National Shrine of Our Mother of Perpetual Relief in Toronto, Canada

Marian devotion

The National Shrine of Our Mother of Perpetual Relief is located in the Catholic Church of St. Patrick in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The parish presents this place as a national sanctuary of this advocation and as a center of prayer, Eucharistic celebration and ninth week. This fact sheet refers to this particular shrine in Toronto; it should not be confused with other temples dedicated to Our Lady of Perpetual Relief in different countries.

Where is he?

La iglesia de San Patricio está en el número 137 de McCaul Street, Toronto, Ontario, M5T 1W3, Canadá. La coordenada del mapa identifica el edificio de la iglesia, que OpenStreetMap registra como «St. Patrick’s Catholic Church» en el número 131 de McCaul Street. La diferencia de numeración procede de las propias fuentes consultadas; no se ha inventado una precisión mayor que la que permite la geometría del edificio.

The file is located in 43.6548, -79.3911, with verified building accuracy. The devotion to Our Mother of Perpetual Relief is part of the life of the parish and the redeemer pastoral of the sanctuary.

Documented history

The parish of San Patricio documents that the Redemptorists arrived in the church in 1881. Since then, the Redemptorist community has encouraged devotion to Our Mother of Perpetual Relief and has been commissioned to care for and spread this Marian advocation. The same parochial source explains that, at present, on Wednesday, pilgrims and devotees of the Toronto metropolitan area meet to participate in the celebrations, the ninth, the sacrament of Reconciliation and prayer.

The parish website describes six masses with devotion to Our Mother of Perpetual Relief on Wednesday and states that approximately 2,000 pilgrims and devotees come along that day. The figure belongs to the institutional description of the parish and is preserved here as a data of the activity that the community itself communicates, not as an independent measurement.

The Archdiocese of Toronto also documented the celebration of the one hundred and fifty anniversary of the return of the icon to public veneration in Rome. The article, signed by the parish priest of Saint Patrick, recalls that Pope Pius IX entrusted in 1866 the icon of Our Mother of Perpetual Relief to the Redemptorists with the task of making it known. On April 26, 2016, within that anniversary, a procession took an image from the Cathedral of San Miguel to San Patricio. The tour ended at the church of McCaul Street, where the mass was held.

The devotion and life of the sanctuary

The devotion of Saint Patrick is articulated around Marian prayer, Mass and the ninth. The parish information offers several hours of the Wednesday celebrations - 9: 30, 12: 00, 14: 30, 17: 05 and 19: 00 - and also refers to television and digital broadcasts for those who cannot go to the temple. These times may change; they are recorded as part of the documented description of the parish and should be checked before organizing a pilgrimage.

The article of the Archdiocese relates devotion to the redeemer mission: preaching, service to the poor and abandoned, the sacrament of Reconciliation and prayer addressed to Mary. It presents the image as a sign that brings together the faithful and guides them to ask for the intercession of the Mother of the Lord. In the Catholic faith, this veneration is not worship: worship corresponds only to God.

Tradition and icon

The general history of the icon that summarizes the Archdiocese places in 1866 the delivery of the image to the Redemptorists by Pius IX and its transfer from Santa María la Mayor to the church of San Alfonso, in Rome, to return it to public veneration. This historical framework helps to understand the international expansion of devotion, but does not make every devotional account an approved supernatural fact.

This fact sheet does not attribute to the icon apparitions, concrete miracles or cures recognized by the Church. The expressions of amparo, care and intercession belong to the language of prayer and Marian devotion. When the parish speaks of the protection of the Mother of Perpetual Relief, it is presented here as a pastoral and spiritual content of the community.

Ecclesial State

The church of Saint Patrick is a Catholic parish of the Archdiocese of Toronto, and its own information presents the temple as the National Sanctuary of Our Mother of Perpetual Relief. Therefore, the cartographic status of this sheet is permitted veneration: there is public veneration and Marian devotion documented in a Catholic community and in sources of the Archdiocese. The sources consulted do not contain an apparition linked to this sanctuary or a statement of supernatural which should be added to the tab.

Anecdotes and stories

The procession of 26 April 2016 is a recent memory of the sanctuary. The image went through the streets of Toronto from San Miguel to San Patricio, accompanied by redemptorists, parish groups, the Legion of Mary and other associations. The arrival at McCaul Street culminated in the entrance to the church and the celebration of the Mass. The Archdiocese presents it as a public expression of the love of the faithful to Mary and as part of the international celebrations of the anniversary of the icon.

The continuity of the ninth of Wednesday is another characteristic of the place: the parish links it to the arrival of the Redemptorists in 1881 and to the weekly meeting of pilgrims. It is not a statement about a miracle, but a documented devotional and pastoral practice.

Prayer

Mother of the Perpetual Relief, accompany those who come to this sanctuary and those who pray from their homes. Present to your Son our needs, teach us to trust in God and help us to serve with mercy the people who suffer. May every veneration towards you lead to Christ and may our words become concrete charity. Amen.

Sources

• St. Patrick’s Parish, Toronto: Devotion to Our Mother of Perpetual Help (parish; arrival of the Redemptorists in 1881, national sanctuary, weekly devotion and direction).
• Archdiocese of Toronto: Taking It to the Streets: Icon of Our Mother of Perpetual Help (history of the icon according to the archdiocesan source and 2016 procession).
• OpenStreetMap way 43806427: St. Patrick’s Catholic Church (building geometry; data under ODbL license).