Subj : May 24th - Our Lady, Help of Christians To : All From : rich Date : Fri May 22 2020 10:23:49 From: rich May 24th - Our Lady, Help of Christians (1815) 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 Chris= t, superior before God to his own. A decree of the emperor in 1809 had ordered that the papal States be joined to the French empire; violence followed in Rome, when the French tricolor flag was set up and the papal arms broken. The Pope=E2=80= =99s very courageous bull of excommunication of the emperor was made public in the following month. Then, one morning, a group of armed men entered the Quirinal Palace by breaking down the doors with axes, and its leader announced that the pope must either renounce his sovereignty over Rome or be taken by the troop to a French General, who would communicate to him his next destination. The sacrilegious seizure of his person was executed, and he spent five years in exile in various places, finally at Fontainebleau, France. After 1815 the clemency of the great Pope towards the Emperor and his family are a matter of history; the latter were afforded a secure refuge in Rome itself, when Napoleon was exiled. And for the Emperor himself, relegated to the island of Saint Helena, the Pope pleaded for clemency with the Prince-Regent of England. When Napoleon died, it was with the assistance of chaplains sent to him by Pius VII. Our Lady, Help of Christians, was made better known by Saint John Bosco, who consecrated his Order of Salesian priests to Her. And in Turin, beginning in 1865, he began to raise in Her honor a vast and magnificent church. Without ever having a penny in advance, always the needed sums of money arrived in time. About three-fourths of the gifts offered were presented in thanksgiving for favors obtained through Her intercession. We will relate just one of those. A certain Senator of the Kingdom of Italy was ill; Don Bosco went to visit him and found him very discouraged and speaking of his imminent death. =E2=80=9CWhat would you do,= =E2=80=9D said Don Bosco, =E2=80=9Cif Our Lady Auxiliatrix obtained your cure from Go= d?=E2=80=9D =E2=80=9CMy cure! Well, I would give two thousand francs a month for Her church, for six months.=E2=80=9D =E2=80=9CBe of good courage,=E2=80=9D said= the Saint on rising; =E2=80=9CI will see that prayers are said for you.=E2=80=9D Three d= ays later, Baron Gotta, perfectly cured, went to Don Bosco to make his first payment, giving more than he had promised; and he did not cease to outdo himself in generosity. Sources: L'histoire eccl=C3=A9siastique, by M. l'Abb=C3=A9 = Darras (Louis Viv=C3=A8s: Paris, 1888), Vol. 40; Les deux intendants de la Providence =C3 Turin (Joseph Cottolengo and Don Bosco) (Librairie St. Paul: Paris, 1904). <><><><> Blessed are the meek, for they shall possess the earth. --Matt. 5:4 =C2 "The only consideration of Superiors ought to be the love of God, and the sanctification of the souls committed to their care. This cannot be better attained than by humility, combined with a peaceable disposition and good example" --St. Vincent de Paul ("A Year with the Saints".=C2 May -- Meekness) Bible Quote 4 And eating together with them, he commanded them, that they should not depart from Jerusalem, but should wait for the promise of the Father, which you have heard (saith he) by my mouth. 5 For John indeed baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost, not many days hence.=C2 (Acts 1:4-5) <><><><> To Prevent One Mortal Sin If every day we begged Mary for grace to hinder one mortal sin, What a year's service to god and souls! O MARY, Immaculate Mother of Jesus, we beseech thee, offer to the Eternal Father the Precious Blood of Thy Divine Son, to prevent at least one mortal sin from being committed somewhere in the world today. =C2 Amen. --- NewsGate v1.0 gamma 2 * Origin: News Gate @ Net396 -Huntsville, AL - USA (1:396/4) .