1-%E2%80%93-Lenti-Madonnas-for-Times-of-Trouble(2000)


1-%E2%80%93-Lenti-Madonnas-for-Times-of-Trouble(2000)

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Madonnas for Times of Trouble
Don Bosco's Devotion to Mary the Madonna,
and to Mary under the Titles
"Immaculate Conception" and "Help of Christians"
Arthur J. Leoti, SDB
Introduction
T he question of the circumstances in which Don Bosco became the cham-
pion of the Virgin Mary under the specific titles of Immaculate Concep-
tion and Help of Christians is no longer a matter of debate. These titles,
in so far as their revival in the second half of the nineteenth century is concerned,
are tied to specific and well-known political events. It is the purpose of this pa-
per, after initial general comments on Don Bosco's devotion to the Virgin Mary,
to describe the events that provided the new impetus for these forms of devotion
to Mary, and to note the impact that these forms had on Salesian life, work, and
spirituality.
Literature of Salesian origin on the subject is not lacking, and the present
article will make full use of it. 1 An attempt will also be made to submit material
that is not accessible to all our readers.
1 Pietro Stella, Don Bosco: Religious Outlook and Spirituality II, tr. by J .
Drury. (New Rochelle, NY: Salesiana Publishers, 1996), 138-169.
Francis Desramaut, Don Bosco en son temps (1815-1888) (Torino: SEI, 1996).
Among the many valuable papers published in the Acts of the Accademia Mari-
ana Salesiana the following have been particularly useful:
Pietro Brocardo, "L"Ausiliatrice di Spoleto' e Don Bosco," in l 'Immacolata
Ausiliatrice. Accademia Mariana Salesiana m. (Torino: SEI, 1955), 239-272. "Maria
Ausiliatrice: la Madonna di Don Bosco," in Accademia Mariana Salesiana XII (Roma:
LAS, 1980) 97-130.
Eugenio Valentini, "Hie Domus Mea, Storia del santuario di Maria Ausiliatrice
in Torino (1868-1968)," in Aiuto dei Cristiani, Madre della Chiesa. Accademia Mari-
ana Salesiana VII (Roma: LAS, 1968), 89-118.
In the present article, Don Bosco' s writings in honor of Mary are cited from
Don Bosco's collected works, Centro Studi Don Bosco, Giovanni Bosco, Opere Edite.
Ristampa anastatica, 37 volumes (Roma: LAS, 1977).

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Journal of Salesian Studies
An important distinction should be made at the outset between Don Bo-
sco' s devotion to Mary, in her basic role as the Madonna (Our Lady, the Mother
of Jesus and our Mother) and his devotion to Mary under particular titles 2
Mary in her basic role was a constant presence to Don Bosco throughout
his whole life, and his devotion to her as simply the Madonna was constant,
fervent and ever on the increase, no matter what title might gain ascendancy in a
particular historical context. Moreover, for Don Bosco in his later years devotion
to Mary under titles (including Help of Christians) became less important than
devotion to her as simply Our Lady (Mary our Mother). In this respect, he is no
different from the saints throughout the ages; or if he differs, it is only in the
intensity of his devotion or in aspects of his perception of the role of Mary.
On the other hand, Don Bosco's devotion to Mary under particular titles
should be correlated to particular social and historical contexts and to his percep-
tion of the significance of Mary in those contexts. Thus, for instance, when con-
sidering Don Bosco's decision to dedicate to the "Help of Christians" the great
church he built in the sixties, it seems appropriate to ask how Don Bosco came
to choose that title. This question implies that historical forces played a role in
such a choice. And this realization in turn raises the question of the development
of Don Bosco's Marian devotion and Marian doctrine through particular histori-
cal contexts.
I. Don Bosco's Marian Devotion and its Expression3
1. Theological Structure of Don Bosco's Marian Devotion
We would expect that Don Bosco would have gone along with what theologians
in his day taught about Mary. Perhaps he took it all in stride, but he himself did
not cultivate what has been termed the Mariology of privilege, though this was
the kind of Mariology still current in his day, and still current in our days at
least in some circles. It was the system of Marian doctrine which was gradually
formed in the 16th-17th centuries by the use (and abuse) of deduction and of the
2 In older Italian, as in all regional languages in Italy, Madonna meant "My
Lady." The etymological sense was then Jost in common parlance. In nine-
teenth-century as in modern Italian, as also in English, Madonna designates either
the person of Mary (the Madonna) or an image of Mary (a madonna). A good English
equivalent of La Madonna, as Don Bosco would have used the term to refer to Mary, is
simply "Our Lady."
3 Devotion may denote the interior commitment of faith and Jove, or it may
mean external acts (presumably) intended to express that commitment. Devotion is
distinguished from devotions as prayer is distinguished from prayers. Here devotion
is taken to mean internal commitment as well as liturgical and paraliturgical action as
expressing, in Mary's case, a cultus of veneration (essentially distinguished from a
cultus of adoration).

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Madonnas for Times of Trouble
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principle of theological congruence. By these methods, in the first place what-
ever virtue or prerogative is predicated of the saints, martyrs, and apostles, is
ascribed to Mary in the highest degree on the basis of the principle of excellence.
Secondly, every prerogative predicated of Christ, that is, every point of Chris-
tological doctrine (except perhaps pre-existence, incarnation, and hypostatic un-
ion) is "congruently" ascribed to Mary. Thus, if Christ is Redeemer, Mediator,
King, Priest, etc., so is Mary in a parallel, subordinate fashion.
It is the kind of Mariology that Vatican II and the documents that followed
it sought critically to correct. In Chapter VIII of the Constitution on the Church,
the Council described "the role of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of God, in
the mystery of Christ and the Church." With respect to the mystery of Christ,
avoiding any deductive theologizing, Vatican II simply restated the traditional
doctrine. The doctrine of the Immaculate Conception means that Mary was free
of sin from the moment of her conception in her mother's womb. Mary's virgin-
ity means Jesus was conceived in Mary's womb without human fatherhood.
Mary's divine motherhood means that she is Mother of God through the mystery
of Christ's hypostatic union, that is, through the mystery by which Jesus' hu-
man nature was joined to the divine Person of the Word from the first moment
of his conception. Mary's assumption means that at the end of her earthly life
she was taken body and soul up to God.4
With respect to the mystery of the Church, the Council spoke of Mary as
the new Eve, of Mary as pattern of Christian holiness, and of Mary as image of
the Church.
Don Bosco generally refrained from the speculations of the Mariology of
privilege. His Mariology was simple and pastoral in character; and at the risk of
seeming anachronistic, we might say that it ran along the lines adopted by Vati-
can II. It was derived from reflection on Scripture, the Fathers, the early Coun-
cils, and the tradition and the history of the Church through the ages. Its lines
are simple: God chose Mary, a woman, to cooperate in the Incarnation of the
Son. For this purpose God preserved her from all sin, blessed her in a special
way, and because she was perfectly redeemed God raised her to glory even in her
physical body. Mary, Mother of the Incarnate Word and hence Mother of God,
accepted her election with perfect obedience, in holiness of life, in humble serv-
ice, and in association with the redeeming passion of her Son. Given to us as
mother by Christ on the cross, she continues to be mother and helper of the
Church and every Christian in all circumstances. Hence, by reason of God's gifts
4 Mary's mediation was hotly discussed before and in preparation for Vatican II.
In the Council itself a compromise was reached. While affirming in clearest terms the
all-sufficiency of Christ's mediation, the Council allowed the title "Mediatrix" for
Mary, but carefully associated it with other explanatory titles from the ancient
Church: "Advocate," "Auxiliatrix," "Adjutrix" (i.e. Helper]. The title "Coredemptrix,"
on the other hand, was not allowed.

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Journal of Salesian Studies
and of her correspondence, she deserves special, grateful and worshipful rever-
ence.
2 Don Bosco's Marian Devotion
(1) Overview
Don Bosco's perception of Mary simply as the Madonna (Our Lady, or Mary our
Mother) even from his earliest childhood, was fundamental and prior to all titles.
The sources show how importantly Mary, as the Madonna, figured in Don Bo-
sco's personal life, not only as a constitutive element of spirituality, but also as
a guide and a force for his vocational decisions and his apostolate. The dreams
that punctuated Don Bosco's whole life have a Marian orientation in which our
Lady appears without titles. The Lady of the first vocation dream, is simply the
Madonna, Mary the Mother. In the Dream of 1844 and/or the Dream of the Holy
Martyrs, the recurring vocation dream, he saw simply our Lady without titles.
(Only later would the church seen in the dream, for historic reasons be dedicated
to Mary under the title of Help of Christians.)
Yet without a doubt, from earliest childhood on to past maturity, Don Bo-
sco' s devotion to Mary, like that of the common people around him, thrived
under various titles. These were at first the popular local, common titles. Many
examples can be cited. Our Lady of the Castle was her title at Castelnuovo, Our
Lady of Graces was the title of the Madonna whose image stood above one of the
altars of the "cathedral" at Chieri. Our Lady of Consolation, the Consolata, was
the favorite of the people of Turin. Don Bosco honored Our Lady of the Rosary,
a popular title since time immemorial, by dedicating a chapel in his brother Jo-
seph' s house at Becchi. He wrote a devotional pamphlet in honor of Our Lady of
Sorrows when he was chaplain in the institutions of the Marchioness Barolo.
The Companion of Youth, the book of devotion that Don Bosco wrote for
young people, encourages devotion to Mary under various titles.5 We may men-
tion Our Lady of the Rosary, Our Lady of Sorrows, the Sacred Heart of Mary,
the Seven Joys of Mary. But the short meditation on devotion to Our Lady in
the same prayer book is entitled simply, "Devotion to Mary Most Holy."6 St.
Alphonsus' Glories ofMary and other writings are a frequent source of both con-
cepts and literary expression for Don Bosco, as is the case with the maxim figu-
ratively applied to Our Lady, "Qui elucidant me vitam aeternam habebunt" (They
5 Il giovane provveduto per la pratica de' suoi doveri, degli esercizi di cristiana
pieta, per la recita dell'U.fficio dell Beata Vergine e de ' principali vespri dell'anno,
coll'aggiunta di una scelta di laudi sacre, ecc. Torino: Paravia e Co., MDCCCXLVII,
352 pp. (many editions within Don Bosco's life time and thereafter).
6 Giovane Provveduto (editions 1 to 5), 51-54.

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Madonnas for Times of Trouble
5
who honor me will have eternal life)."7 In Alphonsus' as in Don Bosco's writ-
ings generally, devotion to Mary is inculcated under no particular title.
In actual practice, Don Bosco's devotion to Mary was "traditional," like
that of the common people. The Comollo biography reveals what must have
been Don Bosco's own style of Marian piety.8 It was expressed in nosegays,
fasts, visits to churches, prayers, speaking of Mary, etc. But the deeper structure
of his Marian devotional practice is also revealed; it consisted in a life of virtue
in imitation of Mary and in living in her presence, under her protection. The
Memoirs of the Oratory show a Marian awareness throughout, especially in
moments of vocational decision or crisis. Furthermore throughout his life Don
Bosco's Mariology had a pastoral thrust. Don Bosco saw Mary as acting for a
person's salvation through help given in the practical situations of the Christian
life, in dangers, illness, temptation, and especially at the hour of death. Thus, in
the Companion of Youth Don Bosco assures the youngsters that devotion to
Mary ensures "blessings in this world and in the next," and is a "sign of predes-
tination."9 But while associating Mary with a person's salvation and even predes-
tination, Don Bosco refrains from any theological speculation.
(2) In Summary
A few simple comments will suffice. Mary was a living and guiding presence
throughout Don Bosco's whole life, and he firmly believed in her presence am
guidance. He developed a tender and personal relationship, and he expressed his
devotion by continuous prayer and dedication to his work and mission. He fa-
vored the cultic expression of devotion to Mary, through the celebration of the
traditional liturgical feasts in her honor, making them instruments for growth in
the Christian life for himself and his boys. Don Bosco welcomed and encouraged
traditional devotions, popular devotions too, provided they were theologically
sound and spiritually profitable. His Marian prayer was also rooted in the liturgy
and the tradition of the Church. The Hail Mary, the Angelus and the Regina
Caeli, the seasonal anthems (Salve Regina, Ave Regina Caelorum, Salve Re-
demptoris Mater), the Rosary, the Litany, and obviously, short prayers of all
kinds, formed the staples. Finally, he could not conceive of devotion to Mary,
no matter what its form, apart from an effort to imitate her virtues, especially
her faith, love and purity, and to live by the law of Christ. A better Christian
life had to be the goal of devotion to Mary. This ethical-pastoral aspect of
Marian devotion took absolute precedence.
7 Sir 24:31, Vulgata.
8 [Bosco] Ce1111i storici sulla vita del chierico Luigi Comollo morto nel Semi-
nario di Chieri ammirato da tutti per le sue singolari virtu, scritti da un suo collega
(Torino: Speirani e Ferrero), 1844, 84 pp. (further editions: 1854, 1867, 1884).
9 Giovane provveduto (1847), 51.

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Journal of Salesian Studies
(3) Devotion to Mary, Untitled and Titled
We stated above that Mary simply as the Madonna was foundational in Don Bo-
sco's Marian devotion. We also noted that, like the common people around him,
he also felt at ease with the various local Marian titles. It is also a fact that at
certain points in his life Don Bosco espoused devotion to Mary under special,
Church-oriented titles, chiefly Immaculate Conception and Help of Christians.
With regard to these developments, in his study on Dominic Savio Father Al-
berto Caviglia writes:
Under which titles did Don Bosco inculcate devotion to Mary, and which of
them was the object of Savio's devotion? All and none would be the answer. In
the dream at the age of nine it was not a Madonna under a specific title that ap-
peared to Don Bosco, but simply the Madonna, Mary, the Mother of Jesus. At
the time of which we are speaking [early 1850s], the saintly Master was devoted
to Our Lady under the title of Consolata, the Madonna of the people of Turin.
(The first statue of Mary in the Pinardi chapel was of the Consolata.) Then, as
the religious movement that led to the Church's definition of the Immaculate
Conception gained ground, Don Bosco's devotion moved in the same direction
and was for a Jong time centered on this title. With true Catholic spirit and deep
understanding of its implications he turned the article of faith [Immaculate Con-
ception] into a program of devotion and spirituality. For a long time the Im-
maculate Conception remained in certain respects Don Bosco's Madonna. This
was the devotion that Savio learnt from Don Bosco from the start [ ... ]. But the
saintly Master encouraged all Marian devotions. Thus the practice of the Rosary
implied a devotion to Mary under that title. (The little chapel at Becchi and
Mary's altar in the church of St. Francis de Sales, before which Savio was often
seen kneeling in prayer, were dedicated to our Lady of the Rosary.) Again, Don
Bosco, and after his example his boys, cultivated a devotion to our Lady of Sor-
rows. (Mary's little shrine in Savio's dormitory was of her under this title.) [... ]
After 1860, Mary Help of Christians became an ever-growing presence in Don
Bosco's life, and with the dedication of the great church in her honor the Help
of Christians became Don Bosco's own Madonna.1°
It will now be our task to explore these developments. It was in particular his-
torical circumstances in the 1850s and 1860s that Don Bosco espoused Marian
devotion under the titles of Immaculate Conception and Help of Christians. But
the understanding gained through those historic experiences allowed him subse-
quently to transpose their significance to Salesian life and work.
10 Alberto Caviglia, Don Bosco. Opere e scritti editi e inediti, Vol. IV, part II:
Savio Domenico e Don Bosco (Torino: SEI, 1942), 314-315.

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Madonnas for Times of Trouble
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II. Don Bosco's Devotion to Mary the Immaculate
Conception in Historical Context
1. Mary Immaculate and Don Bosco: Precedents
Mary as the Immaculate Conception became important in Don Bosco's life for
personal as well as for ecclesial reasons. Hence his devotion to Mary under this
title merits special attention not only for the importance it acquired in a specific
historical context in the fifties but also for the way in which it became associ-
ated with Don Bosco's work never to relinquish its privileged place.
The devotion to the Immaculate Conception and its symbols flourished in
France after the Protestant Reformation, and from France it spread to Piedmont
through the work of the Jesuits and flourished there even after their suppres-
sion.11 Mary was honored under this title at the Chieri seminary, where the
chapel was dedicated to the Immaculate Conception. Her image stood above the
altar, and her statue was honored in a side chapel. The church attached to the
Archbishop's palace in Turin where Don Bosco received all his sacred orders was
dedicated to the Immaculate Conception.
The work of the oratory, as Don Bosco emphasizes in his own Memoirs,
began in 1841 and was resettled in 1844 on the feast of the Immaculate Concep-
tion. Don Bosco wished to dedicate his second oratory, St. Aloysius founded in
1847, also on the feast of the Immaculate Conception.
In early December 1850, Don Bosco traveled to Milan to preach the Jubilee
proclaimed by Pius IX, in the wake of the liberal revolution of 1848, to obtain
God's help in those difficult times for the Church. Don Bosco then hastened
back to the Oratory for the traditional December 8 conference, in which it was
his custom since 1842 to recall the protection of Mary Immaculate on the work
of the oratory. 12
It appears, therefore, that before the Immaculate Conception became an ec-
clesial symbol and then a permanent Salesian educational symbol, this devotion
expressed for Don Bosco a very personal experience connected with his life ml
work.
11 The Society of Jesus, the enemies of Jansenism and Gallicanism in any form,
came under pressure from Catholic absolute rulers during the pontificates of Popes
Clement X111 (1693-1769, elected in 1758) and Clement XIV (1705-1774, elected in
1769). Clement XIII died before he was forced to make a decision. Clement XIV fi-
nally succumbed to pressure and signed the Bull of abolition (submitted by the Span-
ish ambassador) in June 1773. The Jesuits were restored by Pope Pius VII in 1814.
12 EBM IV, 126-127.

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Journal of Salesian Studies
2. Definition of the Dogma of the Immaculate Conception
(1) Devotion at the Oratory
In 1847 the Piedmontese bishops requested prayers for the definition of the
dogma of the Immaculate Conception in response to Pius IX's encyclical Ubi
primum. Since that time, prayers were regularly offered at the Oratory to that
end.
Shortly before the definition in 1854, while the cholera was still raging in
Turin and other parts of Italy, the Pope proclaimed a special Jubilee with the
encyclical Apostolicae nostrae charitatis to obtain the Inunaculate Virgin's pro-
tection against "all these evils." While tending the cholera victims, the Oratory
people intensified their prayers to Mary Immaculate.
By the Bull Ineffabilis Deus, toward the end of 1854 Pius IX defined the ·
dogma of the Immaculate Conception, while the cholera that had ravaged the
population subsided. Dominic Savio, enrolled some five weeks before as a stu-
dent at the Oratory, experienced veritable transports at the definition. Bishop
Cagliero testified:
I recall his irrepressible joy at the time of the definition of the dogma of the
Immaculate Conception in 1854, the year when he entered the Oratory. His
emotion and enthusiasm knew no bounds during the celebration of that solemn
feast. The Oratory and the whole city of Turin was lighted with lamps for the oc-
casion. Don Bosco had given us permission to go out [to watch the festivities],
and Dominic could no longer restrain his emotion on witnessing the popular
jubilation. 13
The Oratory boys lived through a period of incredible fervor. The church of the
Consolata was the center of celebrations in thanksgiving to Mary Immaculate
that lasted well into 1855. A special day was reserved at the church of the Con-
solata for the Oratory community. The feast of the Annunciation (March 25) was
marked by citywide celebrations in honor of the Immaculate Conception that hOO
the character of a religious revival. 14
13 Bishop Cagliero's testimony at Dominic Savio's Apostolic Process, Positio
super virtutibus (Rome, 1926), 135. Cf. G. Bosco, Vita[...] Savio (1859), 38-39.
Father John Francesia speaking of the fervor of the celebration adds some inter-
esting detail: "The outward popular celebration was to some extent upset by evil peo-
ple. The lamps which the good people lit to honor Mary were pelted with stones, so
that the devout were obliged to remove them and express their devotion to Mary Most
Holy in private. At the Oratory, however, under Don Bosco's leadership, we outdid
ourselves. The feast was preceded by a solemn novena." [John Francesia, La Vergine
lmmacolata, Don Bosco e i Salesiani (San Benigno: Scuola Tip. Salesiana, 1904),
17-18.]
14 Cf. EBM V, 138.

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Madonnas for Times of Trouble
9
It is fair to say that the Company of the Immaculate Conception fotmded
some time later (June 1856) owes its existence to this "outbreak" of devotion to
Mary Immaculate. According to Don Bosco's Life of Dominic Savio it was
founded at Dominic's initiative, though there is some conflicting testimony.1s
(2) Ecclesial Symbol ofthe Woman Crushing the Serpent's Head
The preacher on the occasion of the celebration held in the church of the Conso-
lata (mentioned above) was the Oblate Father Vincent Berchialla. He spoke on
the text, "I will place enmity between you and the woman," predicting that so-
cialism and liberalism and their secret societies would be vanquished just as
original sin was vanquished by her who crushed the serpent's head.
This kind of rhetoric expressed a hope, if not an expectation, among con-
servative devout Catholics. It also revealed the special political slant of the
dogma and of the devotion to the Immaculate Conception in that special histori-
cal context at mid-19th century. Pius !X's Bull, Ineffabilis Deus, speaks of Mary
Immaculate as the One who, totally pure, crushed the serpent's head, who de-
stroyed all heresies, who is the sure defense of the Church, who saves the Chris-
tian people from the most deadly evils and is their sure refuge and faithful help,
etc. In other words, Mary Immaculate is presented as the symbol of the victory
of good over evil.
For an understanding of the political charge of the title, and of the rhetoric
connected with it, one must bear in mind the special historical situation that it
addressed in the Italy of the 1850s, particularly in the Kingdom of Sardinia. The
liberal revolution of 1848, which had turned the Kingdom of Sardinia into a par-
liamentary monarchy, also set the stage for the establishment of the Mazzinian
Roman Republic forcing Pope Pius IX into a year-long exile (1848-1849). There
followed in the Kingdom of Sardinia (Piedmont) a spate of actions designed to
secularize society, wresting it from the power of the Church. In 1848 a lay
school system was created by the Boncompagni school reform. In 1850 the
Church's ancient privileges were abolished by the Siccardi Bill. In 1854-1855
the Cavour-Rattazzi Bill, providing for the disbanding of religious congregations
and for the confiscation of Church property, was debated and passed in parlia-
ment.16
is Seminarian Joseph Bongiovanni, the leader of the group, in his undated let-
ter to Don Bosco lists Dominic's name in the fourth place among the founding mem-
bers: "He was one of the founders of the Society of the Immaculate Conception, the
fourth [to join], and he accepted the proposal with great joy." [Letter included in the
process of beatification, Positio super virtutibus, 480.]
16 It was at the time of the debates and of the impending signing of the Bill that
Don Bosco addressed letters to King Victor Emmanuel II, threatening divine chas-
tisements in the fonn of deaths in the royal family.

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Journal of Salesian Studies
This was the serpent's head ("all these evils") that Mary Immaculate was
called upon to crush. The idea of Mary 's engaging the evil powers in combat and
leading the faithful to victory was not new. It was a traditional interpretation of
Gen 2:15. In the Treatise on the True Devotion by Grignion de Montfort
(1673-1716) Mary is presented as an eschatological figure that engages Anti-
christ (here a suggestion from Rev 12), and her true devotees as the Church's
vanguard in the final struggle against the powers of hell. But in the special his-
torical context of the 1850s the powers of evil to be engaged were secularism and
heresy. See below how this special understanding was widespread and found ex-
pression in devotional books, such as Don Bosco's Month of May of 1858.
Needless to say, it is this very understanding of the role of Mary that is ex-
pressed even more clearly with the title of Help of Christians in the sixties.
Hence the melding of "Immaculate Help of Christians."
3. Mary Immaculate, an Educational Symbol for Don Bosco's
Work
In Don Bosco's case, the Immaculate Conception provided also a different kind
of symbol. On the feast of the Immaculate Conception Don Bosco had begun his
work for poor and abandoned youth. This circumstance, interpreted in the light of
his first and subsequent dreams and of the "ascent" of the devotion to the Im-
maculate Conception in the forties and fifties, provided a devotional and theo-
logical framework from which.he looked at his apostolate. First, by catechizing
and educating youth, thus Christianizing society, he joined the Church's
on-going struggle against the powers of evil, although in a less political and
militaristic mode. Secondly, the Immaculate Conception provided him with a
most appropriate symbol for his educational program, which was also a spiritu-
ality patterned after the "Mother Most Pure." "The Immaculate Virgin, the
Mother most pure, hates everything that is contrary to holy purity."17 Thus the
symbol that had been offered in St. Aloysius was invested with theological im-
portance through the Immaculate Conception. The Savio, Magone and Besucco
biographies are evidence of this development. The feast of Immaculate Concep-
tion took on a key role at the Oratory, for this was the time when Our Lady
"swept out" the house, that is, made it possible for the educator to single out
unsuitable youngsters. 18 This also explains the importance of the Immaculate
Conception Sodality in the life of the Oratory.
17 Bosco, Month of May, 154. [Cf. note 19 below.]
18 Cf. e. g., EBM VI, 460 (Ruffino Chronicle).

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Madonnas for Times of Trouble
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III. Don Bosco's Month of May (1858)
Don Bosco's Month of May in Honor of Mary Immaculate (1858)19 is a mile-
stone, as well as a watershed, on the course of Don Bosco's developing aware-
ness of Mary's titles. It is Don Bosco's first important Marian work. True, in
1845, while still connected with the Barolo institutions, he had authored a devo-
tional exercise in honor of the Seven Sorrows of Our Lady, though no copy of
the work has come down to us. The Month of May, on the contrary, was pub-
lished in the Catholic Readings as a booklet of 192 pages, and went through
many editions. It was written to serve as an aid for the most important popular
devotional exercise in honor of Mary, intended also to do homage to the Im-
maculate Conception.
1. History and Contents of the Practice of the Month of May
Devotion20
The practice of the Month of May in honor of Mary took root in Italy at the
beginning of the eighteenth century. In 1726 the Jesuit Annibale Dionisi
authored a Month of Mary, [ ... ) with the practice of flowers of vinue proposed
to Her true devotees.21 In the month of flowers (in the northern hemisphere at
least), the practice of various virtues is inculcated with prayers, songs, and medi-
tations. Boarding schools and religious houses took up the practice which, en-
couraged by the Jesuits, soon spread throughout Italy. The same happened in
France when Father Pierre Dore translated the Month of May consecrated to the
glories ofMary by the Jesuit Father Francesco Lalomia.22 Like St. Alphonsus,
this author celebrated the "glories of Mary," a formula which had greater success
19 IL mese di maggio consacrato a Maria SS"" Immacolata ad uso del popolo, per
cura del sac. Bosco Giovanni (Letture Cattoliche 6: #2. Torino: G. B. Paravia e Co .,
April 1858), 192 pp. [The Month of May Dedicated to Mary Most Holy for the Peo-
ple's Use.]
20 For this and the following paragraphs on the Month of May I rely on Des-
ramaut, Don Bosco en son temps, 508-513.
21 // mese di Maria o sia ii Mese di maggio consacrato a Maria coll'esercizio di
vari fiori di virtu proposti ai veri divoti di Lei, dal Padre Annibale Dionisi della
Compagnia di Gesu, da praticarsi nelle Case de' Padri di famiglia, ne' Monasteri, nelle
Botteghe, etc. (Parma: Eredi di Paolo Monti, 1726). (The Month of Mary, that is, of
May, Dedicated to Mary, with the Practice of Nosegays of Virtue for Her True Devo-
tees [...]).
22 Francesco Lalomia, IL Mese di Maggio consacrato alle glorie de/la gran Madre
di Dio coll'esercizio di varifiori di virtu (Palermo, 1758). [The Month of May Dedi-
cated to the Glories of the Great Mother of God, with the Practice of Various Nosegays
of Virtue.]

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Journal of Salesian Studies
in France than in Italy. A little later, the Jesuit Alfonso Muzzarelli, took up and
adapted Dionisi's formula and authored a Month ofMay that became standard for
a long time, and that had many imitators.23 In this "moral-ascetical" formula, the
purpose of the Month of May exercises was not directly to celebrate the glories
of Mary, but to sanctify the Christian life through the practice of virtue and
through meditation on Christian truths. This approach was criticized by some for
the reason that the Month of May took on the character of a second Lent, and a
kind of controversy ensued between upholders of the two formulae. Then there
were those who adopted hybrid formulae which mixed moral-ascetical material
with reflection and examples of a Marian character. An author who preached the
Month of May in 1856, 1857 and 1858 confessed that he would have preferred to
speak solely of Mary, her graces, her glories, her protection. But experience hOO
taught him that the Muzzarelli formula was more likely to better the moral and
religious life of the Christian people.
2. The Christian Life Formula in Don Bosco's Month of May
Exercise
Faced with this dilemma Don Bosco did not hesitate to choose the Muzzarelli
formula, in spite of his great love for the "glories" of Mary. Don Bosco's Month
of May in Honor of Mary Immaculate is Jess about Mary than it is about the
Christian life. It is a little spiritual treatise that takes the reader on a journey
from God the Creator to the promised salvation in heaven. We see therefore that
for the May devotions Don Bosco preferred to invite the faithful to consider
Christian life and practice, rather than the "glories of Mary." Don Bosco con-
ceived all devotion, whether to Christ, Mary, or the Saints, as an application in
real Christian life of the saying of Jesus, "If you love me keep my command-
ments," with no sentimentality.
He did, however, devote the introductory exercise (set for April 30), the last
two days of May, and the concluding exercise (for June I) specifically to Mary.
For the rest of the Month he proposed to his readers for prayer and meditation the
same subjects treated in spiritual retreats and parish missions.
The format is simple. After the initial invocation, "God, come to my assis-
tance[... ]," there follows the short meditation (spiritual reading) on the subject
of the day. This is followed by the "Example," taken from the Bible, from the
lives of the saints, from famous people, from simple Christians (some within
Don Bosco's own experience, e.g., Dominic Savio, a prostitute on her deathbed).
A short invocation and the Memorare (the so-called Prayer of St. Bernard, a para-
phrase of the Sub Tuum Praesidium) conclude the exercise for the day.
23 Alfonso Muzzarelli, IL Mese di Maria, o sia di Maggio (Ferrara, 1785). [The
Month of Mary, that is, of May.] It went through 150 editions and was translated into
English, Arabic, Spanish, French, and Portuguese.

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3. Teaching of Don Bosco's Month of May
(1) A course in Christian Life
The teaching of The Month of May is vintage Bosco. It offers in summary Don
Bosco's own spiritual-devotional program and his convictions of how a Chris-
tian life should be lived. He takes advantage of the month of May to set this
program forth in language that common people and the young understood.
Don Bosco's basic proposal is about "salvation." Salvation in the sense of
complete victory over sin and death is what the Christian life is all about: "God,
soul, eternity." In the meditation for the second day, he addresses the Christian:
"O Christian, you have an immortal soul. If you save it, all is saved; if you lose
it, all is lost. Think about it. You have only one soul, and one single sin can
put it in jeopardy. How would we fare, were we to be called before God's judg-
ment seat this very instant?"
The program of The Month of May falls into two sections separated by a
consideration of death, judgment, and hell. Thus, at the center stand death and the
verities that follow it (Day 15-19); the first section (Day 1-14) explains how one
may prepare oneself for that supreme confrontation; the second section (Day
20-31) explains how one may return after having strayed, and so win heaven.
The Month of May traces a spiritual journey, the road to salvation. In its struc-
ture, sequence, contents and language the work discloses also the author's relig-
ious understandings. There's a kind of tragic quality in the presentation which
projects an image that is not exactly (as the biographical portraits would have us
believe) that of a man totally self-assured. [Cf. Appendix I, p. 46.)
(2) Mary in Don Bosco's Month of May
The work then overall is devoted to Christian life topics. When Mary is the sub-
ject, she is generally presented as Mother of God, Mother of Christ, our Mother,
Heavenly Patroness, etc., rather than under particular titles. In the introductory
exercise for April 30, in speaking of the reason why we should be devoted to
Mary, Don Bosco writes: "I shall begin by giving the three principal reasons:
Mary is the holiest being in all of God's creation; Mary is Mother of God; Mary
is our mother."24
In the course of the work, however, special titles are occasionally offered
for consideration, Mary Immaculate as expected being one of them. As the title
states, it is a Month of May "in honor of Mary Immaculate." After all, it was
written after the definition of the Dogma of the Immaculate Conception (1854)
and after the Lourdes appearances (1858). In speaking of Mary's holiness Don
24 Bosco, Month of May, 12 (Introductory Meditation, April 30).

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Journal of Salesian Studies
Bosco mentions her Immaculate Conception, (without, however, making any
reference to Lourdes). Don Bosco writes:
The Catholic Church expresses Mary's holiness by defining that she was al-
ways free of any sin. The Church invites us to invoke her with the following
precious prayer: "Queen conceived without original sin, pray for us."25
Later, speaking of the sin of impurity, Don Bosco urges the reader to pray to
Mary Immaculate and kiss her medal, so as to avoid this sin.26
In the meditation for May 24, Don Bosco speaks of Holy Communion, in
which we receive "Jesus Christ himself as he was born of the Immaculate Virgin
Mary."27 He makes no reference to Mary Help of Christians, in spite of it being
May 24.28
Help of Christians is another Marian title singled out for consideration.
The Meditation on the Christian's Dignity concludes with the words:
Mary most holy, the mother of our Savior, is the most beautiful ornament of the
Christian religion. So I tum to you, 0 most merciful Virgin Mary, in the cer-
tainty that I will obtain grace from God and the reward of heaven. My Christian
dignity will be restored to me if you will intercede for me, Auxilium Chris-
tianorum, ora pro nobis.29
The example attached to the same meditation speaks of the Litany of the Blessed
Virgin, and focuses on the title, Help of Christians.
In the Litany we come upon the title, Mary Help of Christians, Auxilium Chris-
tianorum. After a victory won by Christian forces against the Turks through
Mary's intercession in the year 1771 [sic],30 St. Pius V added this title to the
Litany. In 1815 Pius VII instituted the feast of Mary Help of Christians. This he
did to express his gratitude to Mary, the great Queen of Heaven, for his restora-
tion to his Roman See and for the restoration of peace to the Church, which he
attributed to Mary's intercession. This feast is kept on May 24. Let us therefore
invoke Mary's help.31
25 Bosco, Month of May, 13.
26 Bosco, Month of May, 148 (Meditation for May 25, The Sin of Impurity).
27 Bosco, Month of May, 140 (Meditation for May 24, On Holy Communion).
28The feast of Mary Help of Christians instituted in 1815 was not "celebrated."
29 Bosco, Month of May, 63-64 (Meditation for May 19, The Dignity of the
Christian).
30 Read 1571.
31 Bosco, Month of May, 64-65 (Example for May 19, The Dignity of the
Christian).

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The last two May meditations (Day 30 and 31) are devoted to Mary's protection
in life and in death. Don Bosco insistently pleads with his readers to put their
trust in Mary, Mother of God, Mother of Christ, and our Mother. In this context
we also find mention of, or at least allusions to some of Mary's titles. Don Bo-
sco refers the reader to the shrine of Our Lady of Consolation (Consolata, in
Turin) to see the signs of Mary's protection.32 The meditation ends with the
words, "It is you, 0 Great Virgin, who alone did crush all threatening heresies:
Cunctas haereses sofa interemisti in universo mundo. "33 This text in Marian
tradition and liturgy is often associated with the titles, Immaculate Conception
and Help of Christians. The same may be said of the other words expressing
Mary's power to defend us against the enemy: "Fearsome as an army in battle
array {Terribilis ut castrorum acies ordinata]. "34 And a little later Don Bosco re-
fers expressly to the title, Help of Christians:
Mary is ready to help her devotees at the hour of death [...]. This is what the
Church believes when calling Mary, Au.xilium Christianorum, Help of Chris-
tians. Her help has to be all the more necessary at the hour of our death.3s
We see, therefore, that The Month of May of 1858 speaks (though only inciden-
tally) of Mary Immaculate and Help of Christians, and that it uses the invoca-
tion, Auxilium Christianorum ora pro nobis and texts connected with these ti-
tles. It may be regarded as a bridge linking the two titles.
We have described the historical circumstances of Don Bosco's adoption of
the title, Immaculate Conception. Under what circumstances, we may now ask,
did Don Bosco become the champion and apostle of the title, Help of Christians?
How did this title come significantly into his awareness to power his Marian
doctrine and devotion.
IV. Don Bosco and the [Immaculate] Help of Christians
In a book on the Help of Christians, Father Giulio Barberis voices his convic-
tion that Don Bosco was devoted to Mary under that title from his very child-
hood. He writes:
In spite of our lack of positive proof, we have come to believe on the strength
of converging circumstantial evidence that from his childhood, and more espe-
cially from his seminary days, Don Bosco became devoted to Mary under the ti-
32 Bosco, Month of May, 169-170 (May 30, Mary's Protection in life).
33 Bosco, Month of May, 171.
34 Bosco, Month of May, 175 (May 31, Mary's Protection in Death).
3s Bosco, Month of May, 177.

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Journal of Salesian Studies
tie of Help of Christians. He entrusted himself entirely into her keeping in the
certainty that she would always be there to help.36
As mentioned above, about Don Bosco's devotion and trusting commitment of
self to Mary, Mother of God and our Mother, from his earliest childhood there is
no argument. But Don Bosco's writings lend no support to the assumption that
the title "Help of Christians" figured significantly in his devotion before the
1860s.
For example, neither in the History of the Church (1st ed. 1845) nor in
the History ofItaly (1st ed. 1855/6) is there any mention of Mary Help of Chris-
tians before the editions of 1867. The inscription on the frieze inside the great
church that Don Bosco saw in his dream in 1844 read not "Auxilium Chris-
tianorum" (Help of Christians), but simply "Hie domus mea, inde gloria mea"
(Here is my house, hence forth goes my glory).37 The title is not mentioned in
the early editions of the Companion of Youth (1st ed. 1847; 2nd ed. 1851 ; 3rd
ed. 1854; 4th ed. 1860). At the Oratory the prescribed short invocation, "Sedes
Sapientiae, om pro nobis" gave way to "Auxilium Christianorum, ora pro no-
bis," only in 1867. The statue placed on top of the house after lightning struck
in 1861 was one of Mary hnmaculate, as was the one later placed on the top of
the lantern of the church of Mary Help of Christians.
1. Forerunner Indications Prior to 1862
There are forerunner indications from before 1860, apart from the Month ofMay,
of the gradual "ascent" of the Help of Christians in Don Bosco's devotion.
Don Bosco knew that the people of Turin had a devotion to the Help of
Christians. He writes in fact that they were among the first to honor Mary under
this title, as shown by the chapel, altar and statue dedicated to Mary Help of
Christians in the church of St. Francis of Paola.38 This was the church to which
Don Bosco was assigned by Father Joseph Cafasso during his Convitto years.39
The statue honored there may have later served as the model for Don Bosco's
own conception of what Mary Help of Christians might "look like," though
there was also a traditional iconography to draw on.
In 1848 or 1849 (after the Piedmontese Constitution), according to a testi-
mony by Father John Giacomelli, a fellow seminarian, Don Bosco put up some
36 Giulio Barberis, fl culto di Maria Ausiliatrice (Torino: SEI, 1920), 56.
37 "My House," "My Glory" may refer to God rather than to Mary. In the Dream
of 1844, cf. notes 61 and 62 and related text below.
.
38 G. Bosco, Maraviglie della Madre di Dio invocata sotto il titolo di Maria
Ausiliatrice, raccolte daJ Sacerdote Giovanni Bosco. (Torino, 1868; Catholic Read-
ings, May 1868), 104. [Marvels of the Mother of God Invoked under the Title of
Mary Help of Christians.) See picture on p. 36.
39 Cf. MO-En, 202.

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17
holy pictures in his room with invocations to Mary Help of Christians. The
prayer on one of these in particular reads: "O Immaculate Virgin, you alone van-
quished all heresies; come now to our aid, as we have recourse to you: Auxilium
Christianorum, ora pro nobis. " Don Bosco OOcled in his own hand: "inde expec-
tamus consolationem" (from her we await our consolation).40 Here the titles,
"Immaculate," "Help of Christians" and "Conso/,ata" are combined.
The Month of May of 1858 is a turning point in this respect. As indicated
above, besides liturgical texts that refer to Mary's help (Terribilis ut castrorum
acies, Cunctas haereses sola interemisti), and the use throughout of the
Memorare (Sub Tuum Praesidium}, we find a reference to the victory over the
Moslem Turks and the introduction of the title into the Litany. But such historic
events receive extended treatment only in 1868.41 And yet Don Bosco was cer-
tainly familiar with those events, and in the aftermath of the liberal revolution
he probably had drawn a parallel between Pius VII and Pius IX. Likewise he
certainly saw the importance of Mary's role as helper of the Church and of the
Pope, even though before the 1860s this role was assigned simply to Mary, or
to Mary under the title of "Immaculate Conception."
In the almanac of the Catholic Readings for 1860 (the Galantuomo, the
Honest Citizen) under May 24 Don Bosco noted for the first time, "[the feast of]
the Blessed Virgin Help of Christians." This is expanded in the issue of 1861 to,
"The most holy Virgin under the well deserved title of Help of Christians, Aux-
ilium Christianorum. "
These precedents notwithstanding, it seems that the title and role of Mary
as "Help of Christians," was not definitely championed by Don Bosco before
1862 .
2. The Spoleto Events of 1862 in Historical Context
Setting 1862 as the year in which the title Help of Christians began to be sig-
nificant in Don Bosco's life and apostolate immediately draws our attention to a
specific religious event, and to a specific political context.
For the political context, a brief summary will suffice. The Second War of
Italian Independence (1859) was followed by the annexation of Lombardy, of
most of the Papal States, and of the duchies of Parma, Modena, and Tuscany. In
1860 Garibaldi invaded Sicily and Naples to unseat the Bourbon monarch, while
King Victor Emmanuel II invaded the Marches and Umbria in the Papal States.
Italy was thus "united," and the Kingdom ofitaly proclaimed in 1861, with Vic-
tor Emmanuel II as its first king. There was no stopping the unification move-
ment, and Rome itself would eventually have to be surrendered. In 1860 Pius IX
40 EBM III, 414.
41 Bosco, Marvels, passim. [Cf. Appendix V, p. 60.)

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Journal of Salesian Studies
had condemned the assailants of the Church's temporal power; and in 1864 he
condemned liberalism in Quanta Cura, with the Syllabus ofErrors.
The liberal revolutions of 1848 provided the context that made the title
Immaculate Conception the object of special devotion. It invested that title with
its peculiar political-religious slant. In parallel fashion, the relentless progress of
the revolution culminating in the takeover of the Papal States and the Unifica-
tion of Italy (1861) gave currency to the title "Help of Christians" and conferred
on it an even greater political charge. It was the apparition and miracle at
Spoleto in 1862 that precipitated this development.42
(1) The Spoleto Events
Spoleto is an ancient and historic city located at the geographical center of Um-
bria and of Italy itself. Pius IX had been Bishop of Spoleto (1827-1832). Be-
cause of its central location Spoleto was mentioned as the possible capital of a
united Italy. At the beginning of 1860, the calamitous year of the annexation,
Archbishop Giovanni Battista Arnaldi of Spoleto addressed a pastoral letter to the
faithful in the name of the bishops of the whole region. In it he voiced the hope
that "the Mother of Mercy," "the undefeated and invincible warrior," "the Virgin
responsible for all the victories of the Church," would once more come to the
rescue. He called on the faithful to pray to God for help "through the intercession
of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, Mother of God, Help of Christians, the power-
ful One who crushes the rebellious head of the ancient serpent under her feet."43
Then came the annexation and the turmoil connected with it.
Early in 1862 the Virgin in a painting on the wall of a ruined church at La
Fratta near Spoleto spoke to a five-year-old child, named Righetto (Enrico)
Cionchi. The archbishop told the story in his first report.
On a hillock located in a sequestered spot [outside of the city of Spoleto] an an-
cient image of the Virgin Mary has survived in a niche of a crumbling wall, all
that remains of an old church which had existed on the site. The fresco, which
for being exposed to the elements is still in good condition, depicts the Virgin
Mary holding the Christ child in her arms. The place has long been abandoned
and forgotten. But in recent weeks people have been praying at the ancient
shrine, because the Blessed Virgin has several times appeared and spoken to a
child named Enrico, not yet five years of age. However, only after March 19,
1862, and a miraculous cure, have people been flocking to the place in large
42 For the Spoleto connection and events, cf. Brocardo, "L'Ausiliatrice di
Spoleto." in Accademia Mariana Salesiana III, 239-272; and Stella, DB lI, 155-169,
footnotes.
43 Joint pastoral letter cited by Brocardo, "L'Ausiliatrice di Spoleto," 252.
Giovanni Battista Amaldi (1806-1867), ordained priest in 1828 and bishop in 1852,
served as archbishop of Spoleto from 1853 until his death.

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numbers. A 30-year-old peasant had recourse to that image and was instantly
cured of chronic illnesses that had plagued him for a long time.44
The report spread far and wide, many cures were reported, and pilgrimages began
almost immediately. People began to refer to this unnamed image of the Virgin
by a variety of names: Madonna Unsheltered (Madonna scoperta), Our Lady of
the Star (Madonna della Stella), or simply Madonna of Spoleto. Archbishop
Arnaldi officially bestowed the title, Auxilium Christianorum (Help of Chris-
tians) on this Madonna. He sent out periodic reports that were canied by the
Catholic press and gave currency to the Spoleto events. The first and most im-
portant report of May 17 (quoted above) appeared in the Catholic newspaper
L 'Armonia of Turin on May 27.
(2) The Spoleto Events and Don Bosco
The Catholic newspaper L 'A rmonia was read at Valdocco, and its reports from
Spoleto must have fired up the hearts and minds of the Oratory population. Bi-
ographer Lemoyne tells us that in a Good Night of May 24, 1862, Don Bosco
spoke of the Spoleto events. He told the story of the apparition and the miracle
with great joy, and ended with the "good news" that since the Spoleto image dil
not have a title the Archbishop wished that it be honored under that of "Help of
Christians." Doubts exist concerning Lemoyne's report on the May 24 Good
Night.45
On the contrary, the Spoleto connection seems certain in the case of Don
Bosco's allegory or apologue which goes by the name of "Dream of the Two
Columns." Don Bosco narrated it in the Good Night of May 30 (1862), and of it
we have contemporary reports by John Boggero, Caesar Chiala, and Dominic
44Archbishop Arnaldi's report, published in L 'Annonia of Turin, is cited by Don
Bosco in Maraviglie della Madre di Dio, 95.
45 Cf. EBM VII, 105. IBM VII, 164-167 follows up with a description of the
Spoleto events (omitted in EBM). Lemoyne quotes Bonetti's chronicle as his source.
But apart from the fact that the first report in L'Annonia bore the date of May 27,
neither the Bonetti chronicle nor Lemoyne's own Documenti say anything about
Spoleto. Don Bosco must have at some time spoken of those events, but Lemoyne's
May 24 Good Night should probably be discounted. Stella [DB II, 159, note 86] and
Desramaut [Don Bosco en son temps, 699-700, note 561) consider this Good Night
apocryphal, and add that May 24 was not yet significant for Don Bosco in 1862.
Later, after the consecration of the church of Mary Help of Christians in 1868, Don
Bosco published a detailed description of the Spoleto events in his book Marvels of
the Mother of God. There he transcribed Archbishop Arnaldi's first report, cited
above.

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Journal of Salesian Studies
Ruffino.46 Don Bosco spoke of two pillars rising in the midst of the sea, one
holding the sacred Host, the other the statue of Mary Immaculate beneath which
a placard bore the inscription "Help of Christians." He then described a flotilla of
enemy ships attacking the Pope's galley and trying to sink it. The Pope is
wounded and falls, but he rises and steers his ship in between the two columns
and anchors it safely there.
We also have another document, which because of the political situation
was published anonymously and which is usually overlooked. Th.is is the Marian
Calendar of the Catholic Readings for June and July 1862.47 In this calendar,
May 24 passes without notice. But April 26 carries an important note on the
feast of Mary Help of Christians and its meaning, relating it to the ancient
prayer, the Sub tuum praesidium. The passage reads in part:
Feast of Mary Help of Christians-As we are surrounded by enemies [and at-
tacked] without respite, [...] we are very much in need of extraordinary help
against their ambushes and dangerous attacks. [... ] But where shall this help
come from? From Mary, the Mother of God. The Church calls her the Help of
Christians. Let us, therefore, have recourse to her and beg this most merciful
mother to come to the help of Christ's bride, the holy Church in distress, and of
Christ's most august vicar, the Church's visible head.-To this end we will re-
cite five times the Sub tuum praesidium (We fly to your protection) for the needs
of holy mother Church.48
(3) The Spoleto Ideology of the Help of Christians
This is precisely the significance that Archbishop Amaldi attached to the Spoleto
events. In his reports, he expressed the idea that the Virgin would soon act to
deliver the Pope from his enemies, and voiced the hope that Pius IX would
crown the Help of Christians of Spoleto just as Pius VII had crowned the Virgin
of Savona on his return from exile.
46 John Boggero to Chevalier Frederick Oreglia di Santo Stefano ASC 275:
Boggero; Caesar Chiala to Chevalier Frederick Oreglia di Santo Stefano, in ASC 110:
Cronachette-Chiala, FDB 929 C10-131. Dominic Ruffino's Chronicle: 1862-1863
Memorie, 74-76 inASC 110: Cronachette-Ruffino, FDB 1216 Bll-Cl; Cf. EBM VII,
107-109; IBM VII, 169-172.
47 Diario mariano, ovvero eccitamenti alla divozione della Vergine Maria SS"'0
proposti in ciascun giomo dell'anno, per cura d'un suo divoto, in Letture Cattoliche
10, Nos. 4 & 5, June & July (Torino: tip. G.B. Paravia, 1862), 280 pp. [Marian Cal-
endar, or Encouragements to Devotion to the Most Holy Virgin Mary for Each Day of
the Year]. The introduction to this anonymous compilation was certainly written by
Don Bosco, who may also be the author of the whole work. [Desmaraut, Don Bosco
en son temps, 666-667 and 699, note 53.]
48 Diario mariano, 96.

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Images of the Help of Christians of Spoleto were circulated. One of these
carried the following prayer:
O Mary, powerful Help of Christians, we entrust ourselves to your patronage.
We promise that to our dying day we will remain steadfast in the true faith, as
obedient children of the Holy Roman Catholic Church and of the supreme Pon-
tiff, the Vicar of Christ on earth, even at the cost of total material loss.
A holy card published by the printer Marietti in Turin bore a prayer (composed
by Pius IX himself) which entreated God, through the intercession of Mary Help
of Christians, to grant steadfastness "in the midst of all these assaults."
A kind of euphoria and the belief that the "hour of Mary" had come took
hold among clergy and Catholic laity. Mary had appeared at the very center of
Italy to rescue it from anticlerical forces and revolutionaries. This is what the
Buona settimana of Turin wrote in November.
The Virgin Mary has manifested her presence through this very lovely miracu-
lous image in a place that is the center not only of the archdiocese of Spoleto,
not only of Umbria, but more significantly of Italy itself. This then must be the
manifest will of God and of the Blessed Virgin. In appearing in such a miracu-
lous manner at the very heart of the country in these calamitous times, Our Lady
has put everyone on notice that she has taken her place there in order to defend
it, protect it, and provide help in all its temporal and spiritual needs.49
Archbishop Arnaldi believed that Mary, the Help of Christians, at Spoleto was
giving a pledge of the coming triumph of the Church and of the Pope.50 Through
her intercession, Catholics will have the strength of dying, if needs be, for their
faith, for holy Mother Church and its supreme shepherd, the vicar of Christ on
earth. "This is our resolve and this we promise. This will be a reality with your
help, 0 Immaculate Virgin, most loving Mother Mary, most faithful and most
powerful help of all Christendom."51
The Archbishop of Spoleto then launched the idea of building a shrine dedi-
cated to Mary, Help of Christians on the site of the miracle, as a citadel from
which Mary would defend the Church. The shrine was built in 1864-1865. Arch-
bishop Arnaldi wrote at the time: "This is Mary's answer to the revolutionaries:
'From this shrine, from this place made holy by my presence, your attacks will
49 Buona settimana 7 (November 23-29, 1962), 383, in Stella, DB II, 157, note
77. Almost identical to Osservatore Romano, May 31, 1862, in Brocardo, "Maria
Ausiliatrice, la Madonna di Don Bosco," 105.
50 Amaldi's report of March 24, 1863, in L'Armonia, March 28, 1863.
51 L. Maini, Manifestazione [... ]di Maria Santissima nelle vicinanze di Spoleto
[. ..] (Turin: Marietti, 1862), 55-57, in Stella, DB II, 158-159, note 84.

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Journal of Salesian Studies
be stymied just as surging waves break up against the rocks: hinc infringes
tumentes fluctus tuos. "52
(4) Don Bosco's Response to Spoleto and its Ideology
f
Don Bosco's preface to his Marvels of the Mother of God written after the con-
secration of the church of Mary Help of Christians ( 1868), stated that there was
"a very special reason why the Church in recent times wished to invoke Mary as
Help of Christians." He explains the statement by quoting a passage from a cur-
rent booklet:
Invariably when the human race faced times of grave crisis it found help through
the recognition of some new prerogative in Mary Most Holy, the exalted human
being who in this world is the most magnificent reflection of the perfection of
its Creator.
By way of comment he continues:
The need of turning to Mary is universally felt in our days. It is not just an indi-
vidual need but a general need of society. It is not merely a matter of bringing
the lukewarm back to fervent faith and sinners back to God. [... ] In our day, it is
the Catholic Church itself that is under attack-in its ministry, in its sacred in-
stitutions, in its Head, in its doctrine and in its discipline. And it is attacked
precisely as Catholic Church, as center of truth, as teacher of all the faithful.
Hence, in order to deserve God's special protection, we have recourse to Mary
who is our Mother and the special Helper of Kings, of Catholic peoples and of
individual Catholics throughout the world.53
Don Bosco' s comment on the quote, which originally referred to the Immaculate
Conception but which he applied (with equally good reason) to Mary Help of
Christians, is of great interest. The motivation is historical rather than theologi-
cal. Mary is called the helper of kings, as well as of Christians. The historical
crisis required that Mary be invoked as Help of Christians. Furthermore, a sense
of urgency rings in those lines, an expectation that Mary's hour is about to
strike.
It seems fair to conclude that the Spoleto events in the year 1862 marked
the ascent of Mary under the title "Help of Christians" in Don Bosco's ecclesial
awareness. True, Don Bosco was familiar with the title, and was personally 00.
voted to Mary as Help of Christians, since this devotion had aheady gained a
foothold in Turin and elsewhere. However, without the Spoleto events, Don
52 Amaldi's Seventh Report, in Unita Cattolica, August 6, 1864; cited in Bro-
cardo, "Maria Ausiliatrice, la Madonna di Don Bosco," 105.
53 Bosco, Marvels, 5-6.

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Bosco might not have become the apostle of Mary Help of Christians. He might
have retained the title of Mary Immaculate for the Momese group that he met in
1864 and that became the "Daughters of Mary Help of Christians" (Salesian Sis-
ters) in 1872. He might not have dedicated his great new church to Mary under
the title of Help of Christians.
V. A Church Dedicated to Mary (Immaculate) Help of
Christians and its Significance
1. Decision to Build a Large Church under a Politically Sensi-
tive Title in the Capital of the Liberal State
Mary had acted at Spoleto, and plans to build a church there dedicated to the Help
of Christians were being discussed. But Don Bosco did not wait passively for
Mary to act in Turin. In December 1862 Don Bosco began to speak of his own
plan to build a great church dedicated to Mary Help of Christians.s4 In December
1862, probably during the course of an interminable session in the confessional
on the eve of the feast of the Immaculate Conception, Don Bosco decided to
build a new and larger church. A mere ten years had elapsed since the ereetion of
the church of St. Francis de Sales in 1852. The vast increase in the Oratory
population would justify the building of a second larger church before the civil
authorities. They would not be disposed to approve the building of the new
church when its politically sensitive title became known.
Don Bosco first confided his plan to Seminarian Paul Albera and to Father
John Cagliero. He is reported to have said to Cagliero: "The Madonna wishes us
to honor her under the title of Help of Christians. The times are so bad that we
sorely need her help for the preservation and defense of the Christian faith ." He
immediately set out to solicit help toward the project.ss
Since the title "Help of Christians" to which the Spoleto events gave cur-
rency was closely related to the current political situation, it had to be controver-
sial. Hence, when Don Bosco began to solicit funds for the new church he was
fairly reticent about the title. The insufficiency of the church of St. Francis ~
Sales was the reason he gave the authorities. The circular of February 1, 1863,
addressed to the Grand Master of the Order of SS. Maurice and Lazarus, merely
spoke of a large church designed to accommodate the increased number of board-
ers as well as to serve the local population. But the same circular addressed to
benefactors stated that it would be dedicated to Mary Immaculate under the title
s4 The Biographical Memoirs describe the planning and the building of the
church of Mary Help of Christians in detail. See EBM VII, 223-228, 276-280; VIII,
2f., 57-64, 422; IX, 108-114, 118-140.
ss EBM VII, 196-198. At this time the Oratory was the object of an official in-
vestigation, and had gone through several house searches.

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Journal of Salesian Studies
of Help of Christians. He also made the point that, though large, it would be
plain and unpretentious, a point about which he changed his mind when giving
instructions to the architect.s6
Father Barberis, in his chronicle, records Don Bosco's account of how the
building permit was obtained and the title, Help of Christians, "approved." Don
Bosco said:
When I submitted the plans of the church for the city's approval, the superin-
tendent rejected the plans because of the title, Help of Christians. "It's too
Jesuitical," he complained. "But, sir," I explained, "perhaps in your line of
work you have not had occasion of looking into the historic origin of this title.
It commemorates the victories won by a coalition of Italian, Spanish, and other
forces against the Turks. It also commemorates the liberation of Vienna, etc."
He wouldn't hear of it, and the plans were rejected because of the title. A little
later I again submitted the plans and requested approval, but in the petition I re-
frained from any reference to a title. I simply presented the church as a building
to be devoted to divine worship. The approval was given without further ado.
After all the papers had been signed and filed, I went to the building office to
thank the superintendent for giving his approval. He said to me: "I knew that
Don Bosco would not be so stubborn as to insist on a title that so smacked of
Jesuitical reaction." "Sir," I replied, "in view of your objections, I refrained
from specifying any title. But now that the approval has been given, I am at
liberty to choose any title I wish, am I not?" "But this is arrant deception," he
exclaimed. "Deception has nothing to do with it," I replied. "You objected to
the title and approved a church without a title. But as I must now give the church
a title I will choose any title I please. We should be satisfied that we have each
won our point." He smiled, but he was only putting a good face on a bad deal.s7
Ruse and wit notwithstanding, the permit could have been revoked. If the permit
was allowed to stand, the title also was in a way given "approval." In those
times of confrontation, and in view of the intransigent rhetoric stemming from
the Spoleto events, this may be seen as a conciliatory gesture on the part of the
authorities, not so much toward Don Bosco as toward the Church.ss
2. Site of the Church: the "Field of Dreams"
When asked where the church would be built Don Bosco would point to the field
to the south, across the Giardiniera Street, the street running obliquely and front-
s6 Circular in Motto, Epistolario I, 550-551.
51 Barberis, Autograph Chronicle, June 26, 1875, Notebook II, 23-24, FDB C
1-2.
58 Likewise, the fact that Prince Amadeus of Savoy (son of Victor Emmanuel II)
attended the laying of the cornerstone on April 27, 1865, may be regarded as an even
more conciliatory gesture.

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25
ing the Oratory property.59 On June 20, 1850, Don Bosco had bought that tract
of land from the archdiocesan seminary. But in a moment of grave need, on April
10, 1854, he had sold it to Father Antonio Rosmini. Father Rosmini intended
eventually to build a house there and establish his congregation, the Institute of
Charity, in Turin. He meant also to provide priests to help Don Bosco. But with
Rosmini's death in 1855, the plan was set aside. Eventually the land was put up
for sale. At the beginning of 1863 Don Bosco directed his financial administra-
tor, Father Angelo Savio, to inquire about buying the land. The Rosminians ha1
stipulated that it would not be sold back to Don Bosco. Father Savio then pro-
posed the alternate site on the property of the Filippi Brothers, east of the Ora-
tory enclosure. This sale, however, fell through. Don Bosco circumvented the
Rosminians by getting a third party to act for him, and so he got the field back
much to their discomfiture.60
This field came to be known later as the "field of dreams," because Don
Bosco identified it with the field he saw in the dream of 1844. In this dream our
Lady showed him the place of the holy martyrs' death, on which rose a large
church, later identified with the church of Mary Help of Christians. Thus it is
that the church of Mary Help of Christians claimed what might be called a
"supernatural prehistory."
In his Memoirs of the Oratory, Don Bosco relates the dream he had the
second Sunday of October, 1844, as he was about to leave the Convitto . He
dreamt that the Shepherdess led him through various phases of the wandering
(while wild animals were being transformed into lambs), until they arrived at a
field under cultivation. There he saw a great church rising before him and, inside
the church, the legend, Hie domus mea, inde gloria mea ("Here is my house,
from here goes forth my glory.") The words were probably meant to apply to
God, and were only later in retrospect applied to Mary.61
Father Giulio Barberis reports the same dream on the basis of the narration
heard from Don Bosco as the two were returning from visiting some benefactors.
In the Barberis version of the dream the Lady showed Don Bosco successive
churches; and in a field under cultivation she pointed out to him the place of the
59 This street was actually in the way, for the plans called for a larger building
than the field could accommodate. In January 1865, after an elaborate agreement ne-
gotiated by Don Bosco with the widow Mrs. Bellezza (feresa Caterina Novo) for new
access to her house, the Giardiniera street was closed and became Oratory property. He
also had Cottolengo street redesigned by the city in February 1866, so as to allow
more space in front of the church on the south side.
60 Thesourcefor Don Bosco's dealings with the Rosminians about the field is
Father Giulio Barberis, reporting Don Bosco's narration of the Dream of 1844. [For
text see Appendix II, p. 48. Cf. EBM VII, 223-228, noting that EBM mentions the
proposed alternate site on the Filippi property to the east only briefly, for which see
IBM VII, 371-374].
61 MO-En, 210, Dream of 1844.

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Journal of Salesian Studies
martyrdom of SS. [Solutor,] Adventor and Octavius, marking it with her foot.
At this spot he saw the church rising before him.62
However, the church that was eventually built on this holy ground was to
be dedicated (for the historic reasons noted above), not to the holy martyrs, but
to Mary Help of Christians. The church of the dream was identified as "that of
Mary Help of Christians" only in retrospect. But the church retained its sym-
bolic and numinous character nonetheless. This derived less from the fact that it
rose (supposedly) on a place of martyrdom, than from the fact that the Lady of
the dream, (now invoked as Help of Christians) had a "miraculous image" and
dispensed "graces" from her church. The church became a place of pilgrimage.
The Church of Mary Help of Christians was thus believed to have had supernatu-
ral origins and to have an abiding numinous character.
3. Designing .and Building the Church
Don Bosco had engaged a number of architects to submit plans, specifying only
that the church (contrary to his earlier advertisement) should be large and mag-
nificent. Architect Antonio Spezia's design was chosen: a Latin cross 48 by 35
m. (157.5 by 115 ft.), the central nave being 11.5 m. (37.5 ft.) wide. It featured
a beautiful composite (chiefly renaissance-style) facade, and a dome. These di-
mensions are fairly modest, though some people at the time thought them ex-
travagant. Don Bosco would have wanted a much larger church, but the ground
could not accommodate anythin'g larger. It would be a tight fit. It would abut on
Giardiniera Street on the north (soon to be eliminated). It would infringe on city
property, namely, the Via Cottolengo on the south (soon to be straightened by
concession from the City). On the west side, the wall of the left arm of the cross
62 Cf. EBM II, 232-234, Dream of the Holy Martyrs, to which Lemoyne gives a
new context differing from that of his source (Barberis), and from his own transcrip-
tion of it in Documenti.
Note on the Holy Martyrs. These are the legendary martyrs of the Thebean Le-
gion (of Turin), Solutor, Adventor and Octavius. Don Bosco's library, assembled
much later, contained several volumes on these holy martyrs. At the time of the
dream, however, his knowledge of the history (or legend) of these martyrs was vague.
In his History of the Church (1845), he speaks imprecisely about them. Later in the
Pontificate of St. Marcellinus and St. Marcellus (Catholic Readings 13: #2, Apr.
1864), he gives a better account. Still later, Canon Lawrence Gastaldi, at Don Bo-
sco's request, "researched" and published a larger "history" of the martyrs (Catholic
Readings 14, # 1, Jan. 1866). He believed it possible that these Christian soldiers of
the Thebean Legion suffered martyrdom in the vicinity or within the enclosure of the
Oratory of St. Francis de Sales (!). There is no historical evidence corroborating even
the existence of these martyrs, and certainly none pinpointing the place of martyr-
dom. Don Bosco, however, believed in the sacredness and numinous quality of the
place. And it is certain that, as he was trying to find a base for his youth apostolate i n
1844, he had dreamt of a church to be built on that spot as part of his miS$ion.

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27
would infringe on seminary property (the needed strip of which was later acquired
by Don Bosco, in August 1864). Finally the easternmost wall rose closer than
the Jaw allowed to the Coriasco house (acquired and demolished only in 1874).
\\.
0 Pl T 0
SUU.Al'f,& -pl•t• U)
MOO. "UA - (•U• to}
,..........
f\\f.TT , ~t"CO
01
VIA
r·-·---------
~-The Oratory ot"Valdocco: ·--- -- - · · ·-· ··· ·-
1 Developments 1861-1867
...l A - Enlagementand Completion of'Don Bosco's House' (1861)
i
[The(*) indicates third-storeyroom which was DB's
!i
office for some 27 years.]
B - Porch and Terrace Added to 'Don Bosco's House'
!C - Filippi House after Restoration (1861) (used as dormitory)
!iED
-
-
C lassrooms
New House
Building (i863-64)
along Giardiniera Street
(1862)
j . [Giarcliniera St was s uppressed in 1865.J
iF - New entrance and Porter's Lodge
G - Church of MHCh bein~ built on ' Field of Dreams' (1863-68)...._
The Oratory of Valdocco in the 1860s with the site on which the
Church of Mary Help of Christians was built (1863-1868)

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Journal of Salesian Studies
Architect Spezia's sketches showing frontal elevation
and floor plan of the Church of Mary Help of Christians

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29
Having obtained a building permit from the city, Don Bosco engaged con-
tractor Charles Buzzetti for the building.63 Architect Spezia supervised the work
throughout without compensation. Excavations began in the autumn of 1863
and were completed in March 1864. The excavations turned out to be insuffi-
cient, the ground being swampy and unstable. More earth had to be removed a00
pylons sunk around the perimeter. In April 1864, Don Bosco went down into the
excavated pit to lay the first stone and start the building. It was on this occasion
that he emptied the contents of his wallet (40 centimes) into Buzzetti's hands.
Once the foundations of the church were completed, on April 27, 1865, the
Turin diocese being still vacant, Bishop John Anthony Odone of Susa blessed
and placed the comer stone. The Bishop was attended by young Prince Amadaeus
of Savoy, Duke of Aosta (son of King Victor Emmanuel II), by the Prefect, by
the Mayor and by other city dignitaries of the liberal establishment. Again atten-
dance by such authorities, especially by the prince, may be seen as a conciliatory
gesture toward the Church.
The work now proceeded at a steady pace, and by the end of 1865 the whole
main building (but not the cupola) had been completed and roofed over. As the
building progressed, Don Bosco gave evidence of a confidence in Divine Provi-
dence that seemed foolhardiness. But he also intensified his efforts in soliciting
private and public charity. It should be noted that in his appeals Don Bosco only
cited reasons of public utility and devotion for building the church, muting the
matter of the title (Help of Christians), never once referring to the Society's
mission or to his personal vision.
Besides the cupola much other work remained to be done, but funds ran
out. Having already tapped all possible sources, Don Bosco began to beg for
materials instead of money. At this point he found himself in such financial
straits that he decided to replace the projected cupola with a simple domed vault.
Financial administrator Father Angelo Savio and Contractor Buzzetti, however,
without arguing merely stalled the work for a month, hoping that some last mi-
nute charity might enable the work to proceed according to plan. The break came
when Mr. Antonio Cotta, a local banker and benefactor, was cured of a serious
illness through Don Bosco's prayers. He provided immediate funds to resume
work, and promised further funds to bring the work, including the cupola, to
completion. But even Mr. Cotta's money proved insufficient to finance the
building as called for in the plans. This explains why a "simple" and not a
re-enforced ("double") cupola was built, with no proper lantern at the top. This
63 Charles Buzzetti was one of three Buzzettis who came to Turin from Lombardy
as youngsters in search of employment. They attended the oratory in its earliest
years. Charles and Joshua were successful in the building trade; Joseph became a
Salesian.

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Journal of Salesian Studies
in turn explains why the frescoes on the cupola ceiling inside suffered deteriora-
tion with time.64
The work on the "simple" cupola was completed in the summer of 1866.
On September 23, young Marquis Emmanuel Fassati climbed the scaffolding
with Don Bosco to set the last brick in place in the crown. The cupola rose 40
m. (ca. 131 ft.) above the floor.
In May 1867 the copper statue of Our Lady (Immaculate Conception in ap-
pearance), was placed on the pinnacle, a wooden structure topping the cupola in
place of the originally planned lantern. The statue was cast and gilded through
the munificence of benefactors. The newly appointed archbishop of Turin, Ales-
sandro Riccardi di Netro blessed it on November 17, 1867.
On May 21 , 1868 five bells were blessed and lifted in place on the bell
tower to the right or east as one faces the front of the church looking north.
(Three more were added in 1870.)
The statues of the Archangels Michael and Gabriel, of cast and gilded
bronze, were placed on the twin towers in 1869, replacing temporary simple
crosses. The angel on the left or west tower (Michael) holds a copper banner
with the word "Lepanto" drilled through it in large letters; the one on the right
or east tower (Gabriel) offers a laurel crown to Our Lady standing high up on the
dome.
64 A restoration was made necessary in 1890-91, under Don Bosco's first suc-
cessor, Father Michael Rua. At that time the painter Rollini was engaged to paint the
great fresco on the ceiling of the cupola, and Architect Louis Caselli submitted a de-
sign for a re-enforced cupola and the lantern. But again lack of funds prevented its
execution.

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Church of Mary Help of Christians, frontal view, with the stat-
ues of Mary Immaculate (on pinnacle), of Archangel Michael (on
left-west tower) and of Archangel Gabriel (on right-east tower).

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Journal of Salesian Studies
Church of Mary Help of Christians.
Statue of Mary Immaculate on the pinnacle

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33
Church of Mary Help of Christians.
Statues of Archangels Michael and Gabriel on twin towers
4. A "Prophetic Date" Intended for Gabriel's Banner?
Lemoyne claims that this east tower angel (Gabriel) was also intended to hold a
similar banner (instead of the wreath) with a "prophetic date" cut into it. He
writes:
In a previous design, which we saw, the second angel, too, held a banner on
which the number " 19.." followed by two dots, to be drilled through the metal.
It stood for another date, "nineteen hundred ..." without the final two digits that
would have indicated the specific year. Though ultimately, as we have said, a
laurel wreath was put into the angel's hand, we have never forgotten the myste-
rious date which, in our opinion, pointed to a new triumph of the Madonna.
May this come soon and bring all nations under Mary 's mantle. The Broggi
brothers of Milan ably cast the two statues.65
65 EBM IX, 276. EBM, inexplicably, omits, without explanation, the words ,
"which we saw," at the beginning of the paragraph.

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Journal of Salesian Studies
This design, which Lemoyne claims to have seen, has not come down to us and
was in any case never executed. This is all that can be said regarding the much
talked-about "mysterious date."
It should be borne in mind that the surge of devotion to Mary Help of
Christians in the 1860s was accompanied by the expectation that Mary would
intervene to defeat the enemies of the Church, and to overthrow the liberal, secu-
lar state. Prophecies (in almanacs and by "seers") circulated to that effect. (Such
expectation was noted in connection with the Spoleto events described above.)
5. Features of the Church upon Completion
By May 1868 the interior of the church was completed.66 Although the interior
was simply finished with stucco and paint, a few interesting artistic and decora-
tive features deserve to be noted.
The altarpiece, a great picture of Mary Help of Christians above the high
altar, completely dominated (as it does even at present) the whole of the interior.
It was the work of the painter Thomas Lorenzone after a detailed program sub-
mitted by Don Bosco. The image of the Virgin holding the Christ child appears
surrounded by apostles and saints high above the city of Turin and the Oratory.
It is claimed that, in devising the image of Mary for the great altarpiece,
Don Bosco took as a model the statue of Mary Help of Christians venerated in
the church of St. Francis of Paola in Turin, which was familiar to him. This is
possible; but Don Bosco was also acquainted with the iconographic tradition of
the Hodegetria (Help of Christians) from the Eastern Church. In this icon, virgin
and child are seen in frontal aspect (facing the beholder). The Virgin holds the
child usually with her left hand, and points to him with the right. The child
holds the scroll of Gospel teaching in his left, and symbolizes the Trinity with
his right hand. In this icon compositional elements such as posture and attitude,
the words MP BY (Meter Theou =Mother of God), IC XC (lesous Christos =
Jesus Christ), color of garments and other symbols, show us the Virgin Mother
of God (Theotokos) offering and pointing to Jesus Christ who is our salvation.
This icon is called Hodegetria, distinct from other icons such as Eleousa
(Merciful Virgin) or Glykophilousa (Sweet Loving Mother).67
The image of Mary Help of Christians, the Virgin and Child of Don Bo-
sco' s altarpiece, is essentially of the Hodegetria type, even though Byzantine
theological symbolism is no longer in evidence, and later devotional elements
are added
66 Details in EBM IX, 108-114.
67 Hodegetria is a Greek feminine noun (masc. hodegeter, hodegos) derived from
hodos (way). It means "leader, escort, help on the way."

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Church of Mary Help of Christians.
The great altarpiece

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Journal of Salesian Studies
Church of Mary Help of
Christians.
The image of Mary.
Deatil of the altarpiece
Church of St. Francis of
Paola.
Statue of Mary Help of
Christians. (17th Century)

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37
Hodegetria between Archangels Michael and Gabriel
(Cyprus, Church of the Mother of God)

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Journal of Salesian Studies
Apart from the high altar, richly fashioned and decorated, four other marble altars
stood in side chapels with marble railings and mosaic floors. They were dedicated
to St. Joseph, St. Peter, to the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary (later re-dedicated
to St. Francis de Sales) and to St. Anne (in spite of the fact that this chapel
stood over the spot pointed out as the place of martyrdom).
The sculpted door and doorway, and the pulpit were the creation of Archi-
tect Antonio Spezia.
The choir loft over the doorway, in two graded tiers capable of accommo-
dating a choir of some 300 singers and supported by sculpted columns, was the
work and gift of a local master woodworker.
The monumental organ in the choir loft was the creation of the prestigious
firm, Lingiardi of Pavia.
6. Consecration
The consecration of the church of Mary Help of Christians by Archbishop Ric-
cardi di Netro took place on June 9, 1868.68 The students from the Salesian
schools of Mirabello and Lanzo were brought in for the occasion. Several choirs
performed music by Father John Cagliero, and other composers. The altar boys
added splendor to the services under the guidance of Father Joseph Bongiovanni.
Don Bosco published an account of the festivities in Rimembranza di una solen-
nita in onore di Maria Ausiliatrice (Souvenir of a Solemn Celebration in Honor
of Mary Help of Christians).69
Pius IX, in a personal letter to Don Bosco wrote that it was by divine dis-
position that "while renewed, fierce warfare was being waged by evil people
against the Catholic Church, our heavenly Patroness was being honored anew
under the title of Mary Help of Christians. "70
7. Salesian Significance of the Church of Mary Help of
Christians
The Spoleto ideology that Don Bosco's church with its proud title seemed to
embody was quickly transcended. Don Bosco and the Salesians believed that the
church had a supernatural origin of its own, and so had the devotion and spiritu-
ality connected with it. After all, was it not built in a holy place at our Lady's
behest?
More importantly, the church of Mary Help of Christians had a special
significance for the Salesian Society as such. It should be noted that it came into
68 Details in EBM IX, 125-140.
69 utture Cattoliche 16: #11 & 12, Nov.-Dec. 1868. Opere Etiite XXI, 1-174.
70 Pius IX to Don Bosco, September 23, 1868, in IBM IX, 358 (omitted i n
EBM.)

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39
existence at mid-point in the great decade 1863-1874, with its consecration on
June 9, 1868. The importance and significance of this event in the early history
of the Salesian Society cannot be overstated. At the time the Society had not yet
won canonical status and internally still lacked cohesiveness both as to member-
ship and organization. Externally it was fighting for its very survival against
superior forces, political and ecclesiastical. The church of Mary Help of Chris-
tians stood as an act of faith and courage on Don Bosco's part. Really and sym-
bolically it stood as the center of a work and a movement that could no longer be
stopped. From this church Don Bosco's apostolate would radiate to all parts of
the world.
VI. Don Bosco the Apostle of Mary (Immaculate) Help
of Christians: Expressions of His Devotion
1. As Founder
Don Bosco became the apostle of Mary Help of Christians through the founding,
in response to need, of institutions specifically created with this title.
The Institute of the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians (Salesian Sis-
ters) is the prime example. It was founded in 1872 by Don Bosco in association
with Mary Dominica Mazzarello. The religious congregation developed from a
group of young women, the Daughters of Mary Immaculate, who already lived
as religious in the world and engaged in works of charity. Father Dominic
Pestarino, a priest active in the little town of Momese, had banded the group
together in 1854 under the leadership of the local school teacher, Angela Mac-
cagno, and under the direction of Father Joseph Frassinetti, pastor of the church
of St. Sabina in Genoa. Don Bosco frrst became acquainted with the Momese
group in 1864, two years after the Spoleto events, when the "deca:ie of Mary
Help of Christians" was well underway, and the church of Mary Help of Chris-
tians was already under construction. The founding was accomplished between
1869 and 1872, after the consecration of the church of Mary Help of Christians.
Other examples are the Work of Mary Help of Christians for Adult Voca-
tions (Sons of Mary), founded in 1875, and the Archconfratemity of the Devo-
tees of Mary Help of Christians, based at the church itself, established in 1869.
2. As a Man of Prayer
Devotion and its style are best attested in the language of prayer. In his efforts to
spread and explain his own devotion to Mary (Immaculate) Help of Christians in
its ecclesial and personal aspects, Don Bosco used a variety of prayer forms,
some of them of his own devising, all very dear to him. The following may be
mentioned,

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Journal of Salesian Studies
(1) Sub Tuum Praesidium (and Memorare)
The Sub Tuum Praesidium, a prayer from Christian antiquity, was truly
"adopted" by Don Bosco. He made frequent use of this prayer and urged others to
do the same. He included it as a basic prayer in devotional works on Mary.71 For
Don Bosco, Mary Help of Christians is the Theotokos (Mother of God) of the
Sub Tuum Praesidium, to whom we can flee for refuge in time of need.
(2) Mary Help of Christians, Pray for Us
The short invocation, "Mary Help of Christians, pray for us," became common
practice at the Oratory in 1867, when it replaced" Seat of Wisdom, pray for us ."
It has ever since maintained its privileged position as the short invocation that
punctuates the daily actions of individual Salesians and of Salesian communities.
For this short prayer, taken from the Litany of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Don
Bosco obtained indulgences in connection with the approval of the Salesian So-
ciety in 1869.72
(3) Blessing ofMary Help ofChristians.13
The blessing was composed by Don Bosco and was approved with indulgences in
1878. By this time the church of Mary Help of Christians had achieved the
status of a place of pilgrimage. Our Lady dispensed "graces" to the person who
invoked her and received the blessing. Don Bosco published the Latin text of the
Blessing of Mary Help of Christians in the Catholic newspaper L'Unita Cat-
tolica, December 31, 1878, with the following words of introduction.
The devotion to Mary Help of Christians is ever on the increase throughout the
Catholic world. It was fitting therefore that this great Helper of humankind
should be honored with a special rite. She is daily invoked as Help of Christians
in the Litany of Loreto by the faithful. On the 24th of May the Church cele-
brates a special feast in her honor. Altars, churches, religious associations in
all parts of the world honor her as Help of Christians.
71 The Sub Tuwn Praesidiwn in the form of the Memorare, is part of each daily
exercise of the Month of May of 1858. The Marian Calendar of 1862 for the feast of
Mary Help of Christians (entry of April 26) recommends saying the Sub Tuwn Prae-
sidium five times [See Notes 47 and 48 and related text above]. The rite of Blessing
of Mary Help of Christians begins with the Sub Tuum Praesidium [see Appendix IV, p.
58), etc.
72 EBM IX, 266.
73 OE XXXVIII, 240-242. EBM XIII, 380-381 gives no text. For the Latin text
cf. IBM XIII, 956-957 (Appendix 36, omitted in EBM).

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In the church built in her honor in Turin increasingly larger numbers of
people have recourse to her daily and find help and comfort in time of trouble
and pain.
A blessing rite has been in use for some time in this church. But Father
[John] Bosco has now sought the approval of the Holy See, so that everything
might be done in accordance with liturgical tradition. The Sacred Congregation
of Rites has carefully examined the text of the blessing in the name of His Ho-
liness Leo XIII and has given its approval. [For the text of the Blessing, see
Appendix IV, p. 58.]
(4) 0 Mary, Mighty Virgin
In 1885 Don Bosco composed a beautiful prayer in Latin, a compilation from
liturgical texts.74 It is the prayer of the aging saint, replete with unshakable faith
and hope.
Latin Text in IBM XVII,
309-310
Translation
0 Maria, virgo potens, tu magnum
et praeclarum in Ecclesia praesid-
ium; tu singulare Auxilium Chris-
tianorum; tu terribilis ut castrorum
acies ordinata; tu cunctas haereses
sola interemisti in universo mundo;
tu in angustiis, tu in hello, tu in
necessitatibus nos ab hoste protege,
atque in aeterna gaudia in mortis
hora suscipe.
0 Mary, mighty Virgin, you are the
strong and glorious defense established
in the Church; you are the marvelous
Help of Christians; you are as awe--
some as an army in battle array; you
are the one who alone has vanquished
all heresies throughout the world. In
oo difficulties, in struggles, in straits
you defend us from the enemy, and at
the hour of our death do you receive us
into everlasting joy.
74 Don Bosco sent this prayer to Bishop Cagliero in Argentina, suggesting that
he might set it to music. The bishop never got around to doing that himself, but in
1918, on the 50th anniversary of the consecration of the church of Mary Help of
Christians, Cardinal Cagliero had the great Salesian composer, Father John Pagella,
set the text to music.

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Journal of Salesian Studies
3. As Author of Devotional Pamphlets
Don Bosco authored a number of booklets by which he sought to spread devo-
tion to Mary, especially under the title of Mary (Immaculate) Help of Christians.
The list that follows gives the titles of his Marian writings. In some cases also
the contents are given in appendices.
(I) The Month of May Dedicated to Mary Most Holy for the People's
Use (1858) 75
This im.portant work was discussed above.76 As may be seen from the titles (Cf.
Appendix I, p. 46), the program of The Month of May falls into two sections
separated by a consideration of death, judgment, and hell. Thus, at the center
stand death and the verities that follow it (Day 15-19); the first section (Day 1-
14) explains how one may prepare oneself for that supreme confrontation; the
second section (Day 20-31) explains how one may return after having strayed,
and so win heaven.
(2) Marvels ofthe Mother ofGod Invoked under the Title ofMary Help of
Christians (1868).17
The work, true to its title, takes the reader on a historical journey through which
the marvelous deeds performed by Mary Help of Christians on the Church's be-
half are recounted. The booklet, composed on the occasion of the consecration of
the church of Mary Help of Christians, ranks as one of Don Bosco's most im-
portant Marian writings. Its 19 chapters recall the traditional images and doctrine
of Mary in the Bible and Mary's glorious feats throughout the Church's history ,
down to the building of the church of Mary Help of Christians. [Cf. Appendix
V, p. 60.)
(3) Souvenir of a Solemnity in Honor of Mary Help of Christians
(1868)18
75 fl mese di maggio consacrato a Maria SS"'0 lnmmacolata ad uso del popolo,
per cura del sac. Bosco Giovanni. Letture Cattoliche 6: #2 (Torino: G. B. Paravia e
Co., April 1858) 192 pp., in OEX, 295-486. Re-edited: 1864, 1869, 1873, 1874,
1879 and 1885.
76 Cf. note 19 above and paragraphs that follow in the text.
77 Maraviglie delta Madre di Dio invocata sotto il titolo di Maria Ausiliatrice,
raccolte dal Sacerdote Giovanni Bosco. (Torino, 1868) 184 pp. [text, 5-138; hymns
and appendices, 140-184], in OE XX, 192-376.]
78 Rimembranw di una solennita onore di Maria Ausiliatrice, pel Sacerdote Bo-
sco Giovanni. (Torino, 1868), in OE XXI, 1-174.

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Written immediately after the ceremonies and festivities attending the dedication
of the church of Mary Help of Christians, the booklet gives a detailed account of
the events on that memorable occasion.
(4) Association ofthe Devotees of Mary Help of Christians Canonically
Established in the Church Dedicated to Her in Turin, with a Historical Notice
on This Title (1869)79
The pamphlet describes the nature of the Association and gives an account of the
origin and meaning of the title, Help of Christians.
(5) Nine Days Dedicated to the Glorious Mother of Our Savior, under the
Title ofMary Help of Christians (1870)8°
The format of each exercise of this novena is similar to the one found in the
Month ofMay. The prayer, "God, come to my assistance [ ... ]," and the short
invocation, "Mary Help of Christians, pray for us," make up the introduction.
The centerpiece is the meditation (a substantial spiritual reading). The exercise
concludes with a Resolution and an Example. Again, as in the Month of May,
Don Bosco proposes Christian life topics for consideration, rather than "glories
of Mary." [Cf. Appendix VI, p. 61.)
(6) The Blessed Virgin's Appearance on the Mountain of La Salette with
an Account of Other Extraordinary Events Taken from Public Documents
(1871). 81
Don Bosco tells the story of Mary's appearance in 1846 to two young shepherd
children (15 and 11 years of age) on the mountain above La Salette, a village in
the diocese of Grenoble (southeastern France). The Lady called for repentance
from religious apathy, and entrusted each child with a "secret" (later disclosed to
Pius IX). A church was built at the site in 1852-1864.
79 Associazione de' Divoti di Maria Ausiliatrice canonicamente ereua nella Chi-
esa a Lei dedicata in Torino con ragguaglio storico si questo titolo, pel sacerdote
Giovanni Bosco. (Torino, 1869), in OE XXI, 339-434. Re-edited in 1878, 1881,
1887.
80 Nove giomi consacrati all'Augusta Madre del Salvatore souo il titolo di
Maria Ausiliatrice, pel Sac. Giovanni Bosco (Torino, 1870), in OE XXII, 253-356.
Re-edited in 1880, 1885.
81 Apparizione della Beata Vergine sulla montagna di lA Saleue con allri faui
prodigiosi raccolti dai pubblici documenti, pel sacerdote Giovanni Bosco (Torino,
1871) in OE XXI, 401-492. Re-Edited in 1877.

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Journal of Salesian Studies
(7) Mary Help of Christians with an Account of Some Graces Obtained
during the Seven Years since the Consecration of the Church Dedicated to Her
in Turin (1875).82
(8) The Little Cloud of Mt. Cannel or the Devotion to Mary Help of
Christians with an Account ofNew Graces (1877).83
The last two pamphlets (published in 1875 and 1877 respectively) were a collec-
tion of reports of "graces" (chiefly cures) obtained by devotees from Mary Help
of Christians. The two pamphlets evoked strong disapproval from Archbishop
Lawrence Gastaldi, who claimed authority over such publications.
(9). The Seven Sorrows of Mary. A Set of Meditations 84
Don Bosco compiled this devotional exercise some time during his service as
chaplain in the institutions of the Marchioness Barolo (1844-1846). Don Bosco
listed it in his last will and testament of 1856 as one of the pamphlets he
authored, but no copy is known to have survived.
Conclusion: Transcending Historical Particularity
The Spoleto euphoria hardly outlasted the decade of the sixties nor did it survive
the taking of Rome in 1870. And it was not long before Don Bosco, on his part,
left behind the Marian eschatology that was strictly tied to the political-religious
circumstances of the times.
After 1870 Don Bosco speaks of the Help of Christians in wider historical
terms. In reference to the past, he views the Help of Christians as the power
behind the triumphs of the Church throughout its history. In reference to the
future, he sees in Mary's help the promise and guarantee of the ultimate success
of the Church's mission and of that ofthe Salesian Society in particular.
More importantly, Don Bosco retained and incorporated into his brand of
Salesian spirituality what was of enduring value in the message of the Immacu-
late Help of Christians. In Don Bosco's understanding and devotional practice the
Immaculate Conception and the Help of Christians are joined to form a double
star shining in the firmament of Salesian spirituality. The two titles appear in-
82 Maria Ausiliatrice col racconto di alcune grazie ottenute nel primo settennio
dalla consacrazione della Chiesa a Lei dedicata in Torino, per cura del sacerdote
Giovanni Bosco. (Torino: Tip. dell 'Orat. di SFdS, 1875) in OE XXVI, 304-624.
Re-edited in 1877.
83 LA nuvoletta del Carmelo, assia la Divozione a Maria Ausiliatrice premiata di
nuove grazie, per cura del sacerdote Bosco Giovanni. (S. Pier d'Arena: Tip. Salesiana,
1877), in OE XXVIII, 449-565.
84 / sette dolori di Maria considerati in Jonna di meditazione [1845?].

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separable though symbolically distinct. They remain forever linked with his per-
son and with the Salesian Society and its work. Mary Immaculate became the
presence powering Salesian education and the spirituality connected with it.
Mary Help of Christians became the presence powering the Salesian apostolate
and the spirituality connected with it. Mary Immaculate is the symbol of victory
over personal evil, the symbol of holiness and consecration for both educator ~
pupil. Mary Help of Christians is the symbol of victory over evil in society
through the Salesian apostolate. The same holds true for the Salesian Sisters,
who were Daughters of Mary Immaculate before being Daughters of Mary Help
of Christians.
The transcendence thus acquired gave these titles a worldwide scope.
Through them Don Bosco became the apostle of the Immaculate Help of Chris-
tians, and the great church that he built became the radiating center of this
worldwide significance.

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Journal of Salesian Studies
Appendix I
Don Bosco's Month of May
Introduction: Devotion to Mary. How to perform the daily exercise. List of
nosegays for each day.
(April 30) Why honor Mary?
[I]
(May, Day 1) [God our Creator] Created by God, we are called to obey
God's holy law.
2. [The soul] Our immortal soul is endowed with freedom and can unfor-
tunately disobey God' s law.
3. [Christ our Redeemer] Adam and Eve disobeyed God' s law, but the mer-
ciful God promised a Redeemer to the sinful human race. We may therefore be
saved.
4. [The Church of Jesus Christ] The Redeemer established a Church
within which we can work out our salvation.
5. [The Head of the Church] The Church has a visible head who is
Christ's vicar; if we separate ourselves from him by leaving the Church, we
break our vital link with Christ the Redeemer.
6. [The Shepherds ofthe Church] The head of the Church has helpers un-
der him, who are our pastors, so that "Our parish priests unite us to our bishop,
our bishop to the Pope, and the Pope to Christ."
7. [Faith] Our faith is what establishes our unity in the Church and with
God.
8. [The holy Sacraments] Within the Church, in order to sustain us on our
way to God, Christ instituted the seven Sacraments, "visible signs of grace nec-
essary for salvation," "channels by which graces flow from God to us."
9. [The dignity of the Christian] Hence, as Christians we have God for a
father, Jesus Christ for a brother, the Church for a mother, and the Word of God
to guide us.
10. [The Value ofTime] Unfortunately we compromise our salvation when
we fail to live up to this dignity; yet "the years, months, weeks, days, hours,
minutes between our birth and our death are the time of opportunity allotted to
us."
11. [The Presence ofGod] We are continuously under God's scrutiny, who
is always present.
12. [The End ofMan] We were created to know, love, and serve God.
13. [The Salvation of One's Soul] What counts at the end is our soul' s
salvation, for there is no way to remedy its loss.

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14. [Sin] Sin, "disobedience to God's law and offense against the divine
majesty," puts our salvation at risk and requires God's forgiveness .
[Death, Judgment and Hell]
15. [Death) Death is the dread moment which separates the time of God's
mercy from that of God's justice.
16. [The Individual Judgment] The particular judgment and
17. [The Universal Judgment) the universal judgment are clear proof of
God's justice.
18. [The Pains ofHell] Hell and
19. [The Eternity of Hell] its eternal sufferings are the lot of unrepentant
sinners.
[II]
Two-thirds of the month have gone by, and the reader is still on pilgrim-
age. Even if we have fallen , God still places means of salvation at our disposal.
20. [The Mercy ofGod) God is merciful and calls us to trust in this mercy.
21. [Confession] "In the Sacrament of Confession we have the greatest
proof of God's mercy."
22. [The Confessor) The confessor as minister of Christ "forgives our sins
in God's name."
23. [Holy Mass] Holy Mass is the greatest sacrifice that can be offered for
the glory of God and the good of souls.
24. [Holy Communion) Especially when one shares in the Mass through
holy Communion.
25. [The Sin of Impurity (the "dishonest" sin)) The sin of impurity is the
most abominable sin that can ensnare us along our way to salvation. It damages
the body and stupefies the soul.
26. [The Virtue of Purity) Contrariwise, the virtue of purity makes the
soul beautiful and fills it with peace and joy.
27. [Human Respect) Yielding to the social pressure of human respect
"prevents us from doing what is right and drives us toward what is evil."
28. [Heaven) Heaven, the promised reward, is for us a source of strength
and hope.
29. [A Sure Way to Heaven) Charity (literally, "almsgiving") is the way.
30. [Mary, Our Protector in Life] Mary's protection in life and
31. Mary, Our Protector at the Hour of Death) in death is available to her
devotees. Hence we should increase our devotion and trust in her.
(June 1) Conclusion.

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Journal of Salesian Studies
Appendix II
The Dream of 1844
According to Don Bosco's narration in his Memoirs of the
Oratory (1875) and according to Don Bosco's narration to
Father Giulio Barberis (1875)
Introduction
Below are two different reports of the same dream, that of October 9, 1844. It
occurred as Don Bosco was about to leave the Pastoral Institute (Convitto) to
take a job as chaplain in the institutions of the Marchioness Barolo. His perplex-
ity arose from the fact that he couldn't see how under the circumstances he could
continue his work with the youngsters (the oratory). He was in fact contemplat-
ing dismissing the young people and dissolving the oratory. Then the reassuring
dream occurred, a variant of the recurring vocation dream.
One report is from Don Bosco's own pen in his Memoirs of the Oratory.
This portion of the Memoirs may have been set down in late 1874 or early
1875. The second report is from Father Giulio Barberis who heard it from Don
Bosco as the two were returning to the Oratory the evening of February 2, 1875.
The two reports are considerably different, but, as the introduction of the
two narratives makes clear, they are variants of the same dream experience. The
Barberis report is more extensive in that it features the additional scene of the
Lady pointing out the place of the holy martyrs' death, and of the great church
rising on that spot. The Barberis report then goes on to quote Don Bosco's fur-
ther comments relating to the acquiring of the field and to the building of church.
The Barberis report mentions a spacious square in front of the great church,
and a "monument" in the middle of it. Clearly, it could not be a monument in
honor of Don Bosco. He is in fact quoted as saying, "I shall have to wait and see
if this is feasible." However, the Past Pupils who dedicated the magnificent
monument to Don Bosco in the middle of the square in 1920 may well have
thought they were fulfilling Don Bosco's "prophetic" dream.

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Text of the Dream of 1844 Text of the Dream of 1844 (of the
as in the Berto Ms. of Don Bo- Holy Martyrs) as Reported by Fr. Julius
sco' s Memoirs ofthe Oratory.
Barberis from Don Bosco's Narration.
[MO 2nd Dec., 15°, "Un
[ASC 110: Cronachette, Barberis,
nuovo sogno": MO-Betor, 86ff., "Sogni Diversi a Lanzo": FDB 866
FDB 61 D2-4.; Cf. MO-DB, BIO-Cl ("original" copy)]. For derived
94-945. FDB 58 C 11-12. Cf. (calligraphic) copies, cf. ASC 111:
MO-En, 209-210.]
Sogni-Barberis, "Il nastro bianco,
Rivelazione della Congregazione," in
FDB 1279 C6-ll and 1282 E8 -1283
Al; also ASC 111 : Sogni, Lemoyne:
FDB 1314 B 10-CS.l
[Barbaris'lntroduction.]
On February 2, 1875, I was walkjng
with Don Bosco back to the Oratory
from Borgo San Salvario. We were
alone. Among many other things, he
related to me the following vision. He
said that it was the first he had had re-
garding the congregation, and it was the
longest, since it lasted the whole night.
He oclded that he had never opened his
heart to anyone about the matter. I was
the first person to hear about it.
[Don Bosco's Narration of the
Dream.]
On the second Sunday in Oc-
tober that year (1844) I had to
notify my youngsters that the
Oratory would be moving to Val-
docco. But the uncertainty of
place, means and personnel gave
me real cause for concern. The
previous evening I had gone to bed
with an uneasy heart. That night I
had another dream which seems to
be an appendix to the one I had at
Becchi at the age of nine. I think
it advisable to relate it in detail.
It was the year 1844. I was due to
leave the Pastoral Institute of St. Francis
[Convitto Ecclesiastico] and move to the
Rifugio to live with Dr. Borel. I was
truly worried about [what I should oo
with] my youngsters who attended relig-
ious instruction [the oratory] on Sundays
and holy days. I did not know whether I
should let them go or continue to care
for them. My desire was to continue
with [the work of] the oratories; but I did
not see how I could. On the last Sunday
I was to stav at the Convitto I had to

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Journal of Salesian Studies
[letteralmente].
notify my youngsters that they should
no longer meet there, as they did usually.
In fact I was debating whether I should
tell them that they need not meet any-
where, since the oratory would be termi-
nated; or else I should tell them of a new
place where they could meet.
I dreamt that I was standing
On the night between Saturday and
in the middle of a multitude of Sunday, I dreamt that I was in a vast
wolves, goats and kids, lambs, plain crowded with an enormous number
ewes, rams, dogs and birds. All of youngsters. Some were fighting or
together they raised a din, a racket, swearing; others were stealing or engaged
or better, a bedlam to frighten the in nasty behavior. The air was thick with
stoutest heart. I wanted to run flying rocks, from the little war that was
away, when a Lady, very nicely being waged by those youngsters-all of
dressed in the style of a young them abandoned and gone bad. I was
shepherdess, motioned to me to about to leave the scene, when I saw a
follow and accompany that strange Lady beside me. "Go among those
flock, while she walked at the head youngsters," [she told me]. "But what
of it. We kept wandering from can I do with these street urchins?" [I
place to place, making three sta- replied]. "Go in and work," [she coun-
tions or stops. Each time we tered]. I went in among them; but what
stopped, many of those animals could I do? No place was available to
were turned into lambs in ever shelter even one of them. I wanted to do
increasing numbers. After much some good to them; but no one [of the
walking, I found myself in a people around] paid any attention to me
grassy field where all those ani- or lent a helping hand. I then turned to
mals gamboled and grazed together the Lady, and she said, ''Here is the
without the least attempt on the place," and pointed to a grassy field.
part of some to harm the others. 'There is nothing here but a field," I
objected. She replied: "My Son and His
Worn out with fatigue, I Apostles had no place where to rest their
wanted to sit down by the side of a heads." I began to work in that field; but
nearby road; but the young shep- I saw that my efforts were largely un-
herdess invited me to walk on a availing. I had to find some place where I
little farther. After another short could provide shelter for some [of the
journey, I found myself in a large lads] that were wholly abandoned. Then
courtyard. It was ringed round with the Lady led me a little farther out and
porticoes, and at one end stood a said: 'Take a good look." I looked and
church. At that point I realized saw a little church, a small courtyard,
that four-fifths of those animals with youngsters, etc.
had turned into lambs, and their

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number grew very large. Just then
But since the church soon proved
several young shepherds came inadequate, I again appealed to her, and
along to care for them; but they she pointed out another church and a
stayed only a short time, and were much larger building. Then the Lady
soon gone.
took me a little farther to the side, and
said: "This is the place where the glori-
Then something wonderful ous martyrs of Turin, Adventor and Oc-
happened. Many of the lambs were tavius, suffered martyrdom.85 It is my
changed into young shepherds, and wish that here God be honored in a very
as they grew up they cared for the special manner." So saying, she put her
others. As the number of young foot out and laid it on the place where
shepherds grew very large, they the martyrdom had taken place, thus
split up and went to other places indicating the exact spot. I wanted to
to gather other strange animals and leave some kind of marker there so as to
guide them into other folds.
remember it; but I could not find any-
thing about for this purpose. Neverthe-
I wanted to be off, because it less, I kept the place clearly in mind. In
seemed time [for me] to go and the meantime, I saw myself surrounded
celebrate Mass; but the shepherd- by a very vast number of youngsters;
ess invited me to look to the but, as I looked to Our Lady, the means
south. I looked and saw a field and the premises also kept growing
sown with maize, potatoes, cab- apace. I then saw a very large church
bages, beets, [various kinds of] rising on the very spot which she hOO
lettuce and many other vegetables. pointed out to me as the place where the
"Look again," she said to me. So I martyrdom had taken place. There were
looked again and saw a magnifi- buildings all around [the church] and a
cent, great church. An orchestra beautiful square in front with a monu-
and music, both instrumental and ment at the center of it.
vocal, were inviting me to sing
Mass. Inside the church a white
band was displayed on which was
While all this was going on, I hOO
written in large block letters, Hie the help of priests and clerical students;
domus mea, inde gloria mea [Here but they helped me only for a short
is my dwelling place, from hence while, and then ran off. I would make the
my glory.]
greatest efforts to win them over, but
after a while they would leave, and I
would be left all alone. So, I aooealed
85 The legend of the holy martyrs of the Thebean legion mentions three names,
Solutor, Adventor and Octavius (or Octavian). It also mentions the fact that only Ad-
ventor and Octavius were martyred in Turin. At the outbreak of the persecution, So-
lutor took to the hills. He was pursued by the Roman soldiers, captured and martyred
at Ivrea, about 50 km. north of Turin.

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once more to the Lady. "Do you want to
know what will prevent them from get-
ting away?" she asked. "Take this little
cord or ribbon and bind their foreheads
with it." I noticed the little white ribbon
and I notice the word Obedience written
on it. I tried to do as Our Lady suggested
As the dream continued, I and began to bind the heads of some [of
made it a point of asking the my helpers) with the ribbon, with im-
shepherdess where I was, and what mediate and great good results. And the
was the meaning of the journey- results were even better as time went on .
ing, of the stops, of the house, of Those individuals gave up the idea of
the first and of the second church. leaving and stayed on to help me. Thus
[She replied:) "You will under- was our Congregation born.
stand everything when with your
bodily eyes you see in reality all
A lot of other things occurred [in
that you now perceive only with the dream), but I see no point in relating
the eyes of the mind." Thinking them now. (He may have been refening
that I was awake, I said: "I see to great things to come.) Suffice it to
clearly, and I see with my bodily say that from that time on I have walked
eyes. I know where I am going on sure ground both in matters regarding
and what I am doing."
the Congregation and the Oratory, and in
At that moment the bell of matters regarding politics. It was because
the Church of St. Francis sounded of having seen church, house, play-
the Angelus, and I woke up.
grounds, youngsters, clerical students and
This [dream] lasted most of priests helping me, and how the whole
the night. A lot of detail went undertaking should be managed, that I
with it. At the time I grasped little began to mention the matter to others
of its meaning since I put little and to speak of it as a reality. That is
faith in it. But I gained an under- why many people regarded the story as
standing of it gradually as its pre- irrational nonsense. They thought I ha:i
monitions came true one after lost my mind, and wanted to commit
another. And later, in conjunction me.
with another dream, it even served
as a guideline for my decisions.

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53
[Don Bosco's Additional Com-
ments .]
As for the spot which the Virgin
Mary had pointed out to Don Bosco as
the place of Sts. Adventor's and Oc-
tavius' martyrdom, the Rev. Don Bosco
had some further comments. He contin-
ued: I made it a point of never telling
anybody where that had taken place. I
simply gave the task of researching the
matter over to Canon Gastaldi (now our
Archbishop). The object was to deter-
mine as nearly as possible, on the basis
of historical data, where the martyrdom
had taken place. (In fact I suggested that
he publish a book on the life of these
saints.) He researched the matter thor-
oughly and concluded that Valdocco, and
indeed approximately the area of our
oratory, was the most likely place.
Meanwhile the decision was taken
to build the church at the very place of
the martyrdom. That area had formerly
been my property. However, since there
had been proposals to build the church
elsewhere, that is, where the Defilippi
[Filippi] house was located, that plot of
ground had been sold to the Rosminians,
who meant to establish a house of their
own there. Negotiations for the purchase
of the Defilippi house were already far
advanced. The church was to be built on
the courtyard in front of the house, so
that it would be visible from as far as
Dora Grossa Street. But just as the deal
was about to be closed, it fell through.
The owners were no longer willing to let
the house go. Then we again set our
mind on the original location; but, of
course, the land had been sold to the
Rosminians. At this point we received

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Journal of Salesian Studies
word that Abbe Rosmini had passed
away. Under the circumstances the Ros-
minians were no longer k~n on setting
up a house in Turin. So they put that
land up for sale, but with the condition
that [the agents] should not deal with
Don Bosco. They refused to sell to him
because they had bought the plot from
him at a high price, and it was now 00.
preciated by 8/10 [of its former value].
Seeing that they refused to sell to me, I
got Bishop Negroni's brother to act for
me (Negroni, o Negrotti, o Neirotti, o
Neironi, or some like name). Without
giving anything away, he handled the
matter for me, and I appeared only for the
signing of the contract. The procurator of
the Rosminians was no little surprised at
seeing me. He would have none of it, of
course, since he had received clear in-
structions to the contrary. But the matter
was urgent. The notary public had been
called in. Several city councilors were
also present. There was no time for him
to write [for instructions]. Everyone put
pressure on him to go along with the
terms of the negotiations and sell to me.
So that is where the new church was
built. Without any reference on my part
to any specific place, one of the chapels
turned out to be situated at the very spot
which the Blessed Virgin had pointed out
to me. It is the chapel we know as St.
Anne's chapel. The altar in it, however,
is consecrated specifically to the holy
martyrs of Turin.
I will not go into the wondrous
events that accompanied the building of
the church. I could tell you stories that
would astonish you, so extraordinary are
they.

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55
Also, in front of the church that the
Blessed Virgin showed me there stretched
a beautiful square with a monument in
the middle of it. Now I shall wait and see
if this will be feasible. All the difficul-
ties that may be lying ahead are fore-
stalled, and I walk in full daylight. I have
a clear view of the things that will hap-
pen to us, of the difficulties, and of the
manner dealing with them.

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Journal of Salesian Studies
Appendix III
The Sub Tuum Praesidium
The Sub Tuum Praesidium is thought to have originated in Egypt (Alexandria)
and from there to have passed into all the ancient liturgies (Byzantine, Roman,
Ambrosian, Coptic, etc.)
The most ancient fonn of the text of the Sub Tuum Presidium is attested
by the Rylands Papyrus 470. This papyrus fragment (18 x 9.4 cm.) was discov-
ered in Egypt, acquired by the Rylands Library (Manchester, UK) in 1917, and
published by C.H. Roberts in 1938.86
It was variously dated: from the fourth century (Roberts, on the basis of the
use of the term Theotokos, Mother of God); or from the third century (Lobel,
1948, on paleographic grounds). As for internal evidence, it is noted that, al-
though made a dogma at the Council of Ephesus (431 ), the doctrine of Mary
theotokos is attested from the middle of the third century. Moreover, the expres-
sions, "We flee for refuge," "Deliver us from danger in an evil time," seem to
suggest persecution, perhaps that of Decius and Valerian (250 C.E.).
The Rylands Papyrus 470 is believed to represent the Alexandrian, perhaps
original, form of the text.
As the papyrus is frayed all around and torn on the right side, reconstruc-
tions differ slightly. The reconstruction made on the basis of the Byzantine form
of the text is the most common.
Form of the Rylands Papyrus 470 Reconstructed after the
Byzantine Form
Under thy tender-mercy we-flee-for refuge, Mother-of-God;
our entreaties do not despise in an-evil-time;
but from danger deliver us, 0 -alone chaste, (alone) the blessed-one.
Byzantine Form of the Text87
Under thy tender-mercy we-flee-for refuge, Mother-of-God;
86 C. H. Roberts, Catalogue of the Greek and Latin Papyri: John Rylands Li-
brary. Theological and Literary Texts III (Manchester, 1938), 46-47, no. 470.
87 The Byzantine text is closest to that of the Rylands Papyrus. The chief differ-
ences are as follows: In the 2nd line Rylands has the singular, "in an-evil-time."
whereas the Byzantine (as well as the Roman and Coptic texts) has the plural. It is
likely that the prayer was composed for a specific situation (e.g. persecution), and
was afterwards generalized through use of the plural form. In the third line, the Byzan-
tine text has the stronger verb, "ransom," for the softer one "deliver" of the Alexan-
drian form.

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57
our entreaties do not despise in evil-times;
but from danger ransom us, 0-alone chaste, (alone) [the] blessed-one
Roman Form of the Text
Sub tuum praesidium confugimus, (sancta) Dei Genitrix;
Under thy protection we-flee-for refuge, God's (holy) Mother;
nostras deprecationes ne despicias in necessitatibus;
Our entreaties do not despise in times-of-need;
sed a periculis (cunctis) libera nos (semper), (sola) Virgo (gloriosa) (et)
benedicta.
but from (all) dangers deliver us (ever), (alone) Virgin (glorious) (and)
blessed.
Ambr'osian Form of the Text
Sub tuam misericordiam confugimus, Dei Genetrix;
Under thy mercy we-flee-for-refuge, Mother of God;
nostram deprecationem, ne inducas in tentationem;
our entreaty do not lead into temptation;88
sed a periculo Libera nos, sola casta (et) benedicta.
but from danger deliver us, 0-alone chaste (and) blessed.
Coptic Form of the Text (Translation)
Under the protection of thy mercies we-flee-for-refuge, Mother-of-God;
our entreaties do not despise in times of need;
but from perdition save us, [thou who] alone [art] (chaste and) blessed.
Brief Commentary
The prayer is dominated by the Marian title, Mother of God (Theotokos). Two
other epithets emphasize the dignity of Mary: (1) "Alone chaste (Greek, mone
hagne)" (Roman form, "virgin"). "Alone" points beyond mere chastity to virgin-
ity (in divine motherhood). (2) "The blessed one (he eulogemene)," may allude to
the blessings bestowed on Mary in Luke's gospel. But it is pointed out that the
88 This surprising variant, "our entreaty do not lead into temptation," seems to
ask Mary to help us pray aright or without failing.

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Journal of Salesian Studies
term in Jewish and early Christian texts is most often referred to God (the
Blessed One). Furthermore a variant of the Byzantine text has "glorious (semne)
and blessed" (see also variant in the Roman form). "Glorious (semne)" in ancient
Greece was an attribute of deities.
In this prayer, therefore, the Virgin Theotokos, the merciful and
high-exalted Being to whom one can flee for refuge, is directly asked to peifonn
an act of salvation ("deliver, ransom"). This form of Marian prayer goes beyond
the other two forms of Marian prayer, that is, of intercession and of communion.
In the prayer of communion (exemplified in Eucharistic prayers of the Mass) the
Christian community remembers Mary's role and prays to God to be found in
communion with her. The prayer of intercession is addressed either to God
through Mary' s intercession (as often in the liturgy), or to Mary to intercede
with God. On the contrary, the Sub Tuum Praesidium asks Mary directly to
"save" or "ransom." Needless to say, this last form of Marian prayer, which may
be regarded as characteristic of Catholic Marian devotion, is theologically the
most difficult. But the Sub Tuum Praesidium attests that even this form of
Marian prayer dates back to the Church of the Fathers.
The Memorare, attributed to St. Bernard of Clairvaux (1091-1153), is re-
garded as a paraphrase of the Sub Tuum Praesidium. It reads:
Remember, 0 most gracious Virgin Mary, that never was it known that anyone
who fled to your protection, implored your help, or sought your intercession
was left unaided. Inspired by this confidence, we fly unto you, 0 Virgin of vir-
gins, our Mother! To you we come, before you we stand, sinful and sorrowful. 0
Mother of the Word Incarnate, despise not our petitions, but in your mercy hear
and answer us. Amen.
In form the Memorare has come a fairly Jong way from the older prayer, but it
should be regarded as a developed paraphrase of it. The italicized phrases show its
dependence on the older prayer. The main difference lies in the absence of the
title Theotokos (Mother of God) and in the use instead of the titles, "Our
Mother" and "Mother of the Word Incarnate."

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Appendix IV
Blessing of Mary Help of Christians
Formula Benedictionis in honorem et
cum invocatione Beatae Mariae Vir-
ginis sub titulo Auxilium Chris-
tianorum.
Ritual Blessing in honor of the
Blessed Virgin Mary Invoked under
the title of Help of Christians
[Sacerdos superpelliceo et stola
[The priest, vested in surplice
indutus, dicit.]
and stole, says:]
V) Adiutorium nostrum in nom-
R) Our help is in the name of
ine Domini.
the Lord.
R) Qui fecit caelum et terram.
V) Who made heaven and earth.
Ave Maria, ecc.
Hail Mary, etc.
Sub tuum praesidium con-
fugimus, Sancta Dei Genetrix, nostras
deprecationes ne despicias in necessita-
tibus nostris; sed a periculis cunctis
libera nos semper, Virgo gloriosa et
benedicta.
We fly to your patronage, 0
Holy Mother of God; despise not our
petitions in our necessities; but 00.
liver us from all dangers always, 0
Virgin glorious and blessed.
V) Maria, auxilium
tianorum,
R) Ora pro nobis
chris-
V) Mary, Help of Christians,
R) Pray for us.
V) Domine, exaudi orationem
meam.
R) Et clamor meus ad te veniat.
V) Dominus vobiscum,
R) Et cum spiritu tuo.
V) 0 Lord, hear my prayer.
R) And let my cry come up to
you.
V) The Lord be with you.
R) And with your spirit.

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Journal of Salesian Studies
Oremus
Let us pray
Omnipotens, sempiterne Deus,
qui gloriosae Virginis Matris Mariae
corpus et animam, ut <lignum Filii tui
habitaculum effici mereretur, Spirito
Sancto cooperante, praeparasti; da, ut
cuius commemoratione laetamur, eius
pia intercessione ab instantibus malis
et a morte perpetua liberemur. Per
eundem Christum Dominum nostrum.
Almighty, ever living God, by
the active cooperation of the Holy
Spirit you prepared the body and soul
of the Virgin Mother Mary, so that
she might be a worthy dwelling place
for your Son. As we joyfully keep
her memorial, we pray that through
her merciful intercession we may be
freed from the evils that beset us arrl
from eternal death. Through Christ
our Lord.
R) Amen
R) Amen
[Et personam benedicendam as-
[The priest sprinkles the person
pergit aqua benedicta.]
receiving the blessing with holy wa-
ter.]
Taurinen.
[For the diocese] of Turin
Sacra Rituum Congregatio, utendo
facultatibus sibi specialiter a Sanctis-
simo Domino Nostro Leone Papa XIlI
tributis, ad enixas preces rev. Domini
Joannis Bosco, rectoris ecclesiae a::
sodalitatis Beatae Mariae Virginis sub
titulo Auxilium Christianorum in
civitate Taurinensi, suprascriptam
benedictionis formulam, antea a se rite
revisam, approbavit atque in usum
praefatae ecclesiae et sodalitatis be-
nigne concessit.-Die 18 maii 1878.
This Sacred Congregation of Rites
acting by the special powers received
from His Holiness Pope Leo XIlI
accepts the petition of the Rev. Fa-
ther John Bosco, rector of the church
and of the confraternity of the Blessed
Virgin Mary Help of Christians. Ac-
cordingly, after careful examination,
it approves the text of ritual blessing
as given above for use in the above-
mentioned church and by the
above-mentioned confraternity.-May
18,1878.
Th. M' Card. Martinelli, S.R.C.
Praef.
Plac. Ralli, S.R.C. Seer.
Th. M. Card. Martinelli, Prefect
of the S.C.R.
Placidus Ralli, Secretary of the
S.C.R.

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Appendix V
Marvels of the Mother of God
The 19 chapters develop the following themes.
1. Symbols of Mary 's help to the human race in the Old Testament.
2. Mary shown as the Help of Christians in Gabriel's message that she is
to be Mother of God, and in the words of Elizabeth. (A commentary on the Lu-
can texts, from Church Fathers and theologians.)
3. At the wedding feast of Cana Mary shows her zeal and her power with
Jesus.
4. By the will of Jesus dying on the cross, Mary is made Help of Chris-
tians when John is made her son.
5. The first Christians' devotion to Mary Most Holy.
6. The Blessed Virgin explains the truths of the Christian faith to St.
Gregory the Wonder Worker (3rd c.). Nestorius is condemned at the Council of
Ephesus (431) and comes to a bad end for denying Mary's divine motherhood.
7. Mary helps those who work for the true faith, while God punishes here-
tics who revile the Virgin Mary.
8. Mary protects Christian armies fighting for the true faith.
9. The battle of Lepanto and the introduction of the title Help of Chris-
tians into the Litany (1571).
10. The deliverance of Vienna (1683).
11. The Association of Mary Help of Christians in Munich, Bavaria,
founded in 1684, after the deliverance of Vienna.
12. Appropriateness of the feast of Mary Help of Christians. (This chapter
gives a summary of all the foregoing, to show why Mary Help of Christians
should be honored with a special feast.)
13. Institution of the feast of Mary Help of Christians by Pius VII (1815).
14. Rediscovery of the image of Mary Help of Christians at Spoleto (the
story of the Spoleto events, as described above).
15. Devotion to Mary Help of Christians in Turin, and planning for a
church in her honor.
16-18. Story of the construction, and description, of the church of Mary
Help of Christians.
19. Where did the money necessary for the building come from? (Offerings
for graces received.)

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Journal of Salesian Studies
Appendix VI
Novena in Preparation for the Feast of Mary Help of
Christians
The topics for the nine exercises are as follows :
1 . Mary, the Help of Christians in life's needs.
2. Honoring Mary on her feast days.
3. Promoting the observance of Sundays and holy days, the avoidance of
blasphemy and of bad talk.
4. Frequent Confession.
5. Frequent Communion.
6. Excuses and pretexts for not receiving Communion frequently.
7. Holy Mass.
8. Honoring Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament.
9. Joy and assurance experienced by Mary' s devotees at the point of death.
[10.] Feast of Mary Help of Christians.
Act of consecration to Mary.