Maria Auxiliadora de Ushuaia

Marian Invocation of Ushuaia (Tierra del Fuego)

En Ushuaia, la Parish Mary Assistant is entrusted to the Salesian family, which clearly includes local devotion in the tradition of Don Bosco and its strong link with Mary Auxiliadora as a protector of educational works and missions. The Salesian presence in Tierra del Fuego, however, was historically concentrated in other parts of the island (especially Rio Grande and the mission of Dawson Island), and there are no clear and documented data in accessible sources that credit this particular parish as the "first stable pastoral presence" of the city of Ushuaia or as an official Marian sanctuary dedicated to Mary Auxiliadora. That statement should therefore be considered a local tradition not verified: is not in the official bodies of the Church or in academic sources consulted.

Main data

Origin and history

En Ushuaia, la Parish Mary Assistant is entrusted to the Salesian family, which clearly includes local devotion in the tradition of Don Bosco and its strong link with Mary Auxiliadora as a protector of educational works and missions. The Salesian presence in Tierra del Fuego, however, was historically concentrated in other parts of the island (especially Rio Grande and the mission of Dawson Island), and there are no clear and documented data in accessible sources that credit this particular parish as the "first stable pastoral presence" of the city of Ushuaia or as an official Marian sanctuary dedicated to Mary Auxiliadora. That statement should therefore be considered a local tradition not verified: is not in the official bodies of the Church or in academic sources consulted.

La devotion to Mary Helper in general is anterior and universal: the feast of May 24 was established by the Pope Pío VII in thanksgiving for his release after the Napoleonic captivity, and since the 19th century it was spread extraordinarily through the works of san Juan Bosco and the Salesian Congregation. In Argentina, Maria Auxiliadora also has a strong rural implementation and, by decree of the National Executive in 1949, was declared Patronage of Argentinean agroat the request of farmers in the city of Rosario. This wide dissemination explains that many Argentine Salesian communities - including in Ushuaia - have assumed their name and proposed it as a special protector of the missions of the southern end of the continent, although there is no specific document that officially defines "Maria Auxiliadora de Ushuaia" as an advocation differentiated from its own history: it is rather the local presence of the universal Salesian advocation.

From a strictly historical-documentedthe open sources only confirm the existence of the Parish Mary Assistant in Ushuaia and its belonging to the Salesian field, without offering a detailed chronology of its erection, or own foundational accounts (apparitions, prodigious facts, etc.) that allow to speak of a unique story of "Maria Auxiliadora de Ushuaia" as a different advocation. The symbolic link with the protection of the southern missions is based more on Salesian spirituality and on the geography - the southern extreme, territory of mission - than on a concrete historical event seen in public documents.

The image and the sanctuary

The available sources do not describe the concrete image venerated in this parish of Ushuaia: it does not contain the material (wood, plaster, polychrome size or other), nor dimensions, nor author, nor date of realization. Nor has there been an official description of the iconography of "Maria Auxiliadora de Ushuaia"; therefore, the only thing that can be said rigorously is that it is the Salesian advocation of Mary Helper, usually represented - according to the tradition of Don Bosco - with Jesus Child on the left arm, scepter or royal cane on the right hand, and royal crownas a queen and a helper of Christians. Any other specific details of the local image no consta in the sources consulted.

As for the place of worship, devotion focuses on the Parish Mary Assistant, ubicada en calle Transporte Villarino N.o 450, barrio Solier, Ushuaiain the ecclesiastical jurisdiction of Tierra del Fuego, Argentina. There is no, in the accessible documentation, title of minor basilica, National sanctuary o diocesan sanctuary officially recognized for this temple; therefore, it is a parroquia where there is an ordinary veneration of Mary Auxiliary, with no specific rank of Marian sanctuary according to canonical regulations. There is also no architecture specifically described in specialized sources (style, authors, date of construction); it can only be said, based on public information, that it is a parish of the district entrusted to the pastoral care of the Salesian family.

Sponsorship and coronation

At the level universal, Maria Auxiliadora is recognized as Help of Christians and his party is held May 24with a special link to the Salesian Family around the world. In Argentina, as noted above, the national State declared it Patronage of Argentinean agro in 1949, which reinforces their presence in dioceses and rural parishes throughout the country. However, regarding a specific patronage of "Maria Auxiliadora de Ushuaia" on the city, the diocese, the department or the province, no consta in the sources consulted a formal canonical proclamation (by diocesan decree or pontifical document). It is reasonable to assume a patronage parroquial - is the holder of the parish - but any broader civil or ecclesial patronage is not documented publicly.

In relation to a canonical coronationthe diocesan, Salesian and general reference sources do not record an official act of coronation of an image of "Maria Auxiliadora de Ushuaia." It must therefore be said in strict rigour that does not contain a documented canonical coronation of this image. This does not prevent the use, in parish life, of crowns at parties or "coronations" of a devotional or catechetical character, but these ceremonies do not amount legally to the canonical coronation that the Church reserves to certain images by express decree.

Party and devotion

La main party of Mary Assistant - also in Ushuai- is celebrated the May 24, in line with the universal liturgical calendar and the Salesian tradition. On that day, in the works of Don Bosco and the Daughters of Mary Auxiliary throughout the world, the Eucharistic celebration, the nocturials, processions and other acts of popular piety is intensified, and it is reasonable to think that the parish of Ushuaia follows the same scheme, although the specific details (number of masses, procession in the city, etc.) are not described in the sources consulted.

About pilgrimages or data afluencia specific to the parish of Mary Auxiliary in Ushuaia, no detailed figures and descriptions in publicly accessible documentation. Unlike other Salesian sanctuaries of Mary Auxiliary (for example, the basilica of Turin or the Chinese Sheshan shrine), the parish of Ushuaia is not listed as a great center of national or international pilgrimage. It is rather a local center of devotionwhere the figure of Mary Auxiliadora accompanies the ordinary pastoral: catechesis, youth, families, social and educational works linked to the charism of Don Bosco.

In many Salesian parishes, devotion is expressed through novenas, district processions, consecration to Mary Helper and blessings of families, sick and working. It is true that similar practices are in Ushuaia, but since no specific descriptions have been found, it should be stressed that no constan official details of own traditions (promises, local songs, "miracles" of reference, etc.) for this particular parish.

Link to the Rosary

There is no explicit mention of Rosary as a unique or distinctive element of devotion to "Mary Auxiliary of Ushuaia"; therefore, it should be said clearly: no consta a peculiar documented link between this local advocation and a different practice of the Rosary than usual in the Church.

However, in Salesian spirituality, Mary Helper is seen as mother and educator in the faithwhich leads to a deeper relationship with Christ through simple prayer