A FRIENDS AND HELPERS ON OUR JOURNEY: MARY
3. TRIDUUM
IN HONOUR
OF
MARY HELP OF CHRISTIANS
First Day: Mary Most Holy,
Mother and Help of the Church
HYMN
INITIAL RITES
C In the name of the Father...
The blessing of God who has constituted Mary, the mother, model and help of his Church, be with you.
A And also with you.
C The role of Mary in the history of salvation and all the privileges that God has granted her are connected to the mystery of her motherhood: mother of the Redeemer and mother of all the redeemed. Paul VI, at the closing of the third session of Vat. II, proclaimed her solemnly as the "Mother of the Church". Because she is Mother, she is also the Help of the Church, of the Pastors and of all the Christians; the Church therefore invokes her "under the titles of "Advocate, Auxiliatrix, Adjutrix, and Mediatrix" (LG. 62).
As apostle of the title 'Auxiliatrix', she raised up Don
Bosco, who told his sons: "The Madonna wants that we honour her under the title of Mary Help of Christians" (BM. 7, 197).
In an attitude of listening and of prayer, we wish to grow in the awareness of this prerogative of the Virgin, in order to confide ourselves more trustingly to her maternal help.
C Let us pray.
O Lord, you have constituted the Virgin Mary, Mother of the Church and powerful help of Christians. Grant that growing in this awareness, we may be more receptive to the initiatives of her love. You who live for ever and ever.
A Amen.
First reading
G In the Old Testament, God has raised great figures of women, in whom he has wished to manifest his goodness and power for the salvation of his people. In them the Church saw 'types' or prefigurations of the Most Holy Virgin and of her mission in the history of salvation. We see in this light Judith and her victory over Holofernus.
R Judith 13, 11-15.17-20.
CANTICLE OF JUDITH (Judith 16,1-2a.13-15)
Ref.The Lord has conquered by the hand of a woman. Or
Ref. You are the glory of Jerusalem, You are the joy of Israel, You are the honour of our people.
Praise my God with tambourines,
Sing to the Lord with cymbals, Raise to him a psalm of praise,
Exalt him and call upon his name. R/
For God is the Lord who crushes wars, I will sing to my God a new song; O Lord, you are great and glorious, Wonderful in strength, invincible. R/
Let all your creatures serve you,
For you spoke and they were made;
You sent forth your Spirit and it formed them, There is none that can resist your voice. R/
For the mountains shall be shaken
To their foundations with the waters;
At your presence the rocks shall melt like wax, But to those who fear you, You will continue to show mercy. R/
Second Reading
G In her teaching the Church has many times exalted and ii dicated to the faithful the Virgin Mary as Mother and He of the Church. The words of Paul VI with which, at tl closing of the third session of Vatican 11, he solemnly pry claimed Mary "Mother of the Church" are memorable
R From the Discourses of Paul VI: Mary Mother of the Church (see p.533).
(Or, with another introduction)
From the Encyclical ' Redemptor hominis', John Paul II: Mary Co-redemptrix, Mother of the Church (see p.541).
(or)
From the Dogmatic Constitution 'Lumen Gentium': The Motherhood of Mary in the economy of grace (nn.61-62).
HYMN
Third Reading
G The Salesian tradition, following the example of Don Bosco, has always propagated the devotion to the Virgin and deepened the reasons for the title of Mother and Help of the Church and of the Christians. Here are some of the reflections of Don Egidio Vigano found in the letter with which, after the XXI General chapter, he invites the Salesian Family to a relaunching of the devotion to the Help of Christians.
R From the circular Letter of Don Egidio Vigano: Help and Mother of the Church (see p.559).
(Or)
Id., The Devotion to Mary Help of Christians and Our Apostolic and Ecclesial Commitment (see p.561).
MAGNIFICAT
(Or)
From the Prayer of Paul VI (see p.622). CONCLUDING PRAYER
C Let us pray.
O God, Father of mercy,
your only Son, dying on the cross, has willed that his own mother,
the Virgin Mary, be also our Mother. Grant that your Church, sustained by the maternal love of the Virgin, may rejoice, like a fecund mother, for the holiness of her children and reunite all the peoples of the world into the one family
of believers. Through Christ our Lord.
A Amen.
Second Day: The Virgin Help of Christians, Guide and Help of the Apostles of the Young
HYMN
INITIAL RITES
C In the name of the Father...
The Lord, who "through the maternal intervention of Mary" has raised up St. John Bosco for the salvation of youth, be with you all.
A And also with you.
C Don Bosco has assured that the Virgin Help of Christians blessed in a special way those who devote themselves to the youth (cf. MB: 16,238).-Just as Jesus had special signs of joy and tenderness for the little ones, so are the maternal attentions of the Virgin particularly for the young. For this, at the same moment the Lord willed to enlighten John Bosco on his call for the salvation of the young, he alsc said: "I will give to you a Teacher"; and Mary, lovingly tak-
ing Johnny by the hand, called as her own sons the young people of the prophetic dream.
Like Don Bosco, we too, called by the maternal intervention of Mary to walk "with the young in order to lead them to the person of the risen Lord", feel that "the Virgin Mary is present in this process as a Mother" (Const. 34). Just as she did with Don Bosco, may she enlighten us on the beauty and importance of this mission, and help us in its actualization.
C Let us pray.
0 Lord, you have entrusted Don Bosco
and his educative mission to the maternal care
and powerful help of your Mother. Open our heart and our mind to her teachings, and render us docile to her guidance as Mother and Teacher. You who live for ever and ever.
A Amen.
LITURGY OF THE WORD
First Reading
G Mary, Seat of Wisdom, is the help of educators and the maternal support for the young, so that they may receive Wisdom and be guided by her in their life.
R Sir. 51,13-17.20.23-26. SONG
Second Reading
G The Church, also herself a Mother on the model of Mary, feels the problem of the young and of their formation as a priority in her pastoral concerns. The Council has ex
pressed it in the Declaration on Catholic Education (GE), a theme constantly referred to by the Popes. The Letter of John Paul II, 'Iuvenum Patris', on the occasion of the centenary of the death of Don Bosco, is a particularly
noteworthy example.
R From the Letter 'Iuvenum Patris' of John Paul II: The Church has in fact an intense love for young people: always, but especially in this period so close to the year 2000, she feels invited by her Lord to look upon them with a special love and hope, and to consider their education as one of her primary pastoral responsibilities...
In the numerous meetings I have had with young people in the various continents, in the messages I have given them, and in particular in the Letter which in 1985 I addressed "To the youth of the world", I expressed my intimate conviction'that the Church is at their side and indeed must be so...
The youth situation at the present day, a hundred years after the saint's death, has changed a great deal and presents a whole variety of different conditions and aspects, as is well known to educators and pastors. And yet today too there remain those same questions which occupied the mind of the priest John Bosco from the beginning of his ministry in his desire to understand and his determination to work. Who are these young people? What are they looking for?
What are they in need of? These were difficult questions to answer at the time as they still are at the present day, but they are unavoidable and every educator must face up to them.
Today groups of young people can be found all over the world who are genuinely sensitive to spiritual values, and who are desirous of help and support in the maturing of their personalities. On the other hand it is quite clear that
youth is a prey to allurements and conditioning elements of a negative kind,°the result of various ideological outlooks. The attentive educator will be awake to the practical reality of the youth condition and will know how to intervene with sure competence and wise foresight... The Church feels herself directly implicated in the education question, because she is always there where man is involved since "man is the primary route that the Church must travel in fulfilling her mission". This evidently implies a true love of predilection for the young...
Perhaps never in the past did education become so vital and social an imperative, implying the taking of a position and the firm will to form mature personalities, as at the present day. Perhaps never in the past has the world had such need of individuals, families and communities which make of education their raison d'etre, to which they dedicate themselves as a primary objective and to which they unreservedly devote their efforts and seek collaboration and help, so as to try out and renew with initiative and a sense of responsibility new educational methods. To be an educator today implies a true individual choice of a way of life, to which those who exercise authority in,the ecclesial and civil Communities owe a debt of recognition and help...
By your work, dear educators, you are sharing in a wondrous manner in the motherly function of the Church. Keep always before you Mary most Holy, the most lofty collaborator of the Holy Spirit, who was docile to his inspirations and so became Mother of Christ and Mother of the Church. She continues through the centuries "to be a maternal presence as is shown by Christ's words spoken from the cross: 'Woman, behold your son', 'Behold your
mother "'.
Never take your gaze off Mary; listen to her when she says "Do what Jesus tells you" (Jn. 2,5). Pray to her too with daily solicitude, that the Lord may continue to raise up generous souls who can say 'yes' to his vocational call.
To her I entrust you, and with you the whole world of youth that being attracted, animated and guided by her, they may be able to attain through the mediation of your educative work, the stature of new men for a new world: the world of Christ, Master and Lord (sections from nn.1.6.14.17.20).
SONG
_Third reading
G Called by the maternal intervention of Mary to be apostles of the young, we feel, like Don Bosco, sustained and encouraged by her motherly presence in the actualization of this delicate mission. "We entrust ourselves to her... that we may become witnesses to the young of her Son's boundless life" (Const. 8.).
R From the circular Letter of Don Egidio Vigano: Devotion to the Help of Christians and Youth Apostolate (see p.566).
INVOCATIONS
C With the heart of Don Bosco, who has said: "Mary has always protected us; in trusting her we will never be disillusioned", let us address to the Virgin, our childlike prayer.
G 0 Virgin, Help of Christians, you called as your own sons the young whom you confided to Don Bosco. Grant to us, as to Don Bosco, the grace of participating in your predilection for them.
A 0 Mary, hear us.
• 0 Virgin Help of Christians, the necessity and beauty of the apostolate among the young do not diminish the difficulties. Sustain and comfort with your help all those who consecrate their lives to the education and salvation of youth.
A 0 Mary, hear us.
0 Virgin Help of Christians, you indicated to Don Bosco the way to raise and form his collaborators from among his young. Help us also to collaborate with you, to make many young people apostles of the young and to cultivate many good vocations.
A 0 Mary, hear us.
0 Virgin Help of Christians, Don Bosco has said: "The young people are the delight of Jesus and Mary". Bless and protect all the young people of the world, the hope of society and of the Church.
A 0 Mary, hear us.
CA 0 Mary Help of Christians, Mother of the Church, inspirer and guide of the Salesian Family, you know through your maternal intuition the heart of all the confreres; you illumine and defend their apostolic consecration; you know and promote the educative pastoral plan confided to them; you understand their weaknesses, limits and sufferings; you love the youth confided to each one of them as a gift of divine predilection. Therefore, 0 holy Virgin Mother of God, powerful help of the Pope, of the Pastors and of all their collaborators, take under your solicitous patronage the Society of St. Francis of Sales which, with filial trust, wishes to confide itself solemnly to you; and you, who are the Teacher of Don Bosco, teach it to imitate all his virtues.
FINAL HYMN
Third Day: Mary Help of Christians
and the Salesian Congregation
SONG
INITIAL RITES
C In the name of the Father...
The joy of the Lord, who has given us
in Mary a solicitous Mother and a powerful Help, be with you all.
A And also with you.
C Mary is the Mother and Help of the Church and has a predilection for the young, "that part of human society which is so exposed and yet so rich in promise" (Const. 1). For their salvation, with motherly intervention, she has raised up Don Bosco and the Salesian Congregation. Don Bosco has no doubts: "Everything is the work of the Madonna" (B.M. 6, 183). The faith, devotion and trust of Don Bosco for the Help of Christians are the faith, devotion and trust of his sons. We "believe that Mary is present among us and continues herr mission as Mother of the Church and Help of Christians" (Const. 8). We ask of her to help us become more conscious of her presence and disposed to her guidance, with the certainty that "the Congregation was born and developed through the intervention of Mary, and it will be renewed only to the extent that Mary returns to occupy the place that belongs to her in our charism" (CG 21, 589).
C Let us pray.
0 Virgin Help of Christians, illumine our minds and stir our hearts so that with your help and guidance we may become witnesses and instruments of the love ofsaid: 'I recommend to the Salesians the devotion to Mary Help of Christians and frequent Communion. I then add
ed: This could serve as the strenna for the new year to be sent to all the Houses. He continued: 'Let this be for the whole life' (M.B. 18,503).
HYMN
Third Reading
G The devotion to the Help of Christians, as it was lived and practised by Don Bosco, is not something accessory to Salesian spiritual life, however important it be, but it is, as Don Egidio Vigano, the seventh suc
cessor of Don Bosco, has affirmed it, "an inseparable element of our charism".
R From the circular Letter of Don Egidio Vigano: The Help of Christians and the Salesian Chrism (see p.562). ACT OF ENTRUSTMENT TO MARY (see p.613).
(or)
LITANIC PRAYER (from a prayer of St. John Bosco, seep. 615). CONCLUDING RITES
Blessing of Mary Help of Christians (see p.612) (or) -
C Let us pray.
Lord Jesus, you gave your own most
holy Mother to Don Bosco as Mother, Teacher and Helper, and through
her showed him the field of his mission, inspiring him to found our Society.
Continue to look with benevolence on this your Family, and grant that we may always feel active among us the presence and work of Mary, "the Mother of the Church and the Help of Christians". Confiding ourselves to her and under her guidance, grant us to be witnesses among the young of your boundless love.
A Amen.
