Our Lady of Perpetual Help

Marian dedication of Campo Grande (Mato Grosso do Sul)

La advocación de Our Lady of Perpetual Help It has its origin in the ancient Marian icon of Byzantine tradition that today was venerated in the church of St. Alfonso in Rome, entrusted to the redeemer missionaries by Pope Pius IX in 1866. His liturgical festive in the Catholic Church is celebrated 27 June.

Main data

Origin and history

La advocación de Our Lady of Perpetual Help It has its origin in the ancient Marian icon of Byzantine tradition that today was venerated in the church of St. Alfonso in Rome, entrusted to the redeemer missionaries by Pope Pius IX in 1866. His liturgical festive in the Catholic Church is celebrated 27 June.

In the Mato Grosso do Sul (Brazil), devotion was implanted and spread by the hands of the Redeemer missionaries, who erected in Campo Grande the present sanctuary where the icon is venerated from 1941, the year the temple was built and the central image was placed there. This devotion was growing for decades, especially through the novena week, to make the place an important pilgrimage centre for the entire state.

As for the title of Patrona de Mato Grosso do Sul, the documented story indicates that the state's Legislative Assembly approved December 2017 the law that declares Our Lady of Perpetual Relief State Patronand also incorporating 27 June as "Our Lady of Perpetual Relief Day" in the official calendar of events. The same redemptorist source stresses that this civil declaration recognizes a devotion already consolidated for "many years" in the region.

There is no record in the accessible documentation of a specific local tradition or legend (apparition, founding miracle, prodigious discovery of the image) linked to the specific origin of this sanctuary in Campo Grande: the expansion of the devotion is understood mainly as a result of the Redemptorist mission and the popular reception of the invocation.

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The image and the sanctuary

The venerated image in Campo Grande is a reproduction of the icon of Our Lady of Perpetual Relief, of style Byzantine iconographic, similar to the one venerated in Rome in the church of San Alfonso. The original icon is a painting on table that represents the Virgin with the Child Jesus, in attitude of tenderness and comfort, with the archangels that show her the instruments of the Passion. For the concrete image of Campo Grande (exact type of support, material and author), in the sources consulted No technical details detailed; it is known, however, that it faithfully follows the traditional redeemer model of Perpetual Relief.

The temple where it is venerated is the State Sanctuary Our Lady of Perpetual Helpin Campo Grande, entrusted to the Redeemer Missionaries. It is explicitly recognized as sanctuary and as the main center of this devotion in Mato Grosso do Sul, to the point of being considered the spiritual heart of the advocation in the state. It is a very frequent sanctuary: it is described as the place where they are held most novies in the world in honor of Our Lady of Perpetual Help, with 18 novenas each myercoles, which together gather around 25,000 fieles.

Redemptive sources present it as State sanctuary and great pilgrimage center. It is not recorded in the documentation consulted that the temple has received the title of minor basilicaor that it has been declared National sanctuary by the Episcopal Conference; it is mainly identified as State sanctuary entrusted to the redeemers.

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Sponsorship and coronation

Our Lady of Perpetual Relief is the Patrona official del Estado de Mato Grosso do Sulby law adopted by the Asamblea Legislativa el 20 December 2017as part of the commemoration of the 40 years of state creation. The Act also provides that 27 June The "Day of Our Lady of Perpetual Relief" is officially celebrated in the state calendar.

In addition to this state patronage, the same advocation is patron of various localities within Mato Grosso do Sul, where it was officially proclaimed patron of cities as Bodoquena, Itaquiraí, Sete Quedas, Antônio João y Caracol, reflecting the intense spread of devotion in the region.

In the sources consulted on the shrine of Campo Grande and on the declaration of patronage of Mato Grosso do Sul does not contain a documented canonical coronation of the image of the sanctuary by the Holy See or a Pontifical delegate. If there is a strictly local or diocesan coronation, it is not detailed in the available documentation.

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Party and devotion

La main party of Our Lady of Perpetual Relief is celebrated liturgically the 27 Junethe date the Church has set for this Marian advocation. In Mato Grosso do Sul, this date has also been incorporated into the official calendar of the state as the day of its employer, maintaining the work activity, but on a festive and devotional basis.

The shrine of Campo Grande has become a great pilgrimage center: devotion is expressed in a particular way through the novenas semandiales of Wednesday, which are held 18 times in the day and gather around 25,000 people, which makes it, according to redeemer sources, the most novena sanctuary in the world dedicated to the Perpetual Relief. This constant influx, coupled with the pilgrimages around June 27 and other strong moments of the year, explains the spiritual weight of the sanctuary for the whole state.

At the popular level, it is stressed that devotion to the Mother of Perpetual Relief "is recognized by all" in Mato Grosso do Sul and that "it began many years ago," becoming part of the religious and social culture State. The novena, the promises, the thanks for the favors received and the trust in the intercession of the Virgin are typical features of this Marian spirituality, in close harmony with the Redemptorist tradition.

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Link to the Rosary

In the specific documentation on the State Sanctuary Our Lady of Perpetual Help de Campo Grande does not contain a unique official practice of Rosary (for example, a great "rosary" of this sanctuary) that distinguishes it from other Marian centers; central devotion is articulated above all around the novena to Perpetual Socorro and to the Eucharistic celebration.

However, in the Marian spirituality of the Church, the Rosary It occupies a privileged place as contemplative prayer of the mysteries of Christ next to Mary, and is naturally integrated into the life of the redeemer shrines. The iconography of the Perpetual Relief - which presents the Virgin by supporting the Child Jesus, with the signs of the Passion - invites us to contemplate especially the painful and glorious mysteries, illuminating human suffering with the hope of redemption.

For this reason, although there are no specific practices of the Rosary of this sanctuary in the sources consulted, it is consistent with the Catholic tradition that many faithful who come to the Perpetual Relief in Campo Grande accompany their novena and their pilgrimages with the rezo of the Holy Rosaryas a way to meditate on the life of Christ from the hand of the Mother of Perpetual Socorro and to open to the grace of perseverance in the midst of difficulties.