Our Lady, Help of Christians

The invocation “Our Lady, Help of Christians” was first put into the Litany of Loreto by the Pope, Saint Pius V, in 1571, after the Battle of Lepanto. This was the great battle in which an army of valiant Catholic soldiers, fighting against the Mohammedans, completely defeated these Turkish enemies of Our Lord and Our Lady. In 1814, when Pope Pius VII was freed from a five years’ stay in prison, where he had been put by the brutal Napoleon, this Holy Father set up May 24 as the feast of Our Lady, Help of Christians.

Our Lady of Sheshan, also known as Our Lady Help of Christians

Our Lady of Sheshan, Chinese rendering of Our Lady Help of Christians