Mary Help of Christians

Not to be confused with Our Lady of Perpetual Help.

Statue of Mary Help of Christians in Cambodia.

Mary Help of Christians (Latin: Sancta Maria Auxilium Christianorum), is a Roman Catholic Marian devotion with a feast day celebrated on May 24. John Chrysostom was the first person to use this title in 345 as a devotion to the Virgin Mary.

The devotion became popular in Europe during the pontificate of Pope Pius V and the fights against the Ottoman Empire. It was definitely established due to the great appreciation of Don Bosco for this Marian title and the development of the Salesian works in several countries since the second half of the 19th century. Although it is commonly associated with the Roman Catholic Church, the Orthodox Church has also known the devotion since 1030 in Ukraine, when the country was defended from a barbarian invasion.

The title of Mary Help of Christians is associated with the defense of Christian Europe (Latin and Greek), the north of Africa and the Middle East from non-Christian peoples during the Middle Age. In 1572, the Islamic Ottoman Empire intended to invade Christian Europe. Pope Pius V called Christian armies from all over Europe to defend the continent and asked the believers to pray to Mary in order to help the Christians. The defeat of the Muslim Turks was attributed to the intercession of Mary under this title.

History

The Marian feast was celebrated by the order of Servites since the 17th century. Pope Pius VII extended the feast of the Seven Dolours of Mary to the universal Church on September 18, 1814. The veneration to Mary became popular under this title in Rome especially, where the feast was especially promulgated by Saint John Bosco and Saint Vincenzo Palotti (Remigius Bäumer et al. Marienlexikon 1994, p. 533)

Patristic

There are two inscriptions of the first centuries of Christianity in Greek related to the Virgin Mary: : θεοτοκος (Teotokos, Theotokos, Mother of God) and Βοετεια (Boeteia, the Helper). The Fathers of the Church referred to Mary as "Βοετεια". John Chrysostom used the title in a homily of 345, Proclus in 476 and Sebas of Caesarea in 532. After the Patristic period (5th century), other persons used it like Romano Melone in 518, the Patriarch of Jerusalem, Sophronius in 560, John of Damascus in 749 and German of Constantinople in 733.

Pope Pius V

Basilica of Our Lady Help of Christians, Turin

Around 1576, Bernardino Cirillo, archpriest of Loreto, published at Macerata two litanies of the Blessed Virgin, which, he contended, were used at Loreto. One is in a form which is entirely different from our present text. Another form ("Aliae litaniae B.M.V.") is identical to the litany of Loreto approved by Pope Clement VIII in 1601 and now used throughout the entire Church. This second form contains the invocation Auxilium Christianorum. Possibly the warriors, who returning from the Battle of Lepanto (October 7, 1571) visited the sanctuary of Loreto, saluted the Holy Virgin there for the first time with this new title. It is more probable, however, that it is only a variation of the older invocation Advocata Christianorum, found in a litany of 1524.

Torsellini (1597) and the Roman Breviary (May 24, Appendix) say that Pope Pius V inserted the invocation in the litany of Loreto after the battle of Lepanto. But the form of the litany in which it is first found was unknown at Rome at the time of Pius V.^[1]

The feast of Our Lady, Help of Christians, was instituted by Pope Pius VII. By order of Napoleon I of France, Pius VII was arrested on June 5, 1808, and detained a prisoner for three years at Savona, and then at Fontainebleau. In January 1814, after the battle of Leipzig, he was brought back to Savona and set free on March 17, on the eve of the feast of Our Lady of Mercy, the Patroness of Savona. The journey to Rome was a veritable triumphal march. The pontiff, attributing the victory of the Church after so much agony and distress to the Blessed Virgin, visited many of her sanctuaries on the way and crowned her images (e.g., the "Madonna del Monte" at Cesena, "della Misericordia" at Treja, "della Colonne" and "della Tempestà" at Tolentino). The people crowded the streets to catch a glimpse of the venerable pontiff who had so bravely withstood the threats of Napoleon. He entered Rome on May 24, 1814, and was enthusiastically welcomed.^[2]

After the Congress of Vienna and the battle of Waterloo, the Pope returned to Rome on July 7, 1815. To gave thanks to God and Our Lady, on 15 September 1815 he declared 24 May, the anniversary of his first return, to be henceforth the feast of Our Lady, Help of Christians; the 1913 Catholic Encyclopaedia article commented that it has spread nearly over the entire Latin Church, but is not contained in the universal calendar.

Other places in the world

A series of articles on Roman Catholic Mariology
General articles Overview of Mariology • Veneration of the Blessed Virgin • History of Mariology
Expressions of devotion Art • Hymns • Music • Architecture
Specific articles Apparitions • Saints • Popes • Societies • Hearts of Jesus & Mary • Consecration to Mary

The dioceses of Tuscany adopted it on February 12, 1816. The hymns of the Office were composed by Brandimarte.^[3]

It became the patronal feast of Australasia, a double of the first class with an octave,^[4]; after the reforms of the Second Vatican Council, it was designated a Solemnity, to be kept on the first available Sunday on or after 24 May.

The Fathers of the Foreign Missions of Paris, in accordance with a vow (1891), celebrated this feast with great splendor in their churches.

It has attained special renown since Don Bosco, founder of the Salesian Congregation, dedicated his foundation to Our Lady, Help of Christians, the mother church of his congregation at Turin on June 9, 1868. The Salesian Fathers have carried the devotion to their numerous establishments.

References

Notes

1. ^ See LITANY OF LORETO; Schuetz, "Gesch. des Rosenkranzgebets", Paderborn, 1909, 243 sq.
2. ^ McCaffrey, "History of the Catholic Church in the Nineteenth Cent.", 1909, I, 52
3. ^ Chevalier, "Repert. Hymnolog.", II, 495
4. ^ Ordo Australasiae, 1888

Sources

•  This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Herbermann, Charles, ed (1913). "Feast of Our Lady, Help of Christians". Catholic Encyclopedia. Robert Appleton Company.