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The feast of Our Lady, Help of
Christians, was instituted by Pius VII. By order of Napoleon, Pius VII was
arrested, 5 July, 1808, and detained a prisoner for three years at Savona,
and then at Fontainebleau. In January, 1814, after the battle of Leipzig,
he was brought back to Savona and set free, 17 March, on the eve of the
feast of Our Lady of Mercy, the Patroness of Savona. The journey to Rome
was a veritable triumphal march. The pontiff, attributing the victory of
the Church after so much agony and distress to the Blessed Virgin, visited
many of her sanctuaries on the way and crowned her images (e.g. the
"Madonna del Monte" at Cesena, "della Misericordia" at Treja, "della
Colonne" and "della Tempestą" at Tolentino). The people crowded the
streets to catch a glimpse of the venerable pontiff who had so bravely
withstood the threats of Napoleon. He entered Rome, 24 May, 1814, and was
enthusiastically welcomed (McCaffrey, "History of the Catholic Church in
the Nineteenth Cent.", 1909, I, 52). To commemorate his own sufferings and
those of the Church during his exile he extended the feast of the Seven
Dolours of Mary (third Sunday in September) to the universal Church, 18
Sept., 1814. When Napoleon left Elba and returned to Paris, Murat was
about to march through the Papal States from Naples; Pius VII fled to
Savona (22 March, 1815), where he crowned the image of Our Lady of Mercy,
10 May, 1815.
After the Congress of Vienna and the battle of Waterloo he returned to
Rome, 7 July, 1815. To give thanks to God and Our Lady he (15 Sept., 1815)
instituted for the Papal States the feast of Our Lady, Help of Christians,
to be celebrated, 24 May, the anniversary of his first return. The
Dioceses of Tuscany adopted it, 12 Feb., 1816; it has spread nearly over
the entire Latin Church, but is not contained in the universal calendar.
They hymns of the Office were composed by Brandimarte (Chevalier, "Repert.
Hymnolog.", II, 495). This feast is the patronal feast of Australasia, a
double of the first class with an octave (Ordo Australasiae, 1888), and in
accordance with a vow (1891) is celebrated with great splendour in the
churches of the Fathers of the Foreign Missions of Paris. It has attained
special celebrity since St. Dom Bosco, founder of the Salesian
Congregation, 9 June, 868, dedicated to Our Lady, Help of Christians, the
mother church of his congregation at Turin. The Salesian Fathers have
carried the devotion to their numerous establishments.
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