The annual novena in honour of Our Mother of Perpetual Help was held by the Redemptoristine Sisters in their Monastery Chapel in Drumcondra in Dublin this year from the 5th to the 12th of November. There were two sessions a day with mass in the morning at 10 am and in the evening at 8 pm. The Novena draws many of the friends and benefactors of the Redemptoristine Sisters popularly called ‘The Red Nuns’ in Ireland. The novena is also followed live online through the webcam installed in the chapel.
This year the Novena was based on the history and meaning of the Icon of Our Mother of Perpetual Help and was celebrated and preached by Fr Joseph Ivel Mendanha, C.Ss.R., General Consultor from Rome. The themes included: The History of the Icon, the Meaning of the Icon, the Four Holy Persons in the Icon, the face of Mary and her robes, the Hands of Mary and the stars on her head, the Robes of Jesus, the Divinity and Humanity of Jesus, The Archangels in the Icon and the Veneration of the Icon today. The themes were connected to the life of the devotee who comes as a pilgrim to the Icon and draws Hope to continue on life’s pilgrimage. A special day during the novena was the Reconciliation Service with the Sacrament of Reconciliation celebrated, and confessions heard daily after the service. On the Final day there was the service of healing of the sick and the celebration of the Sacrament of anointing within mass.
The beautiful singing of the sisters at mass and at the service was a special highlight of the novena which had around two thousand people following the service live online daily at both sessions. The Sisters also had a special Remembrance Book where in people could write the names of their dead and these names were remembered both at the morning and evening prayer of the sisters and at the novena mass. There were many petitions and thanksgiving that were sent in online as well as put in person by the people attending the novena and some of these were read during the novena. The sisters also had a gift store open where they were able to sell some of their products which they themselves had made like jams, marmalade, jellies, honey, paintings, crib sets, plants, rosaries and holy souvenirs and icons, all prepared by the ‘Red Nuns,’ the sisters themselves.
The Novena was a celebration of faith in Jesus, the Son of God in the arms of his Mother, Our Mother of Perpetual Help.
Sr Gabrielle, OSSR.
The Redemptoristine Sisters
St. Alphonsus Monastery, Dublin
