but is on the wood of the cross. Amidst the trials and tribulations
in life, Christ is there. What we need to do is to hold on tight to Christ for He is our Savior.
The traslacion. After the Canonical Coronation of Mary Help of Christians, the
Archdiocese decided to have the traslacion, it is the Journey of the Blessed Mother, from her
Shrine going to the Minor Seminary where she first reside. The Seminary system conduct an
overnight Vigil, then Mary, continue to her journey to the Cathedral, for a solemn mass then a
procession, the Journey continue going back to her Shrine. The life of Mary is a journey, from
her “fiat” into her assumption. We as a faithful we are all accompanied by our mother. She is
journeying with us.
Beso Manto. (A Spanish phrase for “kiss on the mantle”). It is a Chapel situated so at the
back of the chapel that she is near the tabernacle where her Son awaits for all of us. Mary always
holds Jesus on her left hand so that she can carry Him closest to her heart, let us always long to
be in the loving arms of Mary our Mother with Jesus by our side. Mary did not need to be
crowned in the first place. God already honoured and crowned her, we crown her to remind us
that humility is the crown of all virtues. The best way to show our love to the Virgin Mary is to
imitate her. True Marian devotion is Marian imitation of her virtues. Her crown is worth more
than silver or gold for hers is a crown of love. On the hills of Palapad, she watches over her
children. We are her children, we are assured of her help and we could go to her and whisper to
her all our wants, needs, and sufferings. Two thousand years ago the Beloved Disciple took Mary
into his home. Let us do likewise. Let us welcome Mary into our homes, our hearts that our cycle
of sin be disturbed and she may lead us back to her Son, back to our heavenly home.
i
Cf II Vatican Council, Dogmatic Constitution on Divine Revelation, Dei Verbum, 25: AAS 58 (1966), pp. 65-67.
ii
Or Cit., 13: AAS 56 (1964). P. 103