National Shrine of Mary Help of Christians Parish

The National Shrine of Mary Help of Christians is a Roman Catholic Church located in Betterliving, Paranaque City, Philippines. It is dedicated to Mary Help Christians and serves as a national shrine.

History

Following the establishment the Chapel of Mary Help of Christians in Canlubang, Laguna, Philippines as Diocesan Shrine, the Salesian Family fixed their gaze upon building a bigger sanctuary for Mary Help of Christians in the capital region of the Philippines, Metro Manila

So, on the feast day of Mary Help of Christians on May 24, 1972, the Salesians of Don Bosco (SDB) led the groundbreaking of the shrine. The first cornerstone was laid by the then papal nuncio Archbishop Carmine Rocco.

In June of 1975, His Eminence Jaime Cardinal Sin, DD, Archbishop of Manila, created the Parish of Mary Help of Christians. On 24 July 1975, the Parish of Mary Help of Christians was officially inaugurated. The Church was solemnly consecrated on 4 December 1976 during the Silver Jubilee Year celebrations of Salesians' presence in the Philippines.

On 15 August 1985, the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines headed by Archbishop Antonio Mabutas approved the statutes bestowing upon the Church the title of a National Shrine. The Solemn Proclamation took place on 24 August 1985; the solemn mass and official proclamation of the National Shrine were celebrated with Msgr. Bruno Torpigliani, Archbishop Jaime Cardinal Sin, the Salesians, and devotees in attendance.

Devotion to Mary Help of Christians in the Philippines

The mark of the widespread propagation of the devotion to Mary, Help of Christians in the Philippines began with the appointment by Pius XI of Salesian Archbishop Guglielmo (William) Piani on 17 February 1922 as Apostolic Delegate to the Philippines. On 24 May of the same year, he celebrated his first Pontifical Mass at the Basilica of Mary, Help of Christians in Turin, before going to Manila. He arrived in the country on 29 November 1922. Along with him is his secretary, Fr. Luigi La Ravoire Morrow, who is also a Salesian. Along with him is a statue of Mary, Help of Christians, which is a precious gift to him from Fr. Philip Rinaldi, the Salesian Rector Major. The said image was placed at the center of the Delegation House as "the Queen, the Mother, the Delegate!" He would serve the same office as Nuncio to the Philippines for 26 long years, up until 1948.

One could say that the influence and even the devotion to Mary Help of Christians had reached the Philippines even before the arrival of Archbishop Piani in 1922. In the Salesian Bulletin of 1917, it was mentioned that a Salesian Cooperator brought a statue of Mary, Help of Christians, to Manila. Fr. Luigi Versiglia (now canonized saint), on his way back to Macau from Turin, mentioned that he was able to buy a statue of Mary, Help of Christians, in Barcelona while waiting for the ship to leave. On the journey, he met another passenger who is a Salesian Cooperator from Cadiz, Spain, and was bringing with him another statue of Mary, Help of Christians destined for a chapel in Manila… "Oh the good news! Two statues of Mary, Help of Christians destined to spread her cult in these far away countries; one in China, the other in the Philippines!"

During Archbishop Piani's stayed in the country, he was persistent in propagating the devotion to Mary, Help of Christians. His Secretary even recalls that "He propagated the devotion to Mary, Help of Christians, which became popular in the islands. The Association of Mary Help of Christians was organized in many parishes. Some bishops proclaimed Mary, Help of Christians the secondary protectress of their dioceses" Perhaps due to Archbishop Piani's influence, parishes adopted Mary Help of Christians as titular and patroness in different places in the country like Marawi City, Lanao del Sur (1934), San Enrique, Iloilo (1937) and Basista, Pangasinan (1947).

In a letter to Fr. Calogero Gusmano dated 25 July 1924, he requested that the Archconfraternity of Mary Help of Christians in the Philippines be erected and attached to the one in the Mother House in Turin, Italy, and also requested another statue of Our Lady. The Associations' early members had kept "a number of old medals, prayer novenas, uniforms and images of Mary, Help of Christians." A number of these statues still found in some parishes in the Philippines were apparently copies of the original one in the Delegation House at 1195 Marcelo H. del Pilar, Manila in Malate, near the Parish Church of La Nuestra Señora de los Remedios.

In one of his letters to the Rector Major then Fr. Peter Ricaldone, he mentioned that the center of devotion to Mary, Help of Christians, is in the Cathedral of Manila. Quite unknown to many, the Papal Nuncio had brought a statue of Mary, Help of Christians, to Manila. Among the most privileged and prioritized places chosen by Archbishop Piani to enthrone a statue of Mary Help of Christians for veneration was the Manila Cathedral itself. The first chapel on the left facing the main altar was dedicated and named after Her. This was done in coordination with the Archbishop of Manila, Msgr. Michael O 'Doherty (1916-1949)

Aside from Archbishop Piani, the Auxiliary Bishop of Manila, Bishop Cesar Maria Guerrero (1937-1949) is one of the propagators of the devotion to Mary, Help of Christians. He was a Salesian Cooperator and even asked to become the Diocesan Director of Salesian Cooperators in the Archdiocese of Manila.

In 1942, during the beginning of the Japanese occupation, Msgr. Guerrero took the image of Mary Help of Christians from Intramuros and gave it to Fr. Jose Pamintuan (1933-1945), the -then parish priest of Our Lady of Loreto for safekeeping, and gave a clear instruction that every 24th of the month, a mass needs to be celebrated in Her honor, which was faithfully observed up to the present.

When the battle for Manila's liberation from the administration of the Japanese Government erupted on the night of 11 February 1945 (feast of Our Lady of Lourdes), the Japanese soldiers on the brink of defeat started shelling the American forces in the University of Santo Tomas. But the incendiary bombs landed in different directions causing the biggest and worst conflagration in the city. Almost all the historical churches in Intramuros were destroyed by the catastrophe, including the two Franciscan Churches (Loreto and Peregrina) in Sampaloc except the convent housing the priests and the sextons. Based on pious oral tradition, after the said tragedy, some old ladies found an image of the Blessed Mother at the back of the devastated Church. Upon recognizing that it was an image of Mary, Help of Christians, they started to offer Her flowers and candles. Twenty-one (21) ladies took care of the image; some of them were Mrs. Lydia Salonga-David and Mrs. Librada Natividad. When the Church was finally renovated, these maidens brought the image to the present site of the Church of Our Lady of Loreto in Plaza Figueras, Figueras St. (Formerly Bustillos) Sampaloc, Manila, for their continuous veneration and devotion. These ladies started a group called "Maria Auxiliadora Association," which was later affiliated with the Association of Mary Help of Christians. They organized and continuously offered novenas and masses every 24^th day of the month, the liturgical feast of Mary, Help of Christians, and the annual parish-wide celebration during her feast day. Between 1955-1975, the parish commissioned another image of a taller Mary, Help of Christians, that could be used for the succeeding fiesta procession and for the people's veneration. The old image was first kept in a glass cabinet below the belfry and soon after kept at the priests' convent.