Lady of Fatima, Our Lady of Perpetual Help , Our Lady of
Lourdes and others. On a personal note, Nolan noticed that
the title of Mary Help of Christians is not as popular among
the Filipino faithful. This was Nolan’s turning point. He told
himself that he will spend the rest of his life introducing
Mary Help of Christians to those who still do not know her.
Nolan took his inspiration from our School Rector, Fr. Chito
Dimaranan who once told and challenged him to make
Mary Help of Christians known to more Filipinos and further
spread the devotion to this title. “I remember Fr. Chito tell-
ing me how he wish that each and every Filipino homes and
family would have an image of Mary Help of Christians. I just
smiled at him then. But I took the challenged in my heart “.
It was not just a challenged but a gigantic task ahead Nolan
realizes. But then he has to start somehow and off he goes.
Batanes, Vigan, Ilocos Norte, Ilocos Sur , Laguna, Pampanga,
Dagupan, Pangasinan, Albay, Negros Occidental, Zamboanga,
Marawi are just the few places where he has donated the
images . From Luzon to Visayas to Mindanao. Practically in
the whole of the Philippines. And the list would definetly
gets longer.
Nowadays Nolan would seek the help of a cargo company
just to bring the images to their point of destination. On
a regular mission, he brought with him 20 images of Mary
Help of Christians for distribution. He has lost track of the
numbers of images he has donated so far. “ I don’t remem-
ber anymore how many I have donated but what is more
important is that I know that sooner or later an individual or
a family would know Mary Help of Christians , would pray to
her and would start a devotion to her ”
And since this is Nolan’s personal apostolate, it is him who
spends for all the expenses . From the purchasing of the im-
ages, tedious availability of plane tickets and “barko”, to his
vehicle and food expenses and sometimes accommodation
expenses. When I asked him how he was able to survive the
surmounting cost of all his donations, he simply say “ it’s a
miracle ! We have been taught in our school that Saint John
Bosco’s message – Have devotion to Mary Help of Christians
and you will see what miracles are”. Well, he was right. It
was a indeed miracle. And our Blessed Mother is indeed as-
sisting Nolan in his gigantic mission.
By the time this article comes into print, Nolan would
probably be in another province again donating images and
novena booklets.
“Until there are still sitios, puroks, barangays and places
that are still alien to Mary Help of Christians……. there I
will go. I am not afraid of anything. I know that the Lord,
Mary Help of Christians and Saint John Bosco are always with
me in this so called Debosyon Misyon “.
Salute to you my friend Nolan. May more fellow Bosconians
be inspired by what you are doing. May we always remember
that being a Bosconian is not just about studying and been
in Don Bosco Schools, but it is in living and practicing the
humble teachings of Saint John Bosco.
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