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opposition. Ten years later he
builds a living monument to honor
his Madonna, with the help of St.
Mary Mazzarello, the Daughters of
Mary Help of Christians. And then
of course in the last year of his life,
weeping in Rome’s Basilica of the
Sacred Heart, it all comes together:
“She has done it all.”
Pro
v
incial’s Calendar
May 2012
Solemnity of Mary Help of
Christians
Dear Brother and Sister Salesians:
Happy Feast of Mary Help of
Christians to the entire Salesian
Family of Don Bosco West! May
we all have a joyful and blessed
day in her honor. And may today’s
celebration help us all grow in Don
Bosco’s love and devotion to her
and confidence in her help.
Trying to come to know and
imitate Don Bosco better through
study of his history this year
has led me to a good many new
understandings about our founder.
One of them is this. I learned that
while from his earliest days he
was taught to be a son of Mary
by Mama Margarita, his devotion
to Mary with the special title of
Help of Christians was something
he gradually grew into. And that
as the years went by he deepened
his consciousness of her role as
mother and help in his entire life’s
story.
Unreflectively, I used to think that
he always knew her as Mary Help
of Christians. But different titles
and devotions preceded this one:
Our Lady of Consolation and the
Immaculate Conception especially.
Church and state history, politics,
and the gift of his own apostolic
charism all worked together so
that by the time he was ready to
build his new and grand church
in 1862, it was clear that it would
be the Church of Mary Help of
Christians, despite some influential
So this teaches me that we too
must grow in our devotion to
Mary Help of Christians---it
cannot remain static---until we
too recognize that she is not
just a pious devotion or a gilded
statue, but a living and motherly
help. And this help of hers we
desperately need if we are to
revive among us that apostolic
passion of Don Bosco’s: “Da
mihi animas, cetera tolle.” With
her help and the grace of the
Holy Spirit, may our devotion to
Mary Help of Christians translate
into imitation of her faith and
charity, imitation of Don Bosco’s
unbounded trust in her help.
Two particular blessings to the
province have come from Mary
Help of Christians today. One is
the generous witness of those
young people who this week are on
a mission trip to Haiti. The other is
the priestly ordination of Fr. Thien
Nguyen at Saints Peter and Paul
Church. Don Bosco was convinced
that every Salesian vocation, just
like his, was guided and brought
to fulfillment by Mary. May she
protect our missionary volunteers
and be a special mother to Fr.
Thien. May she help him and all
of us to make the young our life’s
mission as we serve God with our
lives. And may she send us many
more Salesian vocations!
Sincerely in Christ,
Rev. Timothy C. Ploch, SDB
Provincial
24 Solemnity of Mary Help of
Christians
Ordination of Fr. Thien
Nguyen, Sts. Peter and Paul,
San Francisco
25 Baccalaureate Mass, St. John
Bosco, Bellflower
26-27 Mass of Thanksgiving, Fr.
Thien Nguyen, Portland, OR
28-6/2 Provincial Council Week of
Prayer and Planning, Lake
Arrowhead
June 2012
3
Pastoral Council Installation
Mass, Corpus Christi Parish
Mass of Thanksgiving, Fr.
Thien Nguyen, Sts. Peter &
Paul
4-13 Trip to Jerusalem, Ordination
of Deacon Chuyen Nguyen
and Personal Days
Pleas
e
Pray for Our Sick
Mr. Valentino
“Val” Colussi (93)
St. John Bosco, Bellflower
suffered a fall
hospitalized for
compressed vertebrae
Fr. Pascual Chavez, SDB
RECTOR MAJOR
InTouch 1 5.24.12
