In the north of Paraguay, in Pedro Juan Caballero, department of Amambay, the Mother of Perpetual Help is much loved and admired by the devotees and the faithful.
For decades, parishioners have participated extensively in the celebrations, and this Marian feast is already considered one of the greatest manifestations of faith in Paraguay. During the novena, 9 masses are celebrated, all filled with devotees who come to give thanks or to present their needs, asking for the intercession of the Virgin Mary.
This Marian feast involves children, young people, and adults. Last June 27, as a demonstration of faith, the young students of the Rosenstiel parish school, together with many local artists (called alfombristas voluntarios), decorated the streets (1,200 metres) through which the procession in honour of the Mother of Perpetual Help would pass. This work has several meanings, such as thanksgiving for blessings received, favours granted and demonstration of love for the Virgin.
On the Feast day of the Mother of Perpetual Help, more than 7,000 people walked the streets with the Icon of Love. At the end of the precession, Father Hector Javier Machado, CSsR, Superior of the Peter Donders Province, presided over the Eucharistic Celebration concelebrated by several Redemptorists, religious and diocesan priests as the closing of the Marian feast.
At the end of the Eucharistic celebration, the parishioners received good news: Resolution No. 54/2024 of the Departmental Council of the Government of the XIII Department of Amambay was read, declaring the Mother of Perpetual Help as Patroness of the Department of Amambay. Immense joy and emotion filled the hearts of all those present.
People from different places in the Amambay Department and other departments of the country participated in the novena, which was already a cultural event. Since 1940, the Perpetual Novena has been prayed every Wednesday at Pedro Juan Caballero, making the parish a place of pilgrimage. The novenas are celebrated at different times, and the faithful come to dedicate themselves to the Mother of Perpetual Help.
Thanks to the Redemptorist Missionaries and the promotion of devotion to Our Mother of Perpetual Help, on April 14, 1945, the bishop of the diocese of Conception declared the parish with the name of Perpetual Help. In 1946, the Municipality of Pedro Juan Caballero proclaimed a municipal holiday every June 27, the feast of Perpetual Help, declared Patroness of the Municipality.
Likewise, with ordinance 49/2008, the City Council of Pedro Juan Caballero declared the Parish Church of Our Lady of Perpetual Help of Pedro Juan Caballero Historical and Cultural Heritage, as an important place to which people go on pilgrimage numerous faithful for particular reasons of piety.
Finally, on April 3, 2023, the Departmental Council of Amambay declared the Our Mother of Perpetual Help as the departmental interest of the “Regional Sanctuary Project.”
The Church of Perpetual Help is a centre of evangelization and pilgrimage. Mother of Perpetual Help is considered miraculous, with many testimonies of the faithful’s piety and of the favours received through her intercession. May she continue to intercede for all of us and help us “make her known” to the whole world.
Fabio Morales,
Lay missionary of the Most Holy Redeemer
The photos: Reflexiona y Reza (Facebook)
