Chiesa di Santa Maria Ausiliatrice

In the mid-1920s, the Salesian Institute on Via Marsala in Rome, built by Don Bosco, proved insufficient for the children of the two school curricula (Gymnasium and vocational schools). The Salesians therefore decided to build a new headquarters for the vocational schools on Via Tuscolana. On May 11, 1928, the General Treasurer of the Salesians, Don Fedele Giraudi, presented to Pope Pius XI the plans for the new vocational schools that they wanted to name after him. The Pope, after carefully examining the plans, asked: And aren't you thinking of building a church next to these new schools? The General Treasurer replied: Your Holiness, yes, but at a later time. The Pope then added: No, no, not at a later time, but at the same time, and I will give you the first stone for the church that we will dedicate to Saint Mary Help of Christians. The Pope's desire was always a command for Don Bosco and also for his sons. To comply with the Pope's wishes, it was established that on June 4, 1929, immediately after the beatification of Don Bosco, the first stone of the new church dedicated to Mary Help of Christians would be laid next to the Pio XI Institute. The style is that of the great Roman churches of the Renaissance, and like the Roman churches of the Renaissance it is frescoed. Don Giuseppe Melle is the painter called to decorate the temple of St. Mary Help of Christians. He works for eight years without respite, like a new Michelangelo, and in 1964 the work is completed, as the painter himself declares in the fresco of the transept. In the large vault of the central nave Melle expresses the power of the Mother of God. In the center is the Madonna, and the first church of Mary Help of Christians in Turin. All around is the great story of the victories of Christianity with the help of Mary, against the invasion attempts of the Turks. The Temple of Mary Help of Christians in Rome is a Latin cross church measuring m. 72 in the larger arm and 42 m in the smaller arm.