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Basilica of Our Lady Help of Christians | |
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Basilica di Santa Maria Ausiliatrice | |
Map of Turin | |
45°04′51″N7°40′33″E / 45.0809°N 7.6759°E | |
Location | Turin |
Country | Italy |
Denomination | Roman Catholic Church |
History | |
Authorising papal bull | 9 June 1868 |
Founded | 1865 |
Architecture | |
Style | Neoclassical |
Completed | 1868 |
Administration | |
Diocese | Turin |
The Basilica of Our Lady Help of Christians (Italian : Basilica di Santa Maria Ausiliatrice) [1] is a Pontifical church and Marian shrine in Turin, Italy. The building was originally part of the safehouse for poor boys cared for by Don Bosco, it now contains the remains of Bosco, and six thousand numbered relics of other Catholic saints. [2]
Pope Pius X raised the shrine to the status of Minor Basilica via the Pontifical decree Anno Reparatæ Salutis on 12 July 1911.[ citation needed ]
John Bosco commissioned the construction of the Basilica of Our Lady Help of Christians in order to coordinate all activities related to the Salesians in the Valdocco suburb. According to legend, a vision of the Blessed Virgin Mary appeared in a dream to Bosco in 1844 or 1845 and revealed the site of the martyrdom of the Turinese saints Solutor, Adventor and Octavius. The church was built on the site of their death and houses the relics of these saints.. [3] [4]
The church was designed by Antonio Spezia, who drew inspiration from the facade of San Giorgio Maggiore in Venice. It was built in 1865–1868 by Carlo Buzzetti (one of the first boys of the Oratory). The first stone was laid on 27 April 1865, in the presence of Prince Amedeo di Savoia. [5] The church was consecrated in 1868.
The basilica enshrines an image of the Blessed Virgin Mary under the title Mary Help of Christians. Pope Leo XIII granted a Canonical coronation to the painted image on 13 February 1903. The actual ceremony was carried out on 17 May 1903 via his Papal legate, Cardinal Agostino Richelmy.
The basilica holds the tombs of saints Don Bosco, Maria Domenica Mazzarello, Dominic Savio and St. Joseph Benedict Cottolengo.
A shrine to the Virgin Mary, or Marian shrine, is a shrine marking an apparition or other miracle ascribed to the Blessed Virgin Mary, or a site on which is centered a historically strong Marian devotion. Such locales are often the destinations of Christian pilgrimages.
Our Lady of China, the Great Mother, also known as Our Lady of Donglü, is a Roman Catholic title of the Blessed Virgin Mary associated with a reputed Marian apparition in Donglü, China in 1900.
Our Mother of Perpetual Succour is a Catholic title of the Blessed Virgin Mary associated with a 15th-century Byzantine icon and a purported Marian apparition. The image has been enshrined in the Church of San Matteo in Via Merulana since 27 March 1499, and is today permanently enshrined in the Church of Saint Alphonsus of Liguori in Rome, where the novena to Our Mother of Perpetual Help is prayed weekly.
Salus Populi Romani is a Catholic title associated with the venerated image of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Rome. This Byzantine icon of the Madonna and Child Jesus holding a Gospel book on a gold ground, now heavily overpainted, is kept in the Borghese (Pauline) Chapel of the Basilica of Saint Mary Major. Pope Francis has constructed a burial vault near the icon, intended to be his final resting place.
John Melchior Bosco, SDB, popularly known as Don Bosco, was an Italian Catholic priest, educator and writer of the 19th century. While working in Turin, where the population suffered many of the ill effects of industrialization and urbanization, he dedicated his life to the betterment and education of street children, juvenile delinquents, and other disadvantaged youth. He developed teaching methods based on love rather than punishment, a method that became known as the Salesian Preventive System.
Our Lady of Aparecida, is a title of the Blessed Virgin Mary associated with the Immaculate Conception.
Michele Rua was an Italian Catholic priest and professed member of the Salesians of Don Bosco. Rua was a student under Don Bosco and was also the latter's first collaborator in the order's founding as well as one of his closest friends. He served as the first Rector Major of the Salesians following Bosco's death in 1888. He was responsible for the expansion of the Salesians and the order had grown to a significant degree around the world at the time he died. Rua served as a noted spiritual director and leader for the Salesians known for his austerities and rigid adherence to the rule. It was for this reason that he was nicknamed "the living rule".
Solutor, along with Octavius and Adventor, is patron saint of Turin.
The Church of Saint Mary, the Help of Christians in Via Tuscolana is a Roman Catholic Marian shrine, titular church and Minor Basilica of Rome.
Mary, the Help of Christians is a Catholic title of the Blessed Virgin Mary, based on a devotion now associated with a feast day of the General Roman Calendar on 24 May.
Catholic Marian churches are religious buildings dedicated to the veneration of the Blessed Virgin Mary. These churches were built throughout the history of the Catholic Church, and today they can be found on every continent including Antarctica. The history of Marian church architecture tells the unfolding story of the development of Catholic Mariology.
Our Lady of the Fountain in Caravaggio is a purported Marian apparition of the Blessed Virgin Mary at Caravaggio, Lombardy, Italy in 26 May 1432.
The Pontifical Shrine of the Blessed Virgin of the Rosary of Pompei is a Roman Catholic cathedral, Marian pontifical shrine, and Pontifical minor basilica commissioned by Bartolo Longo, located in Pompei, Italy. It is the see of the Territorial Prelature of Pompei.
Our Mother of Sheshan or Our Lady of Sheshan (佘山聖母), also known as Our Mother of Zo-sè, is a celebrated Marian title of the Blessed Virgin Mary venerated by Chinese Roman Catholics. Among its religious devotees, the statue is sometimes known as Our Lady of Luck or Our Lady of Good Luck due to the Chinese symbology of "Fu" (福) associated with the styling posture of the entire image. The original image is currently enshrined in the National Shrine and Minor Basilica of Our Lady of Sheshan, in Shanghai, China.
The Minor Basilica of La Purísima Concepción, locally known as Santa Maria Church is a Roman Catholic Minor Basilica in Santa Maria, Bulacan, Philippines.
The Santuario della Madonna Consolata is a Catholic minor basilica and Marian shrine in central Turin, Piedmont, Italy. Located on the intersection of Via Consolata and Via Carlo Ignazio Giulio, the shrine is dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary under the title of Our Lady of Consolation.
A pilgrimage church is a church to which pilgrimages are regularly made, or a church along a pilgrimage route, like the Way of St. James, that is visited by pilgrims.
Valdocco is a neighborhood of the city of Turin, located in the urban district Aurora. It is bordered by Corso Regina Margherita, Via Cigna, the river Dora and the railway. The name Valdocco comes from the Latin vallis occisorum since several death sentences were carried out on this site.
Our Lady of Consolation or Mary, Comforter of the Afflicted is a title of the Blessed Virgin Mary venerated in the Catholic Church.