From the heart of a Salesian of Don Bosco
May 24, 2022
The Original Painting of Don Bosco's
Mary Help of Christians from
the Basilica at Turin
Sometimes I have thought (as I still do now), coming from a country like India, where we live our daily lives with a majority who are not Christians, that the title Mary Help of Christians, is a bit too sectarian or even fanatical. But we know that the term has a historical significance that cannot be denied or forgotten. It is not just a title, but the expression of faith of a people from a particular period of time, who experienced God's closeness through the special interventions of the Mother of God.
Mary Help of Christians as a title has been attributed to our Mother since the 2nd century, but it came to prominence in the 16th century and became popular in the 19th century! Considering the historical significance of the title, directly linked to the battle of Lepanto in the 16th century and the Pope's exile in the 19th century, we tend to think today that this title is revived as the fight against the Catholic Church deepens in the world.
Don Bosco's experience of an ever-present mother in Our Lady, especially when the anti-Catholic Waldensians were against him, led him to argue about the Mother Help of Christians. For a Salesian today, this experience is not simply handed down by Don Bosco as tradition, but lived and shared daily with the presence of this Mother, so close and caring. The invocation Mary Help of Christians, Pray for us... could go as far back as John Chrysostom in the 4th century, historically seen from the 16th century onwards; but in today's experience, it is identified with a spirituality lived and transmitted by Don Bosco to his sons and daughters.
Even if today many, like me, replace this invocation with a neutral invocation such as 'Mary Help of Christians', the original title evokes a specific experience of faith that implies an affectionate relationship that a Christian should have with this heavenly mother so graciously given to us by the Saviour.
The episode of Cana is an event par excellence that speaks to us of a mother so sensitive and concerned for us. She intercedes with her Son and instructs the people on how to relate to Him - do whatever the Lord says. This is exactly the role she plays today as well. Let us thank this mother of ours, and learn from her the art of living close to her Son!
May Mary Help of Christians help us Christians of today to live our faith to the full! Amen.
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