| A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE BASILICA |
| THE FACADE OF THE BASILICA |
The façade recalls that of the
church of St Giorgio Maggiore at Venice, built by Palladio.
The archangel Gabriel is depicted on the right bell-tower offering
Mary a crown; on the left bell-tower, the Archangel Michael waves
a banner on which is written, "Lepanto ".
On the gable, the marble statues are of the martyrs, Solutor,
Avventor and Octavius killed on this land (Valdocco = Vallis
occisorum).
On top of the attic, above the clocks, one can see on the right,
the statue of St Massimo, the first bishop of Turin, and on the
left, the statue of St Francis of Sales, patron of the
Salesian family. In the central niche, under the rose window,
there is the marble representation of Jesus among the young boys;
the side niches hold the statues of St Joseph and St Luigi
Gonzaga.
There are two fascia in relief between the columns, one representing
St. Pius V announcingthe victory at Lepanto (1571), the other
depicting Pius VII crowning the Most Holy Mary in the sanctuary
of Savona after his liberation from Napoleonic imprisonment (1814).
The Basilica of Mary Help of Christians was born in the heart and courage of Don Bosco and his tremendous devotion to our Lady.
This was an endeavour
that was marked by extraordinary events and enormous difficulties.
Don Bosco was never tired of repeating that it was Our Lady who
wanted the church and that she herself, after having even marked
the spot where it was to rise, would have also provided the way
to find the means necessary.
But let's listen to Don Bosco himself describe one of the "dreams"
he had in 1844 when
he was still searching for a permanent location for his Oratory.The
lady appeared to him saying:
"Look. And looking I saw a small low church, a bit of courtyard and a great number of young people. I resumed my work. But because this church was narrow, I ran to her again and she made me see another much bigger church with a house next to it. Then, leading me on a bit, still by my side, in a piece of cultivated land, almost in front of the façade of the second church, she added, "Here, where the glorious martyrs of Turin, Avventor, Solutor and Octavius offered their martyrdom,
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So saying, she put out a foot resting it on the place where the martyrdom took place and marking it precisely… Meanwhile I saw myself surrounded by an immense and constantly growing number of young people; but looking at the Lady, there also grew the means and the building and I then saw an enormous church, on exactly the same spot where she had shown me the martyrdom of the saints of the Tebean Legion took place, surrounded by many buildings and with a beautiful monument in the middle".
(The monument in front of the shrine is there and is really dedicated to…him!).
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Therefore, the stages were all foreseen - first "the small low church" or better, the Pinardi chapel, in 1846; then "the other much bigger church…" that is the church of St Francis of Sales, in 1852, and finally the church of Mary help of Christians with "inside a white fascia with, written in very large letters:
The desire to
not only spread the word of Mary and bear witness to her veneration
and gratitude, after she had given so much proof of her benevolence
to the fledgling congregation, but also give reason to pastoral
order, spurred Don Bosco to push for its rapid construction. |
"Start digging. When have we ever started something with the money already ready? You must always leave somethingfor Divine Providence to do".
The work, entrusted to the master builder Carlo Buzzetti, began in the autumn of 1863. With the foundations dug, in April 1864, Don Bosco told Buzzetti: "I want to give you a down payment for the major work at once". So saying, he withdrew a small bag, opened it and poured its contents into the hands of Buzzetti - eight soldi, not even half a lira.
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the money necessary for her church". |
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