Mary Help of Christians, Tommaso Andrea Lorenzone, c. 1867

Saint John Bosco's Prayer to Mary Help of Christians

O Mary, powerful Virgin, thou art the mighty and glorious protector of the Church; thou art the marvelous help of Christians; thou art terrible as an army in battle array; thou alone has destroyed every heresy in the whole world. In the midst of our anguish, our struggles and our distress defend us from the power of the enemy and at the hour of our death receive our souls in paradise. Amen.

-Saint John Bosco (1815-1888)

Another Prayer of Saint John Bosco

Most Holy Virgin Mary, Help of Christians, how sweet it is to come to your feet imploring your perpetual help. If earthly mothers cease not to remember their children, how can you, the most loving of all mothers forget me? Grant then to me, I implore you, your perpetual help in all my necessities, in every sorrow, and especially in all my temptations. I ask for your unceasing help for all who are now suffering. Help the weak, cure the sick, convert sinners. Grant through your intercessions many vocations to the religious life. Obtain for us, O Mary, Help of Christians, that having invoked you on earth we may love and eternally thank you in heaven. Amen.

Prayer for Australia

Almighty ever-living God, who placed the love of Our Lady, Help of Christians in the hearts of those who brought the Catholic faith to these shores, grant, through her intercession, wisdom to our leaders and integrity to our citizens, so that, under her protection, Australia may know harmony, justice and peace. Through our Lord, Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

(Collect, Solemnity of Our Lady Help of Christians, patron of Australia)

A drawing depicting the Miraculous Intervention of Our Lady of The Rosary at the Battle of Lepanto (1571), c. 1731

History - Our Lady Help of Christians

Our Lady's title 'Help of Christians' is associated with her title 'Queen of the Most Holy Rosary', and with the victory of Christians against overwhelming odds.

The invocation to the Blessed Virgin Mary - Auxilium Christianorum (Help of Christians) - originated in the sixteenth century.

When Constantinople fell in 1453, the whole of the East became under Islamic rule.  In 1571, a giant Turkish armada set sail to capture the Eternal City and destroy Christianity.  An insignificant fleet of the Holy League, a coalition of catholic states arranged by Pope St. Pius V, assembled at Lepanto. From a human perspective the outcome appeared inevitable — destruction, enslavement, spoliation, desecration.

Pope Saint Pius V called upon every Catholic to invoke the aid of the Mother of God under her title “Help of Christians”, and to storm heaven unceasingly with Rosaries.

The vastly outnumbered Christian Fleet, sailing under a blue banner dedicated to the Mother of God was lead by Don John of Austria. They met the Admirals of Islam in the Gulf of Lapanto, near Corinth in Greece, and the powerful Turkish Fleet was conquered in a momentous battle. It would be many days afterwards before word reached Rome of the outcome of the struggle; but the Pope had been granted a vision in which he saw that Christendom was saved.

The great victory at Lepanto occurred on 7 October 1571. In gratitude to Our Lady for this great victory, the Pope instituted a new Feast in honour of Our Lady, being the Feast of the Most Holy Rosary which is celebrated on 7 October every year. The invocation Auxilium Christianorum (Help of Christians) was added to the Litany of Loreto  by Pope Clement VIII in 1601.

A new threat came in 1683 when 200,000 Ottoman Turks besieged the city of Vienna. Again from a human perspective this was hopeless for the Christians as they were outnumbered seven to one. Once again the cause was commended to “Our Lady Help of Christians” by the Pope, Blessed Innocent XI, who united Christendom again with the Rosary. Emperor Leopold I took refuge in the Shrine of Our Lady Help of Christians at Passau, where he fell to his knees in prayer.

Prince John Sobieski and his legions of Polish troops, en route to Vienna to fight the Muslim Turks, visited Passau to implore the assistance of the Mother of God in the forthcoming battle. The Battle for Vienna began on September 8th, the Feast of Our Lady’s Nativity. It ranged for 4 terrible days, and on the 12th of September, the Feast of the Holy Name of Mary, the siege of Vienna was lifted. The Turkish army was crushed, and no longer presented a threat to Christendom.

Just over a century later, in 1798, the French under Napoleon captured Rome. Fifty venerable churches in Rome were put to the torch, and Pope Pius VI (1717-1799) who had condemned the French Revolution and the violent suppression of the Catholic Church in France, was imprisoned and died from the effects of the ill-treatment he received during his internment.

Monument to Pope Pius VII, Saint Peter's Basilica, Rome, Bertel Thorvaldsen, carved 1823-1831

The successor Pope, Pius VII (1742-1823), was arrested by Napoleon in July 1808 and was taken in chains to Fontainebleau for a period of 5 years. This frail Pope smuggled out from prison orders for the whole of Christendom to pray to Our Lady Help of Christians for deliverance. The Pope made a vow to Our Lady that if she would restore freedom to the Church, he would honour her with a new Feast.

Napoleon was defeated at the battle of Leipzig on 6-9 October 1813. On 24th of May 1814, as Napoleon signed his abdication, Pope Pius VII made his triumphant re-entry into Rome the Eternal City.  Although Pope Pius VII was required to flee Rome briefly in 1815 when Napoleon left Elba and returned to France, Napoleon was finally defeated at the battle of Waterloo on 18 June 1815.

After Waterloo, Pope Pius VII returned to Rome on 7 July 1815. To give thanks to God and Our Lady, and true to his vow, on 15 September 1815 he instituted for the Papal States the feast of Our Lady, Help of Christians, to be celebrated on 24 May, the anniversary of his first return. The Dioceses of Tuscany adopted it on 12 February 1816 and thereafter this feast spread  over most of the Latin Church.

Australia and Our Lady Help of Christians

Australia was the first country in the world with Our Lady Help of Christians as the main patroness.

A statue of Mary, Help of Christians, stands in the Chapel of the Sacred Heart, St. Mary's Cathedral, Sydney, Australia. It was donated in the 19th century. The Cathedral was dedicated in honour of Our Lady Help of Christians by the Irish pioneer priest, Father John Joseph Therry (1790 - 1864).

Fr Therry was ordained as a priest in Ireland in 1815, the same year that Pope Pius VII instituted the feast of Our Lady, Help of Christians. Fr Therry had heard that Catholic convicts in Australia were without a priest to minister to them, and let it be known that he would be willing to go there as a missionary. On 5 December 1819 he sailed to Sydney with another priest, Father Philip Conolly, as a companion. They arrived at Sydney on 3 May 1820. Fr Therry assumed responsibility for the planning and initial construction of the Cathedral. The foundation stone was laid in October 1821.

The Cathedral's full name is the Cathedral Church and Minor Basilica of the Immaculate Mother of God, Help of Christians.

Statue of Our Lady of Fatima, Procession in Sydney, Australia, October 2019

In 1988 a Sri Lankan immigrant Ruth Ponniah (1933-2021) wrote a Christian verse as part of her local church's bicentennial celebrations. This verse is sometimes sung by independent Christian schools as a replacement to the second verse when they sing the national anthem.

A Christian Anthem for Australia

Our Lady of Succour, Giovanni Pagani (da Monte Rubiano) c. 1506

This Webpage first posted on Wednesday 26 January 2022, Australia Day Holiday.

Immaculate Queen of Peace, pray for us.

Immaculata Regina Pacis, ora pro nobis.