Eucharist

From the Redemptorist point of view, the central celebration of the shrine has always been the Eucharist. Despite the popularity of the novena, Redemptorist has always emphasized the Eucharist as the source and summit of their faith and life. Just like Mary Our Mother of Perpetual Help who expressed her fiat: “Let it be done according to your Word,” true devotion are lived and practiced according to the Word. It is in this spirit that the novena is at the service of the eucharist and the sacrament that the devotees should understand and pray the novena.

Reconciliation

The novena booklets versions of 1951, 1953, 1973 and 2016 give instructions to the devotees on how to make the perpetual novena. During the Novena, the devotees are encouraged to make a good confession. In fact, the 1951 novena states, “The surest way of obtaining a favourable answer to your petition is to go to Confession and receive Holy Communion on Novena Day.” Many devotees are encouraged to go to confession in the shrine perhaps because of the availability of the sacrament of reconciliation.  Confessions are heard daily in the Shrine, except Sundays, at almost every hour of the day. On Wednesdays, the Confessional boxes are occupied all day long.

The shortage of priests, however, cannot cope with the thousands of devotees wanting to go to confession. Confessions is particularly heavy on First Wednesdays and the seasons of Lent and Advent. Thus on First Wednesdays, and all Wednesdays during the penitential seasons of Lent and general absolution is administered after the individual confessions. This is with a special permission from the local ordinary.

Lighting Candles

After the shrine, the second most popular place is the candle chapel where people light candles and pray silently and solemnly. Many stand still in silence and prayer, lengthily transfixed at the candles as if imagining their lives in the light after coming out of the darkness of their present predicaments.

When did the lighting of candles began? It began as soon as the novena began. Fr. Maguires recounts that he cannot remember any day in Baclaran since he came that there were no candles in the shrine. He reckons that Fr Leo English, who introduced the novena in 1948, introduced the candles almost immediately after.

A popular attraction in the candle chapel is a large icon of OMPH in mosaic form.  The mosaic icon was a gift from Mexico. This icon is highly popular owing to the fact that the main icon at the top of the altar of the shrine remain inaccessible.  This icon is on the other hand is very accessible. They can touch, kiss and bow to the icon. After lighting candles, many devotees touch the icon and say their prayers and petitions in silence. Others leave flowers at the foot of the icon.

Venerating the Saints

At the front of the church, near the main entrance door, are a number of statues of saints. Many of these saints are Redemptorist saints like St. Alphonsus, St. Clement, St. John Neumann.  There are also statues of Filipino saints like San Lorenzo and San Pedro Calungsod. Other prominent saints are St. Joseph, Sto Nino. The people usually reach out to touch them as they pray. Sometimes they offer flowers at the foot of the statues.

As the Sto Nino is inside a fiberglass, it has become a tradition that people knock on the glass.

Touching Jesus the Nazarene

The favorite statue of all time, however, is Poong Nazareno—Jesus the Nazarene. About every three months, the shrine needs to repaint the statue because the paints have faded after all the wiping and kissing of the statue by the thousand of devotees. Poong Nazareno is so popular perhaps because the devotees could see their own suffering in the suffereing of Poong Nazareno. This reminds me of the story of Veronica who went to Jesus when Jesus was carrying the cross to calvary. According to Church tradition, Veronica was moved with pity when she saw Jesus carrying his cross to Golgotha and gave him her veil that he might wipe his forehead. Jesus accepted the offering, held it to his face, and then handed it back to her—the image of his face miraculously impressed upon it.

Icons

Usually after touching the tabernacle some devotees transfer to the chapel of icons at the back of tabernacle.

Blessings

The devotion will not be complete without the blessing of the devotees’ rosaries, novena booklets, statutes, cruicifix and other pious objects by the priest. icon as relics, statues, images are favorite items to be blessed. Lately, however, it is not just religious objects that they wanted to be blessed but whatever tools that is important for each one’s trade: pens and erasers for students, travel documents for overseas workers, etc. (refer to prayer for blessings).

The shrine, however, has emphasized to the devotees that by having made the objects blessed does not make these objects possessed with special powers just like amulets or charms. In the prayer for the blessing, the commentator remind the people, “Ang mga bagay na binabasbasan ay hindi anting-anting. Bagkus, ito ay nagpapaalala sa atin na tayo ay ginagabayan ng Diyos sa ating pang-araw-araw na pamumuhay.” (The objects that are blessed are not amulets. Rather, they remind us that the Lord guides us in our every day lives). Despite this, many devotees insist on having the blessing because it sort of give special powers to the objects and to themselves.

Offering of Flowers

Devotees offer flowers to OMPH. The most common flower offered to OMPH is sampaguita (Philippine jasmine) which is the national flower of the country. They put the flower at the side of the altar or at the icon in the candle chapel. Every Wednesday, the shrine receives hundres of bouquet of flowers from the devotees.

Flowers flood the shrine especially during the fiesta celebrations. There was no shortage of discussion in the shrine team about how to recycle the dried flowers. Possibilities were done: making it into fragrance, rose petals for rosaries, making it into flower oil. For now, the most practical thing is mixing it in the compost.

Procession

Every last Wednesday of the month, after the last novena session, devotees are led to a procession of the icon. The icon is carried during the procession that goes out of the streets around the shrine. During the procession, the devotees pray the rosary. But the biggest procession of the shrine is procession during the feast of Our Mother of Perpetual Help. One of the big attractions of the fiesta celebration is the evening procession after the concelebrated sung mass. Thousands of devotees join the procession. Usually during the procession, it rains. The devotees call it blessing from heaven. This is entirely natural, however, as the celebration of the fiesta is at the height of the rainy season. Ang Mahal na Birhen, 76 proclaims that “Processions when participated in with a spirit of faith and prayer, become the sign of the pilgrim Church moving towards Christ’s paschal mystery.”

Celebration

Besides the novena, there are many special celebrations in the shrine. The celebrations includes the feast of Our Mother of Perpetual Help in June 27, the Liturgical Seasons and Feasts and the people’s calendar. These celebrations expresses in colorful ways the love story between the people and God through the company and intercession of our Blessed Mother.

Always, the highlight of the liturgical year is the Holy Week. The Holy Week celebrations is participated very well by the devotees. But for most of them, the highlight of the the Holy Week is Good Friday.

Contemplation

To think that the shrine only comes alive on Wednesday and Sundays, however, underestimate the number of people who go to the shrine on ordinary days. On ordinary days, there is also no letup of people entering the shrine most often to pray silently in front of the icon and the tabernacle. While Wednesday is replete with collective prayer such as novena, silent and private prayer from intermittent devotees coming to and going from the shrine characterizes ordinary days.  Emily, a devotee, explained that while she goes to the shrine every Wednesday, she would also come during “less busy” days like Tuesday or Thursday as well because she appreciated the solitude. “When you ask for something, it is better if you are just alone when talking to her [Virgin Mary]. I think that God can hear my prayers better if I pray by myself,” she claimed. Lastly, she recounted that there were times when she did not finish the novena prayers. At some point, she would stop participating and would pray in her own words. “I prefer that because I can really talk to her [Virgin Mary],” she explained.