(Limerick, Ireland) – The annual Redemptorist Novena in honour of, Our Mother of Perpetual Help, will again be different this year from those that took place before Covid-19.
Instead of a packed Mount St Alphonsus church during the nine-day festival of faith, from June 18-26, the novena will be celebrated online via the Redemptorist website, novena.ie.
Instead of the traditional ten sessions per day, there will be four sessions daily – at 8.00am, 10.00am, 7.15pm and 9.00pm and instead of a full car park and festive crowds, and the buzz of a congregation gathered, people will be able to participate from the comfort of their own homes from any part of the world.
The prayers, the preaching, the singing, the atmosphere will be the same as always. Only the circumstances will have changed. While the church will be closed during sessions of the novena, it will be open every day between 11.00 am and 6.00 pm for visits to Our Lady’s shrine.
Pope Francis has declared 2021 to be the year of St Joseph, and so the theme of the novena is ‘Joseph: A Man for All Seasons.’
“This past 18 months have been a difficult time for all of us. The disruption to school, work and travel has been particularly difficult for parents and young people. Joseph and Mary faced similar challenges to those of many families today – how to be a good parent in difficult circumstances, how to treat each other with respect, how to cope with the reality of homelessness, emigration, or the lack of work; how to be people of integrity, how to be alert to God present and active in our lives.
We will continue to pray for all those affected by the global health emergency, as we place our trust in Christ’s healing power through the intercession of our Mother of Perpetual Help” added a Redemptorists spokesperson.
(limerickleader.ie)
