Mary Help of Christians (Latin: Sancta Maria Auxilium Christianorum; Spanish: Nuestra Señora María Auxiliadora), is a Roman Catholic Marian devotion with a feast day celebrated on May 24. Saint John Chrysostom was the first person to use this Marian title in year 345 as a devotion to the Virgin Mary, along with Saint Don Bosco who also propagated the same Marian devotion under this title.
It was established due to the great appreciation of Saint 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.
In May 24, 2009, during his Regina Caeli papal address, Pope Benedict XVI invoked this Marian patronage, under the venerated title of Our Mother of Sheshan, calling for Chinese Catholics calling them to renew their fidelity to the Pope as the sole successor of Saint Peter.
Read more about Mary Help Of Christians: Novena, Artistic Representations, References
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—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“I’ll stay by your side until you confess. And if you don’t, I’ll feed you to the villagers like the Romans fed Christians to the lions.”
—Willis Cooper. Rowland V. Lee. Krogh (Lionel Atwill)