This year, 18 April coincides with Good Friday. Therefore we want to place ourselves spiritually at the foot of the cross, to receive from Jesus the total gift of himself and the gift of his mother Mary. Let us listen to the words of Don Bosco:

“The most splendid proof that Mary is the help of Christians we find on Mount Calvary. As Jesus hung agonisingly on the cross, (…) he turned his dying gaze upon his mother, the only treasure he had left on earth. Woman, said Jesus to Mary, behold thy son; thence he said to his disciple John: behold thy mother. And from that point, the evangelist concludes, the disciple took her among his possessions. (…)  In those precious moments Mary became strictly our Mother. (…) Mary therefore becoming our mother on Mount Calvary not only had the title of helping Christians, but she acquired the office, the magisterium, the duty. We therefore have a sacred right to have recourse to Mary’s help. This right is consecrated by Jesus’ word and guaranteed by Mary’s maternal tenderness.”

(Don Bosco – Wonders of the Mother of God invoked under the title of Mary Help of Christians)