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"I can do all things through Him who strengthens me." -
Philippians 4:13
She
Helped at Lepanto. She Helps Now.
The
title Our Lady, Help of Christians, was forged in crisis. In the sixteenth
century, the Ottoman Empire was pressing into Europe with military force,
threatening to overwhelm Christendom from the outside. At the same time, the
Protestant Reformation was dividing the Church from within. The Christian world
felt besieged, and it turned to its Mother.
The title entered the Litany of Loreto in 1571, the very year of the Battle of
Lepanto. Pope Saint Pius V had called all Christendom to pray the Rosary before
the Christian fleet faced the vastly superior Ottoman forces in the Gulf of
Corinth. The outcome defied military logic. The Christian victory was credited
to Our Lady's intercession, and the feast of Our Lady of the Rosary was
established in thanksgiving.
Saint John Bosco, founder of the Salesians, became the great modern champion of
this title. He built the Basilica of Our Lady Help of Christians in Turin as
the mother church of his congregation and experienced her protection in
extraordinary ways throughout his ministry to poor and abandoned youth.
The feast of Our Lady Help of Christians on May 24th is now celebrated on every
continent. Because the Church has never stopped needing help. And she has never
stopped giving it.
Today is also Pentecost Sunday. Mary was in the Upper Room when the Holy Spirit
came down upon the disciples. She is Our Lady Help of Christians because she
was there at the very beginning of what it means to be Christian.
Today's Gospel - Pentecost - John 20:19-23
The
Pentecost Gospel gives us the Risen Lord breathing the Holy Spirit on His
disciples: "Receive the Holy Spirit." It is the fulfillment of
everything He had promised.
Our Lady was there. The one who had first received the Holy Spirit, at the
Annunciation, when the Spirit overshadowed her, was present when the Spirit was
poured out on the whole Church. She did not receive it again for herself. She
was the vessel from which the rivers had already flowed.
Help of Christians. She helped at the Annunciation. She helped at Pentecost.
She helped at Lepanto. She is helping now.
A Prayer
Our
Lady, Help of Christians, invoked across centuries of trial, help us now.
The Church needs you. Families need you. Souls teetering on the edge of despair
need you. Come with the decisive love that turned the tide at Lepanto, that
love that asks nothing of our worthiness but everything of our trust.
Jesus, we trust you. We trust that you hear us. We trust that your help is
already on the way, even before we finish asking.
Help of Christians, pray for us. Mother of the Church, pray for us. Star of the
New Evangelization, pray for us. Amen.
Reflection
She
helped at Lepanto when the military odds were impossible.
What is the situation in your life right now that seems impossible, where the
odds are stacked 100% against you? Have you actually asked Our Lady Help of
Christians to intervene through this with you? Ask today. She specializes in
what seems like impossible odds.
Rosary Man Jim 🌹
Freely given. Freely shared.
