Mary, Help of Christians, I know you do all in your power to save my soul. May I also do my part and allow you to save me. If I fall into sin, obtain for me the grace of repentance. If I am tempted, give me help to fight with determination against the temptation that I may overcome it. Be with me especially in the hour of my death, when the devil will put forth every effort to win my soul. Amen Sub tuum praesidium confugimus, Sancta Dei Genetrix. Nostras deprecationes ne despicias in necessitatibus, sed a periculis cunctis libera nos semper, Virgo gloriosa et benedicta. Amen We fly to thy patronage, O holy Mother of God; despise not our petitions in our necessities, but deliver us always from all dangers, O glorious and blessed Virgin. Amen. Mary Help of Christians - Pray for us. 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
Most Holy and Immaculate Virgin, Help of Christians, we place ourselves under your motherly protection. Throughout the Church's history you have helped Christians in times of trial, temptation and danger. Time and time again, you have proven to be the Refuge of Sinners, the Hope of the Hopeless, the Consoler of the Afflicted, and the Comforter of the Dying. We promise to be faithful disciples of Jesus Christ, your Son, to proclaim His Good News of God's love for all people, and to work for peace and justice in our world. With faith in your intercession, we pray for the Church, for our family and friends, for the poor and abandoned, and all the dying. Grant, O Mary, Help of Christians, the graces of which we stand in need. (Mention your request) May we serve Jesus with fidelity and love until death. Help us and our loved ones to attain the boundless joy of being forever with our Father in Heaven. Amen Mary Help of Christians - Pray for us. O Mary, Help of Christians, show yourself the Protectress of the Catholic Church and destroy the wicked designs of her enemies, especially in these times of persecution. Mary, we invoke you as the Help of Christians because you afford help to Christians even in all temporal needs. If, without being asked, you do so much, what will you do if we invoke your aid? Though you are now enthroned in heaven, you still take an interest in our misery and relieve our wants. You are still the Mother of God in heaven as you were on earth; Jesus, Who is Omnipotence Itself, remains your Son for all eternity. Your love for us is now even more intense and more compassionate, because you know our misery better in heaven than you did in this mortal life. You obtain sweet rest for all who are laden with trouble and pain; you give comfort to the afflicted and healing to the sick. Mary, Help of Christians, give me an unbounded confidence in you. You can help me, for your prayer is all-powerful with God, and you will help me, for you are my Mother and you love me as your child.
Let me pray to you with a pure and penitent heart, for I cannot expect help from you if I continue to offend your dear Son and even crucify Him again by my sins. I wish to beg your help with perseverance, even though for some time I may receive no help. I know you will grant my petition at the right time. Teach me to pray with resignation to the will of God, Who knows what is best for me. Obtain for me at least the grace of bearing my cross with patience. In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen Prayer to Our Lady Help of Christians Mary, Powerful Virgin, you are the mighty and glorious protector of the Holy Church. You are the marvelous Help of Christians. You are awe inspiring as an army in battle array; you alone have destroyed every heresy in the whole world. In the midst of our anguish, struggle, and distress, defend us from the power of the enemy, and at the hour of our death, receive our souls in Paradise. Amen. (St. John Bosco) O Mother, grant me the grace to grow daily more and more in love, for your title of Help of Christians, and grant me as you did to your servant, Saint John Bosco, your special protection and help through life. Amen. Mary Help of Christians - Pray for us. Novena to Mary Help of Christians After the meditation and supplication for each day, pray three times: Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory Be, Blessed be and thanks be given to Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament, Hail Holy Queen, Mary, Help of Christians, pray for us. Then say the closing prayer. On any day of the novena, go to Confession and receive Holy Communion. (St. John Bosco recommended especially performing this step on the final day of the novena.) On any day of the novena, perform an act of charity for those in need. If possible, the novena should be said in front of the blessed sacrament.
Day 1 Meditation: Mary s faith and acceptance of the Word of God Supplication: O Mary, powerful help of those Christians who approach the throne of your mercy with trust! Listen to the prayers of your children who invoke your help to avoid sin and the occasions of sin. Day 2 Meditation: Mary s sincere humility Supplication: O Mary most holy, kind and merciful mother, with your visible help you freed the Christian people from the ferocious assaults of the enemy. Free our souls from the attacks of the devil, the world, and the flesh, so that we may always overcome the enemies of our salvation. Day 3 Meditation: Mary s active charity Supplication: Most powerful Queen of heaven, you triumphed over heresies which sought to tear your children away from the Church. Come to our assistance so that we may remain steadfast in our faith and may guard the purity of our hearts in the midst of the many dangers that beset us. Day 4 Meditation: Mary s filial love for God Supplication: Mary, our most amiable Mother, you are the Queen of martyrs because of the heroic courage and strength you exercised on earth. Obtain for us the strength we need to be constant in your service and always to show ourselves your devoted children in life and in death. Day 5 Meditation: Mary s gratitude for God s gifts Supplication: Loving Mother Mary, you showed your powerful protection in the triumph of Pope Pius VII. Spread your mantle over the Church; and protect our Shepherd, the Holy Father, from the attacks of the enemy, free him from all attacks, and assist him always as he steers the bark of St. Peter to safety. Day 6 Meditation: Mary s gratitude shown in her offering at the temple Supplication: Mary, Queen of the Apostles, take under your protection all the ministers and the faithful of the Catholic Church. Fill them with a burning zeal for the salvation of souls, and give special assistance to missionaries so that they may succeed to attract all souls to faith in Jesus Christ and thus form one flock under the guidance of one Shepherd. Day 7 Meditation: Mary s poverty accepted with dignity and with trust in the Lord Supplication: Loving and merciful Mother, you saved Christians from countless misfortunes. Free us from the plague of infidelity which seeks to alienate us from the Church and religious observances. Grant perseverance to the good, give strength to the weak, and move sinners to
repentance, so that truth and the Kingdom of Jesus Christ may triumph in the world. Day 8 Meditation: Mary s prayer in the apostolic community Supplication: Mary, Pillar of the Church and Help of Christians, we beg to keep us firmly rooted in our faith and to protect in us our freedom as children of God. We promise not to stain our souls with sin and to obey our Holy Father and the Bishops in communion with him. We want to live and die in the bosom of the Church and to attain eternal salvation. Day 9 Meditation: Mary, Mother of Jesus and our Mother Supplication: Most loving Mother Mary, you have always been the Help of Christians. Help us with your powerful protection in life and especially at the hour of our death, so that, after having loved and venerated you on earth, we may come to proclaim your mercy in heaven. Closing Prayer: Almighty and merciful Lord, in a marvelous manner you deigned to make the most holy Virgin Mary a powerful helper in defense of Christians. Grant that, having fought the good fight under her protection during our life, we may be victorious over our infernal enemy at the hour of our death. We make this prayer through Christ our Lord. Amen. Mary Help of Christians As Mother of God's children, before the Wedding at Cana, Mary has responded to God s grace by helping Christians throughout the ages. She has done this by coming to the aid of individuals, families, towns, kingdoms and nations. The invocation Auxilium Christianorum (Help of Christians) gained prominence in the sixteenth century. It is believed that Pope St. Pius V inserted the title of Help of Christians in the Litany of Loreto in 1571. In 1815, Pope Pius VII established the feast of Our Lady Help of Christians in gratitude for his release from captivity on May 24. Being held captive by Napoleon s forces he organized a Rosary Novena among the faithful to Our Lady Help of Christians for his liberation. In 1893, Abbot-Bishop Leo Haid, O.S.B. opened the Belmont Abbey Basilica of Maryhelp under the patronage of Mary Help of Christians on December 17 th with the Mass of Gaudette Sunday. Since 1884 a mission existed in Shelby served by the monks of Mary Help of Christians Abbey in Belmont. On July 11, 1937, the feast day of St. Benedict, the stone church was blessed. The cornerstone bearing the inscription UIOGD BVM an abbreviation of the Belmont abbey motto Ut In Omnibus Glorificetur Deus - That in all things God may be glorified. The dedication of the current St. Mary, Help of Christians was officially celebrated by Bishop John Donoghue on May 24, 1992 the feast day of Mary Help of Christians.
Traditional Memorare Remember O Most Gracious Virgin Mary that never was it known that anyone who fled to thy protection, implored thy help, or sought thy intercession was left unaided. Inspired by this confidence we fly unto you O Virgin of Virgins, Our Mother. To you do we come, before you we stand, sinful and sorrowful. O Mother of the Word Incarnate, despise not our petitions. But, in thy mercy, hear and answer us. Totus Tuus Totally yours, Immaculate Conception, Mary my Mother, Live in me, Act in me, Speak in me and through me, Think your thoughts in my mind, Love through my heart, Give me your dispositions and feelings, Teach, lead me and guide me to Jesus, Correct, enlighten and expand my thoughts and behavior, Possess my soul, Take over my entire personality and life, replace it with Yourself, Incline me to constant adoration, Pray in me and through me, Let me live in you and keep me in this union always. Blessed John Paul II By her maternal charity, she cares for the brethren of her Son, who still journey on earth surrounded by dangers and difficulties, until they are led into their blessed home. Therefore the Blessed Virgin is invoked in the Church under the titles of Advocate, Helper, Benefactress, and Mediatrix. [LG 62]