Mary Help of Christians - May 24Mary Who Looks After Us  Over the years we have come to call Australia's mother church in Sydney Saint Mary's Cathedral The foundation stone, instead, reminds us that the original title was Mary, The Immaculate Help of Christians.Just how this title came to be chosen is a puzzle to be pieced together from fragmentary records and conjectures. It seems likely that it was the choice of lay Catholics themselves, as they leant heavily, as the first church did, on Mary's help for the establishment of the institutional church. It was precisely during this priestless period (1802-1819) that Pius VII returned to Rome from exile and instituted the feast of May 24th. The Lady Altar at Saint Mary's, Sydney, with its statue of Mary Help of Christians, was erected as a memorial to Father Therry's name. In this remarkable way, Australia became the first nation in the world to have as Patroness, Mary, Help of Christians: the first church to celebrate May 24th on a national scale (elsewhere the feast was restricted to Rome and specified places) and the first country to have a Mother-Cathedral under this same title. (A.C.T.S. No. 1721)
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