Basilica of Mary Help of Christians

The idea, the architecture and the devotion to Mary

“The second Sunday of October of that year (1844) was to participate in ‘my youngsters, that the Oratory would be transferred to Valdocco. But the uncertainty of the place, the means, the people really left me thinking. The night before I went to bed with a restless heart. That night I made a new dream, which seems to be an addendum to the one I had done for the first time at the Becchi when I was about nine years old …

… I wanted to leave, because it seemed like time to go to celebrate the Holy Mass, but the shepherdess invited me to look at midday. Looking, I saw a field, in which it had been planted meliga, potatoes, cabbage, beets, lettuces and many other weeds. -Look again, she told me. And I looked again, and I saw a beautiful and high Church. An orchestra, an instrumental and vocal music invited me to sing mass. Inside that church was a white band, in which it was written in large letters: HIC DOMUS MEA, INDE GLORIA MEA “.

In the Marian evolution of Don Bosco, after the Madonna Consolata and Immacolata, we reach the devotion to Mary Help of Christians. The idea of building a majestic church in honor of Mary Most Holy is born from the apparent need to accommodate a greater number of faithful. But it is not only historical contingencies that determined Don Bosco’s choice. He feels the title chosen as the most suitable to express his gratitude to the Virgin for the many “aids” received and, together, to invoke their protection on the nascent Congregation. There is also in Don Bosco a strong pastoral and pedagogical underlining: Mary is help in the journey of life to overcome the assaults of sin, to be freed from all forms of evil (spiritual, moral and physical) and above all to implement good.

Don Bosco, even without a minimal economic basis, is convinced that «it is Our Lady who wants the Church; it will think to pay». The Sanctuary built by Don Bosco, with a Latin cross, was very sober and bare, without marbles and decorations on the walls. Even the only dome was whitewashed. The architect Spezia was inspired by the facade of San Giorgio Maggiore in Venice designed by Palladio.Inside the Basilica, today we find: the main altar, the painting of Ausiliatrice, the major and minor domes, the two side chapels of the presbytery, the stands on the side chapels, the gallery behind the high altar, the sacristy and the Statue of Mary Help of Christians.

The Great Picture of the Basilica

The painting was designed by Don Bosco who spoke to the painter Lorenzone as a show already seen: the painter pointed out that, to paint such a picture, it would take a square and, to contain it, a church as big as Piazza Castello.

Don Bosco resigned himself to seeing his plan reduced. So he described it: “The Virgin stands in a sea of light and majesty. And surrounded by a host of Angels, who offer her respect as their Queen. With her right hand she holds the scepter that is a symbol of her power, with the left holding the Child who has his arms open, thus offering his graces and his mercy to those who appeal to his august Genitor. And surrounded by a host of Angels, who offer her respect as their Queen. With her right hand she holds the scepter that is a symbol of her power, with the left holding the Child who has his arms open, thus offering his graces and his mercy to those who appeal to his august Genitor.

With her right hand she holds the scepter that is a symbol of her power, with the left holding the Child who has his arms open, thus offering his graces and his mercy to those who appeal to his august Genitor. Around and below are the Holy Apostles and the Evangelists. They are carried away by sweet ecstasy, almost exclaiming: Regina Apostolorum, ora pro nobis, the Saint Virgin is astonished. At the bottom of the painting is the city of Turin, with the sanctuary of Valdocco in the foreground and with the background of Superga. What is most valuable in the picture is the religious idea, which generates a devout impression in those who see it “.

According to the description given by Don Bosco, the painting is an effective representation of the title “Mary, Mother of the Church”. And a great page of Marian catechesis. Mary, as Mother of the Son of God, is the Queen of heaven and earth: the whole Church, represented by the Apostles and the Saints, acclaims her Mother and powerful Help of Christians.

“The History and the Dream made in 1844 … ”

In saying this, I advanced a foot, placing it on the spot where martyrdom occurred and pointed it out to me with precision … In the meantime I saw myself surrounded by an immense and ever-increasing number of young people; but looking at the Lady, the vehicles and the premises grew, and then I saw a very large church, precisely on the spot where I had seen the martyrdom of the saints of the Legion of Thee, with many buildings all around and with a beautiful monument in the middle”. (The monument in front of the Sanctuary is there and it is just for … him!).

The stages were therefore all planned: first “the small and low church” or the Pinardi chapel in 1846; then “the other much larger church …” ie the Church of St. Francis de Sales in 1852 and finally the church of Mary Help of Christians with “inside a white band, with the inscription in large letters:” Hic domus mea, inde gloria mea “: Here is my home, hence my glory.

The desire to obey the voice of Our Lady and to witness veneration and gratitude to her who had given so much proof of benevolence to the nascent Congregation, as well as reasons of pastoral and practical order, led Don Bosco to hasten the times of construction.

Meanwhile, for the purchase of the field and the timber for the fence, 4,000 lire had been spent; the treasurer Don Savio, left without money, advised to wait, but Don Bosco replied:

“Start digging; when did we ever start a work with ready money already? It is good to leave something to Divine Providence “.

The works, entrusted to the enterprise of the master builder Carlo Buzzetti, began in the autumn of 1863. After the excavations, in April 1864, Don Bosco said to the Buzzetti: “I want to give you a down payment for the great works”. So saying he took out the purse, opened it and poured into the hands of Buzzetti what it contained: eight money, not even half a lira.

“Sta’ tranquillo la Madonna penserà a provvedere il denaro necessario per la Sua chiesa”.

Finalmente il 9 giugno 1868, aveva luogo la solenne consacrazione. Furono momenti di commozione intensa per tutti. Il sogno era diventato realtà. La “stupenda ed alta chiesa” era sotto gli occhi di tutti, cresciuta come per miracolo.

Da parte sua, Don Bosco non si attribuiva alcun merito: “Io non sono – diceva – l’autore delle grandi cose che voi vedete: è il Signore, è Maria SS. che degnarono di servirsi di un povero prete per compiere tali opere. Di mio non ci ho messo nulla. Aedificavit sibi domum Maria. E’ Maria che si è costruita la sua casa. Ogni pietra, ogni ornamento segnala una grazia”.
Costruito il santuario, Don Bosco intensificò la sua azione per diffondere nel mondo la devozione alla Madonna Ausiliatrice, Aiuto dei Cristiani.

Altare di San Giovanni Bosco

Don Bosco stesso è ricordato nella chiesa da lui eretta in onore di Maria Ausiliatrice, con un altare, opera dell’architetto Mario Ceradini. E’ un vero monumento, per la grandiosità artistica delle linee e per l’armonia dei marmi. La balaustrata e i gradini dell’altare sono di marmo giallo di Siena. Ai lati due statue del Nori reggono l’una un calice con l’ostia, l’altra un cuore fiammeggiante, simboli della fede e della carità. L’urna di bronzo racchiude la salma di Don Bosco. I paramenti che ricoprono il santo sono stati donati dal Papa Benedetto XV.

E’ uno dei punti di maggiore attrazione del Santuario Basilica di Maria Ausiliatrice. Sono infatti sempre numerosi i pellegrini o semplici fedeli che sostano in riflessione o in preghiera silenziosa davanti all’Urna di Don Bosco. Sono spesso dei genitori che raccomandano i propri figli, piccoli o grandi, al grande Santo della gioventù. Sono anche exallievi ed exallieve, giovani e meno giovani che lo pregano, o anche ragazzi e ragazze, pellegrini o visitatori del Santuario, che raccomandano al loro Santo patrono il proprio presente e futuro.

Orari

È possibile visitare la Basilica di Maria Ausiliatrice tutti i giorni dalle ore 8:00 alle 19:00, compatibilmente con le celebrazioni eucaristiche o momenti di preghiera richiesti dai gruppi.

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