The happy intuition to gather the entire global Salesian Family in a common journey of prayer to Don Bosco's Madonna came to the Rector Major, now Cardinal, Ángel Fernández Artime, in 2018, on the occasion of the 150th anniversary of the opening and consecration of the Basilica of Mary Help of Christians in Turin (1868-2018). Since then, given the success and unanimous appreciation for the initiative, the worldwide novena has been repeated from year to year, taking from time to time some peculiar aspects of devotion to the Virgin and summarising in the proposed prayers the yearnings of the times – as well witnessed by the 2020 edition, loaded with a special meaning given the health emergency caused by the spread of Covid-19.
For the 2024 edition, the motto of the Strenna for this year's Bicentenary of Don Bosco's Dream at Nine Years of Age was chosen as the inspiring theme – "the DREAM THAT MAKES YOU DREAM. A heart that transforms "wolves" into "lambs" "; instead, Saint Louis Marie Grignion de Montfort is proposed as the guide for the journey. His writings will offer precious pearls and spiritual delights to be enjoyed day by day.
To be able to watch the videos, 8-9 minutes each, which will direct the devotees of the Salesian Family on the common spiritual path to the Help of Christians, it is necessary to wait a few more days: they will be made visible one day in advance of the date of the novena (15-23 May); this means that the first videos will be released on Tuesday, 14 May 2024.
From now on, however, the booklets are made available, as well as the videos, drawn up in the five most spoken languages within the Congregation: Italian, English, Spanish, French and Portuguese.
