"It is a journey that passes through opera music; the first Saturday, May 13; a documentary film on the trafficking of women on Saturday, May 20; and art, May 27, in which we wanted to make the figure of Mary Help of Christians topical, current, so that every woman and every man may find in Her his or her model and reference point," explained Fr. Michele Viviano, the Rector of the Basilica of Mary Help of Christians. The protagonists of the three Saturday evenings in the Basilica are all women artists, two of them from Rome.
Another feature of the festival concerns the novena in the Basilica, which will be animated each evening by a different Salesian community present in Turin at 6:30 p.m. Mass (UTC+2). And then each evening, at 8:30 p.m., as last year, the prayer of the Rosary will be carried out in the Valdocco courtyard, then complemented by a moment of adoration in the Basilica. It ends with a reflection about Our Lady, the traditional Salesian goodnight, from the living testimony of one or two young people who are part of the group animating the Rosary on that evening.
On the Feast Day of Mary Help of Christians, Wednesday 24, in addition to the usual large turnout of devotees of the Salesian Family and the citizens of Turin, there will be an intense ecclesial representation to reinforce the Basilica's bond with the local Church. The presence of the Archbishop of Turin, Msgr. Roberto Repole, who presides over the evening procession; Msgr. Carlo Mazza, Spiritual Assistant of the Shrines of Italy, who will preside at the 11 a.m. celebration in the presence of civil and military authorities; and Msgr. Cesare Nosiglia, Bishop Emeritus of Turin and Susa, presiding at the 5 p.m. Mass.
Finally, ample space will be given to the presence of young people, both in the 9:30 a.m. Mass presided over by the Provincial of Piedmont, Valle d'Aosta and Lithuania, Fr. Leonardo Mancini, with the presence of all the school children of the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians and the Salesians of Don Bosco; and in the 6:30 p.m. Eucharist presided over by the Rector Major, Fr. Ángel Fernández Artime and especially addressed to members of the Salesian Youth Movement.
"We continue to observe that still today Mary is present among us," concluded Fr. Viviano, "and that, as our founder Don Bosco said, 'She continues her 'mission as Mother of the Church and Help of Christians.'"
