The State Shrine of Our Mother of Perpetual Help in Campo Grande, Brazil, celebrated last Wednesday, January 14, 2026, the delivery of a copy of the Icon of the Mother of Perpetual Help. This icon was donated by the Superior General, Fr. Rogério Gomes, to the headquarters of the Western Region 1 of the National Conference of Bishops of Brazil (CNBB).
In July 2025, Dom Ettore Dotti, President of CNBB’s Western Region 1 and Bishop of Naviraí, requested a copy of the icon from the Superior General of the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer. The purpose was to enthrone it in the chapel of the Western Region 1 headquarters in Campo Grande, serving as a visible sign of Mary’s maternal presence in the evangelizing mission of Mato Grosso do Sul, where Our Mother of Perpetual Help is the patroness. The CNBB’s Western Region 1 comprises bishops from the seven dioceses of the state: Campo Grande, Corumbá, Coxim, Dourados, Jardim, Naviraí, and Três Lagoas.
Following the positive response, the icon—crafted by a Polish iconographer—was sent from Rome to Campo Grande in October 2025, accompanied by a letter from the Superior General. The letter emphasized that this gesture should symbolize the faith and devotion of the episcopate and the faithful of Mato Grosso do Sul to their patroness, a devotion rooted in the spirituality of the Redemptorist Missionaries.
The facsimile icon was displayed for veneration and prayer by the bishops of Mato Grosso do Sul and the Western Region 1 mission at the State Shrine from 5 a.m. to 12 p.m. The day began with Lauds at 5:15 a.m., followed by the Novena every hour from 6 a.m. to 11 a.m. During the Novena, devotees also honored the memory of Blessed Pedro Donders, reflecting on his virtues and apostolate as presented by the Redemptorist Missionaries.
At 12 noon, Redemptorist missionary Fr. Reginaldo Nascimento Padilha, Rector of the State Shrine, and Fr. André Márcio Nogueira de Souza, Executive Secretary of the Western Region 1 of the CNBB, concelebrated the Eucharist and the Novena in honor of Our Mother of Perpetual Help. At the conclusion of the celebration, the Rector presented the Executive Secretary with the facsimile of the Icon.
Until the inauguration of the chapel at the Western Region 1 headquarters, the Icon will be placed in the meeting room of the Episcopal Council of the Western Region 1.
Our Mother of Perpetual Help was declared the patron saint of Mato Grosso do Sul by the state government through Law No. 5,121 of 2017. In 2022, Pope Francis, through the Dicastery for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, granted pontifical recognition of Our Mother of Perpetual Help as the patroness of the state.
The Redemptorist Missionaries have been present in Mato Grosso do Sul since 1930, when priests Francis Mohr and Alphonse Hild arrived from the Province of Baltimore in the United States. The Shrine dedicated to the state’s patron saint has been assisted by the Redemptorist Missionaries since the establishment of the Parish of Our Mother of Perpetual Help in 1939. The Shrine celebrates the perpetual Novena every hour from 6 a.m. to 11 p.m. on Wednesdays, making it the site with the most Novena celebrations in the world. It attracts approximately 25,000 pilgrims for its Wednesday celebrations.
Luiz Antônio Rocha Amaral,
Redemptorist lay missionary
