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Prayer to Mary, Help of Christians

1 min

O Mary, powerful Virgin,

You great illustrious garrison of the Church;

You the marvelous help of Christians;

You terrible as an army arrayed in battle;

You alone have destroyed every heresy

throughout the world;

You in distress, in strife, in hardship

defend us from the enemy and at the hour of death

receive our soul in Paradise!

Amen

About this prayer

St. John Bosco's prayer to Mary, Help of Christians: the powerful Virgin, defender of the Church, asked to guard us in every struggle and to receive our soul at the hour of death.

History

The title *Auxilium Christianorum* is old, but the feast of Mary, Help of Christians on 24 May was instituted by Pius VII in 1815, in thanksgiving for his return to Rome from Napoleon's captivity. St. John Bosco (1815–1888) made her the patroness of his work, built her basilica in Turin (1868), and named his sisters the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians. This short prayer is attributed to him and is prayed throughout the Salesian Family, especially in the novena before her feast.

ADMA / Salesians of Don Bosco, *"O Mary, Powerful Virgin": Novena in preparation for the Feast of Mary Help of Christians* (2021) — [archive.sdb.org](https://archive.sdb.org/Documenti/Santita/preghiere/pdf/Novena_MA_2021_en.pdf). Italian: same novena — [archive.sdb.org](https://archive.sdb.org/Documenti/Santita/preghiere/pdf/Novena_MA_2021_it.pdf)

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