(Limerick, Ireland) – This week marks the 150th anniversary of the arrival of the Icon of Our Lady of Perpetual Help to the Redemptorists.
The Jubilee of Our Lady of Perpetual Help will take place from this Thursday December 28 to Sunday December 31 in celebration of the Icon’s anniversary.
The Icon arrived in Mount St Alphonsus on December 28, 1867 and has been venerated there ever since, according to Father Seamus Enright.
In 1865, Pope Pius IX gave the Redemptorists a special mandate to promote worldwide devotion to Our Lady of Perpetual Help.
Following this, the Redemptorists commissioned copies of the Icon to be painted for veneration in Redemptorist churches around the world.
One of these early copies was sent to Limerick, arriving in 1867.
In 1959, the women of Limerick donated their jewellery, wedding and engagement rings to make crowns for the images of Jesus and Mary.
This year, the Redemptorists erected a new shrine in the grounds of Mount St Alphonsus featuring a statue carved by the Cork-born sculptor Seamus Murphy in 1959.
According to Fr Enright, devotion to Our Lady of Perpetual Help has long been a feature of life in the Redemptorists, with Limerick’s Novena continuing to attract large numbers.
A Jubilee Mass will be held at the church each evening at 7.15pm from December 28 to 31. Bishop Brendan Leahy will celebrate the Mass on Sunday with music from the Redemptorist Church Choir.
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