Feast Day: May 24

This statue of Mary, Help of Christians, stands in the Chapel of the Sacred Heart, St. Mary's Cathedral, Sydney, Australia. It was donated in the 19th century. Our Lady [Mary], Help of Christians is Patroness of Australia and the Cathedral was dedicated in her honor by the Irish pioneer priest, Fr. John Therry who arrived in Sydney in 1820 and assumed responsibility for the planning and initial construction of the Cathedral. The foundation stone was laid in October 1821 by the Governor of the Colony of New South Wales, [now the State of NSW in Australia], Lachlan Macquarie.

An original image of Our Lady, Help of Christians, is a miraculous one and is located in Canungra, Queensland. Through the prayers of the people there, who had no regular Mass in 1979, to Our Lady, at the Shrine built in her honor, Our Lady provided a chapel where daily Mass was said beginning on the Feast of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, September 8 [1989] and from then on. There is also a grotto dedicated to Our Lady of Fatima there.

We were unable to locate an image of scanning quality until we went to Australia for our son's ordination to the Holy Priesthood. The altar where he said his first Mass also holds a statue of Our Lady, Help of Christians. Because She acquired the daily Mass for the people in Canungra, we can say without doubt that she is interested in priests who say the Mass. If you are praying for vocations, go to Our Lady, Help of Christians, whether you are Australian or not.

This entire page is dedicated to the Maternal Heart of Mary Community in Lewisham, whose members' dedication and efforts on behalf of the traditional Mass is without parallel anywhere in the world. The work they are accomplishing in the diocese of Paramatta, Australia is truly the work of God. We do not possess the words with which to thank them for all that they have done to further the Roman Mass and traditional Catholic life, but we can put this little page together as our small tribute to so large an apostolate. We hesitate to mention names as we met so many we cannot remember each one and are afraid to offend anyone. But we would like to especially thank Stephen Smith, Director of the Schola Cantorum Sanctae Cruscis and its members, Camilia O' Hare and her women friends who put on a sumptuous feast for the Ordination festivities after the Ceremonial, Greg Stanton, an attorney and faithful altar server, and who provided a generous gift to this web site's image gallery, an exquisite book of the master painter, del Sarto, featuring mostly religious works, of Madonnas, Saints, and the Holy Family, Fr. Terence Mary Naughtin OFM Conv., Fr. Laurence Gresser and Fr. Glen Tattersall, both of the FSSP, Fr. John Walshe, Fr. John Parsons, Fr. Gerard Diamond [pastor, St. Anthony of Padua Parish, Glen Huntley], Fr. Kim Holland, Mr. Joseph Kramer, FSSP, Mr. John Gresser and his wonderful family, Leslie and Bill Hladik and their five beautiful children, Meg, Michael, Frank and so many more such as all the altar servers.

And most especially we thank those members of the Holy Priesthood who are members in spirit of this blessed and happy community: Bishop Kevin Manning, Ordinary of Parramatta, Fr. Devillers, Superior-General, FSSP, Fr. Price of New Zealand, Fr. Rizzo, Superior of the FSSP-Australia and all the priests who came in support of the two newly ordained priests [Fr. Fongemie and Tattersall].

May God continue to bless your community's efforts and may you all be counted among the Saints of Heaven.

With all our love and gratitude and our prayers,
Catholic Tradition, website of Fr. Fongemie's parents.
 

Supplication to the Immaculata
 

Queen of the most holy Rosary, Help of Christians, refuge of the human race, victorious in all the battles of God, we prostrate ourselves in supplication before thy throne, in the sure hope of obtaining mercy and of receiving grace and timely aid in our present calamities, not through any merits of our own on which we do not rely, but only through the immense goodness of thy mother's Heart. In thee and in thy Immaculate Heart, at this grave hour of human history, do we put our trust; to thee we consecrate ourselves, not only with all of Holy Church, which is the mystical body of thy Son Jesus, and which is suffering in so many of her members, being subjected to manifold tribulations and persecutions, but also with the whole world, torn by discords, agitated with hatred, the victim of its own iniquities.

Be thou moved by the sight of such material and moral degradation, such sorrows, such anguish, so many tormented souls in danger of eternal loss! Do thou, O Mother of mercy, obtain for us from God a Christ-like reconciliation of the nations, as well as those graces which can convert the souls of men in an instant, those graces which prepare the way and make certain the long desired coming of peace on earth. O Queen of peace, pray for us, and grant peace unto the world in the truth, the justice, and the charity of Christ. Above all, give us peace in our hearts, so that the kingdom of God may spread its borders in the tranquillity of order . Accord thy protection to unbelievers and to all those who lie within the shadow of death; cause the Sun of Truth to rise upon them; may they be enabled to join with us in repeating before the Savior of the world:

"Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men of good will."

Give peace to the nations that are separated from us by error or discord, and in a special manner to those peoples who profess a singular devotion toward thee; bring them back to Christ's one fold, under the one true Shepherd. Obtain full freedom for the holy Church of God; defend her from her enemies; check the ever-increasing torrent of immorality; arouse in the faithful a love of purity, a practical Christian life, and an apostolic zeal, so that the multitude of those who serve God may increase in merit and in number.  Ask thy Son to send us holy priests and in numbers to serve the needs of the Catholic faithful. Be thou the mother of priests and seminarians, keeping them pure, devoted to thee and thy Son, maintain them as men set apart  and exclusive for serving the Holy Trinity and thee. Do not let the torrents of worldly woes touch them. And give us a more tender love for thy Immaculate Heart so that we may draw closer to thee and to them by praying for them faithfully.

O Mary, Mother most pure, through whose compassion we have received the holiest of priests; O glorious Patriarch, St. Joseph, perfect model of cooperation with the Divine call; O holy priests, who in Heaven compose a choice choir about the Lamb of God: obtain for us many goof vocations in order that the Lord's flock, through the support and government of vigilant shepherds, may attain yo the enjoyment of the most delightful pastures of eternal happiness.

Finally, even as the Church and all mankind were once consecrated to the Heart of thy Son Jesus, because He was for all those who put their hope in Him an inexhaustible source of victory and salvation, so in like manner do we consecrate ourselves forever to thee also and to thy Immaculate Heart, O Mother of us and Queen of the world; may thy love and patronage hasten the day when the kingdom of God shall be victorious and all the nations, at peace with God and with one another, shall call thee blessed and intone with thee, from the rising of the sun to its going down, the everlasting "Magnificat" of glory, of love, of gratitude to the Heart of Jesus, in which alone we can find truth, life, and peace.

Based on prayers composed by Pope Pius XII, found in the Raccolta.

Act of Consecration to the Immaculate Heart of Mary

O Mary Help of Christians, Patroness of Australia, Mother of Mercy, Queen of Heaven and earth, refuge of sinners, we consecrate ourselves to thine Immaculate Heart.

To thee we consecrate our country, our families, our hearts, our souls and all that we have.

And in order that this consecration may be truly effective and lasting, we renew today the promise of our Baptism and Confmnation; we undertake to live as good Christians -faithful to God, the Church and the Holy Father. We desire to pray the Rosary, partake in the Holy Eucharist, attach special importance to the first Saturday of the month and work for the conversion of sinners.
Furthermore we promise, O most holy Virgin, that we will zealously spread devotion to thee, so that through our consecration to thine Immaculate Heart and through thine own intercession, the coming of the Kingdom of Christ in the world may be hastened. Amen.

With ecclesiastical approval.

Servants of Mary Help of Christians PO Box 86 Broadway NSW 2007. PH (02) 9212 1457

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