MONDAY, JUNE 17, 2024
Fr Loddy Pires
The Feast of Mary Help of Christians is celebrated the world over on May 24 each year. This feast has historical significance as the Blessed Virgin Mary, the mother of Jesus Christ has defended the Christian armies and given them victory over the enemies of the church.
The Blessed Virgin Mary is the New Eve promised by God, to crush the head of the serpent who tempted the first woman Eve in the Garden of Eden (Book of Genesis in the Holy Bible). She is therefore the Mother of all human kind, given to all in a special way. When Jesus was crucified on the Cross, he gave her to us as our Mother.
Mary is called the Help of Christians because she leads all her children to Jesus Christ. That is her mission, to save the human race from the clutches of Satan.
Don Bosco’s Shrine of Our Lady of Fatima in Panjim, observes this Feast in a solemn manner. The feast preceded by a Novena of 9 days, with the Novena prayers recited at the Masses. The 6 pm Mass was the Solemn Novena Mass with sermon.
The Feast day Masses on May 24 are at 6.30 am, 7.15 am and 6 pm. The evening Mass is a solemn concelebrated Mass with homily and is followed by a procession with the statue of Our Lady carried in procession around the campus and concluding with the Prayer of Consecration and the Blessing of Mary Help of Christians.
The Shrine of Our Lady of Fatima is open to all Catholics as it is not a parish with definite boundaries. People flock to the Shrine for daily Masses and especially on Sundays when Masses are at 6 am, 8 am in Konkani and 7 am, 9 am and 6 pm in English. Every Saturday at Mass, the Perpetual Novena prayers to Mary Help of Christians are recited and the blessing of Mary Help of Christians is imparted to all the faithful.
(Fr Loddy Pires is the director of the Shrine of Our Lady of Fatima, Panjim)
