Today is the Feast of Our Lady Help of Christians.
Pope Pius VII, after he returned to Rome in 1815 from several years of captivity imposed by the emperor Napoleon Bonaparte, instituted this feast day in honor of the assistance which the Blessed Virgin had accorded the Church. The occasion of the Pope's exile and captivity was the emperor's resistance to the authority of the Vicar of Christ, superior before God to his own.
From the Liturgical Year by Dom Gueranger, 1880:
Ever since our entrance upon the joys of the Paschal season, scarcely a day has passed without the Calendar's offering us some grand Mystery or saint to honor; and all these have been radiant with the Easter sun.
But of our Blessed Lady, there has not been a single Feast to gladden our hearts by telling us of some mystery or glory of this august Queen. The Feast of her Seven Dolors is sometimes kept in April,–that is, when Easter Sunday falls on or after the 10th of that month; but May and June pass without any special solemnity in honor of the Mother of God. It would seem as though Holy Church wished to honor, by a respectful silence, the forty days during which Mary enjoyed the company of her Jesus, after His Resurrection.
We, therefore, should never separate the Mother and the Son, if we would have our Easter meditations be in strict accordance with truth,–and that, we surely must wish. During those forty days, Jesus frequently visited His disciples, weak men and sinners as they were: could He, then, keep away from His Mother, when He was so soon to ascend into heaven, and leave her for several long years here on earth? Our hearts forbid us to entertain the thought. We feel sure that He frequently visited her, and that, when not visibly present with her, she had Him in her soul, in a way more intimate and real and delicious than any other creature could have.
No Feast could have given expression to such a mystery; and yet the Holy Ghost, who guides the spirit of the Church, has gradually led the faithful to devote the entire month of May to the special honor of Mary, the whole of which comes, almost every year, under the glad season of Easter.
No doubt the loveliness of the May month would, some time or other, suggest the idea of consecrating it to the Holy Mother of God; but if we reflect on the divine and mysterious influence which guides the Church in all she does, we shall recognize, in this present instance, a heavenly inspiration, which prompted the faithful to unite their own joy with that of Mary's, and spend this beautiful month, which is radiant with their own Easter joy, in commemorating the maternal delight experienced, during that same period, by the Immaculate Mother when on earth.
Today, however, we have a Feast in honor of Mary. True, it is not one of those Feasts which are entered on the general Calendar of the Church; yet it is so widely spread, and this with the consent of the holy See, that our Liturgical Year would have been incomplete without it.
Its object is to honor the Mother of God as the Help of Christians,–a title she has justly merited by the innumerable favors she has conferred upon Christendom. Dating from that day, whose anniversary we have so lately celebrated, on which the Holy Ghost descended upon Mary in the Cenacle, in order that she might begin to exercise over the Church Militant her power as Queen,–who could tell the number of times that she has aided, by her protection, the kingdom of her Son on earth?
Heresies have risen up, one after the other; they were violent; they were frequently supported by the great ones of this world; each of them was resolved on the destruction of the true Faith; and yet, one after the other, they have dwindled away, or fallen into impotency, or are gradually sinking by internal discord; and holy Church tells us that it is “Mary alone who destroys all heresies throughout the whole world.”
If public scandals or persecutions, or the tyranny of secular interference, have, at times, threatened to stay the progress of the Church, Mary has stretched forth her arm, the obstacles were removed, and Jesus' Spouse continued her onward march, leaving her foes and her fetters behind her. All this was vividly brought before the mind of the saintly Pontiff, Pius the Fifth, by the victory of Lepanto, gained, by Mary's intercession, over the Turkish fleet, and he resolved to add one more title to the glorious ones given to Our Lady in the Litany: the title he added was, “Auxilium Christianorum,” Help of Christians.
Our present century, the 19th, has had the happiness of seeing another Pontiff, also named Pius, institute a Feast under this same title–a Feast which is intended to commemorate the help bestowed on Christendom, in all ages, by the Mother of God. Nothing could be happier than the choice of the day on which this Feast was to be kept. On the 24th of May, in the year 1814, there was witnessed in Rome the most magnificent triumph that has yet been recorded in the annals of the Church. That was a grand day, being the anniversary of the date whereon Constantine marked out the foundations for the Vatican Basilica, in honor of the Prince of the Apostles; Sylvester stood by and blessed the Emperor, who had just been converted to the true Faith: but important as was this event, it was but a sign of the last and decisive victory won by the Church in the then recent persecution of Dioclesian.
That was a memorable day whereon Leo the Third, Vicar of the King of kings, crowned Charlemagne with the imperial diadem, and, by his apostolic power, gave continuance to the long interrupted line of emperors: but Leo the Third, by this, did but give an official and solemn expression to the power which the Church had already frequently exercised in the newly constituted nations, which received from her the idea of Christian government, the consecration of their rights, and the grace that was to enable them to fulfil their duties. That was a joyous day, whereon Gregory the Ninth took back to the City of Peter the Papal throne, which had been pent up at Avignon for seventy sad years; but Gregory the Ninth, in this, did but fulfil a duty, and his predecessors, had they willed it, might have effected this return to Rome, which the necessities of Christendom so imperatively called for.
Yes, these were all glorious days; but the 24th of May, of 1814, surpasses them all. Pius the Seventh re-entered Rome amidst the acclamations of the Holy City, whose entire population went forth to meet him holding palm branches in their hands, and greeting him with their hosannas of enthusiastic joy. He had been a captive for five years, during which the spiritual government of the Christian world had suffered a total suspension. It was not the Allied Powers, who had made common cause against his oppressor, that broke the Pontiffs fetters; the very tyrant who kept him from Rome, had given him permission to return at the close of the preceding year; but the Pontiff chose his own time, and did not leave Fontainebleau till the 25th of January. Rome, whither he was about to return, had been made a part of the French Empire five years previously, and by a Decree in which was cited the name of Charlemagne.
The city of Peter had been reduced to a head-town of a department, with a Prefect for its administrator; and, with a view to making men forget that it was the City of the Vicars of Christ, its name was given as a title to the heir-presumptive of the Imperial crown of France. What a day that 24th of May, which witnessed the triumphant return of the Pontiff into the Holy City, whence he had been dragged, during the night, by the soldiers of an ambitious tyrant! He made the journey in short stages, meeting on his way the allied armies of Europe, which recognized his right as King. This right is superior, both in antiquity and dignity, to that of all other monarchs; and all, no matter whether they be heretics, schismatics, or Catholics, must admit it, were it only on the strength of its being an historical fact.
But what we have so far said is not sufficient to give an adequate idea of the greatness of the prodigy thus achieved by Our Lady, the Help of Christians. In order to have a just appreciation of it, we must remember that the miracle was not wrought in the age of Sylvester and Constantine, or of St. Leo the Third and Charlemagne, or of the great prophetess Catharine of Siena, who made known the commands of God to the people of Italy and to the Popes of Avignon.
The age that witnessed this wondrous event was the 19th, and that, too, when it was under the degrading influence of Voltairianism, and there were still living the authors and abettors of the crimes and impieties that resulted from the principles taught in the 18th century. Everything was adverse to such a glorious and unexpected triumph; Catholic feeling was far from being roused as it now is; the action of God's providence had to show itself in a direct and visible manner; and to let the Christian world know that such was the case, Rome instituted the annual Feast of the 24th of May as an offering of acknowledgment to Mary, the Help of Christians.
Let us, then, give thanks to the Blessed Mother of God on this feast of the twenty-fourth day of May, which has been instituted in commemoration of the twofold blessing she thus brought upon the world–the preservation of the Church, and the preservation of society.
Let us unite in the fervent acclamations of the then loyal citizens of Rome, and like them, sing with all the glad joy of our Easter Alleluia, our greetings of Hosanna to the Vicar of Christ–the Father of that dear Land, our common Country. The remembrance of St Peter's deliverance from prison, and his restoration to liberty, must have been vividly in the minds of that immense concourse of people, whose love for their Pontiff was redoubled by the sufferings he had endured. As the triumphal chariot, in which he had been placed, came near the Flaminian Gate, the horses were unyoked, and the Pontiff was conveyed by the people to the Vatican Basilica, where a solemn thanksgiving was made over the tomb of the Prince of the Apostles.
Credits : Regina Magazine With Editing By Me
Pope Pius VII, after he returned to Rome in 1815 from several years of captivity imposed by the emperor Napoleon Bonaparte, instituted this feast day in honor of the assistance which the Blessed Virgin had accorded the Church. The occasion of the Pope's exile and captivity was the emperor's resistance to the authority of the Vicar of Christ, superior before God to his own.
From the Liturgical Year by Dom Gueranger, 1880:
Ever since our entrance upon the joys of the Paschal season, scarcely a day has passed without the Calendar's offering us some grand Mystery or saint to honor; and all these have been radiant with the Easter sun.
But of our Blessed Lady, there has not been a single Feast to gladden our hearts by telling us of some mystery or glory of this august Queen. The Feast of her Seven Dolors is sometimes kept in April,–that is, when Easter Sunday falls on or after the 10th of that month; but May and June pass without any special solemnity in honor of the Mother of God. It would seem as though Holy Church wished to honor, by a respectful silence, the forty days during which Mary enjoyed the company of her Jesus, after His Resurrection.
We, therefore, should never separate the Mother and the Son, if we would have our Easter meditations be in strict accordance with truth,–and that, we surely must wish. During those forty days, Jesus frequently visited His disciples, weak men and sinners as they were: could He, then, keep away from His Mother, when He was so soon to ascend into heaven, and leave her for several long years here on earth? Our hearts forbid us to entertain the thought. We feel sure that He frequently visited her, and that, when not visibly present with her, she had Him in her soul, in a way more intimate and real and delicious than any other creature could have.
No Feast could have given expression to such a mystery; and yet the Holy Ghost, who guides the spirit of the Church, has gradually led the faithful to devote the entire month of May to the special honor of Mary, the whole of which comes, almost every year, under the glad season of Easter.
No doubt the loveliness of the May month would, some time or other, suggest the idea of consecrating it to the Holy Mother of God; but if we reflect on the divine and mysterious influence which guides the Church in all she does, we shall recognize, in this present instance, a heavenly inspiration, which prompted the faithful to unite their own joy with that of Mary's, and spend this beautiful month, which is radiant with their own Easter joy, in commemorating the maternal delight experienced, during that same period, by the Immaculate Mother when on earth.
Today, however, we have a Feast in honor of Mary. True, it is not one of those Feasts which are entered on the general Calendar of the Church; yet it is so widely spread, and this with the consent of the holy See, that our Liturgical Year would have been incomplete without it.
Its object is to honor the Mother of God as the Help of Christians,–a title she has justly merited by the innumerable favors she has conferred upon Christendom. Dating from that day, whose anniversary we have so lately celebrated, on which the Holy Ghost descended upon Mary in the Cenacle, in order that she might begin to exercise over the Church Militant her power as Queen,–who could tell the number of times that she has aided, by her protection, the kingdom of her Son on earth?
Heresies have risen up, one after the other; they were violent; they were frequently supported by the great ones of this world; each of them was resolved on the destruction of the true Faith; and yet, one after the other, they have dwindled away, or fallen into impotency, or are gradually sinking by internal discord; and holy Church tells us that it is “Mary alone who destroys all heresies throughout the whole world.”
If public scandals or persecutions, or the tyranny of secular interference, have, at times, threatened to stay the progress of the Church, Mary has stretched forth her arm, the obstacles were removed, and Jesus' Spouse continued her onward march, leaving her foes and her fetters behind her. All this was vividly brought before the mind of the saintly Pontiff, Pius the Fifth, by the victory of Lepanto, gained, by Mary's intercession, over the Turkish fleet, and he resolved to add one more title to the glorious ones given to Our Lady in the Litany: the title he added was, “Auxilium Christianorum,” Help of Christians.
Our present century, the 19th, has had the happiness of seeing another Pontiff, also named Pius, institute a Feast under this same title–a Feast which is intended to commemorate the help bestowed on Christendom, in all ages, by the Mother of God. Nothing could be happier than the choice of the day on which this Feast was to be kept. On the 24th of May, in the year 1814, there was witnessed in Rome the most magnificent triumph that has yet been recorded in the annals of the Church. That was a grand day, being the anniversary of the date whereon Constantine marked out the foundations for the Vatican Basilica, in honor of the Prince of the Apostles; Sylvester stood by and blessed the Emperor, who had just been converted to the true Faith: but important as was this event, it was but a sign of the last and decisive victory won by the Church in the then recent persecution of Dioclesian.
That was a memorable day whereon Leo the Third, Vicar of the King of kings, crowned Charlemagne with the imperial diadem, and, by his apostolic power, gave continuance to the long interrupted line of emperors: but Leo the Third, by this, did but give an official and solemn expression to the power which the Church had already frequently exercised in the newly constituted nations, which received from her the idea of Christian government, the consecration of their rights, and the grace that was to enable them to fulfil their duties. That was a joyous day, whereon Gregory the Ninth took back to the City of Peter the Papal throne, which had been pent up at Avignon for seventy sad years; but Gregory the Ninth, in this, did but fulfil a duty, and his predecessors, had they willed it, might have effected this return to Rome, which the necessities of Christendom so imperatively called for.
Yes, these were all glorious days; but the 24th of May, of 1814, surpasses them all. Pius the Seventh re-entered Rome amidst the acclamations of the Holy City, whose entire population went forth to meet him holding palm branches in their hands, and greeting him with their hosannas of enthusiastic joy. He had been a captive for five years, during which the spiritual government of the Christian world had suffered a total suspension. It was not the Allied Powers, who had made common cause against his oppressor, that broke the Pontiffs fetters; the very tyrant who kept him from Rome, had given him permission to return at the close of the preceding year; but the Pontiff chose his own time, and did not leave Fontainebleau till the 25th of January. Rome, whither he was about to return, had been made a part of the French Empire five years previously, and by a Decree in which was cited the name of Charlemagne.
The city of Peter had been reduced to a head-town of a department, with a Prefect for its administrator; and, with a view to making men forget that it was the City of the Vicars of Christ, its name was given as a title to the heir-presumptive of the Imperial crown of France. What a day that 24th of May, which witnessed the triumphant return of the Pontiff into the Holy City, whence he had been dragged, during the night, by the soldiers of an ambitious tyrant! He made the journey in short stages, meeting on his way the allied armies of Europe, which recognized his right as King. This right is superior, both in antiquity and dignity, to that of all other monarchs; and all, no matter whether they be heretics, schismatics, or Catholics, must admit it, were it only on the strength of its being an historical fact.
But what we have so far said is not sufficient to give an adequate idea of the greatness of the prodigy thus achieved by Our Lady, the Help of Christians. In order to have a just appreciation of it, we must remember that the miracle was not wrought in the age of Sylvester and Constantine, or of St. Leo the Third and Charlemagne, or of the great prophetess Catharine of Siena, who made known the commands of God to the people of Italy and to the Popes of Avignon.
The age that witnessed this wondrous event was the 19th, and that, too, when it was under the degrading influence of Voltairianism, and there were still living the authors and abettors of the crimes and impieties that resulted from the principles taught in the 18th century. Everything was adverse to such a glorious and unexpected triumph; Catholic feeling was far from being roused as it now is; the action of God's providence had to show itself in a direct and visible manner; and to let the Christian world know that such was the case, Rome instituted the annual Feast of the 24th of May as an offering of acknowledgment to Mary, the Help of Christians.
Let us, then, give thanks to the Blessed Mother of God on this feast of the twenty-fourth day of May, which has been instituted in commemoration of the twofold blessing she thus brought upon the world–the preservation of the Church, and the preservation of society.
Let us unite in the fervent acclamations of the then loyal citizens of Rome, and like them, sing with all the glad joy of our Easter Alleluia, our greetings of Hosanna to the Vicar of Christ–the Father of that dear Land, our common Country. The remembrance of St Peter's deliverance from prison, and his restoration to liberty, must have been vividly in the minds of that immense concourse of people, whose love for their Pontiff was redoubled by the sufferings he had endured. As the triumphal chariot, in which he had been placed, came near the Flaminian Gate, the horses were unyoked, and the Pontiff was conveyed by the people to the Vatican Basilica, where a solemn thanksgiving was made over the tomb of the Prince of the Apostles.
Credits : Regina Magazine With Editing By Me
