May 28, 2025

Our Lady Help of Christians, Sermon by Fr. Paul Robinson, SSPX

17 minutes

Yesterday was an important feast day for our parish, the feast of Our Lady Help of Christians. Before St. Isidore’s existed, we had a chapel in Denver, on Winona Court and West 39th Avenue.
The chapel was called Our Lady Help of Christians Chapel. When this church was built, it was decided that the church would be dedicated to St. Isidore the Farmer and that the school would be placed under the protection of Our Lady Help of Christians.
It was in this way that we came to have two patrons, whereas in many SSPX parishes, the church and the school have the same patron.
Today, I would like to help us get to know our patroness a bit better and remind us why we are dedicated to her. I think that it is especially appropriate to do that today, given that we are celebrating the results of our campaign and the faithful have been so generous contributing to the future of Our Lady Help of Christians Academy.
The practice of referring to Our Lady as the “Help of Christians” goes all the way back to St. John Chrysostom.
But the devotion to Our Lady under this title really started to take off in the 1500s. It was at that time that the Church was engaged in religious wars against the Muslims and the Protestants.
We all know that Pope St. Pius V was asking the Christian world to pray the Rosary to Our Lady as the Catholic naval army was preparing to face off against the Muslims. But he was asking them to invoke Our Lady under the title of Help of Christians.
After the victory at Lepanto, the invocation “Help of Christians” was added to the Litany of Our Lady, also known as the Litany of Loreto.
But devotion to Our Lady Help of Christians really reached its high point in the 19th century. At the beginning of the century, Pope Pius VII was kidnapped by Napoleon and imprisoned by him at a place called Fontainebleau in France.
Eventually, Napoleon fell from power and the Pope was able to return safely to Rome. Pius VII attributed his release to the intercession of Our Lady. As a way of thanking her, he added the feast of Our Lady Help of Christians to the calendar on May 24.
This happened in 1815. It was in that same year that a great saint was born who was to be a promoter of devotion to Our Lady Help of Christians as well as a great educator.

...more

View all episodes

By Fr Paul Robinson

4.8

2727 ratings

May 28, 2025

Our Lady Help of Christians, Sermon by Fr. Paul Robinson, SSPX

17 minutes

Yesterday was an important feast day for our parish, the feast of Our Lady Help of Christians. Before St. Isidore’s existed, we had a chapel in Denver, on Winona Court and West 39th Avenue.
The chapel was called Our Lady Help of Christians Chapel. When this church was built, it was decided that the church would be dedicated to St. Isidore the Farmer and that the school would be placed under the protection of Our Lady Help of Christians.
It was in this way that we came to have two patrons, whereas in many SSPX parishes, the church and the school have the same patron.
Today, I would like to help us get to know our patroness a bit better and remind us why we are dedicated to her. I think that it is especially appropriate to do that today, given that we are celebrating the results of our campaign and the faithful have been so generous contributing to the future of Our Lady Help of Christians Academy.
The practice of referring to Our Lady as the “Help of Christians” goes all the way back to St. John Chrysostom.
But the devotion to Our Lady under this title really started to take off in the 1500s. It was at that time that the Church was engaged in religious wars against the Muslims and the Protestants.
We all know that Pope St. Pius V was asking the Christian world to pray the Rosary to Our Lady as the Catholic naval army was preparing to face off against the Muslims. But he was asking them to invoke Our Lady under the title of Help of Christians.
After the victory at Lepanto, the invocation “Help of Christians” was added to the Litany of Our Lady, also known as the Litany of Loreto.
But devotion to Our Lady Help of Christians really reached its high point in the 19th century. At the beginning of the century, Pope Pius VII was kidnapped by Napoleon and imprisoned by him at a place called Fontainebleau in France.
Eventually, Napoleon fell from power and the Pope was able to return safely to Rome. Pius VII attributed his release to the intercession of Our Lady. As a way of thanking her, he added the feast of Our Lady Help of Christians to the calendar on May 24.
This happened in 1815. It was in that same year that a great saint was born who was to be a promoter of devotion to Our Lady Help of Christians as well as a great educator.

...more