Jubilee of Our Mother of Perpetual Help

The 150th anniversary of receiving the Icon of Our Mother of Perpetual Help is coming closer day by day. The first phase of the jubilee: “Strengthening and nurturing our love for the Mother of God” started in January 2015 and it will finish in December 2015.

The Superior General will announce officially the Year of Celebration of the anniversary (June 27, 2015 – June 27, 2016) in April 2015. He will send to us a special letter, and the official prayer for the Jubilee Year.

You can find information about various initiatives and events on the official website of the Jubilee: www.iconoflove.org It contains more than 100 pages, most of them relating to the Conferences and the Units of our Congregation. We hope that these pages will be filled with concrete plans and celebrations. The Central Commission has prepared for us some concrete and very interesting suggestions about what we can/should do for the promotion of the Jubilee and the development of the devotion to OMPH in our Units (please, see website of the Jubilee). If we want to realise the tasks for the Jubilee, it is essential to keep in mind that this is not just a commemoration, but also an opportunity for Redemptorists to reclaim and to deepen our connection and partnership with Mary in our work of evangelization.

There has already been announced the Promotional Video Competition in the SCALA Newsletter and on the website, so we want to invite you to participate in this competition. The Commission is working on the production of the DVD composed of three parts. This documentary film concerning devotion to OMPH will deal with a specific aspect: (1) the history of the icon; (2) the spirituality of the icon; and (3) how is the devotion expressed in different cultures around the world. The Commission invites also the theologians, not only Redemptorists and in special way the female theologians, to offer theological reflections on the role of Mary in the Redemptorist work of evangelization. All essays will be translated and published in a special book during the Jubilee year. The commission already invited some theologians but everyone may participate in this initiative.

Fr. Marek Kotyński CSsR