THE annual novena in honour of Our Mother of Perpetual Help will be very different this year.
Instead of a packed Mount St Alphonsus church during the nine-day festival of faith, the novena will be celebrated on the internet via the Redemptorist website, novena.ie.
Instead of the traditional ten sessions per day, there will be four sessions daily – at 8.00am, 10.00am, 7.15pm and 9.00pm.
Instead of a full car park and festive crowds, people will be able to join from the comfort of their own homes from any part of the world.
The prayers, the preaching, the singing will be the same as always. Only the circumstances will have changed.
The novena starts on June 19 and continues until June 27 with the theme of ‘Hope in a time of crisis.’
According to Novena Director Fr Seamus Enright, the Covid-19 pandemic has been a traumatic and a frightening time for everyone.
“The novena each day will focus on the challenges posed by the global health emergency and the lessons we can learn from it, as we place our trust in Christ’s healing power through the intercession of our Mother of Perpetual Help,” he said.
