EXCITEMENT is building for this year’s solemn novena in honour of Our Mother of Perpetual Help.
The novena, which takes place from June 14 to 22 at the Redemptorist Church, Limerick City, is the biggest annual religious event in the Mid West. More than 5,000 people are expected to attend each day.
This year’s novena, entitled ‘Creating a culture of care’, explores what it means to follow the example of Jesus by having a heart for others.
“One of the most striking things about Jesus of Nazareth was his compassion,” says novena director Fr Brian Nolan.
“He had compassion on all those he met. His empathy and concern for others shaped everything he said and did. During the novena we will look at what it means to create a culture of care today.”
This topic is especially timely, Fr Nolan says, when you see what is happening at home and abroad at the moment.
“Issues like the climate crisis, the suffering in Ukraine and the Holy Land, the refugee crisis, the housing shortage, the loneliness of so many people, all have to do with creating a culture of care,” Fr Nolan says.
“The challenge for us is to be compassionate as our heavenly Father is compassionate.”
The novena starts on June 14 and continues until June 22, with six sessions daily from 7.30am to 9. People can also join online from anywhere in the world through the website novena.ie and submit their prayers of petition and thanksgiving.
Confession and a free walk-in counselling service will be available as well as the traditional novena highlights – the blessing of babies and children at every session on Sunday 16, and a celebration for First Communion classes on Monday 17 at 11.30am.
There will also be special sessions in their own language for the Ukrainian and Brazilian communities.
According to Fr Nolan, a key ingredient of the novena is the opportunity to write out prayers of petition and thanksgiving.
“A novena session is never just a collection of individuals at prayer,” he says. “It is a community at prayer, the Church in prayer. In a real sense, it is we the people. During the novena we are praying not just for ourselves, but for the local community and the wider world. Everyone is welcome and everyone is included.”