Twelve months of special celebrations and the inauguration of the niche dedicated to Saint Gerard Majella marked the 300th anniversary of the birth of the holy Redemptorist brother at the State Shrine of Our Lady of Perpetual Help in Campo Grande, Curitiba Province.
Since April 26, 2025, the date of the Superior General’s letter to the Redemptorist Family inaugurating the Gerard Year in commemoration of the three hundredth anniversary of the birth of Saint Gerard Majella, the Redemptorist community of the State Shrine has been preparing, throughout the Jubilee Year, celebrations aimed at highlighting the charism and spirituality of the Redemptorist missionary saint, as well as his model of vocation to religious life.
Masses were celebrated on the 16th of each month with intentions dedicated to themes and characteristics specific to the life of Saint Gerard, according to the liturgical season: herald of Jesus who is the Way, the Truth, and the Life (May), promoter of harmony (June), devotee of the Virgin Mary (July), pilgrim of hope in a wounded world (August), sanctified by work (September), missionary of redemption (November), protector of pregnant women (December), gentle in bearing illness (January), model of a Redemptorist brother (February), intercessor of miracles (March), and example of missionary zeal (April). In October, a triduum was celebrated on the 13th, 14th, and 15th, in preparation for the liturgical memorial of Saint Gerard, proposing the themes: “dedicated to the mission,” “intense in charity,” and “counsellor of reconciliation.”
In June, the pilgrimage of the San Gerardo Maiella Community was welcomed. Currently belonging to the diocesan parish of San José de Anchieta, in the 20th century it was pastorally assisted by the Redemptorist Missionaries of the Parish of Sant’Antonio in Padua and was therefore dedicated to the Redemptorist saint. The community was founded by Father Guilherme Small, then parish priest of the Parish of Sant’Antonio in Padua, in 1965, following the Popular Holy Missions held between 1963 and 1964 in the Jockey Club neighborhood. From the founding of the parish community, the Redemptorist missionaries Guilherme Small, Jaime Toulas, Paulo Devin, José May, Tiago Small, and Guilherme Tracy were the parish priests. The Congregation left the parish in 1979, when it was entrusted to the religious of the Society of the Catholic Apostolate.
To mark the celebration of the Year of St Gerard, a permanent place of homage to Saint Gerard Majella was set up in one of the niches of the Shrine. On April 25, the eve of the conclusion of the Jubilee Year, the new image of Saint Gerard was blessed and the niche dedicated to him was inaugurated. The celebration was presided over by Redemptorist missionary Fr. Rodrigo Augusto de Souza, parish vicar. The final weekend of the year dedicated to Gerardian spirituality was also enriched by the commemoration of the 160th anniversary of the enthronement of the Icon of the Mother of Perpetual Help in the Church of Sant’Alfonso in Rome. During the six celebrations on Saturday and Sunday (April 25 and 26), some of the faithful received commemorative paintings of Perpetual Help and Saint Gerard Majella.
The State Shrine of Our Lady of Perpetual Help is pastorally assisted by the religious community composed of the Redemptorist missionaries Fr. Reginaldo Nascimento Padilha, Fr. Celso Luiz Martins Junior, and Fr. Rodrigo Augusto de Souza. The church houses the icon of the Patroness of the State of Mato Grosso do Sul, proclaimed state patroness by the Government in 2017 and recognized by the Holy See, through the Dicastery for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, in 2022.
Luiz Antônio Rocha Amaral,
Lay missionary of the Most Holy Redeemer and master of ceremonies of the State Shrine
