Mary Help of Christians in SLOVENIA
In 1800 the parish priest of Mošnje, Father Urban Ažbe, ordered to enlarge the church of St Vitus with a small chapel in honour of Mary Help of Christians and in 1814 artist Leopold Layer of Kranj painted the chapel and the image of the Madonna. In 1863, after several miraculous healings, the pilgrimage to Brezje became very popular, so much so that the church was too small to accommodate all pilgrims. In 1900 the current church was built and consecrated and in 1907 Bishop Anton Bonaventura Jeglič crowned the image of Mary Help of Christians.
The National Shrine in the UNITED STATES
Holy Hill is the site of a Catholic shrine in the north-central United States, dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary, which receives about 300,000 visitors a year. It seems likely that the Jesuits were the first Catholic priests to set foot on this hill. The first white inhabitant of the hill was a hermit, François Soubrio. An old French diary and map from 1676 showed a cone-shaped mountain in Wisconsin. Right there, around 1679, he placed a stone altar, erected a cross and dedicated the hill to Mary. The name Holy Hill was first given to the hill by Irish settlers in the area. On May 24, 1863, Father George Strickner dedicated a log chapel as the first Shrine of Mary Help of Christians.
The Help of Christians in Mênontin-Cotonou – BENIN
A Christian community and a church are the result of "Project Africa" launched by Fr Viganò and the initiative of the laity in a neighbourhood in the very first phase of evangelisation.
On the night of 24 December 1983, something prompted two courageous women, Euphrasie Gangbazo and Honorine Djedje, to create a prayer group, the seed of a large Christian community. The following year, on 4 June, the Salesian parish priest of Saint Anthony of Padua in Zogbo blessed the first stone of a future chapel dedicated to Mary Help of Christians who, on 24 May 1986, became a reality, the fruit of Providence, helped by the generosity and energy of many and by the action of the Salesians. Subsequently, the commitment of the Christian community culminated in the creation of the great parish of Mary Help of Christians, on 12 October 2000.
Source: Salesian Bulletin
