By Fr Andy Tin SDB

Darkhan, Mongolia Delegation, 7 October 2024 -- After the installation of the new provincial of Korea-Mongolia on 5 October, Father Marcello Baek and two of his councilors came to Darkhan, Mongolia immediately, from the Chingis Khaan airport directly to Darkhan Maria Auxilium Parish, a distance of about 275km to the north of Mongolia. They arrived while people were praying the rosary, and then the Holy mass celebrated by the Rector of Darkhan. After the mass people welcomed them according to Mongolian tradition, then we invited Father Provincial to bless our new statue of Our Lady Mary Help of Christians, intended to take place on the Feast of Our Lady of the Rosary on 7 October 2024 in honor of Our Lady and to have a Mother our midst. Our Lady Help of Christians is one of the important titles and symbols of Catholics worldwide and is honored for her mercy and help towards people.

The statue of Our Lady is not only a beautiful work of art but also has a deep spiritual meaning. Our Lady Help is honored as a loving and merciful mother, always accompanying and helping people in the most difficult moments of life. The statue also symbolizes prayer and hope and is a strong faith that helps people overcome challenges and difficulties in life.

We Catholics always believe that when we come to Our Lady to pray and show our respect to Our Lady, we will receive protection and peace from Our Mother which is the Strong Faith of our Catholics. The Love, Mercy and Hope of the Virgin Mary – a Model of Faith, Mercy and Compassion.

The Mary Help statue in Darkhan was made by 2 Vietnamese artisans who finished the work in July. It also marked 200 years since St John Bosco's dream at nine years of age, the promise to give to him a teacher. It is 2.5 metres high, and made of cement, a local material in Darkhan. The design is based on the time of the great emperors in the 13th century for a queen. The roof above the statute is the shape of the Mongolian Yurt because the Mongolian “Ger” is believed to originate from the Eurasian Steppes, specifically the regions that are now part of modern-day Kazakhstan and Russia. The first Mongolian gers were likely similar to the yurt-like structures used by Turkic and Mongol nomads for centuries. The “ger” is thought to have spread westward with the Mongol Empire in the 13th century too.

The statue is placed on a foundation shaped like two praying human hands, which is also an image of the path leading to Jesus through his mother. The three doves symbolize peace, hope and purity of our souls.

Catholicism was first introduced in the 13th century during the Mongol empire but died out with the demise of the Yuan Dynasty in 1368. New missionary activity only began after the Second Opium War in the mid-19th century. A mission was founded for Outer Mongolia, giving Mongolia its first Catholic jurisdiction, but all work ceased within a year when a communist regime came to power.

On 4 April 1992, diplomatic relations were established between Mongolia and the Holy See. The Scheut Missionaries send three priests: Fr Wenceslao Padilla, Fr Gilbert Sales, and Fr Robert Goessens. They sought to build up a Catholic community from scratch. The Salesians were sent in the Jubilee year 2000, then prepared and landed in Mongolia in 2001, and then established themselves in Darkhan in 2005. 6 years later we built a proper Church under the title of the Help of Christians and now we have a new “shrine" of Mary Help of Christians in our midst for us to come and entrust our life through her.

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