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24th May... Mary Help of Christians...
These are terms that are so so sweet to the ears of any salesian! Don Bosco's Madonna, Our Lady Help of Christians, is celebrated today with so much joy and gratitude for the guidance and providence felt through her all through the year and all through the life of a salesian.
At times, I have felt (as I do even now), that the title Mary Help of Christians, is a bit too sectarian and fanatic sounding. However, the term has a historical significance that cannot be denied or done away with. It is not merely a title but a faith expression of a people of a particular period of time, who experienced God's closeness to them through a special intervention of the Blessed Mother of God.
The battle of Lepanto won in the 16th century was a victory of the Christians over the Muslim oppressors; and Don Bosco's experience of a ever present mother in the Blessed Mother, specially when the Waldensian anti-catholics were up against him, made him polemic about the Lady help of Christians. For a Salesian today this experience is not merely handed down from Don Bosco as a tradition, but experienced and shared on a daily basis with a presence of this Mother, so close and caring. The invocation Mary Help of Christians, Pray for us...could be traced back right up to John Chrysostom of the 4th century, historically seen from the 16th century; but is identified with a spirituality lived and passed on by Don Bosco to his sons and daughters.
Though today many, like me, substitute this invocation with a neutral 'Mary Our help', the original title evokes a specific faith experience that underlies an affectionate relationship a Christian should have towards this Heavenly mother so graciously gifted to us by the Saviour. Mary Help of Christians, Pray for us.